Pharmaceutical facility design: adding value with construction technology and ‘Chip Thinking®'

At present, there simply aren’t enough young people coming into the construction industry.

The story continues.The use of robotics in the Architecture, Engineering and Construction industry is very appealing, mainly because of the increase in productivity and quality that automation is expected to achieve..In order to fully realise these benefits, though, the industry must first question which of our current processes should be automated and which should be re-thought..

Pharmaceutical facility design: adding value with construction technology and ‘Chip Thinking®'

Many technologies, such as 6-axis industrial robotic arms, have not yet been fully explored, due to:.The complexity involved in construction processes.The requirement of specialist robotic programming skills.

Pharmaceutical facility design: adding value with construction technology and ‘Chip Thinking®'

Technical and financial risks that limit the possible uses of robotic arm technology.To address these issues and to connect robotic technology to Bryden Wood’s ‘Platform Approach’ to Design for Manufacture and Assembly (P-DfMA), our Creative Technologies team has developed F.R.A.C.

Pharmaceutical facility design: adding value with construction technology and ‘Chip Thinking®'

– a Framework for Robotics and Automated Construction.. F.R.A.C.

provides an open, extensible and collaborative platform that enables all designers – not only specialists – to engage with robotic technologies and to embed digital manufacture workflows into their everyday design activities.. F.R.A.C.The breakdown on a whole life basis (the embodied carbon both on day one and ongoing across the next 60 years, accounting for any maintenance and repairs and what happens when the building or components are at their end of life), shows the superstructure, external wall including curtain walling, and MEP to be the predominant contributors to the whole life carbon.

These are the main areas where lessons can be learned on how to reduce embodied carbon.. As-built embodied carbon analysis.There is a perception across the construction industry that operational carbon is more significant than embodied carbon.

Our results show that operational carbon is expected to account for around a third of whole life carbon over the next 60 years (decarbonisation of the electricity grid is not currently accounted for).This operational carbon is based on NABERS Design for Performance modelling and is monitored during the building’s first year of occupation.. At two thirds of the whole life carbon of a building, embodied carbon is critical to address in the early design stages and provides the greatest opportunity for overall carbon impact reduction..