Best Job in the World? Chris Linning talks about working alongside Sydney’s Opera House!

I wanted to keep today’s last post short and simple.

So you’ve heard of the saying ‘what you see is what you get’. I think this quote pretty much sums up today’s final lecture on ‘The role of IT and BIM in FM/Operations’.

BIM technology on Sydney’s Opera House

You can pretty much guess as to why I enjoyed today’s lecture, and this is because it will be my final post to my blog! Chris Linning was privileged enough to be involved in the management of the Sydney Opera House and currently working as the manger of building information. He mentioned that Sydney’s Opera House attracts an approximate 8.2 million tourists and visitors a year, along with 2400 performances inside the building. Now, you would think how on earth does one maintain and sustain the livelihood of Sydney’s most iconic landmark? To answer that question, the CRC uses BIM technology to efficiently improve the maintenance and care of facilities management of the Opera House.

So we already know that we use BIM technology to enable us with the assistance and man

agement of a building, but what happens after a building is completed? Another food for thought Chris mentioned is all that buildings just like humans go through a cycle. Most buildings go through the stages from construction through to demo

lition, however what Facilities Management focuses on is preserving a building as long as possible. Renovation or just improving the efficiency of buildings can be done so that just like we humans, buildings have a longer lifespan. I think another valuable point Chris mentioned, is that the average life span of a building is approximately 40 years in the keeping. Sydney’s Opera House is currently celebrating its very own 40^th birthday and like everyone else, I will be expecting the extravagant festivals and carnivals later in the year. This proves that the use of IT and BIM in the maintenance of buildings, you can definitely expect future buildings to outlive their time-ticking years. In fact, Linning remarked that he believes the Opera House still has another 200 years to go. I’m actually not sure how I feel about a building that will outlast myself. Below is a documentary of the evolution of the Sydney Opera House.

Finally my last ever blog post done and dusted. Although in this last post, I still struggled to wrap my head around the ‘How to: Blog’ idea, but I think I’ve finally got the gist of these. This semester has taught me a lot about technology, and has given me a new outlook of IT within the building industry. Hopefully, I made my point across in all of my posts and most importantly you enjoyed reading my first ever blog.

Toodle,

CHANEL

IT and Cost in Planning, 5D: Creating Cost Certainty

If you asked me what property surveying was about eight months ago, I wouldn’t have the slightest clue. I initially thought cost planning and quantity surveying played a minor role in the building process and management, but boy was I wrong. Luckily for me, Caitlin Hintz from Mitchell Brandtman gave us a quick debrief on the role of quantity surveyors and cost estimating within the building industry.

When you first think of cost estimating, what usually come to mind are numbers and calculations, and lets all face it, nobody enjoys maths. However quantity surveying was more than what really meets the eye. It wasn’t just you and your computer in an office building, calculating cost and adding numbers. Caitlin made it seem much much more than that, and she intrigued us by going through two case study, she herself had worked on.

The project Riverquay in Queensland was a $10 million project value, a case where 5D software was incorporated into the development. To no surprise, the software BIM was used through the visualization process of the plan. Caitlin introduced another software known as Cost X, which is a 3D BIM software and 2D estimating package, which allowed you to visualized costing and quantities. Click on the video below for a quick demo of the program.

Another benefit of using Cost X is that it reduces the amount of time it takes to retrieve and calculate cost and quantity. The Solibri Model Checker is another visual software that basically reports clashes made by engineers and architects. I was thinking to myself, what if we had our own Model Checker that reported clashes between timetables in our daily lives. This would minimise so much potential problems, in reality and most importantly in the building process. At this stage I thought to myself, there must be some sort of catch to it, but in this case there were no strings attached.

Finally, Caitlin went on to discuss the four main stages of 5D designs, into developing a final product. It goes about something like this; so you have LOD100, which basically revolves around the concept and design stage, and then you have the final stage LOD 500, where final changes and replacements are made to the fabrication of the design.

Bringing it altogether, I would say that it was definitely hard to absorb everything said in this presentation. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was still in holiday mode, or the fact that I was too distracted by the lack of sleep I had the night before. However what I took from today’s lecture was that you have got to have some sort of patience in dealing with quantity surveying and as far as I’m concerned, patience does not exist in my vocabulary.

Hansen Yuncken- Constructing a Digital Future

Take a moment to picture your life without the technology we have today. If you you’re an internet junkie like I am, you should be screaming. Oh the horrors. Maybe I am over-exaggerating, but most of you probably haven’t realised how far technology has taken us.

So you probably heard the saying ‘everything comes at a cost’. Don’t you ever wonder what technology will cost us in the near future? This is definitely something to keep in mind, but in the words of Hansen and Yuncken CEO Joe Barr ‘technology has the ability to add value through innovation is very powerful, and if you are a first mover on this it’s going to deliver a real competitive advantage’, pinpointed my exact thought about the positive impact IT had on the building industry.

This was the topic of today’s lecture ‘Constructing a Digital Future’. How they come up with these interesting titles is something I will never know. We were introduced to Michael Park, an IT and programming manager from Hansen and Yuncken, who presented the topic of ‘HyWay System and Enterprise BIM Initiative’.

Having developed the ‘HyWay System’, Hansen and Yuncken is considered as one of Australia’s largest private construction company that has taken a new approach into capturing and processing information. The name itself has something innovative about the program, so I knew I was in for something interesting. Although I think my expectations were a bit high this time round.

One of the more interesting features of HyWay was the colour coding system, known as RAG. If you didn’t see it, RAG is simply an acronym for the colours, red, amber and green, which are used to code different areas of the project. For example, the areas in red indicate the parts of the project that may have a problem and needs attention to. Amber reads parts that need to be carefully supervised and lastly green simply correlates to ‘giving the green light’, literally! If you ask me, this was a pretty creative way of organising and maintaining the progress of projects, by simply alluding to traffic lights.

I think one of the downside of Hansen and Yuncken’s workplace principle is that the company aims to rid any form of paperwork or handwritten documents and instead encourages any work related paper to be submitted into an excel spreadsheet via online. It is clear that although this may have the benefit of time management, putting data online takes away the traditional method with pen and paper. This revisits my previous question ‘what will technology cost us in the future?’

There will be no upcoming posts next week, as I will be on my two week holiday break which I have been waiting on forever! No hard feelings. You will find me enjoying my assignment free-time, basking underneath the cool summer sun at Bondi Beach, with a few cocktails beside me. (Hint the sarcasm)

Goodbye!

IT Construction Delivery aka ‘It’s all in the hands of IT’

So I had a glimpse of a few of my very first posts from a while back, and I realise..

When I first heard about the Dr Chau Chak Wing building at UTS, my initial thought was where can I sign up for a building. But that’s beside the point. I will admit, I didn’t understand the concept behind the project’s architectural design, as it looked more like a micro-waved paper bag castle to me, however that wasn’t until I realised it was the innovation of materials and construction, that really labels this building as truly creative.

Dr Chau Chak Wing Building

Dr Chau Chak Wing

Already drawn into the subject, in Lecture 6, we were extremely lucky to have Julian D’Onofrio from Lend Lease and Rick Benjamin from ARUP to talk to us about IT Construction Delivery. Up first, we were given an exclusive behind the scenes look into the ‘Dr Chau Chak Wing building’, which is now currently under construction. It may seem like nothing at this stage, but really this project seems like something out of an abstract painting. From its twelve-storey high columns, to its unusual choice of fragmented brick works, this could really be Sydney’s next ‘Opera House’. Well, maybe I shouldn’t get too ahead of myself, but let’s take a look at the role IT plays behind this impressive structure. (Hopefully they’ll throw in a few sustainable features, and it will make me a happy woman). On a site note, I found this Time-lapsed video of the building posted on YouTube. Be sure to check it out!

What interest me most, were the unusual brick designs in which they called K Brick and there were five different types. As far as I was concerned, the only brick I knew existed were the standard bricks. However these custom design K bricks are specifically made to construct the exterior façade of the building, in order to achieve the desired curved design. Just to give you an idea of what K bricks look like check out the photo below.

Both guest speakers spoke about the important role IT had in delivering this project. If you could imagine, a complicated architectural design and construction, equates to higher risk management. BIM technology has been use to minimise these risk and also assist with the project which was no surprise there. Another impressive software is ‘Digital Projects’, a design tool that is used for projects that are more sophisticated and difficult to design and construct, like the Dr Chau Chak Wing Building. Digital Project application also allows parametric models to be created on a 3-D plan, which further assists with the construction of this innovative building.

I could really go on forever about this amazing project, but it’s time to hit the sack. Hope you enjoyed reading this, stay tuned for next time.

Move over CAD.. BIM is the new software.

Forget CAD, we now have a more impressive software in our hands….. and that is…. BIM. To this day an age, no-one really knows how far technology can take us. A perfect example of this is BIM technology. I will admit, there was much anticipation for this week’s lecture. Not only because it was construction related content, (Yes, I am a construction student), but the topic had caught my attention a while back during my high school studies with CAD/CAM.

The subject for this lecture was ‘BIM Coordination Technologies’, and as nerdy as it sounds, it had everything a sci-fi geek would dream of getting his hands on. We were introduced to two BIM experts Fawzi Soliman and Ryan Hanlen, both of whom we knew in an instance were the real deal, judging from their impressive resumes.

BIM is short for Building Information Modelling, and it is a process that encompasses the modelling and management of a building. As expected, the software has more than just one function. It can store information and documents in databases, as well as enable drawings in 2D to be rendered into 3D models. Generically, BIM software pretty much has it all. By this I mean, that it is feature that has not only assisted professionals in the industry, but has changed the methods we use to manage and develop projects on a large scale.

As you can imagine, there are many benefits of using BIM technology. One of the biggest advantages I found interesting was the efficiency and accuracy of the outcome. BIM has installed interrelated and cross-references information, an accessory that is useful when it comes down to that one minute detail that can cost you the entire project. This feature Fawzi mentioned, allows for managers to manage assets more accurately and efficiently, saving a lot of time along the way. Another impressive value of BIM is its ability to securely store information and data online which minimises the risk of losing work as well time efficiency. It almost feels as if BIM is has a whole new paradigm, that we didn’t know existed. However, in the end it must all come down to how BIM impacts on process of management in the field of the building industry.

According to Ryan, BIM has left a lasting impression on the building industry today (and me, If I could say so myself). There have definitely been more improvements in the built environment through the use of BIM, and hopefully it is put into good use in the near future. BIM is like in many ways an umbrella, as it spreads across a large area of building management. Thus it is important to understand BIM technology in order to follow other building softwares that will be mentioned in future posts.

IN BREAKING NEWS: RP Data is unreliable??

The caption of this post probably says it all. Today,I’m pretty sure every student, class mate, lecturers came into this presentation having thought the software RP Data, was one of the most reliable and useful resource tool in the property industry. In fact, at one point I even thought of the comparison ‘RP data is for real estates agents, what Facebook is for teenagers’.

This week’s guest speaker Allan Teale revealed the shocking cracks beneath the infamous web application RP Data. Surprisingly, he made it seem like RP data was not everything it made out to be. Having worked in the property industry for close to ten years now, as a real estate agent, my Dad himself admits he heavily relies on RP Data. I succumbed to ask him, what is it about RP Data that he particularly worshipped?

‘RP Data is like the Holy Grail behind property information. It has everything I need, within a simple click of a mouse’, he replied.

I was luckily enough to explore the RP Data website for an assignment on valuation, early this year. It really is simple as it sounds, with an account and an address, real estate agents can view loads of data and information on your property in a click of a button. I guess my dad did make a valuable point (did you see what I did there). RP Data proposes a more realistic value and offer on a property, as it allows us to view information on property history, comparable sales and generally info you wouldn’t usually get on your everyday webpage. Check out the YouTube video below on ‘How leading Real Estate agents can use RP Data’, posted from RP Data’s official YouTube page.

Allan wasted no time, getting down to the nitty gritty flaws of RP Data. He mentioned that although the application is a widely used source, it does not have the accuracy to be the best market indicator. This was clear in the example of a free-standing house in Alexandria (check pictures below), however according to RP Data, it was identified as a unit instead. OK, so there could’ve been a decent explanation behind this. Maybe a typo gone wrong or even just confusion with cross-reference information, surely one mistake does not account for the site’s entire reputation.

Although I was strongly opinionated, Allan had his own outlook on RP Data. He continued with another property domain called city scope, which focused more on the commercial property and strata units, side of real estate. Like RP Data, City Scope provides more detailed data and reliable information, however these applications were nothing compared to Pricefinder. It was obvious that Pricefinder was Allan’s bias among the three, as he boasted about the site’s simple format and accessibility.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I think we all have to take a moment and realise that without the tools and access to web applications like RP Data, real estate agents would not have the resources to do their job accurately and efficiently.

Until next time, bye fellow bloggers.

Property and Asset Management – IT TWO WAYS

Now picture yourself in 20 years in the future. It may be vastly different from today, however what really remains the same is the definition of ‘sustainability’. Whether it is ‘green and sustainable’ or simply those ‘typical buildings’ that only suffice basic needs, the ever-changing scene of the built environment is definitely a topic of debate. Moreover, the increasing awareness has caused the questioning of ‘are we really doing enough to maintain a balance of sustainability’?

Today’s lecture particularly reminded me of this question. In this week’s lecture ‘IT two ways’ Susan Feltaous and Carolyn Trickett, which of whom represented Jones lang Lasalle, spoke about the criteria of sustainability in the built environment. Susan started off by simply comparing a typical building and a high performance building. She mentioned the major differences in productivity that high performance buildings have over standard buildings and some of these features include lighting sensors and material selection.

Now what exactly makes a building ‘High Performing’, I hear you say? Just think of it as a healthy building, one that operates efficiently and productively. It must also be resilient in the context that buildings must be able to stand over time and sustainable along with driving requirements. Susan then went on to discuss NABERS, green star, and CBD which were all rating systems that measure the performance of a building. Now we’re back where we started with all those acronyms. Much to my confusion as to how we can actually ‘rate’ a building, I have to admit after the lecture i did whip up the good old Google search on ‘NABERS’. How it works, is that it provides a star rating system to your ‘building or tenancy that represents its actual operational performance’ according to NABERS NSW Office of Environment and Heritage website. The CBD and Green Star, generally follow the same idea as NABERs rating system.

To give us a better idea of what makes a High Performing Building, we looked at a case study of a building that has achieved a 6 Star Green Star and 5 Star NABERS energy rating, 161 Castlereagh St Sydney (pictured below). To me, it didn’t seem all that great at first, but I guess this is a perfect example of why we shouldn’t judge a book by its cover.

Finally, it was Carolyn’s turn to give us a brief run down on BMS (Building Management Systems) and what it generally involves. She began the presentation with a question, why do we build or buy property? Money. She described that in order to make a profit, we must look at ideas on how to reduce the maintenance and operation of buildings. This flow chart Carolyn used during the presentation, better describes how we can maximise project margins by integrating sustainable measures.

All in all, this presentation sparked my imagination of sustainability and society’s future. It really does make you question ‘where do we go from here?’.

So let me ask you, where DO we go from here? Comment on some of your thoughts down below.

Alex Moffatt Estate Master- Valuation and Fesability

It’s my second blog post, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around the whole blog posting thing. How am I doing so far?

Following up from my previous post, we now venture into the timeless world of property developers and real estate valuers, metaphorically speaking of course. In my imagination, property developers and real estate valuers have got it easy. Why? Well my initial thought was because of the large available resources that many people involved in the property industry have access to, allowing for better valuation.

Here to back me up this week is Alex Moffatt of Estate Master, who talked about the innovative software that has significantly impacted the property industry. It was not the first time I’ve seen the word Estate Master. I initially stumbled upon the software on a YouTube video, when I was distracted by the ad displayed on the bottom. But for those who have no clue what Estate Master is, it’s a property development software that assists property professional with all aspects of property valuation. It includes five main product suites and they are:

• Development Feasibility
• Development Management
• Corporate Consolidation
• Investment Appraisal
• Hotel Feasibility

If you take a look on YouTube, there are a number of Estate Master demo videos you can view. Here is one of the few many I found;

Although this is a lot to take in, I better understood Estate Master as simply a software aimed to help and assist property professionals in making better decisions, minimising risks and errors, and more importantly managing the entire building development process. I think the software is limited in comparison to other generic software’s such as BIM, however one of the functions Estate Master does offer is that it allows you to evaluate and compare the feasibility of projects. This option allows professionals to determine the value and development of the site, along with the highest and best use.

The software is restricted to property development and management, mainly targeting large investment companies. However, Alex mentioned that there was a DF Lite version available, offered to smaller firms and companies. What’s also interesting about this property software is that it uses familiar spreadsheet format and functions to the Microsoft Excel. We all know about Microsoft and to this advantage, makes the software easier and flexible to use across a variety of people. (Props to the man behind the desk)

I think it’s clear how the impact of Estate Master software, contributes to the property industry and in particular property individuals. It really goes to show how IT can be innovatively used to improve the control of projects, from valuation stage through to the risk management.

Geographic Information Systems Oh My!

If you didn’t catch the classic Wizard of Oz tagline in the title. Oh well.

Although I am no computer whiz and a first time blogger, fellow bloggers don’t judge harshly. Here is my take on today’s lecture.

Well I could say on behalf of the students in my class, that nobody enjoys attending a lecture on an early Tuesday morning. But luckily enough for me, I was able to grab my daily dosage of Toby Estate’s coffee which kicked in at a no more than perfect timing. We were introduced to guest speaker Borce Dimenski, a spatial analyst from the Urban Research Centre. He introduced a Information Technology System in planning called Geographic Information System, more commonly referred to as GIS. As sophisticated as it sounds, he described this system as a ‘computer based storage, maintenance, query and analysis of geographical data’.

To put it simply, GIS is an integration of five components:

• People
• Data
• Analysis
• Hardware
• Software

Now whoever thought a three letter acronym couldn’t be any less confusing and i’m not talking about the word HSC either. I quickly realised exactly what Borce meant with the impact of innovative technology that had on our daily lives. But how would most probably wonder, how could GIS technology possibly impact on our daily lives? Or more importantly for us, how is GIS used within the property and construction industry?

Without even knowing, we use GIS technology everywhere and everyday. As we all are most familiar with the iPhone, this device is an interesting example of how we use GIS to locate destinations and routes using a GPS system. Similarly, Google map offers a similar format, in which you could view locations on a broader and more global scale. However in more integral terms, GIS is generally used to illustrate what features look like in the world, and to give a demographic analysis for further research.

In light of this, Borce continued to break down the components of GIS.

1. What are the applications involved with GIS?
2. GIS in relation to the property/construction industry?

Virtually, GIS can be applicable to many stages from planning perspective through to cost management. Other applications of GIS include property, design, and construction and project management. These applications help identify demographic analysis, site selection, potential environmental factors and finance. One example of the way in which GIS can be applied to the cost management stage, is that it can allow more

 efficient and shortest paths or distance to be discovered and thus providing better service.

Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all for GIS technology when it is used as an app on our iPhone or Google Earth, but it really all comes down to how GIS impacts the construction and property sectors? I think it’s interesting the way we use GIS as a tool that we can receive many benefits and advantages from. It allows us to go beyond the boundaries, interpreting data in ways traditional methods cannot.