A Web-based Intelligent Systems for Construction and Real Estate Asset Management (iScream)

Insert author details here, using the following paragraph as an example.

Dr Stephen Mak, Associate Professor, Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University[HREF1], Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. bssmak@polyu.edu.hk

Lennon Choy, Lecturer, Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. bslennon@polyu.edu.hk

Abstract

The construction industry does not use IT intensively. On the one hand, the nature of the industry is labour intensive although much mechanization has been used. On the other hand, a project generates a huge amount of documentation including drawings, correspondence, instructions, monthly accounts, and so on. The use of IT is still piecemeal in the form of islands. A wider perspective of the construction industry encompasses not only the construction of a building. The life cycle of the built environment starts from creating land, acquisition of land, planning, designing, tendering, building, marketing, selling, leasing, maintenance, management and demolition. Each of the above process is handled by a separate organization. For example, the landlord acquires land; contracts an architect to design the building and get all the legal matters cleared; contracts a builder to construct the building; contracts yet another organization to sell the product, maintain the building until its life cycle ends. iScream is a system that pinpoints 2 of the major processes in the building life cycle: (i) the construction process, and (ii) the selling and reselling process.

Introduction

Most literature reveals that the construction industry has yet used IT intensively. Mak (2001) found that the use of IT to manage projects in the construction industry had been under-utilized. Futcher (2000) conducted a survey in Hong Kong and found that the contractors were active in using IT in many aspects except for business strategy formulation and delivery. On the one hand, the nature of the industry is labour intensive although much mechanization has been used. On the other hand, a project generates a huge amount of documentation including drawings, correspondence, instructions, monthly accounts, and so on. The use of IT is still piecemeal in the form of islands. A wider perspective of the construction industry encompasses not only the construction of a building. The life cycle of the built environment starts from creating land, acquisition of land, planning, designing, tendering, building, marketing, selling, leasing, maintenance, management and demolition. Each of the above process is usually handled by a separate organization. For example, the landlord acquires land; contracts an architect to design the building and get all the legal matters cleared; contracts a builder to construct the building; contracts yet another organization to sell the property, maintain the building until its life cycle ends. This paper introduces an IT application system, iScream, which purposely built to streamline the daily business operations of the construction and real estate industry. The core part of iScream is a web-based central database system to which a number of application modules can be linked seamlessly. This paper illustrates two major modules in iScream that pinpoints 2 of the major processes in the building life cycle: (i) the construction process, and (ii) the selling and reselling process.

Monitoring Construction Process

The construction site is not a pleasant environment because it is dusty, noisy and often dangerous. Because a building lasts for a long time, the structure of it must be able to sustain the erosion of weather over time. It is usually difficult for the client or the supervising architect or project manager to look after every detail in the actual construction. In simple term, quality control is at stake. In Hong Kong, there have been scandals that piles were not driven to the desired depth after the whole building was completed. This has led to the demolition of a few 40-storey buildings that were affected. If this incident was not known until people have moved in, the consequence can be catastrophic.

Early advocates suggested the installation of cctv systems on site; for example, installing a cctv on the tower crane to monitor the construction process. The idea was good but the equipment cost and wiring caused a lot of inconvenience.

iScream for construction recently set up a prototype for the Campus Development Office (CDO) of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University to monitor the construction process. Instead of a standalone cctv, a web cam is used. The high-resolution web cam is installed on the tower crane and is connected to a wireless LAN access point. With a high-gain antenna, the receiving access point can be as far as 3 km away. The CDO project manager can therefore monitor the whole construction process, especially after hours at which concreting usually takes place. The system is integrated into a virtual meeting system, which is a web-based many-to-many multimedia communication system. The meeting system supports video and sound transmission (via desktop webcam), shared whiteboard, text message and a selection of cctv screen.

It allows real time collaborative meeting between the client (CDO), the architect and the contractor.

The specifications of the web cam are:

  • 20 times optical zoom
  • 350 degrees pan
  • 120 degrees tilt
  • 30 fps at 320x240 resolution
  • a built-in web server
  • supports up to 30 concurrent access
  • remotely controllable zoom, pan and tilt
  • pre-programmed take snap shots automatically uploaded to a ftp server

    The virtual meeting system allows:

  • many-to-many multicast meeting
  • video and audio transmission via desktop webcam
  • shared whiteboard overlay on jpg files (e.g. a snapshot of the camera)
  • text-based messages

    The prototype is characterized by:

  • a construction site with cctv that can be 3km away from the receiving access point
  • architect, project manager and client do not need to assemble for routine meetings
  • real time transmission of site operation by all parties
  • mimic face to face meeting with video, audio, whiteboard and text chat
  • fully integrated and low cost

    Selling and re-selling of property

    The setting of price is an art as well as a science. It relies on business flair as well as market sentiment. We have been collaborating with an international property appraiser by providing programming and system support as well as new appraising expertise with the huge data bank the appraiser owns. With more than 7 million transaction records in the data bank, we have developed sophisticated algorithms to analyse the data in housing estate clusters. A series of HPM equations were developed based on the historical transaction data and other value-added property attributes. The outcomes meet with the stringent requirement of professional property appraisers of our collaborator and a major bank as the mortgagor. On top of the nominal HPM equation valuation figures, two indices are also used to qualify the initial valuation to a final figure. A comprehensive building address database and equations have been developed for most major Hong Kong housing estates. The system can:

  • allow property appraisers to get a realistic valuation of a property, based on an address, quickly and accurately
  • empower potential property buyer, especially overseas buyers, to get more accurate information on the property market
  • enhance the transparency of the property market that will eventually lower unproductive transaction and search costs
  • be adopted by the foremost institutions with a large property portfolio, so that they can evaluate the total capitalization of their assets on the fly
  • be used by Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) fund managers to let investors make decisions when considering investing in these trusts

    Tse and Choy (2005) showed that the use of IT is very income elastic; a 1% increase in GNP per capita would result in 1.71% increase in the number of computing labour employment. The construction and real estate industry should further increase the investment on the use of IT so as to enhance her competitive edge. It is equally important for the managerial people in the industry to ask how much and what to invest. Among many new technologies and applications, those with comparatively higher added values and cost saving function should be chosen. Integrated systems (like iScream) that improve the business decision making process and reduce the costs for system integration are worth investigating and investing by the construction and real estate professionals.

    Reference

    Futcher, KG (2000). Use of information technology with the Hong Kong construction industry, Implementing IT to Obtain a Competitive Advantage in the 21st Century, Hong Kong: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. pp. 119-131.

    Mak, S (2001). A model of information management for construction using information technology. Automation in Construction. 10. 257-263.

    Tse, R. and Choy, L (2005). Is IT Training in Construction Industry Useful? Journal of Construction Research. 6(1). 1-13.

    Copyright

    Stephen Mak and Lennon Choy, © 2005. The authors assign to Southern Cross University and other educational and non-profit institutions a non-exclusive licence to use this document for personal use and in courses of instruction provided that the article is used in full and this copyright statement is reproduced. The authors also grant a non-exclusive licence to Southern Cross University to publish this document in full on the World Wide Web and on CD-ROM and in printed form with the conference papers and for the document to be published on mirrors on the World Wide Web.