Iano's backfill

The Delivery of Design and Construction Services

AGC-AIA Dispute Represents Deeper AEC/O Rifts (Cadalyst, Oct 25, 2007) discusses how changes in methods of project delivery, such as building information modeling, are leading to changes in the traditional roles of the designer and builder--changes that do not always come easily.

The upcoming 5th Edition of Fundamentals of Building Construction (due Fall of 2008) will have an expanded discussion of the roles of the building and construction manager in the construction of buildings.

More Info
Building Futures Council
The AGC's BIM Initiatives and the Contractor's Guide to BIM (AEC Bytes)

More Really Small Houses

HELP Is on the Way (Dwell Magazine, Feb/Mar 2006) describes  Architect Carib Daniel Martin and builder Rob Bragans' disaster relief  HELP (Housing Every Last Person) Housing  prototype.

Martin and Bragans' housing system is intended as a mass produced emergency housing system, and was designed in response to the plight of thousands of Gulf Coast residents left homeless by the hurricane disasters of 2005.

Digital Building Modeling & Facilities Design

Build It First Digitally (ENR, October 10, 2005) describes General Motors Corporation's use of 3-d digital modeling to fundamentally change the design and construction of two manufacturing facilities: the 2.4 million square foot Lansing Delta Township vehicle assembly plant and the 442,000 square foot addition to the Global V6 engine plant in Flint, Michigan.

In the case of the Flint plant, benefits attributed to the new techniques include a 24-week reduction in the typical 85-week construction schedule, completion of construction 5 weeks ahead of schedule, and zero change orders for building component interface conflicts (i.e., conflicts between piping, ductwork, structure, and other such elements). Michael Neville, vice president and project principal at Ghafari Associates, the architectural/engineering technology integrator on the project states, "In 26 years I have never seen a project run with more collaboration and be so simple."

According to ENR, the design process worked as follows: At the end of each week, updated design data was delivered from design subcontractors to the technology integrator. Over the weekend, this data was integrated into the shared building model, and collision detection routines were run to identify physical conflicts between elements. On Mondays, the design team would meet to review and resolve conflicts. (In initial runs, as many as 3000 collisions were detected.) Once design was complete and all conflicts resolved, the building model was "locked" and all parties agreed to construct the building according to the design model.

Other impacts of a building information model-centric design process included:

• Loosening of GM's traditionally rigid design software standards to accomodate the specialized building information modeling tools used on the project
• Elimination of paper progress submissions at 30%, 60%, and 90% design completion
• Use of the building model for the development of $5.5 million in value engineering savings at 90% completion of design
• Gains in construction efficiency with greater reliance on off-site prefabrication of assemblies, reduced construction waste, and reductions in on-site worker forces

Moving forward with future projects, GM predicts savings of 3% to 5% per project through elimination of systems interference alone, not including additional savings due to reduced construction time.

For more on related topics, see other articles in this site's Innovations In Building Design & Delivery category.

Portable, Inflatable Concrete Shelter

Need a Building? Just Add Water (Wired News, March 15, 2005) reports on the "Concrete Canvas", a portable, inflatable concrete shelter developed by UK Royal College of Art-Imperial College Masters students Peter Brewin and William Crawford. Brewin and Crawford's key development is a patent-applied-for, cement-impregnated fabric bonded to an inner inflatable membrane. In its portable form, the total package consists of folded fabric stored within a sealed plastic sack weighing 230 kilograms (507 lb).

Once delivered to the site, the structure can be erected by a single individual. The sack is filled with water--the sack being sized to ensure the proper water/cement ratio--and then inflated. After a twelve-hour setting period, the structure is ready for occupation and provides 16 square meters (172 square feet) of floor space.

Applications envisioned for the Concrete Canvas include emergency shelters for disaster recovery operations, aid agency activities, etc. Since the shelter can be delivered sterile, it can also support surgical operations not otherwise feasible in remote settings.

Innovations in Project Design & Delivery

The following surveys some recent articles covering trends in design and construction innovation. This author's overall impression: "one step forward, one step backward...":

Innovation In Design
Why Is Europe Winning? (Architecture, 02/2005) argues that cultural and professional differences between the US and Europe conspire to discourage innovation in building technology in the US relative to building design overseas. This provocative article points to factors such as:

• Differences in attitudes toward teamwork and cooperation
• European culture's greater respect for the work of its designers and engineers
• The litigiousness of the US business environment
• The confrontational relationships between the various parties to construction common in US project delivery methods
• Poor craftsmanship in the US building industry
• The higher proportion of building owner/occupiers in the European construction market

Among other ideas, the article makes a case for the use of the British quantity surveyor system in US construction. In one cited case, a quantity surveyor was hired by Rice University in Houston to analyze a project that was budgeted at $16.5 million but bid at $32 million. Based on the quantity surveyor's work, whose fees where roughly $25,000, the bid was reduced to $19 million.

The article ends on a pessimistic note, claiming that evidence points to a decrease in innovation on both sides of the Atlantic due to competitive and economic pressures.

No Easy Stamp of Approval (ENR, February 21, 2005) discusses the challenges in gaining code approval of innovative performance based designs when the codes themselves continue to rely on--and code officials continue to place their trust in--prescriptive methods. In theory, building designers and engineers have two options for complying with building code requirements: either meet the precise, prescriptive requirements of the the code, or, submit alternative, performance-based designs that can achieve the objectives of the code while relying on alternative methods. In practice, gaining regulatory approval of untested designs based on innovative and complex technical models is often an uphill battle.

[Author's comment: Performance-based approaches are most likely to be considered for large projects where the potential savings in construction cost or added value to be gained from improved building performance are sufficient to compensate for the added expense inherent in the development of such designs.]

The article leads off with the following response from San Diego building officials to structural engineers Magnessun Klemencic Associates (MKA), regarding their proposed structural design for a 460-foot tall San Diego highrise:

"Given the serious concerns we have regarding a structure of this height not have a dual lateral force-resisting system, we recommend against the designers proceeding with their proposed [performance-based] design. Instead, we suggest the designers follow code-prescribed methods."

In contrast, MKA's proposed alternative, performance-based design for the 450-foot tall IDX tower in Seattle, met with building department approval, and has been occupied since 2003. These two examples illustrate the difficulties and uncertainties that designers may face in taking such approaches.

This article goes on to discuss recent developments in the use of performance-based design for structural and fire-safety engineering, standards for the development of performance-based design, methodologies for the review of performance-based designs by regulatory authorities or peer-based committees, and the prognosis for future growth in the reliance on performance-based methods.

Intelligent Modeling
The Commoner's CATIA (Architecture, 12/2004) reports on Gehry Technologies recent release of its Digital Project software, a customized version of Dassault Systemes' CATIA 3-D Modeling software. According to the article, Gehry Technologies aims to provide a product that is both more useful to the architectural designer, and more affordable.

Go Direct-To-Fabrication, and Cut Out the Middleman, a related sidebar in the same issue, discusses trends toward the use of CAD/CAM applications to allow the direct translation of design models to fabrication processes. At the Fabrication conference, co-sponsored by the AIA and the Association for Computer-Aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA), participants could get hands-on practice with parametric CAD technology by SmartGeometry Group, as well as Bentley System's Microstration GenerativeComponents software outputting scale models directly to a laser cutter by Universal Laser Systems, a 3-D printer by Z Corporation, or a three-axis router by Techno-Isel.

Why building information modeling isn't working...yet (Architecture Record, 09.04) argues that while the concept that architects should rely on intelligent 3-d models of their work is at least 25 years old, it still isn't ready for prime time. This commentary piece is written by Ken Sanders, FAIA, a well-known prognosticator on the application of information systems in architectural practice.

Sanders argues first that the construction of buildings does not necessarily lend itself readily to the types of design and manufacturing processes used in the automobile or aerospace industries:

• Buildings are not easily transported from place of manufacture to point of sale.
• Buildings are constructed within a complex tangle of varying local and regional codes, regulations, and standards.
• Building construction cannot amortize design costs over large economies of scale as with mass-produced items.
• Buildings are rarely produced using an integrated design-build process.

Next, Sanders goes on to make the point that technology is not the key prerequisite to accelerating the trend toward use of building information modeling (BIM). Rather the key is more meaningful partnerships between the various parties to construction--the owners, designers, and builders. Without fundamental changes in these relationships, the potential value of BIM cannot be realized. Finally, the article concludes with a discussion of practical steps that can be initiated by the design and construction professions to further these goals.

Standards
AGC addresses document software interoperability (The Construction Specifier, December 2004) describes the Associated General Contractors of America's collaboration with Fiatech, a non-profit technical consortium, to develop XML standards for the enabling interoperability among construction management documents and systems. This news item also states that according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology, a lack of information interoperability costs general contractors $1 billion annually.

Congress Halts Metric Conversion Plans (Masonry Construction, February 2005) reports that the US Congress recently passed legislation stopping federal procurement policy that would have compelled the concrete masonry industry to manufacturer concrete masonry units to "hard" metric sizes for use in construction of federal facilities. According to the article, detractors claim that the change in size amounts to only a fraction of inch, but would require expensive retooling by most masonry manufacturers, and would lead to confusion in the marketplace as the newly-sized units would be visually indistinguishable from, but incompatible with, non-metric units.

Teamwork
The notions of teamwork and effective communicaiton as keys to technical success runs as a thread through much of the above. This sentiment is echoed by the editorial Paris Accident Shows the Need for More Team Building and the companion article, Airport Roof Failure Blamed on Process, (both in ENR, February 21, 2005):

"It seems that the industry must learn its harshest lessons...from disasters rather than in a measured way in classrooms, offices and labs. The partial collapse of the 640-meter long concourse at Paris Charles de Gaulle airport last May 23 should send a signal that there is a need for change in the French design process. The rest of the construction world should pay attention to the underlying principals of teamwork."

In this author's opinion, the more technically challenging the project, the more its success depends on the quality of the communication and collaboration among the parties involved in its design and construction.

Calatrava's Turtle Bay Sundial Bridge

What price beauty? According to Metropolis Magazine (Buying The Bridge, November 2004) the final cost for Santiago Calatrava's footbridge over the Sacramento River for the town of Redding, California was $23.5 million, far above the original $3 to $5 million budgeted for the project.

The bridge connects the city's Turtle Bay Museum with parkland on the river's opposite shore. The bridge's 700 foot long by 23 foot wide deck is supported by a sculptural, inclined steel pylon and 14 cable stays. The steel pylon was fabricated in Vancouver, Washington and shipped to the site in sections weighing 30 to 40 tons each. In order to minimize the bridge's environmental impact, it avoids setting foot in the river or even casting shadows into the river's sensitive salmon spawning grounds. Yet the pylon does function as a sun dial, casting its shadow onto the large plaza formed at its base.

According to Modern Steel Construction's Sun Sculpture (October 2004), the project was not just a financial challenge for the client, but also a constructional challenge. The project required approximately 500 construction drawings to be completed by the construction team based on preliminary design drawings provided by Calatrava. This documentation work included:

• 3-d modeling of the original design
• Sophisticated mathematical adjustment of the 3-d model providing cambering to counteract dead and live loads on the structure
• Development of detailed descriptions of each of more than 1200 steel plates, including different angle cuts on each edge in preparation for full-penetration welding to adjacent plates
• Preparation of several scale models and an animation to assist with visualization of the bridge and its construction sequencing

Complicating this work was the fact that the pylon is a double-walled structure, with the non-parallel inner and outer walls. Detailing took almost 2 years to complete.

Developments In Low-Cost Residential Construction

ICF Homes
Concrete Homes Continue to Rule The Roost in Lubbock, Concrete Homes Newsletter, May/June 2004, describes the City of Lubbock, Texas's ongoing efforts to replace substandard and deteriorating homes with new homes built with insulating concrete form (ICF) construction.

The replacement program is part of the city's Affordable Housing Reconstruction Program, which receives funding from federal, state, and private sources. According to the article, ICF constructed homes have proven so energy efficient and disaster resistant that the city no longer accepts bids for conventional wood-frame constructed homes.

NAHB Demonstration Homes
Houses M.A.D.E. for research, Fine Homebuilding, July 2004, describes the National Association of Home Builder's (NAHB) four demonstration houses constructed using materials and methods highlighted in NAHB's 1999 Builder's Guide to Marketable, Affordable, Durable, Entry-Level Homes to Last (MADE).

Innovations demonstrated in these projects include:

• precast concrete foundation walls
• advanced framing methods
• maintenance-free siding and roofing materials
• air-admittance valves (mechanical venting ports used in a plumbing system to eliminate conventional pipe venting)
• CPVC plastic water piping
• standing seam metal roofs
• high-efficiency floor plans

Prefabricated Homes
Factory-Built Houses, Fine Homebuilding, June/July 2004, compares pros, cons, and costs of three types of prefabricated home construction technologies: panelized, modular, and structurally insulated panels (SIPs).

For each technology, this full-length article describes the basic systems involved, describes the building process with first-hand accounts and annotated photographs, and provides brief lists of pros and cons. The challenges in attempting to create apples-to-apples cost comparisons between the three technologies are also discussed. Some bottom-line conclusions include:

• Panelized construction offers shortened construction time with few if any limitations on design flexibility.
• Modular construction offers the shortest construction time and greatest potential costs savings, but is more limited in design flexibility. (Except for connecting plumbing, electric, and laying carpet, a house can be erected in as little as one day.)
• SIPs construction offers high energy efficiency and high structural strength, but at higher costs than the other systems featured in this article.

More Info
_For additional articles on Lubbock's ICF home building program see Lubbock emerges as frontrunner in concrete home construction, and Rebuilding a Community with Strong, Energy Efficient, Affordable Homes.
_More information on MADE homes is available at Results from the Field: MADE Project Path Field Evaluation Site.
_For more articles on this site related to innovative construction technologies see this site's innovations in project design & delivery category. For another example of modular construction aspiring to quality design and environmental friendliness not previously mentioned on this site, see also The Glidehouse by mkarchitecture.

Straw-Bale Construction

Straw-Bale Construction: A Review of Testing and Lessons Learned To Date, Building Safety Journal, May-June 2004, provides a thorough overview of straw-bale construction methods and capabilities.

Noteworthy points include:

• The material qualities of straw bales are discussed, such as size, moisture content, density, fiber length, and bale condition.
• Wall systems can be either loadbearing or nonloadbearing.
• Straw bales in walls are typically coated with various types of plasters, creating a structural composite. Depending on the plaster type, significant structural strength can be added by this outer finish material.
• Moisture or vapor barrier type materials should not be inserted between the straw bales and the outer plaster finish materials. Plaster should be bonded directly to the straw bales, and the entire assembly should remain breathable.
• Flashings or membranes are recommended at window sills, shower stalls, and top of foundation walls.
• Straw-bale walls should be protected from excessive moisture by generous roof overhangs and foundation walls that keep bales well above grade.
• Straw-bale wall assemblies provide insulation performance in the range of R-27 to R-30.
• Plastered straw-bale wall assemblies achieved fire-resistance ratings ranging from 1 to 3 hours when tested according to ASTM E119. Unplastered bales have exhibited a flame spread of 10 and a smoke development index of 350 when tested according to ASTM E84 (meeting building code requirements for fire-test characteristics of insulation materials).
• Structural tests have demonstrated bearing capacities in the range of 3300 to 4300 pounds per lineal foot, as well as significant out-of-plane and in-plane lateral force resistance (in some cases exceeding the strength of plywood-sheathed light wood framed wall construction).

More Information
EBnet provides reports and testing information related to straw-bale construction.

Conference: Industrial processes & building design

Fabrication: A conference examining the digital practice of architecture, is a November 2004 conference addressing the question "How can emerging industrial processes reshape building design and construction?".

The conference is being presented by The AIA Technology in Architectural Practice Professional Interest Area, The Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture, and hosted by The University of Waterloo School of Architecture and The University of Toronto Faculty of Architecture, Landscape and Design. It is being held November 11-13, 2004, in Cambridge, Ontario.

Custom Prefab Trends

Prefab: Don't Ask, Don't Tell?, Dwell Magazine, April/May 2004, recaps some current developments in the prefabrication of quasi-custom homes, including:

• High-quality prefab cottages for a country resort. Due to the traditional stigma associate with factory-built housing, the developer, resort publicist, and architect all prefer not to advertise that the resort units are in fact prefabricated (hence the article's title).
• Royal Home of Toronto Canada is launching its Q Series modernist modular homes and cottages. According to the article, these homes are a "green product" and can be built in just three weeks. (See image above.)
• Architects David Salmela and Tim Alt, and landscape architect Shane Coen have designed Mayo Woodlands, a 470-acre housing development on land owned by the Mayo Clinic. High-end custom homes incorporate prefabricated wall panels.
• Dwell Magazine's own prefabricated Dwell Home continues to progress and is currently scheduled for installation on site in North Carolina this April 5th.

For more on this topic, see also on this site:
Prefab Modern
refabricating Architecture

Chicago's Millenium Park

Chicago Team Struggles To Impose Order On Chaos, ENR, February 9, 2004, describes the challenges faced in the construction of Chicago's $475 million music amphitheater designed by Frank Gehry. According to the article, success of the project depended on "computer enhanced" techniques such as three-dimensional solid object modeling, "net" meetings conducted over the World Wide Web, high-tech surveying of in-place construction, and computer aided fabrication.

The article describes some of the positives and challanges of working on a structure with complex geometry. On the plus side, steel system RFIs were reduced to 125, from an estimated 10,000 if computerized modeling had not been employed. On the other hand, misalignments in fabricated supports required as built modeling of the in-place structure so that it could be tested against the original design model, and then descrepencies identified and corrected.

The article continues on at some length regarding structural design and analysis, constructability issues, temperature- and load-related movements, steel erection strategies, panel fabrication, and more. For those interested in the new digitally driven design and construction methods, this article is a good reference.

Integrated Steel Design

To Help Save Time, Structural Engineer Wears Harder Hat, ENR, February 2, 2004, describes Tacoma Washington's use of innovative CAD modeling and fabrication techniques to preorder structural steel for the 279,000 square foot Mt. Tahoma High School. On this project, engineers Putnam Collins Scott Associates developed a digital three-dimensional object based model from which steel detailing and fabrication could proceed. This process effectively removed steel procurement and detailing from the project's critical path and shaved close to three months off of the project's construction schedule.

The ENR article discusses both the risks and potential benefits of these so-called integrated steel design (ISD) techniques. On the Mt. Tahoma High School project, they were highly successful. In addition to reductions in the construction schedule, the engineers claim that there were only 13 RFIs related to structural steel (an unusually low number for a project of this size); of over 2900 anchor bolts only four for one base plate required modification; and of over 15,000 bolted connections, there were no mismatches.

These techniques also create new risks. With ISD, the owner's design team takes responsibility for steel detailing, instead of the general contractor and its suppliers. Additionally, with ISD, steel detailing information flows directly from the design model to the fabricator, without separate review by the general contractor or steel fabricator. This requires a steel designer sufficiently knowledgeable regarding steel fabrication and erection.

Plastic Wrap for Buildings?

The Cleverest Building Material Around, The Sustainable Metropolis, describes SmartWrap, a thin, plastic membrane material under development for use as a complete building cladding system. Product developers James Timberlake and Stephen Kieren of KierenTimberlake Associates claim the material has the ability to change color and appearance, perform the functions of shelter and control of interior climate, and provide light and electricity. The membrane's heating, lighting, information display, and energy collection and storage capabilities can all be controlled by computer, either on- or off-site.

Finally, in an apparant hat trick, the material is claimed to be 100% recyclable.

More On Digital Model-to-Fabricator Design Methods

Metropolis Magazine, February 2004 includes two interesting examples of the growing use of digital design models as templates for streamlined fabrication and assembly.

The Architecture of Art describes Sarah Sze's Second Means of Egress art installation for One Metro Center, a new SOM-designed office building in Washington, DC. Resembling a somewhat abstracted, Esher-like version of a fire escape, the piece is a permanent installation in this building's six-story atrium. Architects nArchitects were brought into the project to assist in the devlopement of a previous smaller scale work into something that was structurally feasible, practical from a fabrication standpoint, and still true to the artist's conception. The project was re-worked in a 3-d digital model and the final design was delivered to the metal fabricator in that form. A strategy of interchangable modular components allowed the artist to make revisions even during final erection.

Also in this issue, Print Preview describes architects Andrew Thurlow and Maia Smalls' conceptual work applying digital manufacturing processes to house design and fabrication. Quoting Small, "People will spend $150,000 on a very contemporary looking RV, but then they want to spend $40,000 on a manufactured home that looks like the ones built twenty years ago." Other digitally-driven projects by the Thurlow Small Atelier, include a mobile HIV/AIDS medical clinic and their art pavilion proposal for the Calgary ArtCity 2002 competition.

Approximately during the month of February 2004, more on the Thurlow Small Atelier will be viewable at www.metropolismag.com/portfolio/. After the month of February, the same material should be viewable at www.metropolismag.com/html/content_0204/prt/.

refabricating Architecture

REVIEW
refabricating Architecture, by Stephen Kieran and James Timberlake (McGraw-Hill, 2004), is subtitled "How Manufacturing Methodologies Are Poised to Transform Building Construction". In a nutshell, this book proposes that techniques of prefabrication and modularization common in other industries should be applied to the design and construction of buildings, so as to achieve less expensive, higher quality buildings that can be constructed in less time.

At its best, this book draws on the authors' own research into contemporary trends in design and manufacturing in the automobile, commercial airline, ship building, and other industries; it presents examples of the authors' attempts at applying lessons learned to their own projects; and it offers interesting insites into how the traditional organization of construction trades and suppliers inhibits innovation in project delivery methods.

Though at times the writing style seemed to this author a bit ponderous, for readers interested in innovations in project delivery methods within the design and construction industries, this book is a worthwhile read.

Reverse Auctioning of Construction Services

AGC cautions on use of 'reverse auctioning', Building Design & Construction, 12.03, reports on the Association of General Contractors of America's recent report to members urging caution when considering the purchasing or bidding of construction services through recently devised "reverse auction" procurement systems.

Reverse auction systems are typically hosted through Internet enabled e-commerce hosts. More frequently applied to the procurement of commodities and manufactured goods, these systems are now finding their way into the construction services realm. In such a system, bids are submitted electronically. Submitted bid amounts are visible to all bidders. As lower bids from competing providers are received, other bidders are encouraged to revise and resubmit their own, lower bids. In some cases bid revision cycles may occur in just a matter of minutes. Purported benefits include increased price competition, increased size of bidder group, and reduced time required for receipt of bids.

The major concerns raised by AGC include:

• Reverse auctions do not guarantee lowest price.
• Reverse auctions may encourage imprudent bidding.
• Negotiated procurement allows more thorough evaulation of bid value.
• Sealed bidding ensures that the successful bidder is responsive and responsibile.
• Reverse auctions may contravene federal procurement laws and certain state laws.

At the time of this writing, AGC's full report is available on line at White Paper on Reverse Auctions. This white paper also takes a strong position regarding the distinctions between traditional manufacturing and building construction:

[Reverse auctioning] ignores the unique nature of construction. Construction contractors, specialty contractors, subcontractors and suppliers offer and provide a mix of services, materials and systems. They do not “manufacture” buildings, highways, or other facilities. In fact, the construction process is fundamentally different from the manufacturing process.

To this author, the AGC's statements look like more than just a position against reverse auctioning, but also a broader charge against the increasing interest in applying manufacturing principles to construction industry services. See Category project design/project delivery innovations (on this site) for additional future articles on this topic.

Prefab Modern

Prefabrication, the Speculative Builder’s Tool, Has Been Discovered by Modernist Designers, Architecture Record 12.03, is a continuing education article that discusses recent developments in architects' application of prefabrication technologies to the residential home market. This in an interesting, wide-ranging article from both design and technology standpoints.

The work of featured architects is particularly worth a look:

• Resolution: 4 Architecture's winning entry in Dwell magazine's competition for prefabricated homes is based on traditional modular construction. This project is not only conceptual--it will soon be built for a North Carolina client.
• Nottoscale
have developed a modular system based on automotive manufacturing principals.
• Designer Tim Pyne's m-house is based on traditional mobile home technology.
• Architects KieranTimberlake Associates used off-site fabrication techniques to overcome challanging site and scheduling issues for Upper Court, Pierson College, a new dormitory addition at Yale University.

Another interesting resource identified in this article is Michael Sylvester's fabprefab site dedicated to prefabricated and modular systems for construction of homes in the modernist style.

What is Hypertrack Construction?

Hypertrack Projects Push Too Hard (ENR, December 1 2003) claims that fast-track project delivery is now the norm, that super-accelerated projects, aka "hypertrack", are becoming more common--and that the construction industry is suffering as a result. Yet this piece does not provide much of an explanation of what hypertrack construction is.

So what is "hypertrack"? A few hits from Google produced the following:

Conference Explores Informed Architecture (Architecture Week, February 14 2001) describes hypertrack as "instead of working sequentially — first programming then schematic design then design development then construction documents then construction administration — much of the work was done simultaneously".

GETTING UK CONSTRUCTION PEOPLE TO THINK LEAN - WHERE TO START? A CASE STUDY (Sixth Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction) proposes:

• An "open and equal" culture
• A flattened structure of authority
• Trust and empowerment in decision-making
• Improved teamwork
• Improvement in the speed of decision making
• All participants on site
• Equality as partners
• Site based design
• Suppliers regarded as part of the team

Hypertrack (H+M Company, Inc.) in a more promotional vein boasts "Techniques such as just-in-time delivery and parallel workflow models have been implemented at H+M’s construction sites. 'We literally take the joists off of the truck, panelize them and set them in place. They never touch the ground...'"

Returning to Hypertrack Projects Push Too Hard, some of the risks cited for this method of project delivery include large change orders, serious schedule delays, inflexible scheduling, over reliance on top-level personnel, and handcuffed design. While admitting that hypertrack is appropriate for some project circumstances, the article encourages architects and construction managers to resist the increasing pressure to adopt hypertrack techniques as the construction industry's standard method of project delivery.

Shipping Containers As Living Units

Shipping Containers Show Promise for Living Space, ENR November 17 2003, is an intriguing look at the proposed use of metal shipping containers for low-cost housing and working space.

Image courtesy of Fox & Fowle Architects

The article highlights Fox & Fowle Architect's entry for a Boston Society of Architects competition for creative solutions to sprawl. Their scheme proposes a complex of 351 duplex loft-style units and 170,000 square feet of commercial space, structured with 3,000 containers, stacked as much as 8-high. A hotel, civic/cultural space, and parking are also part of the plan. According to the article, the architects are in discussion with a number of developers.

Lean Construction?

A topic that perhaps deserves more attention in the future on this site relates to trends in project management, both within construction and design. Current research and development in methods of lean construction, derived in part from the "just in time" production methods pioneered at Toyota Manufacturing, are one example.

In the mean time, on a lighter note, software programmer Mary Poppendieck relates an amusing tale of her forray into the world of construction management. Beyond the humorous intro, her reflections on aspects of construction management are actually interesting.

Would you like to see more commentary on issues related to project management? Leave a comment by clicking on the link below or email me and let me know what you think.