As a result of the Infrastructure Projects Authority and the National Infrastructure Pipeline, we now have more clarity surrounding the issue of what needs to be delivered, for who, and the timescales.
The use of digital tools is an important part of DfMA which relies on capturing knowledge about how a building will be delivered from the earliest stages..The rapid pace of change in digitisation has created a great opportunity to integrate DfMA into projects in ways not previously possible.
Data contained within digital objects can be used to explore, test and validate construction methods from the earliest project stages..The role of the designer is evolving to include the creation and maintenance of digital assets with great potential value.Parties both within and outside the construction industry are developing new digital innovations to expand the MMC toolkit and realise this value.. A summary of key DfMA principles.
I have tried to summarise the above in simple terms to illustrate how the DfMA landscape can be viewed in the context of the industry.. DfMA is a design approach that considers ways to efficiently construct buildings by manufacturing and assembling their constituent parts..Designers apply DfMA by considering, evaluating and applying the toolkit of innovations collectively referred to as MMC..
The MMC toolkit includes a range of systems, components and material and process innovations including off-site and site-based solutions.
New MMC innovations are developed all the time.. Design to Value: moving forward with DfMA.It’s positive that individual institutions are there to provide very detailed guidance for specific consultants and professionals, but we also need to have an overarching look at where the industry is heading as a whole.. LETI and Design for net zero carbon.
Last year LETI published some of the first documents offering advice on designing for net-zero carbon: The Climate Emergency Design Guide, and The Embodied Carbon Primer.A voluntary organisation made up of hundreds of professionals, LETI aims to share and collate knowledge in order to improve the way buildings are designed.
Bryden Wood’s Head of Sustainability, Helen Hough, has been leading the embodied carbon workstream for the past year.There are now six sub-workstreams within it.
(Editor: Stackable Lights)