Driving Integrated Construction with Digital Design

In the wave of digitalization, many AEC enterprises are actively exploring digitalization. However, compared with other industries, the overall digitalization of the AEC industry is still at an elementary stage. The digital achievements are mostly reflected in fragmented and isolated applications. To fully leverage the value of digitalization, it is necessary to consider it in a more comprehensive and systematic manner.

The traditional design process is characterized by low collaboration efficiency across disciplines, and insufficient consideration is given to construction, operation, and maintenance plans and whole lifecycle costs at the design phase. This leads to repeated revisions, increased costs, extended project timelines, and increased project risks, and ultimately, the delivered results often deviate significantly from the design objectives. With the growing demands for construction industrialization and green building practices, the AEC industry urgently requires effective digital tools to support the systematic optimization of building design, construction, operation, and maintenance.

Glodon's digital design, defined as data-driven integrated design, aims to effectively address these problems. Through digitalization, we can achieve efficient, real-time and transparent cross-disciplinary collaboration. At the same time, we more accurately prioritize construction, operation and maintenance and cost considerations in the design phase to eliminate project risks, streamline data flow across stages. This enables the optimization of design plans, construction plans, operation and maintenance solutions and whole lifecycle costs. 

Our integrated solution combined with digital design is reflected in the following three aspects.

The first aspect is the integration of conceptual design and detailed design across all disciplines. Through a common construction data platform, it effectively integrates all stakeholders during the conceptual design phase, enabling integrated design. It also establishes efficient interdisciplinary collaboration and project management during the detailed design phase to bridge data barriers between the conceptual and detailed design phases.

The second aspect is the integration of design and cost. Through the closed-loop of accumulation and application of enterprise cost data, a systematic cost index is established. This system measures cost indicators to select more optimal design plans, set more reasonable cost targets, control project bidding and procurement costs within targets, and provide timely warning and risk management for cost overruns, ensuring more reasonable project costs and optimal project value.

The third aspect is the integration of design and construction. Through the construction data platform, design outcomes can be transferred to the construction phase without loss. Based on detailed models down to the process level, effective data integration can be achieved with the process management platform for construction. This enables the management of quality, cost, schedule and other aspects of the construction process based on the integrated model. Additionally, it effectively promotes full-process data exchange, thereby improving the efficiency and delivery quality of projects. Digital design and smart construction complement each other, empowering the digitalization of the AEC industry.

With the vigorous development of artificial intelligence (AI), especially foundation models, let's envision some future AI-driven digital building scenarios. At the job level, AI assistants will empower various professionals or management personnel, making work more efficient and of higher quality. For example, designers can quickly generate and compare design plans through conversations with AI assistants; and project managers can engage with AI assistants for systematic learning and project guidance. At the project level, AI project brains can quickly complete construction planning according to project requirements and design inputs. It can automatically collect and analyze relevant on-site data such as progress, cost, quality, and safety, providing timely alerts and optimization suggestions to ensure projects are delivered on schedule with high quality and maximized project benefits. At the enterprise level, AI models for AEC can support business operations and market analysis, enhancing decision-making efficiency and quality for construction companies.

The future is now.