NEW PODCAST: On this latest episode of How to Build a Better World, I spoke with Paul King from Bentley about how new technology like building information models (BIMs) and digital twins can help designers and engineers make better choices about building design and maintenance.
It’s an exciting world that is starting to look a bit like the sci-fi image we read about in stories about gaming or fiction. A parallel universe in cyberspace that we can – hopefully – step in and out of at will.
That’s pretty much what these brainy people in the digital world are getting at. All in the name of generating and managing digital representations of physical and functional characteristics of buildings.
Because quite frankly, once a building is built, it’s too late to do much to change its essential structure and much of its inbuilt services.
In many ways, the world Paul has worked in for more than 16 years is the intersection of the way we imagine our future buildings and how to realise them in practical iterations.
BIM and digital twins offer ways our physical world can be translated to a digital iteration, where all the parts – including, pipes, cables, airconditioning ducts inside a building are laid bare and we see what happens when we manipulate them.
Tech like this can also be used to assess the carbon footprint of buildings, so a big step in how we can start to decarbonise our world.
I found this episode exciting, but also a bit challenging – because the incredible pace of change that’s going on in technology is not all without risk. As it’s been noted by more than one person, most technology is invented by people with great and often good intentions. It’s what comes after that can be a bit concerning.
As the solution director of construction at infrastructure engineering software company Bentley Systems, Paul King leads the global construction solutions engineering teams; he implements the business strategy for the company’s software portfolio, supports the project delivery organisations with their digital transformation, and helps them to create tailored strategies focused on business value and integrating them into everyday operations.
When I first met Paul years ago, it was at a briefing session where he displayed the full potential of BIM on a huge screen, and I was pretty much blown away.
A lot has changed since those early days of “misunderstanding and hype”, as Paul puts it.
The Fifth Estate’s podcast How to Build a Better World is available on all streaming platforms. Click here to listen.
To those interested at Fifth estate:
Please inspect http://www.ampan.com.au
I invite a reply presenting the opinion of those who wish to invite the use of continuously Sustainable, Agricultural Rewarding, Environmentally Positive and Domestically Demanding building product.