Maissoun Ksara - B4: Weekly Post

For this project, I will be working with Drew Hovey on distinguishing between an “intelligent” and a “green” building. 

The specific prompt: Explore the interaction between making a building “intelligent” and making it “Green.” Are they equivalent? Is it necessary to be “intelligent” to be “green”? Etc

The motivation for this project is that words like “intelligent” or “green” are constantly thrown around in the construction and building design industry. We hear that buildings must be intelligent or must be green, and it can be very confusing for the populace. Is an intelligent building a green building? Or are they completely different? This paper will shed some light on this topic and hopefully clear up some misconceptions, confusion, or ignorances. 

The main idea is that Intelligent buildings  ≠  Green buildings. Drew and I came up with our thesis statement (which is up for revision) and this thesis will be the framework of our paper. It says that “Although there is a significant overlap between intelligent and green buildings, they are their own entity and serve a distinct purpose into advancing the constructions industry towards being more innovative.”

This paper will begin by first defining the above terms and going into specifics about what makes a building intelligent or green. It is important to see where the two converge and also diverge from each other. Then, the bulk of the paper will be on several case studies and going through current examples or an intelligent, green, or intelligent AND green building. Finally, the drawbacks such as cost, variability in design, and so forth will be discussed. 

My personal goal for this project is to learn about the design process for both an intelligent and green building. What are the different factors that qualify a building as intelligent, and how can those be incorporated into any design project? I also would like to learn more about retrofitting current buildings to green or intelligent buildings. I have taken a sustainability course last term which discussed green building principles, but I would like to expand on that and further the knowledge on design. A challenge is finding relevant information on current buildings that are both intelligent and green, or case studies where Drew and I can pinpoint each of the two’s characteristics. I think since this concept is fairly recent, there might not be enough information that we can pull from online.

Useful References 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0926580597000186

http://www.journalofgreenbuilding.com/doi/abs/10.3992/jgb.2.3.106?code=copu-site

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=comparing+and+contrasting+green+and+intelligent+buildings

http://www.nbmcw.com/tall-construction/28632-green-and-intelligent-construction.html

https://briannev.wordpress.com/disadvantages/

https://www.designingbuildings.co.uk/wiki/The_problems_with_smart_buildings

http://regencyhomesomaha.com/advantages-and-disadvantages-of-converting-your-home-into-a-smart-home/

https://www.uvm.edu/rsenr?Page=aiken/aiken.html 

Peer Comments

Alex Koo: I personally have minimal to zero knowledge on virtual reality in construction and think your topic idea is extremely interesting. I would love to learn more about virtual reality technologies. The intersection of Intelligent Buildings and Virtual Reality is the future and I think its important to get up to speed with its current progress to possibly have some influence on it in the future. 

Rachel Frank: When I first watched the video of how AI is used in the construction industry, I was amazed. This topic is very exciting and innovative. I’m not familiar at all with the different kinds of robots used and the different purposes they each serve, so I think this project would be helpful and beneficial in shedding light on the topic. To me, the extent of my knowledge is the bricklaying robots. The idea that there might be more is amazing. I agree that it might be challenging to find information on this topic because it is so new (I think I will struggle with the same challenge).

Egla Qori: I 100% agree with you on the idea that creating families is a time and headache saver. If it weren’t for the bookcase project that was due couple of weeks ago, I wouldn’t have known that creating families was even a possibility on Revit. I have very limited Revit experience, so I’m glad I was introduced to this topic while I’m still in the beginning stages of learning. Your project does seem extensive and I can see why the use of families is a huge benefit. I can definitely see how this can help you in your future career, since most structural engineering firms see this skill as a big asset.