Technology and the Future of the US Construction Industry

148 Pages·1995·3.84 MB·English

Technology and the Future of the U.S.
Construction Industry
August 1984
NTIS order #PB86-209442
Published in the United States of America by the AIA Press. Washington, D.C.
Papers included in this document published with permission of the Congress of the United States,
Office of Technology Assessment. The views expressed in this document are not necessarily those of
the Technology Assessment Board, OTA Advisory council, or individual members thereof.
OTA wishes to acknowledge the contribution of Robert Gold, who was responsible for convening the
panel in which the material in this volume is based, and Linda Long, whose editorial assistance in the
preparation of this volume was greatly appreciated.
ISBN 0-913962-81-3
. . .
111
Technology and the
Future of the US
Construction Industry
Congress of the United States Office of
Technology Assessment
Table of Contents
1. Technology and the Construction 6. Construction Technologies 86
Industry: An Introduction 2 Richard L. Tucker 86
Henry Kelly 2
7. Structural Systems 104
2. Computers and Construction 12 Wendel R. Wendel 104
Harry Mileaf 12
Alton S. Bradford 16 8. Materials 124
Albert Dietz 124
3. Smart Office Buildings 30
Richard Carl Reisman 30 9. Commercial Building Designs 134
Michael Clevenger 34 Charles H. Thornton 134
Piero Patri 40
10. Over the Horizon 140
4. Modular Structures and Raymond P. Whitten 140
Related Techniques 46
Don O. Carlson 46 11. Reflections on the Presentations 144
Eric Dluhosch 70 John P. Eberhard 144
James Gross 150
5. Energy in Buildings 76
David E. Claridge 76
John P. Millhone 80
iv
Foreword
The American Institute of Architects is pleased to publish this report in cooperation with the Office
of Technology Assessment for the United States Congress.
The OTA panel on technology and the construction industry explored topics such as commercial
building designs, energy use in buildings, and the future utilization of computers in the construction
industry. While not endorsing all the views expressed in the report, the AIA offers the publication to
foster discussion of the construction industry’s future and the critical role of the design professions in
shaping the built environment,
The American Institute of Architects is interested in hearing from readers of this report, and asks
that comments be directed to the Office of the Executive Vice President at the American Institute of
Architects, 1735 New York Avenue, N. W., Washington, D.C. 20006.
John A. Busby Jr., FAIA
President
The American Institute of Architects
Technology and the
Construction Industry:
An Introduction
Henry Kelly
Technology is reshaping the American industry. Many of the participants met each
economy. Vast improvements in agricultural other for the first time in the workshop even
and manufacturing productivity have though they had spent careers studying
outstripped demand to the point where net different aspects of construction.
employment in these areas is falling while The construction industry, of course, is not
employment in business service professions has really a single industry but a complex cluster of
soared. Economic growth has been buoyed by industries somewhat uncomfortably combined
enormous volumes of sales in office computers, under a single classification. Residential
telecommunication systems, and other products construction, commercial buildings, industrial
not even on the market a decade ago. Whether structures, and civil engineering projects are
the rate of change is more or less rapid than it typically bundled somewhat uncomfortably
has been in the past, whether the changes are together. Moreover, construction activities
evolutionary or revolutionary, is in some ways combine a wide range of different professions:
not as important as the fact that, taken architects; engineers; and specialists in site
together, these changes have dramatically work, renovation, and maintenance. Different
reshaped the way the economy combines teams are formed for new projects. Teams
material, capital, labor, and ideas to provide assembled for major projects often disperse
most kinds of goods and services. The work after the projects are complete. This fluidity
described below was undertaken because the and flexibility makes the industry dynamic,
chairmen of several Congressional committees resourceful, and adaptable. But the diversity
asked the U.S. Office of Technology has always frustrated efforts to analyze the net
Assessment (OTA) to describe the way new performance of the industry as a whole. In fact,
technologies are acting to reshape the nation’s several of the workshop participants argued
economy. One of the areas chosen for special that while much of the industry’s strength lies
attention was the construction industry. in its flexibility, excessive fragmentation can
There is a widespread perception that the also create problems. Often, no one has a
technologies that are reshaping most of the rest perspective on the construction process
of the economy have left the construction adequate to detect inefficiencies that result
industry behind — that Ramses II would from imperfect coordination among the firms
probably recognize most of the operations in responsible for construction, or adequate to
today’s construction site. Construction is combine an analysis of construction decisions
typically considered a low-technology industry with an analysis of the implications of these
operating in sheltered local markets with low or decisions for building operation and facilities
falling productivity. Believing this to be a maintenance. The diversity also makes it
mistaken impression, OTA convened a difficult to measure progress in the industry
workshop of experts with direct experience in since national economic statistics provide a poor
construction. The topics were selected after picture of the diverse enterprises that combine
extensive preliminary discussions with industry to make the U.S. construction industry.
experts who were asked to identify areas where We asked the participants to explain how the
technology was likely to have its greatest effect technologies they knew best were reshaping the
on the industry as a whole: the use of construction industry, and we asked them to
information technologies; factory construction speculate about the possible impact of the
techniques; new energy technologies; and new changes that might result on overall growth
structural designs. Participants were a diverse rates in the industry, the quality and
group drawn from industry, academia, and performance of building products, the number
government. The diversity of the participants and nature of jobs created by the industry, and
was a reflection of a diverse and decentralized the international competitive position of the
domestic industry. The discussion also is becoming a nation of office workers. This
considered areas where optimum means greater emphasis on office structures.
implementation of new technology may require Moreover, the nature of office work is itself
a review of existing federal, state, and local changing in ways that, in turn, are changing the
policies that are used to regulate the industry. demands placed on buildings. While we can ex-
The policy consequences of new construction pect significant growth in the productivity of
technology will be the subject of a separate production-floor operations, many of the most
study and are not extensively discussed in this dramatic increases in national productivity dur-
volume. ing the next decade are likely to occur because
The workshop established two points quite of improvements in the technology of office
clearly. First, the construction industry is being work. This is as true for sales clerks, hospital
reshaped, in some cases radically reshaped, by employees, architects, lawyers, and teachers, as
new technology — although the changes are it is for insurance agencies and banks. Offices
seldom obvious to casual observers. And are becoming much more heavily capitalized as
second, many attractive new technologies are word processors and other more sophisticated
being adopted slowly because of the industry’s computer terminals substitute for routine cleri-
fragmented nature, the failure of clients to cal work. This trend means new office designs
demand innovation (due in part to the fact that and new demands on the building infrastruc-
they seldom recognize the potential advantages ture. Moreover, modern communications give
of new technology), the shortage of research management much greater freedom to choose
funding from either public or private sources, locations for ‘back office’ activities and a vari-
by a regulatory structure poorly adapted to ety of other functions. There is seldom an abso-
rapid technical change, and fear of litigation. lute need to locate these facilities near central
Slow rates of adoption of new technologies can headquarters buildings or even near the produc-
make the industry vulnerable to foreign tion facilities that they may support. The result
competition and rob clients of qualitative has been a decentralization of operations, subur-
improvements in buildings that could not only banization, and rapid movement toward the
make the building a more attractive place to south and west.
work or live, but reduce operating costs as well. We must also consider the dynamics of
The workshop was organized around the change. It is now clear that most buildings will
premise that technology affects the construction need to be adapted to a variety of different pur-
industry in three principal ways: (i) technology poses during their design lives. A fast-paced
has reshaped the national economy in ways that economy means increasing need for flexibility
affect demand for different kinds of structures; — particularly in office activities where it is
(ii) technology has changed the nature of the simply impossible to predict what equipment
structure itself (including the services provided will dominate ten years from now or, indeed,
by buildings); and (iii) technology has changed what equipment will be available next year.
the way that structures are produced and This means that structures dedicated to a single
erected. purpose, and structures that cannot be up-
graded to accommodate modern communication
systems and energy efficiency technologies, are
1. Demand increasingly unattractive investments. Some of
the members of the workshop, most promi-
Even if it embraced no new technologies it- nently Wendel R. Wendel, argued that we
self, the construction industry would be forced should try to move away from the notion that
to change in response to the transformation un- buildings are permanent monuments and recog-
derway in the the American economy. America nize that the provision of shelter is a service —
Technology and the Construction Industry
a service that should be tailored to a need as ment. In many cases, for example, it may be
long as the need lasts and then modified or re- better to make lighting fixtures a part of mov-
tired. able partitions instead of making them perma-
Several of the participants suggested that nent fixtures. While ‘shared tenant services’
buyers’ standards and tastes may be changing have not fared well, the difficulties may lie
in a way that affects the market for buildings in more with the institutional arrangements of-
qualitative ways. Buyers may become increas- fered, and inattention to the real business needs
ingly intolerant of uninteresting structures, or of customers, than with the underlying capabili-
structures that do not create a pleasant work ties of the technology. Relationships between
environment. The relationship between the building owners and tenants are likely to change
work environment and workplace productivity in ways that blur the formerly clear distinction
has received particular attention. James Gross between the building shell and the apparatus in-
notes that the total wages and salaries paid to troduced into the building by tenants. At a
people working in a building is an order of mag- minimum, a premium will be placed on struc-
nitude higher than the cost of the building it- tures that can flexibly adapt to changing needs
self. Anything that can increase the of tenants. Structures may provide fewer ‘built-
productivity of the occupants is therefore likely in’ services and tenants may be expected to pro-
to be a wise investment. vide more for themselves. Tenant-supplied
lighting, for example, is much more likely to be
efficiently matched to particular needs than sys-
2. The Structure Itself tems designed to provide the entire building
with lighting levels high enough to satisfy the
a. The ‘Smart’ Building. The construction in- most demanding draftsman. (The advantage of
dustry has responded to changing demands by avoiding fixed lighting systems is underscored
modifying both what is built and how it is built. by the fact that the next generation of drafts-
It is becoming difficult to know what we mean men is likely to want lower-than-average light-
when we talk about a ‘building.’ Surely we ing levels in areas where they will be looking at
must include the basic space-conditioning and display screens instead of fine print on paper).
lighting equipment. Presumably, we also in- On the other hand, buildings could provide
clude the systems that operate elevators, secu- more services, making building owners, in ef-
rity systems, and other equipment key to basic fect, service companies that offer such things as
operation of the building. It seems reasonable to computer and communication services, along
include the complex computer systems that are with ‘basic’ utilities like electricity and heat.
now managing lighting, chillers, and other en- Unfortunately, national data is inadequate for
ergy systems. But should other features that measuring the extent to which these new tech-
come under the broad concept of ‘smart build- nologies are actually being introduced in new
ings’ be considered a product of the construc- structures. The most impressive examples of
tion industry? For example, with the breakup of ‘smart building’ concepts have been in propri-
AT&T, telephone wiring should probably be etary structures.
treated in the same way we have treated con- Leaving aside the revolution in the technol-
ventional electrical wiring. Should we also in- ogy of office work, there are also major changes
clude the more sophisticated infrastructure underway in the technology of the basic struc-
needed to operate office automation systems: ture. The materials used for building compo-
antennas on the roof; fiber-optic cables; com- nents have also changed. Plastic pipe and steel
puter centers that may perform telephone studs are easy to see, but a variety of other new
switching, broadband communication, and data products are being used in insulating materials,
management functions, as well as operate secu- floor coverings, exterior wall surfaces, glazing,
rity systems, energy systems, and elevators? and floors. Technology has challenged conven-
How should we treat furniture if the furniture tional notions about how to provide basic struc-
becomes a critical part of the office environ- tural support. Optimum design engineering has
An Introduction 5
refined conventional designs. Truss systems, probably include an assessment of the way
such as the one marketed by Space Structures, buildings operate as a part of regional networks.
can vastly reduce the cost of large, unsupported Equipment capable of integrating the energy
spans. A variety of new adhesive materials are management controls of individual structures
used to attach everything from decorative pan- with the dispatch controls of electric utilities
eling to structural members. can significantly improve the dynamic perfor-
b. Building Operations. Building control tech- mance of electric networks taken as a whole.
nologies must also be considered as part of Experiments are already underway abroad and
larger systems that are themselves ‘smart.’ in the U.S. by which utilities can continuously
Thinking about this issue requires a consider- vary their electric rates according to an instan-
ation of the ‘life-cycle costs’ of structures in- taneous estimate of marginal costs of produc-
cluding an analysis of operating costs and the tion, and can transmit this information
costs associated with making modifications that periodically to buildings of all kinds (including
will be needed during the structure’s useful life. residences). Control systems in each structure
can respond to these price signals by adjusting
the performance of equipment in prearranged
Energy ways. The response can be as simple as postpon-
ing the start of a water heater or chiller when
The energy price increases of the 1970s re- prices exceed some threshold level. Dynamic
sulted in an explosion of new ideas for improv- control over demand can allow utilities to meet
ing the efficiency of energy use in buildings. a larger fraction of total electric demand from
New residential and commercial buildings can relatively inexpensive ‘base-load’ plants using
be built which use a fifth as much energy per coal or nuclear fuels.
square foot as comparable structures built dur- Sophisticated new building technologies are,
ing the early 1970s. Some of the improvements in a very direct way, substitutes for electric gen-
are straightforward — improved insulation, for erating technologies. Trade-offs between invest-
example. Some result from a better understand- ments in new generating capacity and
ing of heat-flows in structures. And some result investments in buildings are not a trivial matter.
from clever new equipment and control sys- More than two thirds of all electricity in the
tems. A flood of highly efficient furnaces, air U.S. is consumed in residential and commercial
conditioners, lighting equipment, and other ap- buildings — most of it for commonplace pur-
pliances has been introduced during the past poses: lighting, refrigeration, and air condition-
few years. Many are several times more effi- ing. Improved analytical tools, coupled with a
cient than the equipment they are designed to few technical tricks, have permitted vast reduc-
replace. But while component improvements tions in the amount of energy required to heat
provide important new tools, their full value can and cool a building. Changes range from re-
only be recognized if they are used as a part of programming air-handling systems, to the devel-
an integrated analysis of building energy that opment of high-technology light bulbs. Taken
includes an assessment of the dynamic perfor- together, they can reduce the net energy con-
mance of a building’s shell. Overall levels of sumption of typical residential or commercial
savings can be remarkable. The code likely to structures by factors ranging from two to ten.
be adopted as an industry standard in 1986 rec- Effective use of these new technologies will re-
ommends levels of energy use that are less than quire an approach to electric utility manage-
half the levels typical of the early 1970s. The ment that allows potential investors to make an
savings are not achieved from a single ‘break- unbiased comparison of investments in electric
through’ technology but rather from the com- generation and investments in technologies that
bined effects of a large number of make efficient use of electricity in buildings.
improvements in structural designs, equipment, Several workshop participants noted that the
and control strategies. existing system badly biases decisions, since the
Integrated analysis of energy use should financing available to regulated utility monopo-
Technology and the Construction Industry
lies (allowing investments with twenty-year vert all of this to estimates of initial costs and
paybacks) is much different than the financing operating costs. The systems can be used to pre-
available for entrepreneurial investments in pare working sketches and detailed drawings.
buildings where annual returns of 100 to 200 Routine building components (repeated window
percent are expected on investments in building and door treatments, for example) can be called
efficiency. from digital files that need be entered only once
by a draftsman. The equipment thus substitutes
for the most tedious aspects of drafting. Price
Facilities Management lists can be built into the systems, allowing an
instantaneous estimate of the cost of different
The issue of facilities management and build- design alternatives. Advanced systems allow a
ing operations has about as much sex appeal as computer-based ‘tour’ of building interiors and
a week-old cheese sandwich. But the issue has exteriors. Once entered, the design information
taken on growing importance as demands for can be used as the basis for computer-based
building modifications increase as a result of structural analysis, an analysis of lighting, or an
the increasing volatility and uncertainty in de- assessment of energy consumption.
mands for residential and commercial space — Many architects, however, greet the prospect
including changing interest in the energy con- of computer-assisted design with the enthusiasm
sumption of buildings. Facilities management of a cat facing a pail of water. Their perception
can be greatly simplified by using computer- is that computers will substitute mechanical de-
based drawings and records of the kind that cisions for taste, and formulas will be substi-
will be discussed in greater detail in the next tuted for inspiration. All this is plainly possible.
section. A set of digital ‘drawings’ of a building But increasing competitive pressure for speed
that can be conveniently updated after each and cost control make it extremely difficult for
building modification greatly reduces the uncer- the average architect to produce an average
tainties and costs of structural modifications. building with much imagination, unless there
There is less trepidation as you drill through a are some fundamental changes in the design
wall (famous last words: “Where did they put process. Computer-assisted design systems may
the high-voltage cable?”), and there is less need enable such changes. While the full potential of
to track old Fred to his trailer in Florida so that the systems is unknown, it is apparent that the
he can explain what he meant by the note systems can remove many barriers between in-
scrawled on the margin of the original drawings. spiration and execution. They can improve com-
A continuously updated building design can munication between designers and their clients,
also facilitate analysis of changes in structures allowing vastly more ‘what if’ excursions and
and heating and air-conditioning systems. discussions about options at different levels of
investment. There is no good way to calculate
the benefits of greater client satisfaction, but
3. The Construction Process surely improvements in this area are among the
most important contributions a new technology
Turning to the question of how structures are can make to the construction process.
actually made, three themes seem to dominate: Computer-based technologies can signifi-
(i) improvements in the process by which an cantly reduce the cost of making modifications
idea goes from a gleam in a designer’s eye to a to existing plans while preventing errors from
set of working drawings; (ii) greater use of fac- creeping into areas unaffected by the change.
tory-based construction techniques; (iii) and use The penalty for trying a radical new idea can
of more sophisticated equipment in the field. be reduced since the concept can be subjected
a. Design. New computer-based systems can to a detailed analysis, and reduced to drawings
improve the productivity of building design and that permit a realistic feeling for exterior views
analysis. They can rapidly convert concepts to and interior spaces without a major investment
drawings, convert drawings to analysis and con- in time or money. Automated design systems
An Introduction 7
coupled with communication systems can facili- tive form of fabrication was about to end and
tate the performance of geographically dis- the industry would evolve in a way that would
persed teams, allowing clients, engineers, make it more like conventional manufacturing.
construction firms, and architects to cooperate A commission organized for Franklin Roosevelt
effectively during the evolution of a design. in the mid-1930s made this claim. Truman ap-
They can facilitate the process by which speci- pointed a ‘housing expediter’ who was deter-
fications are sent out for competitive bids, re- mined to solve the housing shortage at the end
duce the uncertainties associated with bidding, of the second World War with factory-built
and decrease the burdens associated with the housing. Only a fraction of the goal was met.
submission and analysis of proposals, George Romney rekindled the dream a genera-
Once the basic design has been entered into tion later with his ‘operation breakthrough,’
a computer-based system, a variety of analytical which similarly fell far short of its goal. When
programs can use the data to assess such things forecasters have a track record like this, it is
as the energy-consumption consequences of dif- easy to be cynical about new claims. But we
ferent design decisions. Until now, one of the may have become so cautious that we may not
greatest barriers to energyefficient building de- have noticed how far, and how fast, we have
signs has been the fact that heating, ventilating moved toward factory-based construction of
and air conditioning (HVAC) analysis is typi- homes and small commercial structures.
cally conducted after it is too late to change No one in the workshop challenged the esti-
any major feature of a building’s basic design. mate that nearly half the homes built today in-
There is also a considerable ‘pain-in-the-neck’ volve a significant amount of factory
factor involved in submitting drawings to a spe- construction, with the other half making very
cialized group for energy modeling. It is tempt- heavy use of factory-built components: roof
ing to hand completed drawings to an HVAC trusses, pre-hung windows and doors, ‘wet-cores’
engineer and say, “Just make sure it doesn’t (bathroom and kitchen units), and the like. In
overheat. ” Sweden today over 90 percent of all new houses
Design flexibility is not limited to commer- are made in the factory. Is our industry headed
cial structures since it is now relatively easy to in the same direction?
offer prospective home buyers the opportunity One of the barriers to factory construction
to design their own floor plans, and compare the has always been its association with inexpensive,
appearance of different interior and exterior monotonous ‘pre-fab’ construction. And indeed,
wall coverings in the spaces they have designed. drab, low-quality houses and mobile homes have
Though only a fraction of new houses are de- been produced in factories. In Sweden, on the
signed with the help of an architect, it is possi- other hand, factory-built structures are consid-
ble that the new systems may permit ered to be of a higher quality and have a higher
prospective home buyers greater flexibility in status than site-built homes.
selecting and refining home designs, using the Factory construction offers several clear ad-
services of an architect, at least indirectly in the vantages. It permits uniform assembly, testing,
form of skillfully designed software. The Japa- and inspection. It permits relatively rapid on-
nese have a system in place for doing this that site erection, thereby reducing constructing fi-
is connected directly to production equipment nancing charges. It permits the use of more
capable of delivering preassembled units to a sophisticated assembly equipment. And it per-
construction site in two to three weeks. mits the kind of design flexibility described ear-
b. The Construction Process. If computer-as- lier. Of course, not all, or even most, of the
sisted design is the first major revolution in the opportunities are exploited in existing fabrica-
making of buildings, factory construction is the tion facilities.
second. Construction has always been some- The new technology is, of course, not without
thing of a craft, with each structure fabricated some drawbacks. Movement to factory con-
from basic components in the field. The litera- struction could undermine the position of some
ture is replete with predictions that this primi- small businesses, eliminating jobs or replacing