Martin Huber, CEO and Co-Founder of 3D modeling and spatial data company Amrax, discusses how 3D visualisation can lead to more innovative and efficient building layouts
Martin Huber
Technology is a crucial tool in our fight against climate change, offering solutions to both mitigate emissions and adapt to the evolving effects of this global crisis. Technology, however, has been a part of climate change, both as a catalyst and a solution. The Industrial Revolution, fueled by the steam engine’s innovation, ushered in an era of unprecedented energy consumption, leading to a surge in greenhouse gas emissions. Over the past century, the burning of fossil fuels has been the primary driver of climate change. As industrialisation has intensified, so has the reliance on fossil fuels, consequently amplifying the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Today, technology can play a part in helping us adapt to climate change and reduce our carbon footprint – and this could be via the use of electric cars instead of diesel or petrol cars, new construction methods and materials or innovative agricultural practices to cope with changes in temperature and precipitation. But where does 3D visualisation and the AEC industry lie in this equation?
Digitization and Building Information Modeling (BIM) is at the heart of this transformation, especially since, based on our calculations, it is estimated that 60% of global electric consumption comes from buildings, while electricity for lighting accounts for almost 20% of electricity consumption and 6% of CO2 emissions worldwide. BIM has the potential to propel the AEC industry towards a more efficient, collaborative, and sustainable future. The integration of 3D modelling and visualisation into the design and construction process has opened up a world of possibilities for optimising building performance and minimising environmental impact. Now, with global growth in the power of AI, designers and facility managers have unprecedented insights into how the layout of their buildings influences a huge range of factors – including energy consumption, maintenance and sustainability.
The combination of spatial data and AI is a powerful cocktail. First, an astonishing number of data points can be collected that really drill down into how buildings are used in practice – everything from the route people take to their desks through to which windows lose the most heat and the efficiency of insulation or air conditioning. This information, coupled with predictive analytics, can be used to inform changes to design that make building layouts more ergonomic, efficient and functional.
Crucially, tools like virtual modelling can take these proposed changes or design ideas and allow stakeholders to see how they work in practice. Everyone can work across the project lifecycle, from owners to facility managers. Shared digital representations allow teams to visualise, simulate, and analyse design and construction decisions in real-time, ensuring alignment of vision and reducing costly error. Innumerable tweaks can be made to marry what would work best in theory with practical reality. This is no small thing – it is manifestly different experiencing a design in 3D, VR or AR versus seeing it on a flat screen or piece of paper.
This ease of collaboration and experimentation vastly reduces the time, cost and risk associated with designing new offices, factories or residencies. As a result, there is no longer a balancing act for developers or building owners to strike between what they deem to be a safe cost-effective solution and more complex considerations such as sustainability. In short, every need can be factored into design and adequately balanced to get the best outcome possible.
The entire lifecycle of a building can also be better managed. BIM has expanded beyond the design and construction phase to encompass models for maintenance and space utilisation. A host of promising products including Nemetschek dTwin, Autodesk Tandem and Catenda Duo have entered this segment and gained serious traction.
And that’s just the start. Eventually, the majority of buildings will be embedded with smart devices and beacons that will monitor energy consumption and a range of other factors in real-time. When combined with AI automation and visualisation platforms, we’ll have an incredibly powerful set of tools to create ultra-efficient and highly responsive ‘living buildings’ that will use considerably less energy and resources to maintain. With AI, spatial data and 3D visualisation advancing hand-in-hand, the speed and precision of room and building design and ongoing maintenance are only going to accelerate. In the not so distant future, machine learning algorithms will be powerful enough to create design proposals with optimal efficiency.
In essence, the AEC industry stands at the threshold of a digital transformation, poised to play a pivotal role in addressing the pressing challenges of urbanisation, sustainability, and resource management, all of which are fundamental to combating climate change.
