Related Links: Top Apps Recommended by FutureTech Readers and ENR Editors AEC App Showcase by Case/SOM Nine Noteworthy Apps for Construction Something big is happening in construction technology. It goes beyond the recent rampant growth of smart devices on jobsites and the explosive development of apps around the globe. It even goes beyond the growth of cloud computing, helping to manage large project files with faster networks that connect far-flung work crews.As big as these trends are, an even bigger shift is happening: Collaboration and web services are becoming the norm on more and more projects and transforming how the
By Tom Sawyer IBM's Bartlett called for urgent action to reduce building energy waste By Tom Sawyer Rudolf and Sletten's Chris Jadwin speaks with EarthCam representatives. Related Links: The Rise of the Super Subs Collaboration Apps Top ENR Survey Results Construction practitioners are eager to embrace technology to improve the industry, but they are hungry for information that can help them see how.More than 300 construction professionals turned out for ENR's FutureTech Conference, held on March 14 in San Francisco, looking for just that kind of information. It was the fourth ENR-sponsored event in the past two years on the
Courtesy of New York City Health and Hospitals Corp. Superstorm Sandy's floodwaters submerged the basement and subsequently inundated nine to 12 inches of the first floor of the Health and Hospital Corp.'s Coney Island hospital. Health-care owners, contractors and other stakeholders are grappling with a host of issues in Superstorm Sandy's wake. As the storm's waters filled hospital basements and, in many cases, reached first floors, one question that has arisen is where to relocate the information-technology and other critical systems and equipment that typically reside there. While the 2001 terrorist attacks caused many hospitals to install wide-area networks and
As managers grapple to ensure their companies use the best technology in the right ways, sometimes what really matters are the simple human aspects—interactions between technicians, designers and managers—to make sure that we all draw maximum productivity from one another.As the IT manager at the architectural and engineering firm of Paulus Sokolowski and Sartor, I have learned that there are three key areas where IT leaders and business managers must focus to ensure technology works well in the organization: -Building Trust—The technology team must build a good working relationship with their end users: engineers, designers and project managers. -Collaboration—IT and CADD leaders
Related Links: Aconex Touts Integration With New Field App U.S. ERP Vendor Viewpoint Reels In U.K. Collaboration Service 4Project For every project team that uses 3D building information models and punch-list apps to improve productivity on a jobsite, the handoff of the building to its owners and building managers is still, for many, a paper-driven affair.Leigh Jasper, the CEO of project collaboration-software company Aconex, is on a mission to change that handoff process to digital documentation with the firm's release of its latest operations-and-management (O&M) suite of tools.Called Smart Manuals, the offering aims to align construction project information through O&M
Related Links: Infographic: How Biometric Security was Deployed at London's Olympic Park Tracking Gear on the Jobsite, Big and Small Big Brother? Workers React to Monitoring Georgia Tech RAPIDS Lab Imagine a world in which construction workers' daily routine includes gaining access to their jobsites only after a machine scans the unique biological makeup of their irises or the geometry of their hands. In conjunction with the biometric scan, a security-pass lanyard is used. Each security pass carries a worker's information, including all the worker's credentials, OSHA certifications, ethnicity, gender—and even their home zip code. Multiply that scenario by 9,000
Related Links: QR Codes Unlocking Secrets of NYC Building Permits NYC Dept. of Buildings Website New York City's Dept. of Buildings has become a hub for apps that help users access building information with their smart devices.The latest release from the DOB's Digital Hub division is a free app that lets users look up information on nearly 1 million properties throughout the city's five boroughs.Available for Apple and Android devices, the app features a basic menu of search functions. After a user types in a building's address and borough, the app pulls up information such as the lot number, building
I started my career in a different era, developing software applications for DOS, Mac computers and Unix systems.Software development was complex in those days. For example, we had to establish special code to render screens on three different platforms. Things became easier with the introduction of HTML and browsers, but the functionality was limited. Today, while we still have some complexities with multiple browsers and devices, developing software is much easier and faster and delivered at higher quality. The results are a huge proliferation of commercial and proprietary applications. Further, there are now hundreds of thousands of mobile applications that
Related Links: How Technology is Automating Security Scanning technology can increase safety and productivity, but worker tracking systems still raise hackles over privacy issues on the job.Many workers are used to checking into the proximity entry system of a New York City high-rise building, says Leo Labbate, general foreman at Hunter Roberts Construction. "I'm sure there is whispering here and there [about the system], but the brunt of it is over," he says.Not everyone agrees. "I consider it to be invasive," says a marine mechanic at a government installation who asked not to be named for fear of retaliation. "Lines
Photo Courtesy of SK Solutions The SK Navigator was employed by the Saudi Binladen Group to coordinate tower and crawler-crane movements on the King Abdullah Financial District site in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in 2011. Related Links: How Technology is Automating Security SK Solutions CribMaster Wireless monitoring of tools and equipment has been a reality for over a decade. Adapted from the manufacturing world, sensor technology—such as RFID tags—keep an eye on the jobsite, from hand tools to tower cranes."Last year, we introduced PROTOid, a line of sockets and wrenches with embedded RFID tags in the tool itself," says Susan Hebrank,
RSS
