snie017 “The Big Data revolution: How data-criven designs transforming project planning | Bulding Design + Construction (http. nkedin.com/groups? ide ein dasTaadibgtA DC tatieewo) A.coman icone © Download Mesa Rk p/n crane. ComMarevBulsing onstruction O subserive Te Magazine psiran Cstepornon ComfRenewNow?04e) HESubsibe Te Newser USubsepion Management) The Big Data revolution: How data-driven design is transforming project planning ‘There are literally hundreds of applications for deep analytics in planning and design projects. We profile some early successful applications. {IM AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY /EMAND-NFORUATIONTECHNOLDG) | FCORUARY 12206 | AMD ARISTA OTOL his artic is part of 80+Cs special ve-part Technology Report 204; Top tech tools and trends for AEC professional (htp//wwwbdenetworkcomv/techology- eport-2014-top-tech-took-and trends ae professionals) Gregory Janks feels abit like an impostor at his firm. A sel;proclaimed “numbers geek” with a PhD in mathematics and degrees in science and economic science, Janks relies on a much diferent process for developing and vetting planning and design strategies than the tried-and-true approaches utllzed by many of his peers at Sasaki Associates (www.sasaKicom (http/Awww.sasaki.com)) His rigorous, data-driven methods have opened the eyes of many at the design table, and have helped the firm’ clients—primarily higher education and healthcare insttutions—rackle some excruciatingly difficult capital planning questions, most notably: What should we build next? Ané where? “There's 2 facilities arms race happening in higher education and other sectors, where the feeling is,’More is better" says janks, Principal and Director of Sasak Strategie, a group formed in 2005 to bring a strang analytical function to the firm's planning and design work. "What were trying, ta promote is more isnt necessarily beter; better is better. We're using 2 mare objective, somewhat scientific approach to help ur clients indentify the projects that wil add the most value. Instead of asking, 'What do you think you need?; we're able to help them prioritize their needs.” Data analytics, for example, helped the Sasaki team make a strong case to Brown University leaders thatthe schoots plan to move its engineering {epartment off campus to an innovation district nearby would be detrimental, both financially and strategically, tothe Ivy League institution ‘The firm came to this conclusion after analyzing numerous datasets—from course enrellment numbers to faculty collaboration patterns to University financial data—and then creating a series of network visualizations to help "tel the story” to school officals, says Janks. Data collection ‘methods included custom mobile surveys to faculty and realtime, crowdsourced feedback on how students and faculty use the campus via Sasaki ‘Web-based interactive mapping program, MyCampus. “The results were dramatic” he says. "For example, it showed that there's a wonderful intermixing of how students behave in course enrollment, Including engineering. Its inseparable. You cant pull this core network out without greatly affecting the students, faculty collaboration, and Ultimately research dollars. The data helped us convince them to go In another direction.” BUILDING DECCM hitpeviuwu.becnetwork comibig-dat-revoition-haw-cata-srven design ransforming project planing wsnie017 “The Big Data revolution: How data-iven design i transforming projet planning | Bulding Design + Construction E-CONSTRUCTION a rinidpeinenre teens BENEFIT FROM DATA-DRIVEN DESIGN Firms ke CASE Design Inc. http//ease-nc.com (http://casednc.com) and Terabuild (www.terabull.com (httpwwe.terabulld,com) are making their ving atthe intersection where data meets design. Others, lke San Bruno, Calf-based Aditar7 (wwwaditazz.com (http://www aditazz.com), were built from the ground up as data-centric design anc planning firms. I's Silicon Valey meets the AEC field ‘dae tc dip intensity, during conceptual design. That information can then bbe used to tweak and optimize early prototypes. 2. Use project ata on future work. By collecting data on every projec, Gesign rms can eliminate rentork (tp5/Mxdenetworks3.amazonaws.com/s3s-publi/imagecache/insert mage fullize/Smar-strets- and apply best practices on future Mnevation~rev2-#281%29,Jpe) projects. Arup used a variety of data collection methods, including mobile surveys, security camera footage, and trafic flow reports, to better unity two neighborhoods in Pittsburgh: North Side and Oakland, The 3. Understand how people interest resulting scheme incorporates improved wayfinding, public artwork, open spaces, and interactive With spaces Firms can test and Components hike real-time public transportation and weather information and pay-by-phone bike evaluate design concepts against Sharing, the real world, using feedback data from building occupants. Deutsch, whois currerty writing 3 book on Big Data applications forthe AFC fed, sys the data boom represents an opportunity to completely transform how firms design construct, and operate buildings. But geting there means they must overcome some significant barirs, namely interoperability, 4. Automate the planning proces, Some firms are applying algorithm based approaches to relay of the data, privacy, ana securiy, Theres also the tus factor. Data-driven design for instance, improve the traditional project ‘may require the client to open its books or allow greater access to its employees or end users for planning process. feedback “The use of Big Data in decision making in design involves securing a commitment within teams and the organization, reinventing internal and external processes, and modifying organizational behavior” says Deutsch, "The AEC industry is among the last toaddress these challenges, We need to catch up, and quickly LESSONS FROM EARLY DATA-DRIVEN APPLICATION ‘There are literally hundreds of applications for deep analytics in planning and design projects, not to mention the many benefits for construction ‘teams, building owners, and fallty managers. For the purposes of this report, were focusing on data-driven design and planning applications only Here are some early successful applications, according o the expert interviewed for this report Enhance iterative design By condensing the feedback loop on conceptual design schemes from days (or even weeks) to just hours, design teams can ‘weak and optimize early prototypes based on the simulated performance and characteristics of the design. Software providers ke Sefaira and ‘Autodesk offer of he-sel solutions for on-the-fly energy modeling (see page 34), but some firms are taking the iterative design process to new levels with customized solutions. ‘Sasaki Associates is among a numberof design firms to develop custom survey and interactive mapping tools to better understand how building ‘occupants and end users interact with the built environment. Using the firm's MyCampus and MyBuilding (pictured) mapping tools, Sasaki designers are able to collec reaktime information on everything from where people hang out on campus to what they ike most and least about a building. “The Chicago office of RTKL recently commissioned CASE Design to develop a software program that captures dozens of key project metrcs— Including total building area, floor area ratio, area based on project program requirements, percent of green space on the site, percent of green roof area, and facade area—straight from the 3D conceptual design programs RTKUs designers regularly use (SketchUp and Rhino). The program will leven run a solar analysis of early conceptual designs, providing feedback on shading requirements and daylighting performance. The early stage Gesign data is fed automatically inte an Excel document and shared withthe client and design team in real time using charts and dashboards “instead of using bulding information as a capture ofthe final design i's fed back into the early design process to help the team make decisions that wil ideally lead to a better building downstream,” says Nathan Miller, Associate Partner and Director of Architecture and Engineering Solutions with CASE. “The program automates what typealy is a manual pracess—capturing bulding information from conceptual models—which allows the team to adjust and tweak the design on the fly BUILDING DECICM hipaa becnetwork comibig-dat-revolton-haw-cata-srven design ransforming- project planning onsnie017 “The Big Data revolution: How data-iven design i transforming projet planning | Bulding Design + Construction willbe able share that Information fr use on other design. This approach alsa minimizes rework allowing designers to focus hel time on solving new challenges Understand how people interact with spaces, Design teams are tapping into a host of data sources—fram Twitter feeds to mobile surveys to security camera faotage—to observe how people use and move through spaces. Often, they discover that design intent daes not match realty “in theory using the formulas and benchmarks that most standard building programming exerc'ses depend on, youll be able to predict exactly ‘what people need,” says Sasak’s Janis, “But when we test designs against the real world, we find that often there is zero relationship between the wo: Silicon Valley startup Aaltaze used a largely algorithm-based process to develop its winning design scheme for Kaiser Permanente’ Small Hospital, 2Big Idea competition (the frm tied for fist place). By supplementing tried-and-true design and planning methods with computer-driven processes, the firm was able to quicly develop and test thousands of design schemes to find the best solution, {Janks offers a dramatic example: During the initial planning stages fora renovation project at Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, the Sasaki team used its MyCampus interactive mapping program to poll the students facuky, and staf on what they liked and did't like about the campus. They also tracked their movement throughout the spaces. Among the findings: hardly anyone entered the building through ‘the front door. “The map showed this torrent of people coming in through the back door, ané absolutely nobody going through the front door,” says Janks. “It's the kind of thing that previously we'd argue back and forth withthe client about. ut when we showed them the map, the entire conversation changes Instantly. AS a result, the campus plan was completely reorganized to what was the backside of the building” ‘Automate the planning process. Could a computer one day replace a human planning team? Not likely. Butt could take on a large portion ofthe traditional design planning tasks on projects, according to Deepak Aatresh, Founder of Silican Valley planning and design startup Aditazz ‘An entrepreneur witha background in siicon chip design and manufacturing, Aatesh i bringing his analytical approach for designing, testing, and building microchips tothe healthcare design world The firm, which launched in 2009, applies a series of algorithm-based processes, virtual simulations, and ather digital planning tools to design healthcare facilities based on the hundreds of programmatic and operations inputs from the client as well as outside factors such as building code requirements and green standards. ‘The goal i to develop the optimal design solution as quickly as possible by relying on computers to do what humans cant: perform millions of complex calculations infractions of a second, For instance, by applying automatic space-planning tools on projects, Aitazz designers can test ‘thousands of iterations of building configurations ana layouts in seconds, ‘The firm’s process kicks out thousands of design options based on client input, and then quickly narrows the lst down to a few ideal solutions. ‘Aatresh argues that as much as 80% of the typical decision making that goes into creating a healthcare facllity—from building orientation and space layout to patient watt times and traffic flow—can be handled through computation. ‘Aditarz surprised many in the architectural community in March 2012, when its largely algorithm-driven design scheme ted for first place in Kaiser Permanente Small Hospital, Big Idea competition, beating out more than 100 entrants, The firm has gone on to win numerous commissions for healthcare work, most recently 8 cancer hospital project at Shantou University Medical College in Guangdong, China THE DATA-DRIVEN FUTURE (Our report highlights just afew potential applications for data-driven design. Many more uses will be discovered, our experts argue, when the industry reaches a tipping point where the majority of project stakenolders—from AEC Frms to building owners to government agencies—get serious about analytics forthe design and planning of building projec. BUILDING DECICM hipaa becnetwork comibig-dat-revolton-haw-cata-srven design ransforming- project planning a7snie017 “The Big Data revolution: How data-iven design i transforming projet planning | Bulding Design + Construction were genre IMPROVE URBAN PLANNING Last November, Arup and the Royal institute of British Architects released a joint report, Designing with Data: Shaping our Future cities (htep://wew.arup.com/News/2013_11_November/06, November. RIBA Arup. report highlights how. data_will shape future_cites.aspx), hich explores the many potential uses and benefits of ig Data analytics in an urban environment. The report highiights four key applications: 41. Designing for people. By collecting reaktime data (via social media, ‘mobile surveys, video cameras, sensors, ete) on how people use public spaces and infrastructure, design teams and cities will have a better understanding of user needs and can create spaces that better meet those needs. 2. Experimentation. Data and ‘modeling tools could allow designers and planners to save time and potentially money by testing designs before they enter the construction process, This could also help identify likely objections and mode! solutions, ssaving time in the planning process. 3. Improve polcy implementation Cities have the potential to use the vast amounts of data they hold to improve the planning and delivery of services to citizens, by Using the data to identity and address urban problems. 4. Transparency. By making more data publicly available, cities and governments can make it easier or designers and planners to get critical information on development sites faster. 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