| | NOVEMBER 20199CIOReviewwe are seeing the exploration of/desire for improved productivity/efficiencies, giving validity to what economists have been saying for years of the labor and productivity threats to construction, and turning these into opportunities to put their city or country on the map of progress.Off-site prefabrication is an example where the potential for new material development is directly related to the potential of all the dimensions of BIM modeling and a single integrated digital environment that seamlessly shares project information across all parties from material manufacturer to designers to supply chain to installers and more. This exchange of information, combined with a job site free of contaminants, climate controlled, and reducing numerous other variables, means that we can develop and optimize products to a level of precision previously unthinkable. Then, as the cycle continues and the concept known as, Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DfMA), is applied, we get a result that is both customizable and reproducible, making design dreams economically feasible with higher productivity than current construction methods, a win-win all around. From the material perspective, it means a collaborative space for the development of technologies like robotic installations or UV cured system."Future materials" is not the only area where BIM will be changing the construction; instead, the potential benefit of technical expertise properly integrated into selection and specification choices will mean getting the right product for the job. Internally at Laticrete for example, we are sitting on 62+ years of collective industry knowledge and testing data that currently is entering the market in the form of massive submittal packages, data sheets, safety data sheets, LEED submittals, and more, that get read slightly more often than user agreements for your smartphones. Imagine where all this collective intelligence would be fully integrated into the BIM objects themselves, making users' source experts. Systems will aid in selecting the right material based on a myriad of characteristics from the weight, compatibility, environmental impact, and others, to name a few.Combining prior knowledge, real-time data, and future product development means that the construction process of tomorrow will be a calculated production effort, leveraging the strengths of all the knowledge base that creates a structured platform for the future of architecture. So, from a material supplier's perspective, BIM and other technologies entering the construction world are welcomed with open arms, as they present a platform to showcase the potential to what material science can do. All will eventually use BIM and other consolidated platforms in construction in the construction value chain facilitating sophisticated designs in a seamless, coordinated fashion. Even going further on this integrated exchange is the ability to click, print, and have your building constructed robotically. The BOD (Building on Demand) is an example that the future is already here. The first printed building in Europe was the brainchild of Henrik Lund-Nielsen of 3D Print Huset in Denmark who is part of a growing focus on 3D construction printing, again getting us, from the material supply side excited to push our labs towards the optimal mortars for these new constructors. The downstream is even more promising, as new materials emerge for 3D printed barracks on the battlefields reducing the risk for soldiers, structures on the moon using locally sourced materials, or buildings constructed in their footprint, be it on top of a mountain or under the sea, the potential material demands grow with each new case.While some of this may sound like a utopian environment, and I agree, this future exchange of integrated designs, schedules, costing, supply chain, and more will be what the future market will expect. Managers and owners will expect the same information to make decisions as we see in the myriad of dashboards quantifying the rest of the world around us, so why would construction be any different? Change never comes easy, but as the title of this article suggests, from the perspective of the construction material world, BIM and all its future dimensions gives a source of excitement to truly implementable technological breakthroughs that I cannot wait to see. Combining prior knowledge, real-time data, and future product development means that the construction process of tomorrow will be a calculated production effort, leveraging the strengths of all the knowledge base that creates a structured platform for the future of architecture
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