Category Archives: design

Biophilia and Beauty

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“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul alike.” John Muir, The Yosemite, 1912

“Beauty is an experience – it is not the property of an object. It is not a permanent state, but the response a person will have to something, another person or action, a feeling or object.”

Over the weekend I sat down to read and review Wellbeing In Interiors, Philosophy, Design & Value in Practice by Elina Grigoriou, recently published by RIBA. A book that is indeed a welcomed and fresh contribution to wellbeing within the built environment. I was struck on the alignment of my thinking with that of Elina in particular regarding ‘beauty’.

The latest edition of Living Building Challenge, 4.0, has moved biophilic design from the Health and Happiness ‘petal’ to Beauty. This takes a little understanding of the philosophy of beauty and nature, something Elina describes within Part 1 ‘Philosophy: prerequisites and outputs of wellbeing’

There is a caveat here., in that we should strive to be far less human-centric when considering biophilia and create buildings and spaces that are both regenerative and beneficial to nature and to humans. Seeing ourselves as part of nature not apart from, and nature as something that happens around us. In this thinking Biophilia would have found a better home in the Place petal, celebrating and recognising our inclusion within Ecology of Place.

Elina refers to the Living Building Challenge, noting the requirement towards creating aesthetically beautiful buildings and spaces, where beauty is a key requirement for a sustainable outcome.

“a requirement that neatly explains LBC’s vision in nurturing designs that do not just elevate but celebrate peoples spirit and inspire everyone to be and to do better.”

The conclusion follows that if we design and incorporate biophilic principles within our buildings, we are creating beautiful buildings.

Wellbeing in Interiors also sheds light on another issue I am currently exploring, that of measuring biophilic interventions. Our COST Restore working group looking at KPI’s for interior comfort has identified biophilia as a key performance driver, and exploring indicators that observe successful biophilic designs.

Wellbeing in Interiors addresses this issue in the chapter defining project KPIs and UPA’s (User Profile Activities) within in the ‘Value in Practice: Measuring Wellbeing” section, and again, I am inspired with alignment on my thinking regarding the use of Maslow’s hierarchy (a commonly talked about but underused model) as the basis for inhabitant wellbeing when conducting POE assessments.

Indeed Wellbeing In Interiors provides much fresh thinking for moving the increasingly stale POE and ‘user’ evaluations into a modern, regenerative approach to measuring and monitoring the value of wellbeing interventions.

I look forward to exploring more of Wellbeing In Interiors in future review and insight articles.

Image: Google Earth

A different Saturday that will change your minds.

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Delighted to be involved in the second edition of REGENERATION Design Competition in the Trento region of Italy next week and the Conference on Saturday 16th April.

The following is a re-blog from Carlo Battisti’s blog

2016_03_24-06 Centrale Fies

It’s time to imagine a “Living Future” made of “living buildings.” Living Building Challenge is a building certification program, advocacy tool and philosophy, suitable  for projects that want to go beyond being simply “less harmful”, to truly become “regenerative”. The Challenge defines the most advanced measure of sustainability in the built environment possible today and acts to rapidly diminish the gap between current limits and the end-game positive solutions we seek.

Connected to REGENERATION, the 64 hours non-stop design competition organized by Macro Design Studio  together with the International Living Future Institute, the Conference will return on Saturday, April 16, 2016morning at Centrale Fies – Dro (Trento). The Conference is the premier annual event of the Living Building Challenge Collaborative: Italy, a community born with the aim of sharing LBC knowledge and principles and create the local conditions for the development of “living” buildings, territories and communities.

The program (the event will be in English)
Saturday April 16th, 2016, h 10-13

  • 10:00 – 10.50: Registration
  • 10:50 – 11:00: INTRODUCTION |Macro Design Studio
  • 11.00 – 11.40: NOW IT IS THE TIME FOR A WORLD OF LIVING BUILDINGS AND COMMUNITIES |Amanda Sturgeon, The International Living Future Institute – CEO
  • 11.40 – 12:00: CHALLENGING UK CONSTRUCTION. THE UK FIRST LIVING BUILDING PROJECT |Martin Brown, Fairsnape – Founder
  • 12.00 – 12:20: THE EXPERIMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF COMPLEX ENVIRONMENTS FOR THEIR REGENERATION | Emanuele Naboni, Royal Danish Academy Copenhagen, School of Architecture – Associate professor
  • 12.20 – 12:40: REGENERATION 2015. PROUD TO BE ZERO. |  The YELLOW Team, REGENERATION 2015
  • 12:40 – 13:00: Questions and answers

2016_03_22-02 Amanda SturgeonThe international speakers are experts who have long been working to introduce the principles of LBC in Europe, including a special guest: Amanda Sturgeon was appointed by former Secretary of State and First Lady Hillary Clinton as one of the “10 most important women in sustainability.” FAIA, LEED Fellow, Amanda is from this year President and CEO of the International Living Future Institute after having been Executive Director. She sponsored also the first edition of REGENERATION.

2016_03_22-01 Martin Brown

Martin Brown is the founder of Fairsnape, active since 2005 as a consulting company, providing a wide range of support services to organizations in the built environment. He deals with innovative sustainability, social media and business improvement, with over 40 years of experience. He is a Living Building Challenge Ambassador, with a passion for the promotion of LBC and regenerative sustainability concepts in the UK.

2016_03_22-03 Emanuele NaboniEmanuele Naboni
(BArch, Dip. Arch., MPhil, PhD in Science, LEED AP, Licensed Architect) He is since 2010 an associate professor at the Institute of Technology of the Royal Danish Academy in Copenhagen, Faculty of Architecture. He teaches and researches in the field of technology and sustainable environmental design.

2016_03_22-04 Team YellowThe YELLOW team is the winning team of the 1st edition of REGENERATION (15-18 Apr 2015) and it is composed of (from left in the picture) Emanuele Mondin (architect, Vicenza), Guido Zanzottera(energy engineer, Turin), Luigi Greco (urban planner, Agrigento), Bernardette Soust Verdaguer (architect, Sevilla) and Maija Krizmane (civil engineer, Riga).

Further information about the event:

When: Saturday April 16th, 2016, h 10-13
Where: Centrale Fies, Dro (TN) | Coordinates 45.986691, 10.926922
Contact: +39 0464 443418 | eventi@macrodesignstudio.it
Registration: partecipation is free but seats are limited. Deadline for registration: Thursday April 15th, 2016. Registration through Eventbrite here.
Language: the conference will be in English (with simultaneous translation).
Educational credits: 3 educational credits for architects will be provided in agreement with Ordine degli Architetti Pianificatori Paesaggisti e Conservatori di Trento. This conference has been approved for 3 LFA (Living Future Accredited professional) CEU hours.

We are waiting for you:-)

What is BIM

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The following article was written to introduce PauleyCreative’s excellent BIM Infographic  illustrating the recent NBS BIM survey, providing an important snapshot of our collaborative working BIM journey and future directions.

It was also hosted on the 2degreesnetwork site as part of their BIM series.

It feels the article has been ‘on tour’ and received good responses and comments via twitter and elsewhere, so it seems only correct to ‘bring home’ and post here for readers of this blog. Enjoy, and please do add comments below.

What is BIM?

There are many definitions of BIM, but unfortunately many are wrapped in technical, project management or design terminology.

We can understand and describe BIM as “the total and virtual modelling of all aspects of a project prior to construction, during construction and in use.”

A BIM would typically model all data relating to, for eg, design scenarios, costings, build ability and clash detection, scheduling and procurement, sustainability impact, life cycle and facilities management factors as well as in use predictions. Championed by the Government, milestones are set for achieving increasingly mature levels of BIM. The first being level 2 by 2016.

We should view BIM, not just as new technology but as a continuation of the collaborative working journey within the built environment sector. A journey started, or first articulated, way back in 1934 by Alfred Bossom and core to most sector improvement programmes since, from Latham, Egan, Building Down Barriers, Constructing Excellence, to the recent Never Waste a Good Crisis report.

BIM will be challenging, demanding real collaborative working and sharing of data, knowledge and costings across project parties.

The key to collaborative working being effective and open communications, coupled with trust and importantly being comfortable with sharing within a digital environment. Indeed we need the debate on the potential role of communications, and in particular social media, within BIM environments.

Perhaps understandably, the current BIM agenda is driven by technology and design. But the debate will widen, out of necessity, to include other disciplines such as Facilities Management, Quantity Surveyors, SME contractors, product suppliers and manufacturers, Many of whom still remain unclear as to how work and management will be different when working within BIM projects or suppling equipment to a BIM project.

You may recall a recent Honda advert that played on the expression “everything we do goes into everything we do.”  That ad emphasised how the breadth of Honda’s experience is applied through lean manufacturing to all aspects of their products. This is a great expression we would be wise to adopt to explain how BIM will enable us to bring built environment collective experiences, knowledge, technologies and best practice to every building.

Imagine a built environment industry where the design office, the QS office, the project management team, subcontractors operatives, the manufacturers factory and so on is so lean that everything we do goes into everything we do.

We would be able to reclaim the rule of thumb 30% waste in our sector, improve on safety and sustainability and deliver better, lower cost, fit for use facilities whilst achieving healthy profit levels essential for a sustainable industry.

Increasingly I am helping the contractors that I support on their questions of “what is BIM” and “what do I need” to do through increasing awareness of collaborative working, BIM itself and becoming comfortable with web/social media/digital communication. If you would like to know more please do get in touch or follow the conversations on twitter @fairsnape

Construction in Crisis? BIM the solution?

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Construction in crisis? buildings too complex? communication of knowledge rapidly changing? (Thoughts from the road)

Whilst I have long being a supporter of the need for the aims of BIM, it has been as seeing BIM as a technoloy to enable and enhance, better, improve collaborative working, not in a means to itself. In fact many agree collaboration in a digital age is or should be 80% people 20% technology.

In other blog posts here I have mentioned my thoughts on how BIM should in fact be FIM, Facilities Information Modelling, as the models set out or should set out the way the facilities will be used, managed, improved, adapted over time etc, not just the building. Ie the people aspects of building use. ( a recent example from a building designed on CAD, not quite BIM, being a student quiet zone for thinking and meditation littered with in the face fire exit signs and a large red fire panic button)

That BIM is being seen with both fear and salvation is interesting but not surprising, it will after all change the way the built environment sector works, and importantly works together and collaborates.

And yet BIM is perhaps just as the word processor is to creative writing, it may enable the articulation but not the creativity.

For BIM to be effective the people issues and desire for collaborative working need to be in place, to be well grounded and to be effective. To leap straight into BIM can be as ineffective as trying to write a creative masterpiece just because we have a new tool or piece of software available in the toolbox

Admist all the noise, news and promotion of BIM as a technology its therefore refreshing to read Randy Deutsch brilliant, BIM and Integrated Design, but perhaps his short but powerful summary that not only sums the book, but provides light on issues facing design, construction and fm. (extract below but view the article here: http://ow.ly/1vVNMJ)

(Update: Randy has reminded me You can read the first chapter here. Or buy a copy discounted online at Amazon, at your local bookstore or from the publisher.)

 

Q: How would you summarize your book in a single sentence?

A: The focus throughout this book is on people and the strategies they use to manage and cope with the transition to the new digital technology and the collaborative work process it enables as they initially adopt and then take the technology and process to a higher plane.

Q: Why do we need a book like this now?

A: There’s a crisis not only in the economy but in the profession. Buildings are becoming more and more complex and the way we communicate knowledge to one another is changing. At the same time the construction world is going through enormous changes, so is our environment.

We’ll only be able to tackle today’s complex problems through collaboration, and that takes work and a prepared mindset. You have to be disciplined, can’t just show up and wing it. Your teams’ efforts have to be coordinated and integrated. I noticed that there is a gap in learning along these lines in the profession and industry and this book seeks to fill it.

Q: There are a number of books that cover the subject of BIM. How is this one different?

A: Most books on BIM cover the technology or business case while this one focuses on the process that enables the highest and best use of the technology. BIM and Integrated Design focuses on the people side of the change equation, addressing BIM as a social and firm culture process and does so in four distinctive ways:

it addresses people problems, human issues, issues of communication and collaboration, firm-culture issues, issues of motivation and workflow related to working in BIM;

it explores the most commonly encountered obstacles to successful collaboration, as well as the challenges this technology and process create for individuals and organizations in their labor toward a comprehensive, successful BIM adoption and implementation;

it describes the social impacts and implications of working in BIM on individuals and firms, and how to overcome real and perceived barriers to its use; and

it discusses challenges to BIM collaboration including interoperability, workflow, firm culture, education, technological challenges, working in teams, communication, trust, BIM etiquette, one model versus multiple models, cost, and issues concerning responsibility, insurance, and liability.

Will BIM move to FIM? (Webinar 16/4/10)

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The concept of a Facilties Information Model as a more encompassing, arching umbrella model to a Building Information Model has been discussed over the last few years, but with little (public) evidence of use in practice.

I guess in some ways it reflects the larger discussion between construction and facilties management, between the provision of buildings and use of buildings. And, as in practice we see FM and endusers taking a more prominent role in design and construction, we will see BIM become Facilities Information Models.

Good then to see the public debate and webinar How Owners are using BIMStorms scheduled for 16th April: (Info from BIMStorms:)

Owners are looking at BIM in a much broader way, beyond just design and construction. Learn how everyone can learn how to work with information in BIM that brings greater value to owners for the full life-cycle of projects.

Linking Business Requirements to BIM
Early Planning
Design and Construction
Facility Management
Real time sensor data connected to BIM
Managing a portfolio of projects using Real Time BIM data
Creating a feedback loop to work with existing buildings in BIM

Please join us in this webinar that will show how owners such as The Los Angeles Community College, GSA, US Coast Guard, School Districts, are using BIMStorm and the Onuma System to define projects, interact with architects and manage lifecycle information.

April 16
9:00 AM Pacific
10:00 AM Mountain
11:00 AM CT
12:00 PM Eastern
4:00 PM London
5:00 PM Oslo
1:00 AM Tokyo (April 17)

This blog post will be updated after the webinar.

Facilities Information Modeling

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The recent white paper BIM and Facilities Management from Autodesk, makes the case to extend Building IM to Facilities IM(or at least to include) 

Building information modeling (BIM) is changing the way buildings are designed and constructed-but is it changing how they’re operated and maintained? Do the benefits of BIM extend to facilities management? This whitepaper focuses on ways that facility managers and FM applications can take advantage of the consistent,coordinated building information that comes from a BIM design process.

And yet this paper misses the point and reinforces the need for the  FM sector to wake up and take hold of the information modelling movement (band wagon or steam roller)  The need for  facilities come first (ie those facilities needed by an organisation to function) around which can be ( but not always necessarily) will be wrapped within a building, hence Information Models should be driven by FM , with BIM a subset.

What should be a wake up call for facilities management sector is the NISP findings, reported in the white paper.

In a 2004 NIST studyi undertaken to estimate the efficiency losses in the U.S. capital facilities industry, it was reported that the annual cost (in 2002) associated with inadequate interoperability among computer-aided design, engineering, and software systems was $15.8B. 

The study went on to report that owners and operators shouldered almost two thirds of that cost as a result of their ongoing facility operation and maintenance.

Or as commented recently at a BIM seminar – buildings are becoming too complex and should be taken out of the remit of facilities management.

(Discuss!)

Related

BIM Boom

Facilities Information Modeling at Be2campnorth 15th May 

IT and FM Disconnect a barrier to green buildings?

 

 

 

musing on a carbon 1:5:200

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Reading many items and articles on the carbon issues that the built environment faces in the coming years, I have jotted a number of random thoughts in google notebook, which may one day be useful ‘spin’ for example:

…almost every building uses more energy than design calculations …… technology alone is not enough …… design 20%, people 80% … attitudes and behaviour towards energy use need to change …….. it is our responsibility to make sure that the building users understand what they need to do to meet the carbon objectives set at the design stage…… people just change the lightbulbs and appliances as soon as they move in ……. eco bling in buildings is too complex for fm’s so they switch it off and open the window..

And then, describing the 1:5:200 concept to someone today, it clicked, maybe it is the  1:5:200 thinking that joins these snippets together and is a new paradigm required in relation to sustainability and carbon management.

Maybe, if  the impact of construction is set to 1, then could the impact or influence of fm be 5 and the impact of building users 200? (in this thinking the influence of design is 0.1)

(and of course, as with the cost 1:5:200, these are indicative magnitudes to illustrate relationships between construction fm and buildings in use, not absolute figures)

Comments welcome ….

building codes wanted for better future

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Received the following from Architecture for Humanity …. a great opportunity to share knowledge and skills collaboratively on line for the greater good.

We love to build. Therefore we are obsessed with global and local building codes. A few years ago, 1760 BC to be exact, the Code of Hammurabi was the first set of written codes with a focus on the built environment. Luckily for architects, builders (and their sons) building codes have evolved. But smarter, more sustainable building is needed more than ever.

Know an interesting building code, send it our way. If you love building, get involved. We’ve got plenty of design opportunities this month for people with a range of experience all over the world. Be forewarned: These are green collar jobs without the collar.

There are plenty of other ways express your support for the right to shelter. In fact we’ve created a handy-dandy cheatsheet to help you get started.

on public building epc’s

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The UK Communities and Local Government government website states

Our buildings are responsible for almost 50 per cent of the UK’s energy consumption and carbon emissions.

October 1st marked the date by which UK public buildings have to display their energy performance for buildings and facilities as an EPC (Energy Performance Certificate). Currently around 18,000 buildings, including town halls, museums, schools and job centres, are being tested.

The Guardian’s Hall of Shame lists a number of very prominent and public buildings that score G ( on the same A (good) to G (bad) as white goods). There is within the article a number of calls for refurbishment of these buildings – many less than 5 years old. So where was / is the sustainable design, construction and facilities management that everyone has claimed to be doing since ‘whenever‘?

a facilities management issue?

I question whether this is a design issue or the running of the building. Case studies indicate that Facilities Managers often lack the up to date eco-knowledge to manage complex building management systems, so manage all buildings ‘the same’.    In addition FM has largely been excluded from the debate, news and leading edge sustainability decision making, (at least publicly as a voice shaping our built environment sustainability future) and here we see the consequences.  (see my post on the UKGBC task group for example)

And the blame?

You can see the FM providers or managers from poor scoring buildings being called into board or chamber meetings or  to explain the low EPC score, and told to ‘do something about it’. After all no one wants to be associated with producing white goods that carry a G rating, so the same with buildings that carry a G rating.

and the costs

To be really meaningful, and easily understood the A – G ratings need to be converted into £ of wasted energy per building or per m2 for each building, to demonstrate the real cost to the tax payer of inefficient buildings or facilities.

and keep the focus on ….

It is necessary that focus remains on EPC, change will only come when the public, the building users and environmentalists (and bloggers) kept focus on EPC and displays, as with so many good initiatives this could easily fall away. Maybe the first fine for non display will sharpen minds.

latest Grid Works issued

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The latest issue of Grid Works has been issued and is available for download from here or from vendors on the Public Works area within Second Life.

Once again CivilE Writer (editor) has pulled together an excellent journal that illustrates how second life and other virtual worlds can be used to improve the real world built environment.

In this issue:

  • Conference in a sewer.
  • Using Second Life for architectural design and planning
  • Built Environment Tour to introduce you to Second Life
  • Job Seeking in the Virtual World
  • Website reviews of the UK FixMyStreet and FillThatHole from mysociety.org

The next edition of Grid Works will feature colleges and universities in Second Life offering engineering and related science programs in real life and/or Second Life. If you know of a school that should be included in this issue, let us know by e-mailing the following information:

•Name and real life location of school
•Location of school in Second Life
•Second Life contact information for school

(I guess I should declare an interest as contributing editor through my second life avatar Brand Woodin)

Grid Works is published quarterly for $L0 per year in Second Life.