How AI is Revolutionizing the Design and Construction Industry

Whether you’re ready or not, the AI revolution is here and is ready to sweep in and change the way we work and live. AI is already making waves in the healthcare industries, where 38% of doctors now use computers to aid the diagnosis process, and it is estimated that AI can cut US healthcare costs by $150 billion dollars in 2026. That’s not the only industry that’s being impacted though; the automotive, education, and finance sectors are also in the midst of evolving due to new technologies.   

What is AI?

AI, or artificial intelligence, is an all-encompassing term that refers to the ability of a digital computer to perform tasks commonly associated with intelligent beings. While AI is usually portrayed as being robotic and intimidating (looking at you, Ex Machina), you’re already familiar with its capabilities if you’ve watched a recommended movie on Netflix or listened to your Discover Weekly on Spotify. In short, AI optimizes daily tasks and makes life more efficient for all of us. 

How AI can impact design and construction 

1. Reduce early stage iterative design timeline

One of the most labor intensive aspects of the design process is the planning stage, where the designer has to research the building and draft up several versions of what it could look like. Generative design eases up that process by allowing the designer to input any constraints they have for a project—like a budget cap or a spatial requirement—and then receive multiple design solutions that fit their needs. From there, the designer can go in and select which option best suits their project and adjust it to their liking. Generative design essentially allows for quicker decision making for the designer and eliminates hours of tedious research that go into the initial drafts for a new project.

2. Streamline the collaboration 

A major part of actualizing a building is the collaboration between the architect, engineers,  consultants and the contractor. However collaboration across multi disciplinary teams is not alway smooth sailing.

For example, in the renovation of the Salt Lake City Airport by HOK, over 4,700 pdfs were exchanged between teams each week. Imagine how ineffective it would be to manually print these documents, send them over to colleagues, follow up and update them and how much it would eat up valuable time. 

By leveraging AI and digital documentation, not only everyone can have access to the latest information at all times, but also receive automatic notifications any time there’s a new update to the cloud and get timely reminders on the tasks they need to perform on a certain document.

3. Speed up the construction process with 3D printing and prefabrication

While 3D printing is in its infancy, you can bet it’ll start picking up soon: America’s first occupied 3D printed house was unveiled on December 21st, 2021. As the price for lumber and building materials surge due to the pandemic, 3D printing offers an affordable, waste-free option by using concrete to construct homes. Plus, it can accelerate the construction process: a 3D printed house takes a few days to print and assemble while a traditional home can take weeks or months. Prefabricated buildings can similarly speed up and save money during construction. In a survey by McGraw Hill, 66% of contractors said that prefabrication reduces construction timelines significantly with 35% of those respondents seeing timelines reduced by four weeks or more, and 65% of contractors reported that they saw significant budget decreases as well. However, these methods are not without their downsides; 3D printing is still new so it’s slow to catch on and prefabricated construction limits the creative and custom aspects of the building process. 

4. Improve worker safety

Construction is one of the most dangerous industries: in 2019, one in every five work-related deaths were in construction. Robots can help keep workers safe on site by taking care of intense labor, such as brick laying and by remotely operating heavy machinery. A robotic bricklayer such as SAM1000 can lay up to 3,000 bricks a day and can work continuously while operating heavy machinery. This saves labor costs and it protects workers from injuring themselves in the process. Robots can also be used to remotely control bulldozers or excavators, allowing the operator to evaluate construction from a safe distance and protect other workers nearby.

5.Use proactive maintenance instead of reactive maintenance

Proactive maintenance, as opposed to reactive, ensures that the operations of a building are running smoothly. By detecting slight anomalies in an equipment’s performance and by collecting data from tenant use patterns and historical records, AI can alert the building maintenance team when a piece of equipment is in need of attention before it breaks down and causes costly repair. IoT smart sensors can also let building managers access data on their facilities through remote dashboard monitoring. Issues with plumbing, air condition, or electrical systems can be identified before they inconvenience tenants and disrupt building operations.

6.Make buildings more efficient for tenants

AI can also be used to leverage usage data to better optimize various parts of communal buildings, especially offices. The Edge, which was touted as “the smartest building in the world” when it first opened back in 2015, offered a glimpse into what the future of smart building could look like. The Edge uses a combination of some 28,000 sensors and a complimentary app that records information as to how the space is being used and how it can be used more efficiently to ensure that workers are happy and productive in their environment. This sensor technology can also be applied to gyms and residential buildings with common areas to best understand how a space is used and how it can be improved to better serve its tenants. 

7. Inform decisions on future use of buildings 

Using AI to collect data on how a building is being used not only helps for the current tenants, but can also provide invaluable insight on best ways to renovate a building in the future . It can be used to analyze data to determine how to redesign a space to best fit its new function and it can offer a wide variety of solutions to implement those changes. AI can also suggest if it's best to upgrade the building or tear it down entirely from a developmental or economical standpoint, and in turn how that decision can improve the surrounding neighborhood. This helps designers and contractors make the most effective decision to serve the tenants of the building and the nearby community. 

Conclusion

AI has a wide variety of applications that can be used to optimize the design, construction, and operations of a building. From quickly generating design ideas to predicting maintenance issues, AI can save the AEC industry valuable time and money, and it can save designers and builders from performing mundane and even dangerous tasks which can allow for greater creativity and innovation. While the adoption of AI seems to be progressing rather slowly, especially in construction, it is safe to say that it is growing increasingly popular as more and more firms realize its potential to transform the industry for the better.