Thesis Proposal Virtual Reality in Construction Cost Estimating

1. Thesis ProposalVirtual Reality in Construction Cost Estimating By: Mandy Frazure Date: 5/12/04

2. Agenda • Introduction • What is the problem? • What is the objective? • What is going to be accomplished? • What is the method? • How will this project be approached? • What are the expected results? • Why is this important? • Activities • Dates • What resources will be required? • By implementing this project, what will be accomplished? • What would be the impact of the accomplishments? • What are the possible extensions? • Summary

3. Introduction In the construction industry, cost estimating is a time-consuming, costly and essential phase of any building project. Cost estimates rely on the decisions made throughout the project by clients, designers and constructors. Decisions made by the clients, designers and constructors early in the project have the greatest impact on the final construction cost.

4. What is the problem? • clients lack technical expertise to fully understand/visualize the construction documents • clients lack the technical knowledge to assess the cost impact of their decisions

5. What is the objective? • To research existing software on the market and to develop/alter a three dimensional software program that will aid in the estimating and visualization processes of the construction industry

6. What is going to be accomplished? • The development of a virtual reality tool that contains a cost information database • This environment will address using only Division 9 (Finishes) in the CSI format • The goal is to aid in saving time and money in the detailed processes of putting together a construction project, in terms of conceptual design phase up through the finished product.

7. What is the method? • Implement existing methods of cost-estimating into the virtual development tool by adding a cost database, and a set of calculations to determine the cost impact of the changes to be made by the clients

8. How will this project be approached? • Identify and acquire virtual reality software and cost data info • Become familiar with proposed software • Make decisions according to the research efforts • Create test codes and virtual environment • Implement the codes into the virtual environment

9. What are the expected results? • It is anticipated that the real-time cost update and the visual component of the modified virtual reality development tool will allow the clients to better understand the impact of the changes and therefore save money by making decisions early in the project.

10. Why is this important? • According to a study done at Stanford University, “For the most part, the clients are unaware of the overall scale of the project in the 2-D documents placed in front of them and fail to see the magnitude in the loss of profit margins involved with the possible reworking of a project.” -Kam, 2003

11. According to another study done at Purdue University, “Visualizing the final product in construction processes is also difficult task in itself; therefore, the logic for industry professionals to identify ways to combine tasks, save time, and save money is evident.” -Bozell & Cory, 2001 • According to the study done at Stanford University, there is a need to “develop visualization tools that support decision-making across different architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) domains.” -Kam, 2003

12. Activities Activity 1: Identify Virtual Software • Identify software by internet research and/or contacting persons in AEC industry to inquire about current software and make decisions based on current programs, availability, price, and compatibility. Activity 2: Identify Cost Database • Choose a cost database according to the most efficient and up to date information by researching existing construction cost estimate databases (to extract the cost information needed from these databases and implement into Activities 3-10)

13. Activity 3: Acquire VR Software and CostDatabase • Acquire necessary software and data base information proposed in Activities 1 and 2 in order to begin testing Activity 4: Filter Cost Data for Division 9 • Acquire the cost data information, using only Division 9 (Finishes) Activity 5: Get familiar with VR Software and Cost Data Software • Get familiar with the software proposed to create project by researching linkage methods and processes to implement into the project

14. Activity 6: Create a Pseudo Code to link VR to Cost Database • Create a pseudo code to test and link VR environment components to cost database. In this phase, the limitations, commands, and necessary coding will be decided upon Activity 7: Identify and Acquire Architectural Plans for VR Project • Identify and acquire a set of house plans with the following characteristics: Approximately 2500 sq. ft. 3 bedroom house, 2 bath, kitchen, living room, dining room, and laundry room. It is the researcher’s intention to use these plans to build a VR project (3D model) and to use the cost database information in Activity 4 to calculate the cost of each room after the information has been linked together with the VR project (Activity 9)

15. Activity 8: Create VR Project • Create a virtual reality project from a set of architectural floor plans to use in the linking of the pseudo code with the VR project and cost database Activity 9: Link VR and Cost Database with Pseudo Code • Link together the VR components and the cost data information with the pseudo code created in Activity 6 and make any necessary revisions Activity 10: Create Code and Implement: Phase I • Create code used for final project based upon all activities, and revisions up to this point and implement

16. Activity 11: Create Code and Implement: Phase 2 • Complete necessary revisions Activity 12: Prepare Paper Following Conference Proceedings • Create a paper following conference proceedings between 8-12 pages Activity 13: Prepare Thesis • Prepare Thesis for public viewing

19. What resources will be required? • Computer: (Hardware: 1.79 GHz, 256 MB of RAM; Software: Microsoft Windows XP, Excel, 3D software, etc.) • Internet Access • References/Books (References: Emerging Technology in Construction Estimating; 3D Modeling for the Architectural Engineering and Construction Industry; Applied Virtual Reality in Construction Engineering-with Focus on Large and Complex Buildings; Developing IRoom Visualization Technologies to Balance Cross-Disciplinary Decision Factors; Books: Means Estimating Handbook, Second Edition • Desk • Chair • Set of architectural house plans with the following characteristics: approximately 2,500 square foot, 3 bedroom house, 2 bath, kitchen, living room, dining room, and laundry room.

20. By implementing this project, what will be accomplished? • Provide an easier way for clients, designers, and constructors to be able to work together to make decisions addressing cost issues earlier in the project • Save the construction industry money by aiding the clients in visualization processes and reveal potential cost problems of the project • Save time by supplying the users with estimating costs and updates in a real time virtual environment instead of examining, collecting, and verifying data from a set of 2-D working drawings (the most commonly used methods of construction estimating in the past) • OVERALL GOAL: Provide the clients, designers, and constructors a way to visualize the final product in construction processes and in doing so, combine tasks, save time, and save money

21. What would be the impact of the accomplishments? • Provide a way for the project leaders and clients to work together more efficiently, while the clients will have a better understanding of the project and the potential cost problems involved with reworking a project • Affect the profit margins in the construction industry by saving the industry money and reducing rework • Combine every day tasks that will result in better time management • Potential for providing fundamentals in learning for beginners in the AEC field • Provide a way for clients, designers, and constructors to work in a partnership environment and link information together • Potential marketing device to bring together clients with designers and constructors, make decisions, and sell a project while the clients will have a broader understanding of the project in its entirety and have the power to see the finished product and a reliable, up-to-date budget

22. What are the possible extensions? • Cost Analysis Including all Divisions • Design Solution Analysis • Interior Design • Architectural/Structural Design Components • Construction Scheduling

23. Summary The decisions made early in the project between the clients, designers, and constructors have the greatest impact on the final construction costs. Most clients are unable to fully visualize a construction project in its final stages and do not have the knowledge or expertise to understand the cost impact of their decisions. The results of this thesis will allow the clients, designers, and constructors to visualize the project, navigate through it the virtual world, make materials changes to the project, and calculate the cost-impact of these decisions. As a result, the real-time cost update and the visual component of the virtual reality development tool will aid the clients in understanding the cost impact of changes and therefore save money by making decisions early in the project.