Grant: Alliance Grants
University of Alberta
$295,376.00
Industrialization and Decarbonization of the Construction Process
EF 2022-23
Résumé
Building construction is an important industrial sector, yet it is lagging in innovation, employing conventional methods with high rates of waste, human error, rework, and occupational hazards. To address these issues, the following objectives will be pursued: (1) characterize the current practice and use lean concepts to improve the productivity of the offsite building construction sector; (2) develop technologies to facilitate mechanization and automation of the offsite building construction sector; (3) develop a framework for data-driven planning and management in construction manufacturing; (4) propose a building information modelling (BIM)-based framework to automate drafting and design for manufacturing, automate the assessment of GHG, and automate the assessment of building system energy demand to support low-energy building technologies; (5) apply artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools to digitalize the manufacturing process; (6) improve occupational safety through ergonomics studies; and (7) develop a framework for onsite installation of prefabricated building components using mobile cranes.ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS: (i) carry out simulation-based/comparative CO2 quantification as the basis for developing low-ecological impact construction practices; (ii) reduce material waste; and (iii) minimize emissions from the manufacturing process through the application of BIM, automated drafting and design, and advanced automation. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH BENEFITS: develop manufacturing technologies and best practices that improve safety through ergonomic measures. This will involve intelligent work assessments and physical demand analysis to establish best practices for injury prevention in construction manufacturing. ECONOMIC BENEFITS: contribute to Canada's economy by: (i) contributing to job creation, including skilled positions in automation; (ii) improving productivity by mitigating human error, reducing rework, and enabling continuous production through automation; (iii) training HQP with expertise in implementing industrialization; (iv) enhancing affordability through more efficient construction processes; and (v) developing exportable building products/components.
Programme
Alliance Grants
Bénéficiaire
Emplacement
Alberta, Canada
Type de bénéficiaire
Academia
Type
Grant
Source
NSERC's Awards Data
Tel que publié
Application id
577047-2022
Name nom
Al-Hussein, Mohamed M
Department département
Civil and Environmental Engineering
Organization id
9
Institution établissement
University of Alberta
Province en
Alberta
Province fr
Alberta
Country en
CANADA
Country fr
CANADA
Fiscal year exercice financier
2022
Competition year année de concours
2022
Award amount
295376
Program id
ALLRP
Program name en
Alliance Grants
Program name fr
Subventions Alliance
Group en
RESEARCH PARTNERSHIPS
Group fr
PARTENARIATS DE RECHERCHE
Committee code
96
Committee name en
RPP Internal Decision Cttee
Committee name fr
Cté de décision interne - PPR
Area of application code
603
Area of application group en
Construction, urban and rural planning
Area of application group fr
Construction, urbanisme et aménagement rural
Area of application en
Construction methods
Area of application fr
Méthodes de construction
Research subject code
1001
Research subject group en
Civil engineering
Research subject group fr
Génie civil
Research subject en
Construction engineering and management
Research subject fr
Génie et gestion du bâtiment
Installment
inst:1;2
Partie
2
Nb partie
2
Application title
Industrialization and Decarbonization of the Construction Process
Application summary
Building construction is an important industrial sector, yet it is lagging in innovation, employing conventional methods with high rates of waste, human error, rework, and occupational hazards. To address these issues, the following objectives will be pursued: (1) characterize the current practice and use lean concepts to improve the productivity of the offsite building construction sector; (2) develop technologies to facilitate mechanization and automation of the offsite building construction sector; (3) develop a framework for data-driven planning and management in construction manufacturing; (4) propose a building information modelling (BIM)-based framework to automate drafting and design for manufacturing, automate the assessment of GHG, and automate the assessment of building system energy demand to support low-energy building technologies; (5) apply artificial intelligence (AI)-based tools to digitalize the manufacturing process; (6) improve occupational safety through ergonomics studies; and (7) develop a framework for onsite installation of prefabricated building components using mobile cranes.ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS: (i) carry out simulation-based/comparative CO2 quantification as the basis for developing low-ecological impact construction practices; (ii) reduce material waste; and (iii) minimize emissions from the manufacturing process through the application of BIM, automated drafting and design, and advanced automation. OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH BENEFITS: develop manufacturing technologies and best practices that improve safety through ergonomic measures. This will involve intelligent work assessments and physical demand analysis to establish best practices for injury prevention in construction manufacturing. ECONOMIC BENEFITS: contribute to Canada's economy by: (i) contributing to job creation, including skilled positions in automation; (ii) improving productivity by mitigating human error, reducing rework, and enabling continuous production through automation; (iii) training HQP with expertise in implementing industrialization; (iv) enhancing affordability through more efficient construction processes; and (v) developing exportable building products/components.
