Projects / Programmes
January 1, 2019
- December 31, 2027
| Code |
Science |
Field |
Subfield |
| 2.01.06 |
Engineering sciences and technologies |
Civil engineering |
Computer integrated construction of objects |
| 5.01.00 |
Social sciences |
Educational studies |
|
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| T230 |
Technological sciences |
Building construction |
| Code |
Science |
Field |
| 2.01 |
Engineering and Technology |
Civil engineering |
| 5.03 |
Social Sciences |
Educational sciences |
construction, construction informatics, BIM, numerical methods, knowledge transfer
Data for the last 5 years (citations for the last 10 years) on
April 25, 2024;
A3 for period
2018-2022
| Database |
Linked records |
Citations |
Pure citations |
Average pure citations |
| WoS |
228 |
3,962 |
3,496 |
15.33 |
| Scopus |
347 |
6,001 |
5,286 |
15.23 |
Researchers (18)
Organisations (1)
Abstract
The e-Construction programme creates internationally competitive knowledge and develops technologies for digitization of construction industry. In the recent years, digitization has gained new momentum with the concepts such as building information modelling, high performance numerical analysis, cloud computing, internet of things and cognitive computing. When merged they all lead to Industry 4.0.
Construction industry 4.0 aims at industrializing the production of unique products in unique processes which are a challenge of construction industry.
The e-Construction programme is conducted by a team of researchers who are employed on the programme up to 20%, but actually work full-time on the respective topics also funded by other (EU) schemes. The programme should be seen as a backbone for all key research and development areas in the filed of construction IT:
Building information management (BIM). Extensive and preferably structured information is a substantive basis for all further work.
With numerical methods, computing infrastructure and data are used for until now impossible engineering simulations that increase the safety and reliability of facilities.
Cognitive technologies will be used to analyse data on which we do not yet have mathematical models.
Communication and collaboration technologies will be studied to connect people into the mix of technology and software.
Using cloud and technologies, ICT infrastructures will provide a construction-specific basis for the above.
Inadequate knowledge transfer is identified as one of the main problems of global development in the construction industry, which is why it is given special attention and a separate chapter.
The programme of e-Construction has many interdisciplinary characteristics. It includes also computer science, information technology, management, and pedagogical and social sciences.
The results of the e-Construction programme will be publications, international projects, and pedagogical, organizational and editorial work. This work has made the group recognizable as one of the world's major centres of construction informatics development since the mid-1990s.
One of the impacts of the construction industry 4.0 is the increase in the productivity of the industry, which contributes approximately 10% of gross domestic product. Impacts include higher quality products in terms of safety and functionality, a more economical use of natural resources; the reduction of environmental footprint and the contribution to circular economy.
Through the cooperation with the Slovenian Chamber of Engineers, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chamber of Craft and Small Business, the Slovenian Society for BIM, and through the pedagogical process, the group will enhance the technological level of the Slovenian construction industry with participation in European fora (FIEC, European Commission) and wider.
Significance for science
Already in 1990s, information technology in construction (ITC) become and independent scientific discipline within civil engineering. IKPIR and later its unit - Chair of Construction Informatics - actively contributed to the growth of the topic by the organization of conferences, the establishment of scientific journals, scholarly work and journal papers which provided a definition of this discipline. Chair of Construction Informatics and eConstruction Program (that closely overlap) become a globally recognized center of knowledge, research and development in this field.
The early years of the last decade brought first commercial solutions for one of the most crucial problems of ITC, namely structured information on construction products. Software for Building Information Modeling (BIM) started to replace CAD or CADD. As all information and communication technology (ICT) solutions in the construction sector, in one way or another process data, BIM become the central concept and the common thread for many studies. After centuries of line being the basic information unit for the presentation of information, it has been replaced by a digital object as understood by an object-oriented programming.
Technological and research support to the transition from a line to a digital model has been a core topic of the eConstruction Program.
Today, working with structured information is well supported by commercial software and is becoming part of normal practice in architecture and construction; countries are beginning to legally require the use of this increasingly mature technology.
It is therefore appropriate that the program focuses to a holistic study of the effects of ICT on the construction industry and to advancing technologies that enable construction industry’s transition towards Industry 4.0.
Industry 4.0 is a combination of cyber-physical systems. It means "digitization of production processes based on devices that communicate with each other autonomously". It assumes virtual and digital models of the real world. It is associated with concepts such as the Internet of Things, Big Data, Internet Services, Smart Factories and Advanced Manufacturing. Among the expected results are increased productivity, better utilization of resources, higher quality and substantially, greater flexibility of the product - a kind of mass production with a batch size of one. Industry 4.0 is subject of a number of national and European strategies and has its own chapter in Horizon 2020 program.
The construction industry 4.0 is about exploiting the potential that mass digitization brings to information and material processes in construction, to managing large volumes of data in digital form about buildings under construction, about the built environment and from sensors, cameras, builders and users. Research agendas are emerging in academic and industrial environments that will re-shape construction as industry 4.0.
Construction industry 4.0 is not approaching mass industrial production of unique products (the aim of industry 4.0) from the state of mass production of mass products, but, unlike other industries, from the state of uniqueness and improvisation. This differences will be providing for unique research issues beyond the scope of construction.
It needs to be said, however, that construction industry 4.0 is also a buzzword, however, it provides an umbrella concept for the several topics the e-Construction group has been researching for years, allows for rethinking of some approaches and is motivating for opening up new research avenues.
Construction Industry 4.0 includes research of various ICT topics. While they will be described separately, they are closely interlinked and leads towards a common goal.
Information Modeling. Topic refers to the management of information about the buildings or structures - from design and planning, to building and facility management. All this is referenced with the acronym BIM (Building Inf
Significance for the country
Due to its impact on the built environment, i.e. the space where people work, live and move, construction is one of those technologies that will have the greatest influence on solving social challenges.
Construction informatics is the field of construction engineering where changes and thus potential benefits are most substantial.The intensification of information technology is an approach that enables the revival of construction industry, especially in the light of the crisis of Slovenian construction.
The Horizon 2020 programe identifies relevant social challenges for Europe[1]. Below is explained what are the challenges and how they are addressed by construction engineering in general and within the e-Construction programe with its agenda of the shift towards construction industry 4.0:
? Health, demographic change and well-being. The living and working environment significantly affects health and well-being of people. Smart building technology, i.e. the use of sensors, the Internet of Things and smart control mechanisms, can significantly increase the quality of the living and working environment. Within the e-Construction programe, we will develop technologies that interconnect information and numerical modelling of buildings with building management technologies.
? Smart, green and integrated transport. The integration of BIM and GIS technologies leads to different approaches to urbanism and participatory planning of the built environment; regarding this, we have already established cooperation with the Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia in the previous financing period.
? Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials. Our combination of building information modelling technologies and better numerical modelling of energy flows will significantly increase the efficiency and economy of energy rehabilitation of buildings.
? Europe in a changing world – inclusive, innovative and reflective societies. By working on knowledge transfer, open access and open approaches to education, we will share and disseminate knowledge in a wider European and global space.
The e-Construction programme will contribute to the Slovenian Development Strategy[2], adopted by the government in December 2017. Among the twelve Slovenian development goals, the e-Construction programme addresses the following six:
? (1) Healthy and active living. See description under "Health" above.
? (2) Skills and knowledge for quality life and work. Since the programme runs under the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geodesy, it is directly linked to the pedagogical process. The results of the programme are included in the project studies particularly in higher study years, and certain master theses contribute to the contents of the programme. Activities concerning the knowledge dissemination are also directly linked to this goal. We develop international study programmes in the field of e-construction and participate in the existing programmes with a joint degree within the EU.
? (5) Economic stability. Several points of this application emphasize that the goal of the programme is to contribute to the shift of the Slovenian construction industry to construction industry 4.0. Digitalization, information and numerical modelling and communications are the basic elements for the shift. We will contribute to the goal by continuing our cooperation with the Slovenian Chamber of Engineers, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Chamber of Craft and Small Business and the Slovenian Society for BIM.
? (6) Competitive and socially responsible entrepreneurial and research sector. The e-Construcion group is internationally competitive in the research field, and shows its social responsibility by thih document within which it has undertaken to focus its activities on solving the problems identified by the wider European and Slovenian environment.
? (7) Inclusive labour market and quality jobs. Digitiz
Most important scientific results
Interim report
Most important socioeconomically and culturally relevant results
Interim report
