HSLU discusses digitization and AI in construction
Lucerne/Horw - Digitization and artificial intelligence (AI) are neither a blessing nor a curse for the construction industry, they are simply essential. On this, the 110 industry experts taking part in this year’s seminar at the Institute for Building Technology and Energy at the Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HSLU) were agreed.
The construction industry needs both digitization and AI in order to respond to the increasing complexity and density of data. A press release from the HSLU on the seminar at the university’s Institute for Building Technology and Energy (IGE) adds that these are also required to help improve efficiency in times of skills shortages, declining productivity and an urgent necessity to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of buildings.
Taking place each year, the IGE event is aimed at specialists in energy, construction and building technology as well as architecture. This year’s seminar welcomed 110 participants.
Several speakers shed light on the latest developments in AI relevant to the construction industry. Bruno Michel from IBM Research talked about «Artificial Unintelligence», when generative AI combined with poor training data taken from the internet generates false information. The fact that a lack of training data is a major problem for the construction industry was also explored by Jörn Plönnings from the University of Rostock. However, it was made clear that AI is neither a blessing nor a curse, but – given the increasing complexity and flood of data – a necessity.
Marcel Imfeld from Schindler Lifts and Roman Steffen from Trafiko spoke on intelligent mobility enabling the densification of urban landscapes and fewer car parks in an area. Also the automated monitoring of buildings was a focus in various talks.
The HSLU introduced its Lightscore project, through which it plans to create evidence-based integrated light evaluation. The university is also working on a new SIA standard for the energy efficiency of computer centers. Lastly, Roger Buser from the HSLU reported on his journey through India in the zero-emissions solar-powered vehicle Solar Butterfly, which is made from recycled ocean plastic. He shared photos showing the many innovative solutions to combat climate change he discovered along the way.
