BIM validation and Smart Contracts to shorten payments and enhance Green Public Procurement in the construction industry
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Abstract
Lavinia Chiara Tagliabue's keynote at the CBC 2023 focuses on the integration of BIM validation and smart contracts to expedite payments and bolster green public procurement in the construction industry. She represents the collaborative effort between the Polytechnic of Milan and the University of Turin, emphasizing their commitment to digitizing and optimizing building assets management for sustainability and operational efficiency.
Tagliabue outlines the extensive scale of the University of Turin's real estate assets, highlighting the challenges in managing such a vast array of historical and modern buildings across different locations. She discusses the initiative to digitize these assets to support space management, enhance user comfort, and ensure inclusive and barrier-free environments. The integration of digital models and BIM methodologies facilitates the creation of an ecosystem that not only improves physical spaces but also enriches the user experience for students and staff.
Central to her presentation is the development of an asset management system that incorporates data from various university departments, consolidating fragmented information into a comprehensive database. This system employs GIS platforms and business intelligence tools like PowerBI to analyze and visualize space utilization, costs, and user distribution, thereby enabling effective decision-making and resource optimization.
Tagliabue introduces the concept of using blockchain technology to streamline the design and tendering phases of construction projects. By automating the validation of BIM models against client guidelines and facilitating prompt payments through smart contracts, the process aims to enhance transparency, reduce delivery times, and ensure regulatory compliance. This approach also supports green public procurement by automating the evaluation of environmental criteria, promoting sustainable building practices.
The research presented by Tagliabue illustrates a high-level framework wherein design teams propose retrofit strategies for buildings, and blockchain is utilized to notarize BIM models, automate compliance verification, and facilitate payments. This framework was tested on the real estate assets of RAI, Italy's public TV company, demonstrating its potential to improve public procurement processes by increasing efficiency, ensuring transparency, and supporting environmental sustainability.
In summary, Tagliabue's keynote showcases the potential of combining BIM validation, smart contracts, and blockchain technology to revolutionize asset management and procurement in the construction industry. By fostering digital innovation, her research aims to achieve cost savings, optimize space utilization, enhance user experiences, and contribute to the sustainable transformation of built environments.
Keywords
BIM Validation, Smart Contracts, Green Public Procurement, Blockchain in Construction, Digital Asset Management.
