Time: Thursday, 14/Aug/2025: 9:10am - 10:10am |
Location: Cripple Creek 1 |
This session explores cutting-edge AI applications in building portfolio management and design, demonstrating how new tools can address persistent challenges in the built environment. The first presentation introduces a machine learning metamodel that leverages few-shot and zero-shot learning to rapidly estimate life cycle metrics for large building portfolios, overcoming traditional data limitations. The second presentation showcases a custom conversational AI assistant that automates early-stage building energy benchmarking, offering accessible and streamlined data analysis for both experts and non-experts. The final presentation examines how AI and traditional methods compare in modeling airflow and exhaust dispersion in complex building designs, discussing AI’s potential to enhance laboratory air quality and system performance while acknowledging critical physics constraints. Together, these talks highlight how AI-driven strategies and metamodels are redefining design workflows, accelerating energy benchmarking, and addressing climate-related demands in the built environment.
Closing the Gap between Design and Operations & Maintenance
JLL, United States of America
What happens to a building once construction is complete and the owners move in? Maintenance happens. The reality is that spending thousands on BIM models, BAS systems, and ultra efficient designs yields poor results if the buildings are not maintained. Usually, the burden of creating a maintenance plan falls entirely on facilities managers, rather than a collaboration with designers. Yet, collaboration could potentially yield a scheduling tool that preserves institutional knowledge, saves operators time, supports operator well-being, and prevents small issues from becoming costly breakdowns. This presentation will explore the conversations, tools, and benefits of a collaborative workflow.
Innovating with Pragmatism: Smarter Building Operations
Durham College, Canada
Operations and maintenance (O&M) is often overlooked—unnoticed when systems work, blamed when they fail. Integrated project delivery (IPD) promotes collaboration but often excludes O&M, leading to inefficiencies. At Durham College, embedding O&M into project planning optimized $1.2 million in public funds for an energy retrofit project in 10 months.
Key strategies included:
- Defining OPRs and project deliverables in RFP for consultant to align design with operational needs and available resources
- Using Simple Digital Tools like Microsoft Teams for collaboration and Microsoft Forms for data gathering.
- Leveraging O&M Teams for constructability reviews while delegating project management and commissioning oversight
- Empowering staff