Canadian Design and Construction Report staff writer Where in the world will evolving technologies take the Canadian archi- tectural, engineering and construction industry? If you want to begin searching for an answer to that question, you'll need to go to the computer – the In- ternet – and then discover how con- cepts such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) are having immediate impact on industry practices – and then stretch further to the implica- tions of new tools, such as wearable sensory devices, augmented reality, and even more far-reaching, the con- cept of designing and “printing” build- ings. You might think the latter idea is far-fetched, although Algonquin Col- lege in Ottawa has installed a 3-D printer at its new Construction Re- search Centre, test buildings have been constructed in China and the Netherlands, and researchers at the University of California at Los Angeles are expanding practical “contour craft- ing” options. At root, however, most of the excit- ing initiatives developing into immedi- ate changes are occurring within computer code throughout the con- struction supply and ownership chain, as the industry grapples with BIM sys- tems allowing designers to create a virtual building, test out all of its processes and options, and then – once it is constructed – apply the dig- ital model to maintain and manage the new structure. However, architectural, engineer- ing and construction technological progress remains dauntingly slow and behind other industries, according to published research and surveys. For example, Engineering News Record says JBKnowledge Inc.'s con- struction technology survey indicates that take-up is still at best, “casual.” “The responses suggest the vast majority of the surveyed firms spend less than one per cent of corporate revenue on IT, regardless of company size,” JBKnowledge says. “This com- pares with a cross-industry average, according to Gartner, of 3.3 per cent. Construction-industry companies also tend to have very small or non-exis- tent IT staffs, with many technology users saying they are going it alone.” Nevertheless, if you are ready to embrace and lead implementing and applying new technologies, you will likely have an edge in the marketplace and achieve significant cost savings, once you adapt to the initial learning curve and make peace with the painful fact that software purchased today will probably be cheaper and much better just a year from now. This results in a challenging trade-off management decision-making ques- tion. Here's a brief overview of the new technologies with immediate impact, or which soon may change the way you work. Building Information Modeling (BIM) BIM is stretching and challenging the design community to a greater de- gree than the earlier implementation of Computer-Aided Design (CAD) in part because pace of change is much more rapid and, more importantly, be- cause BIM immediately reaches above and below in the construction Courtesy of the Vancouver Convention Centre BUILDING LASTING CHANGE 2015 C a n a d J Join io n u us s at a t Canada’s ’a a s largest ts green building al r g e g r e en b iu ld ing c conference e o nf er en c » Industry y e education In d u ts r d uc ita on » Green n building g tours sr G er e b nidliu t o u » B2B meetings s B 2B me nite g » N Networking g e events s et w o nikr v e nt » 100 0 exhibitors 1 0 e x tibih ors V Vancouver r C Convention n C Centre, e , J June e 2-4 4 a nc o u v e o n v e n oit e n rt u n 2- R Register r n now w a at: t : www.cagbc.org/blc2015 5 e e etsig o w w w c. a g b .c or g /bl c 2 0 1 The Canadian Design and Construction Report — February - March 2015 – 5