BCRW 2022

Contents of the 3rd Blockchain in Construction Research Workshop, hosted by Northumbria University in collaboration with the Construction Blockchain Consortium. The workshop took place on the 20th and 21st of June 2022 in the Department of Mechanical & Construction Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Environment, Northumbria University, Amsterdam Campus. This workshop presented early and ongoing research in the field of blockchain and distributed ledger technologies for the construction sector.

Presentations

Session 1: Information Management

BIM Single Source of Truth for Construction Supply Chain (CSC)

Amer Hijazi

Despite a large amount of BIM data at the handover stage, it is still difficult to identify and effectively isolate valuable Construction Supply Chain (CSC) data that needs to be reliably handed over for operation. Moreover, the role of reconciling disparate data is usually played by one party. The integration of blockchain and BIM is a plausible framework for building a reliable digital asset lifecycle. This workshop demonstrates the technological feasibility of the BIM single source of truth (BIMSSoT) data model using blockchain to ensure a reliable CSC data delivery. It will commence by demonstrating the suitability of the Hyperledger Fabric blockchain platform for the identified requirements owing to its features and benefits through the Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique (SMART) method. Subsequently, the system architecture independent of technology, including external entities, the blockchain network, the REST Application Programming Interface (API), the web server, and the BIM platform will be illustrated followed by the system architecture which includes software components of Hyperledger Fabric. Then the execution of the smart contract to enforce a reliable CSC data delivery operating in blockchain (on-chain) and centrally stored in BIM will be demonstrated. The demonstration will clearly articulate that if some data in the BIM model are changed, the dataset operating in the blockchain will remain unchanged and the mismatch will ensure traceability and detection of an unauthorised modification to the BIM model. In the contrary, if some data is overwritten in the blockchain database (BIMSSoT database), the system will store the history of transactions thereby ensuring traceability for the CSC data delivery.

Decentralised Information Management Along the Entire Lifecycle of the Building Asset

Klaudia Jaskula

The construction industry is highly project-based and characterized by a high level of fragmentation and decentralisation with most of the businesses being Small-Medium-Enterprises. Adoption of digital technologies could help to overcome some of the issues like low productivity and ineffective collaboration. However adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) raises concerns about data security, data ownership, legal implications and responsibility distribution in shared BIM models. According to ISO 19650 information management workflow should be based on the use of a Common Data Environment (CDE) as a single source of truth for all project stakeholders. However, currently used centralised CDE solutions are not corresponding with the needs of the highly fragmented construction industry. Some of the problems such as lack of accountability and transparency might be solved by introducing blockchain technology into information management practice. This study presents a systematic literature review about the challenges and limitations of currently used Common Data Environment tools and compares centralised and decentralised approaches to lifecycle information management. To determine the problems and challenges of information management in practice and investigate the potential of implementing blockchain technology in this area, a survey and semi-structured interviews with industry professionals were conducted. The results show that the idea of a single source of truth is difficult to implement in practice, as most projects rely on multiple sources of information. The use of a centralised CDE needs to be re-evaluated, with other more decentralised solutions being investigated. Decentralised blockchain-enabled CDE could provide data security, quality, and integrity standards, which are vital for its function. It could provide an accountable record of all data transactions and establish reliable source of information for project handover from design and construction phase to operation and maintenance phase. Moreover, the tool must be easy to use for the stakeholders who have no experience with blockchain and enable them to see the relationships between different data recorded on the blockchain and better understand the flow of the decisions taken during the whole process. Finally, the study proposes a conceptual framework for decentralised information management workflow based on blockchain technology and the Inter-Planetary File System. Using smart contracts can improve the information flow between different phases by providing more efficiency, accountability and traceability of information. In the next steps the study will focus on the development of a prototype tool based on the conceptual framework.

Construction Management Process Automation using Blockchain and Smart Contracts

Xuling Ye

Informatization and digitization are gradually changing the landscape of the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) field. However, the higher digitalization, the more important data security becomes. In this case, blockchain and smart contracts are getting more and more attentions in the last few years in the construction industry thanks to their abilities of traceability, immutability, security, transparency and automation. Using blockchain and smart contracts, many construction management issues, such as relying on paper work, low level of automation, trust issues, and lengthy and non-transparent inspection processes, can be reduced or addressed. In this presentation, a solution is introduced for securely recording, visualizing and automating the real-time status of a construction management process using blockchain, smart contracts, Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) and Common Data Environment (CDE) to develop a smart construction management system. Smart contracts can be used to automate any construction management processes in the construction industry. By integrating blockchain, smart contracts and CDE, any data generated or used during a construction management process, such as a Building Information Modeling (BIM) file, can be securely stored and timely accessed in such a system. Since smart contracts are programming codes, it is difficult for stakeholders to understand what is exactly written in the smart contracts. The BPMN is used to generate corresponding smart contract codes and visualize the deployed smart contracts. The Ethereum blockchain network is used in the system, and the participants interact with the blockchain network via React.js web applications. Combining blockchain, smart contracts, BPMN, and CDE provides an excellent opportunity to digitally document and visually display construction projects’ information throughout their whole lifecycle. The approaches and aspects are presented using a first prototype and a simple delivery, acceptance and payment process example. Finally, we discuss several aspects which can be improved and further developed in the future.

Harnessing Blockchain Technology and the Platform Business Model to Improve Regulatory Compliance and Enhance Interoperability Within the Built Environment Technology Ecosystems

Imanuel Steele

Harnessing blockchain technology and the Platform business model to improve regulatory compliance and enhance interoperability within the Built environment technology ecosystems.

Silo-working’, also referred to a fragmentation is a persisting issue in industries which service our Built Environment, from designing through building to occupying and managing. Across the whole life of an asset, like the variety of disciplines required, so too is a variety of technology-based solutions required leading to Technological Fragmentation. Notably, Technological fragmentation and lack of interoperability are leading factors for the perceived slow pace of digital transformation in the Built Environment, despite a bourgeoning Tech ecosystem and willingness and incentive for change.

Building bridges between fragmented technology and data offerings has proved to be a genuine challenge. The term Coopetition summarised as an environment where “natural competitors need to cooperate…; Conflicts with the training given to legions of MBA students and long-held beliefs in management science.” This suggests potentially commercialism and competitiveness rather than Technology itself, which is fuelling fragmentation, and only gradual digital transformation to date.

Acknowledging coopetition is a perceived barrier to bridging technological fragmentation, can the ubiquitous requirement for regulatory compliance throughout a built asset’s whole life offer a common standard for stakeholders to collaborate on a project?

Would an overarching digital protocol for regulatory compliance, if supported by the relevant regulatory bodies, offer sufficient alignment and strategic incentive to attract competitors to a collaborative network focusing on regulatory compliance?

Prin-D Technology has partnered with the Manchester Alliance Business school to investigate how the platform business model can be leveraged to create and expand a built environment technological ecosystem, centred on regulatory compliance. Prin-D Technology already uses Blockchain to offer building owners and developers an information management platform and single source of compliance information.

The research will analyse the viability of a Blockchain enabled product transitioning into a Platform and developing a compliance ecosystem which overarches asset lifecycles, and traverses’ technological silos.

Prin-D Technology has harnessed Blockchain and to offer building owners and developers a project-based information management platform. Considering the development of a platform and Compliance ecosystem attempts to counteract fragmentation and enhance coopetition. The establishment of a common standard for regulatory compliance would be an important step towards building a better future. The Platform business model fosters the development of an ecosystem and a regulatory compliance network enhanced with the security and trustworthiness of Blockchain Technology

Session 2: Circular Economy

Collective Digital Factories for Buildings

Theo Dounas

The Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry is burdened by chronic low productivity, resource under-utilisation, excessive litigation, high carbon emissions, and disproportionate environmental impact. To accelerate the shift to environmentally sustainable and resilient construction, we propose innovative new digital tools that optimise project governance, improve design quality, streamline supply chains, reduce carbon emissions, and enhance the digital representation of buildings. The paper presents the collective digital factories for buildings, a series of open source tools connected via smart contracts to reduce the carbon performance of buildings, decrease waste, and increase performance. Specifically we analyse the manner in which Topologic, Speckle and Ethereum smart contracts can be combined in a light-weight BIM process that incentivises a design AEC team to prioritise carbon and waste reduction and building performance. The smart contracts aspect of the CDFB consists of a series of tokens and staking smart contracts that showcase how one can directly tokenise carbon/waste/building performance in a collaborative AEC practice. Beyond the theoretical framework that relies on stigmergic collaboration, we present also the step by step tooling and process with which the open source tools work.

A Blockchain-based Tack-Back Framework to Support the Extended Producer Responsibility Implementation for Construction Products and Materials

Arghavan Akbarieh

The global society is transitioning from linear to circular economy. It is encouraged by the ever-increasing awareness of the significance of circular practices, especially recycling. Recycling leads to obtaining secondary materials and prevents resource extraction and depletion. In the construction industry, recycling falls under waste management strategies and is a technologically-established practice. It could solve the current problem of soaring construction material prices due to supply shortages. Yet, despite technological advancements, recycling is often done sporadically and depends on the capacity or interest of local parties after the end-of-lifecycle (EoL) of built assets. As a consequence, valuable recyclable materials sometimes end up in landfills or are transported to other locations for recycling. This situation creates two problems. Firstly, it paints an unrealistic picture of the available materials in the market. More importantly, no one is officially responsible for recycling materials, which could leave the recyclable materials orphaned and creates a free-rider problem between generations of construction professionals. One policy that addresses EoL handling and recycling is the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR), which holds producers accountable for treating their products in the EoL phase. EPR is not yet implemented in the construction sector for many reasons. Buildings are (1) complex and unique products - built with a different selection of thousands of components and materials, (2) built through the collaboration of several parties who finally hands them over to owners, and (3) long-term assets with a lifecycle of at least 50 years. Tracking thousands of materials sold to contractors and passed on to owners for several decades after the sale point is not easy for construction producers. However, thanks to digital technologies such as blockchain and Building Information Modelling (BIM), it is currently possible to keep an ongoing, meticulous and tamper-proof record of product information. Based on the state-of-the-art review, design thinking and experimental methodologies, this study proposes a smart contract-based material take-back framework to overcome the above-mentioned issues by supporting the EPR implementation in the construction industry. This study looks into who is responsible for recycling what and financially incentivizes them to engage in future recycling activities. This establishes recycling responsibilities, regulates recycling activities and brings transparency to the construction material supply chain. The suggested framework consists of (1) an accounting base (through capturing the salvage value), (2) a blockchain base, and (3) a financial transition instrument. Furthermore, a work-in-progress proof-of-concept is developed to test the feasibility of the framework.

Session 3: Smart Contracts

Blockchain and Smart Contracts: Successful Implementation Avoiding the Legal Minefield

May Winfield

Blockchain and smart contracts are increasingly being used worldwide across various industries. Some Governments and industry organisations have issued mandates and white papers in support of the adoption of blockchain. However, the legal and regulatory aspects are lagging behind. This is a largely misunderstood and ignored area, leading to a ticking time bomb of risk, liability and misunderstandings. In this practical session, a digital tech legal specialist discusses the common key risks and how to avoid or mitigate them.

BIM Validation During the Design Stage with Smart Contracts

Giulia Pattini

The research aims at improving BIM validation during the design phase by automating the verification of information quality and consistency and integrating blockchain-based smart contracts to shorten the appointment completion, assure the requirements fulfilment and secure the reward to the parties involved. As the construction sector is among those with the lowest level of productivity, digital technologies and advanced automation appear as tools that can optimise performance and improve efficiency. In the current digital transformation, the advent of information management using BIM drives structured information production, delivery and validation using CDE solutions. Despite the expectations, the adoption of BIM has shown complications associated with the management of an extensive digital information flow. Due to a large amount of information, monitoring and verification significantly became time-consuming and error-prone, causing potential delays, reworks and unforeseen costs. For these reasons, the research provides a framework that integrates automated BIM validation and blockchain-based smart contracts during the design phase, pointing out their potential impact on automated information validation, reduction of late deliveries and overdue payments. The innovation of the framework lies in the shortening of the design phase by automating, using rule sets, and notarising, using smart contracts, the information validation and connecting these procedures to blockchain-based rewarding systems, such as payment and tokens release. The framework offers a novel point of view which makes it possible to move away from traditional approaches by minimising validation errors or misunderstandings due to human intervention, limiting the occurrence of disputes through transparent information tracking and incentivising the parties involved with secure rewards and recognition. The framework is validated through a proof of concept that uses a real project based on the digitalisation of real estate assets of a large public client. This client has developed a proprietary BIM guideline based on which the real estate digitalisation is appointed. In this project, the rule sets for automated validation of information are created and tested, as well as smart contracts for notarisation of information and approval of payment and tokens release. The proof of concept outcomes will enable the comparison between the innovative framework and traditional approaches, especially in terms of shorter time and effort, accuracy and reliability of delivered information and guaranteed reward. The proof of concept will also enable the economic analysis of the performance of the proposed technologies and, due to their disruptive nature, the identification of main limitations and further developments of the research.

Smart contracts for construction contracts: challenges and potential research directions

Mahir Msawil, Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

Construction contracts define rights and obligations of contracting parties within a legal context using codified provisions. The construction contract administration (CCA) process executes these codified provisions across the contract life cycle to protect contractual rights and ensure the fulfilment of contractual obligations. In theory and practice, the norm has been to execute the CCA process manually by human agents according to the paper-based conditions of contract signed by contracting parties. However, industry reports and academic research have both reported that poor CCA is one of the biggest challenges encountered in the construction industry. The reported causes behind poor CCA include:(i) misinterpretation and misapplication of contractual provisions, (ii) deliberate negligence and refusal to execute contractual mechanisms and provisions, (iii) ineffective communication, and (iv) inaccessibility to contemporary records of events. Blockchain and its associated smart contracts have both emerged in the construction research field to offer potential partial or fully automated solutions to typical challenges encountered in construction projects. Hence, blockchain-enabled smart contracts may eliminate or reduce the occurrence of the aforementioned causes. Yet, the implementation of blockchain-enabled smart contracts for construction contracts is reported to face challenges at the practical level of implementation. In this context, a systematic literature review conducted for a wider research study coupled with a reflection on CCA practice reveals multiple challenges. Hereby, four challenges are presented and contextualized within practice-based scenarios from the perspective of a four-dimensional model (i.e., process, policy, social, and technical dimensions). Subsequently, a set of potential future research questions is presented for prospective researchers with the aim of advancing the implementation of blockchain in construction.

Session 4: Blockchain in Construction

Blockchain in Malaysian Construction Industry

Eeydzah Aminudin

Blockchain is a type of distributed, immutable ledger of recording transactions, tracking assets and building trust. The main character of blockchain is that there is no central administrator, the consensus algorithms govern the peer-to-peer decentralized network. Besides, blockchain technology originated with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin’s price surged to the highest in the history in year 2021, as people is moving to cryptocurrencies to hedge against the potential currency debasement that come from the Covid19-related stimulus payments from central banks around the world. Ever since then, the market cap of cryptocurrencies exceeded 2 trillion U.S. dollars in April 2021. Cryptocurrencies are getting popular and blockchain technology is getting noticed. Blockchain is more than just about cryptocurrencies, it can be powerful tool to facilitate trusted transactions for both the public and private sectors. Digital assets such as Bitcoin and Ether are increasingly being integrated into traditional finance and decentralised finance is emerging. Legal sector is getting interrupted by the rise of Smart Contracts. Artists are converting their masterpieces into Non-Fungible Token (NFT) that certifies a digital asset to be unique and not interchangeable. Adidas has bought Bored Ape NFT and minted their first NFT named “Adidas Originals into the Metaverse”. Blockchain technology has disrupted a wide array of sectors. With its innovation-friendly and vibrant start-up environment, Malaysia is will-positioned to be a regional champion to explore and utilize this emerging technology. Various studies have been done that blockchain technology can be applied in construction industry. However, the construction industry players are yet to kick start and take initiative in adopting blockchain as what have other industries did. The purpose of this study is to determine the level of awareness and readiness of the Malaysian construction industry players in applying blockchain technology in construction project management. This research aims to obtain the priority and focus to be considered for blockchain developers to build the necessary infrastructure for implementation of blockchain technology in construction, in order to solve construction challenges and create a more efficient construction environment in Malaysia, with consideration of Malaysia construction industry norm, practice and culture. Finally, recommendations are listed based on the findings to focus on the problems to be tackled by Malaysian construction with blockchain application

A Systematization of Knowledge (SoK) on Blockchain Decentralization

Kate Baucherel

Confidenciality-minded Framework for Blockchain-Based BIM Design Collaboration

Xingyu Tao

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is widely adopted for design collaboration in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry, while its centralized paradigm suffers the risk of data manipulation. To this end, blockchain is an emerging distributive technology that guarantees data authenticity and integrity by providing decentralized, immutable, and traceable data storage. However, directly integrating BIM with blockchain risks leaking sensitive data, since a blockchain is a transparent network insofar as shared information (including sensitive data) can be disclosed to all members without access control. Therefore, we propose a confidentiality-minded framework (CMF) for blockchain-based design collaboration. The major innovations are twofold. First, an access control model is developed in the CMF to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive BIM data in a blockchain ledger. Second, new design strategies are developed in CMF to facilitate design coordination within the access-controlled blockchain network. An illustrative design example validates the feasibility and performance of the proposed CMF, which has acceptable latency and storage cost. The results also show that the sensitive BIM data are effectively kept confidential when project members collaborate within the CMF.

Session 5: Governance

NFT’s: the good, the bad, and (it’s not all) the ugly

Gavin Johnson, aGenium

Whilst the metaverse is the tech hot topic, Non-Fungible Tokens (“NFTs”) remain the blockchain zeitgeist. However, there remains considerable practical and legal risks when dealing with NFTs. Few projects consider the complex, interwoven, legal frameworks within which they operate. Ill-considered applications, when tokenising a project, or elements thereof, digital or physical, risks their legal grounding and long-term resilience.

NFTs are a critical component of built environment technologies. Digital twins, blockchain and asset tokenisation, building information models and others, need to merge to create unified information spaces (“UISs”). UISs will overcome siloed data, fragmented systems, and deliver smart data-structures for future cities. NFTs will form a valuable ‘information exchange currency’, operating on a blockchain backbone, for UISs.

NFTs are not new to the blockchain community. The ERC-721 NFT standard was introduced in January 2018, itself preceded by Crypto-punks in mid-2017. However, it was only in 2021 that NFTs caught the wider public’s interest. The NFT concept is simple, create a unique token that (somehow) is accepted as a representation, or a certificate of provenance, of a unique digital or physical item. Common examples include works of art, limited production sporting memorabilia or collectibles, in-world (metaverse) game items or property, music, or even DeFi staking pool rewards.

Minting NFTs requires little technical knowledge. Artists have leapt at the opportunity to generate digital artworks, and an income stream, whilst retaining intellectual property rights and so continue to benefit from future sales and any appreciation in value. Mintors see token sales regularly oversubscribed, so attracting a premium above the ‘true’ value. Mintees are able to invest in and acquire ownership of rare (i.e., scarce, and so presumably valuable) assets.

This sudden rise in popularity has not been accompanied by a similar rush to understand the legal environment within which an investor (casual or sophisticated) may ordinarily expect to be protected. The ambiguity of the applicable legal frameworks around NFTs, accompanied by poor structural governance and lack of understanding of the legal (and practical) obligations by transaction counterparties place considerable legal risk on an entire ecosystem.

Legal data should form part of the NFT, with terms managed by smart contracts, each supported and regulated by a robust and transparent governance framework in the form of a smart legal contract. An ecosystem with functional-layer smart legal contracts, execution-layer smart contracts, and data-layer multi-source data enriched tokens, such that digital-realm tokens move with the asset and physical-realm tokens that are, or mirror, the single point of truth.

Cryptoeconomic mechanisms for the governance of collaborative construction project deliveries

Jens Hunhevicz, ETH Zurich

I will present my newest findings on blockchain-based cryptoeconomic mechanisms for the governance of collaborative construction project deliveries. Building on identified connections between common pool resource theory and integrated project delivery, the work 1) synthesizes fourteen blockchain-based mechanisms to govern CPRs, and 2) identifies twenty-two possible applications of these mechanisms to govern collaborative project deliveries. Overall, the work introduces a conceptualization of the above relationships towards a holistic understanding of possible new forms of collaborative construction project delivery on the "crypto commons". This could enable in the longer term novel collective organization of construction project delivery between both humans and machines.

DAO governance application in the built environment

Hongyang Wang, ETH Zurich

My general research topic is DAO governance application in the built environment. The specific research focus is to establish a governance system of coded rules leveraging blockchain smart contracts that distribute rights, value and power among a hybrid community of autonomous human or machine agents. The presentation will be about two parts. First a prototype no1s1 (no-one’s-one), a house equipped with IoT systems and owns its treasury on the blockchain. Second, the theoretical foundation for the governance system of such an autonomous self-owning house, which I termed as engineered ownership.