Collective Digital Factories for Buildings: Stigmergic Collaboration Through Cryptoeconomics
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Abstract
Davide Lombardi's presentation at CBC 2023 offers a comprehensive overview of integrating blockchain technology in the architecture and construction industries to tackle challenges like productivity, supply chain integration, and carbon impact. He emphasizes the sector's inefficiencies when compared to manufacturing, attributing issues to material unavailability, skill shortages, and a reluctance to embrace new methodologies. Highlighting the environmental impact of construction, Lombardi argues for the necessity of sustainable practices and digital innovation.
Lombardi and his colleagues propose a solution combining technology with social behavior through the concept of "stigmergy" - a mechanism of indirect coordination where agents act on and modify their environment, leading to a collective outcome. This approach is operationalized using blockchain as a digital medium for collaboration, enabling continuous evaluation and adaptation of design and construction processes. The model envisions "collective digital factories" as decentralized autonomous organizations using blockchain and cryptoeconomics to address environmental challenges and improve industry productivity.
The proposed framework involves agents (e.g., architects, engineers) using simplified topological models rather than complex BIM models for design, facilitated by an application called Topologic. These models serve as a basis for decision-making, governed by tokens that incentivize contributions toward common goals like waste reduction and enhanced building performance. This process is supported by smart contracts that manage governance, evaluation, and reward mechanisms, promoting a collaborative and iterative design process.
Lombardi suggests that this model could revolutionize the AEC industry by fostering a more integrated, efficient, and sustainable approach to building design and construction. By emphasizing the importance of regulatory compliance and proposing a system that embeds legal frameworks into the digital factories, he outlines a future where technological and social innovations drive the industry towards its environmental and productivity goals.
