SURVEYING THE SECTOR
Päivi Puntila , Business Development Director , Trimble , BIM and Engineering Division transport in new material . It ’ s beneficial for the environment and hopefully in the future can be offered in a competitive way ,” he says .
Changes needed at the industry level
One of the main barriers to realising AFRY ’ s vision is the absence of a standardised industrywide BIM inventory . Cost considerations and compliance issues also pose challenges .
In Finland , for example , it can be challenging to obtain a building permit for re-use . The country maintains strict standards for safety and indoor air quality . Old buildings often raise concerns around hazardous substances used in original construction materials .
Circular efforts are not easy to introduce on a large scale , but through the Keran Hallit project AFRY has identified some key areas for development .
“ We need a common platform that collects all the information on building parts that are available .
Then architects and engineers can see what ’ s there before they start the work . You could even sell the materials through the platform ,” says Rinne-Kanto .
“ Re-use also demands closer collaboration between architects and structural engineers in the first phase of design ,” she says . “ An architect may think some materials would work well together , but the structural engineer may see something about their qualities that makes them unsuitable . Re-use is more complex in this way .”
While the practice of reusing building parts is still developing , it ’ s likely to become a more popular trend in coming years . Now is the time for the global construction industry to align its ways of working and collaborating in order to accelerate this transition to a more sustainable future . �
www . intelligentbuild . tech 43