Digital technology is playing a key role in a project aimed at speeding up housing delivery with modern methods of construction (MMC), which has included creation of a BIM housing manual.
The three-year Advanced Industrialised Methods for the Construction of Homes (AIMCH) project, which started 18 months ago, is trialling a range of solutions that could build homes faster.
The project is using automotive learning from around the world to develop advanced manufacturing approaches, such as simulation, to build a model of the "future offsite factory", where digital technology and automation such as robotics drive productivity.
It is also developing a guide to creating a BIM housing manual for developers that will be specific to housing developments. Organisations will be able to use this manual to create a digital representation of the physical and functional characteristics of a building.
The guide is due to be trialled with partners towards the end of this year.
Stewart Dalgarno, AIMCH project director and Stewart Milne Group director of product development, said: "Much has been achieved since the AIMCH project started 18 months ago, and we are incredibly excited about the next part of the journey where we will be looking at creating a future factory model, design standardisation, studying productivity, commercial viability, embodied carbon, and implementing new technologies.
"These technological changes mean we also need a workforce equipped with the necessary skillset to support the transformation in housebuilding and construction industries.
"These new smarter ways of working will help the industry to achieve more with less, the need for which has been highlighted even more this year as the industry adapts to working through on-going Covid-19 restrictions."
