4 Open proposal for activation on integrated
building
This proposal
is based on the assumption that even an ambitious program, having clear objectives
but not a fixed time-schedule, can finally be realized through the ad
hoc—without predefined commitments—contribution of a proper network of
producers. Realization could be based on the "blackboard system"
paradigm: the producers could act asynchronously, each one regarding the
"blackboard's" current content and contributing according to his/her
own domain of expertise. The producers could also communicate and coordinate in
groups, so that their activities converge to the program's objectives. In our
case the "blackboard" constitutes a body of knowledge about
integrated building. The content of the "blackboard", after have been
sufficiently processed, should describe integrated
building systems having full documentation, both scientific and practical. In this
state, as well as in preceding processing states, the "blackboard"
could support academic and research activities (diploma or postgraduate
projects, publications, participation in contests etc), while it could be
enhanced by information coming from these activities. The announcement of a
proper part of this information through the current website, which could be
accompanied by publications or presentations, is possible to provoke response from
third parts resulting in a non-predictable enhancement of the whole effort.
It is clear
that this effort could not directly result in professional applications, as far
as the team of the participants does not include producers capable to accept
the required practical, temporal and economic commitments. However, if the
collective work results in a product on which an open business proposal could
be based, the announcement of this product would make possible (under certain
circumstances almost sure) the response from firms or institutes that could
accept the required commitments. Then, depending on each particular case, the
communication between the participant producers and the firms or institutes
interested could result in professional applications. Obviously, potential
applications would provide both know-how and documentation, which if
incorporated in the product of the collective work would enhance the latter,
making it more attractive for future applications.
Next we
schematically describe how the aforementioned effort could be formulated.
Development – utilization of integrated
building systems which provide:
·
Improvement
of the quality of both the design and the construction of a building project
·
Decrease
of the time necessary for the design and the construction
·
Decrease
of the cost of both the production and the usage
·
Development
of a knowledge base concerning integrated
building systems, either at the level of real production or at the level of ideas and
research. This concerns any method of design, construction or usage of a
building project which includes features of
integrated building systems, while appears better than the conventional method with respect to
either the work time, the cost, the environmental consequences or the resource
consumption. The knowledge base could be used from every interested person for
either research or entrepreunial activities.
·
Recording
of existing integrated building systems, as well as relevant information.
·
Recording
of existing production technologies which could be used for the development of integrated building systems.
·
Exploration
of the possibility to combine existing systems of specialized constructions
(e.g. concerning specific parts of a building project) in order to develop
broader integrated building systems.
·
Development
of either systems or methods of designing, constructing or using building
projects. These systems or methods should be project-independent, while should
be usable as infrastructure in different projects. Such an infrastructure would
make possible information reusability, so that solutions of general problems
should be available in different specific project cases.
·
Communication
between potential producers, as well as development of forms of organization
resulting in either stable or casual (project-specific) collaborations
appropriate for optimal project production. The term "optimal" refers
to the satisfaction of all the project's specifications by the minimum resource
consumption (labor, energy, materials, information).
·
Participation
in either the design or the production plan of particular projects (either
contests or real cases). The form of the participation depends on the kind and
the size of the project, as well as the expertise and the productive potential
of each participant: it could range from a mere collection of information up to
full production.
·
Utilization
and composition of the know-how of different persons or organizations
·
Utilization
and composition of the technical potential of existing
production units
·
Application
of system design principles
·
Application
of sustainable design principles and technologies
·
Application
of appropriate CAD methods
·
Study
of the technical specifications, as well as the cost registration, of products
of existing industries (this activity can be supported by a relevant questionnaire)
·
Registration
of the productive potential of existing industries (this activity can also be
supported by the questionnaire, but may also require interviews of
the production managers).
·
Technical
and economical comparison of industrial products with building materials, as
well as elements of the conventional building.
·
Design
of building design-production-construction integrated systems having qualitative, economical, as well as temporal specifications
superior than those of the conventional building.
·
Technical
documentation of the response of each system to its specifications (this could
require cooperation of engineers of different expertise.
·
Study
of integrated building systems according to existing building
regulations.
·
Composition
of prototype cooperation protocols that concern potential cooperation with
industries capable to produce system's components. This includes both the
context and the form of the cooperation, the specifications of the product to
be produced by the industry, as well as the basic contract terms.
·
Virtual
application of integrated building systems in case studies not necessarily
designated to realization (e.g. contest projects, preliminary studies,
experimental problems).
·
Composition
of presentation – documentation booklets of integrated
building systems (it could also include case studies).
·
Presentation
of documented integrated building systems, as well as case studies, in the
web.
·
Contact
with either individuals or firms capable to take on—as head contractors—the
realization of real case studies of integrated building, included the entrepreunial –
economic management (potential head contractors could be informed about the
current state of development of integrated
building systems through the
respective web presentation, as well as the presentation booklets).
·
Registration
of either individuals or firms that constitute potential head contractors.
4.2.5 Management of real case
studies
The
management of real case studies could be based on the following procedure:
In case a potential investor declares interest:
·
The
potential investor poses the project's specifications, being in contact with
producers interested to work on the project.
·
If
there is no potential head contractor among the producers, the latter could
communicate with either individuals or firms already registered as potential
head contractors.
In case a
potential head contractor declares interest:
·
The
producers interested to work on the project inform the potential head
contractor about their potential contribution.
·
The
potential head contractor selects producers appropriate for the specific
project, while composes a production plan in cooperation with the producers.
Planning could also include identification and selection of production units
(e.g. industries whose productive potential has already been registered)
appropriate to supply products required for the project's realization.
·
Proposals
of contracts between the potential investor, head contractor, producers –
subcontractors, as well as selected production units are composed, resulting in
a "contract net" which is confirmed if accepted from all parts.
This
questionnaire is composed in the context of the current proposal, while it is
addressed to producers of either:
- integrated building systems or systems that can be applied in building
projects, while concern part of the whole construction, or
- products that can be used in building
projects, but probably have a wider domain of application.
The
aforementioned classes could be analyzed as follows:
The first
class includes "systems". A system is defined by a set of product
types, as well as a set of methods to combine such products in composite ones
which satisfy certain specifications. If the domain of the system is integrated building then each composite product could
be a whole building. However, the composite product could be only a part of a
building (e.g. the structural skeleton, the walls, the openings, an energy
management system etc), not the building as a whole.
The second
class includes independent products, not necessarily being parts of a
"system". Consequently the method they can be combined with other
products, as well as the nature of the composite product which could result
from their combination, are not specifically predefined. The field of application
of such products is wide, as it may not be limited—probably not even related—to
building projects. The possibility to use such products in building projects
depends on the design of appropriate building systems (for instance the
implementation of a structural skeleton system for buildings could be based on
the production of appropriately designed steel structural elements: these
elements could be produced by an industry irrelevant to building projects).
The term
"product", encountered in the questionnaire, refers to both
independent products and systems, since the latter can be also considered as
"products". Some questions concern specifically products designated
to be used in building projects. These questions are addressed only to the
respective producers.
You can
download the questionnaire from here: Questionnaire_EN.doc,
fill it and send it back via e-mail.