CHALLENGE STATEMENT

DEVELOPMENT GUIDELINE

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TABLE OF CONTENT

I. KEY TRENDS IN BUILT ENVIRONMENT SECTOR 2

II. BEAMP CYCLE 2 KEY THEMES 4

III. CHALLENGE STATEMENT TEMPLATE 5

IV. EXAMPLES OF CHALLENGE STATEMENT 6

V. APPENDIX - REFERENCES 14

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I. KEY TRENDS IN BUILT ENVIRONMENT SECTOR

The built environment sector is characterised by some emerging trends:

1. Upgrading infrastructure and digitizing the smart cities of tomorrow

The cities we live in today are the growth engines of our economy and society.

According to Deloitte, the march of progression toward Smart City 1.0 is continuing to

accelerate around the world, as global cities invest in the “connected infrastructure” that will

enable better management of urban assets such as public transit, wastewater systems, and

roads. As a result, existing infrastructures would need desperate upgrades to support such

evolution.

Engineering and construction firms are key enablers of this powerful vision for upgrading

infrastructure to incorporate sensing technology and data analytics that could improve the lives

of the people who move within and between cities.

2. Connected construction provides a 360-degree approach

Not only is digital transforming cities, it is also transforming the way engineering and

construction companies run their businesses.

While slower to adopt digital than other industries, the construction industry is moving quickly to

incorporate game-changing technologies into operations to increase safety, reduce operational

costs, provide innovative solutions to customers, and find competitive advantages with real-time

insights that can change project outcomes.

Internally, digital technologies like robotic process automation (RPA) have the ability to make

significant impacts on back-office operations for engineering and construction firms. In addition,

building information modeling (BIM) systems that allow contractors to create 3D models and

make immediate changes to designs today are also evolving quickly. With the inclusion of cost

and project scheduling to add two more dimensions, 5D BIM systems can help bring projects in

on time and on budget, ensuring no overruns—a key to driving operational efficiencies with

large construction projects

Digital is also driving “connected construction” adoption. Drones, wearables, augmented reality

(AR), and GPS tracking services are revolutionizing job sites, streamlining surveying, improving

worker safety, and capturing valuable data.

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3. Analytics and data are the core future growth, productivity, and efficiency

Data is quickly becoming the core for future success in the construction industry.

Data moves business decisions from reactive to predictive and could enable engineering and

construction firms to outpace their competition. For this reason, it is likely to be a priority on the

growth agenda of the industry’s CIOs in the coming years. A data and analytics strategy can

fuel the ability to deliver smart buildings and smart cities projects, identify and address

diminishing margins, and manage increasing project size and complexity.

Data and analytics also provide companies the ability to refine operations and tackle business

goals like reducing costs or providing next-generation client services. Companies can use a

data-driven approach to unlock smart decision making, identify the optimal location for their

project, and source the best materials to use, all through an interface that enables decision

makers to ask questions and work through scenarios.

4. Sustainability sets the industry’s path to future

The growth of sustainable construction is widely accepted as inevitable and sustainability is now

an issue at the forefront of their industry, with awareness continuing to grow.

The built environment sector is demonstrating commitment to sustainability and there has been

greater emphasis on recycling materials, reducing waste, reducing greenhouse gas emissions

and also participating in green certification schemes. Client demand for sustainable construction

solutions is projected to increase in the future with contractors offering the most sophisticated

range of services ideally positioned to benefit.

Sustainable construction can include the preservation of the environment, an efficient use of

resources, with an eye to social progress and culture. These can include buildings with ways for

natural light to reach the middle of the building, thereby reducing electrical costs or buildings

that reuse water from the sinks in the toilets. These focus on making small changes to reduce

the number of resources necessary to build a new building and such.

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II. BEAMP CYCLE 2 KEY THEMES

BEAMP Cycle 2 will focus on 3 major themes, with 6 sub-themes, including but not limited to:

Advanced Construction Resilience Infrastructure Greater Sustainability

Smart and IoT (Enabler)

Design & Manufacturing and Assembly

Estate Services Sustainable Living

Automated / Digital Construction

Operation & Maintenance Livable Spaces

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III. CHALLENGE STATEMENT TEMPLATE

Challenge Statement – e.g. Smart Escalator Asset & Condition Monitoring System

Current Situation (Provide a context on the existing practises; Have you engaged or adopted any innovation / solution for this challenge?)

Nowadays escalators are common in many public spaces. They have become a necessary convenience in our daily lives and it is important to ensure that escalators are safe for everyone. However, there have been more than 700 escalator incidents reported in Singapore for the past two years - an average of about one a day. There are more than 6,600 escalators in Singapore, like most mechanical devices, escalators require regular and proper maintenance to ensure safety and reliability of use. Currently this is done in a laborious and time consuming manner and no systematic monitoring system is being used.

Challenge Statement (Issues the challenge(s) that you would like solved based on the current situation)

To achieve an effective and reliable design of escalator monitoring system solution such that the public escalators could be monitored properly with the use of IoT as well as machine learning techniques to understand escalator wear and tear under differing conditions.

Basic requirements (The basic requirements you would need from the solution)

To design, develop and deploy the escalator monitoring system with below features.

• Suitable instrumentation for major escalator sub systems such as rollers/motors/tracks

• To acquire relevant data sets such as temperature sensing, wear and tear of specific components

• To utilize and develop suitable algorithms to profile data to various operating conditions

• To display critical data and timely alert user in an interactive dashboard

• Open architecture and scalability via open standards / protocols for addition of new sensors and ease of deployment, regardless of escalator make or model

Expected outcome (The expected outcome / benefit you would like to see from the solution)

• Refer to the existing lift projects

• Consult escalator experts to obtain a better understanding on the domain knowledge

Source: https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/users-the-main-cause-of-escalator-incidents

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IV. EXAMPLES OF CHALLENGE STATEMENT

1. Supply Chain Management for DfMA and JIT construction

Theme: Design & Manufacturing and Assembly

Supply Chain Management for DfMA and JIT construction

Current

Situation

Better planning and handling of DfMA component is needed to optimise delivery of

components and cycle times. It is important that the right materials are supplied in the

right order, in the right amount at the right time to achieve maximum benefits of Just in

Time construction. Current common issues with DfMA includes the lack of onsite storage

space, idle time and risk product damages that comes with exposure to dangers on site.

Challenge

Statement

Real time monitoring, optimisation and supply chain management system and component

tracking for DfMA. This includes component delivery and optimising it with space

constraints on site and cycle times

Basic

Requirement

Platform that monitors and optimises the logistics, delivery, storage and installation of

DfMA components.

Expected

Outcomes

Improved site productivity, reduced wastage from product damage, reduced space on

site for storage

2. Teleoperated and offsite control of construction machinery to address skilled labour

shortage, improve operator's well being and reduce incident on site

Theme: Automated/Digital Construction

Teleoperated and offsite control of construction machinery to address skilled labour shortage,

improve operator's well-being and reduce incident on site

Current

Situation

Crane and construction machinery operators currently suffer from fatigue and

unconducive environments in confined spaces. This results in safety risks as well. In

addition, there is a labour and expertise shortage in this field.

Challenge

Statement

Teleoperated and offsite control of construction machinery to address skilled labour

shortage, improve operator's well-being and reduce incident on site

Basic

Requirement

360 awareness of site condition.

Low latency in operations

Data analysis and comprehensive condition monitoring of construction equipment.

Expected

Outcomes

Reduced site incidents from construction equipment

Address labour shortage issues

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3. Integrated Estate level Smart Sensors system

Theme: Automated/Digital Construction

Integrated Estate level Smart Sensors system

Current

Situation

Current individual sensor systems are unable to meet the demands of the smart cities

need for complex information and insights. This requires several layers of the

technological architecture of smart cities to be fully integrated and interoperable to extract

maximum value from smart estates for improved operations. This includes several layers

such as:

1) sensors layer - to collect data,

2) network layer as a medium to transmit data,

3) platform to process or standardise data and

4) applications layer where functionalities are developed by leveraging the various data

or data derivatives.

Challenge

Statement An Integrated Estate level Smart Sensors system

Basic

Requirement

Data standardisation

Identification of data independencies

Security for private data vs open public data

Expected

Outcomes Increased system and infrastructure optimization, reduced wastage

4. Cyber Security and Cyber Resilience solutions for estate level digital assets and digital

twin that affects operations

Theme: Automated/Digital Construction

Cyber Security and Cyber Resilience solutions for estate level digital assets and digital twin that

affects operations

Current

Situation

Estates and cities are becoming more digitally reliant and interconnected virtually with the

proliferation of digital technologies such as IoT devices, mobile, cloud services and

artificial intelligence. This makes them progressively more vulnerable to the impacts of

cyber attacks.

Frequency of Cyber attacks have not only increased but these attacks have also become

more sophisticated as hackers adopt advanced technologies such as IA and machine

learning to conduct their attacks.

Having solutions that will enhance cyber security and cyber resilience is therefore

required to ensure that ICT systems continue delivering services in the event of a security

breach.

Challenge

Statement Cyber Security and Cyber Resilience solutions for estate digital assets

Basic

Requirement Integrated, automated solution to enable quick and efficient recovery from cyber attacks

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Expected

Outcomes Reduced downtime and impact from cyber attacks in estate operations

5. Automatic/Semi-automatic window cleaning solution for tall buildings

Theme: Operations and Maintenance

Automatic/Semi-automatic window cleaning solution for tall buildings

Current

Situation

Windows on tall buildings are highly inaccessible and are required to carry out periodic

cleaning to ensure that the building's facade remain aesthetically pleasing.

However, current methods which uses manual cleaning carry a high fall risk as they entail

working at heights and exposure to various elements such as strong winds.

Challenge

Statement

An autonomous/automatic/semi-automatic window and/or facade cleaning solution for tall

buildings

Basic

Requirement

The solution must consider how the electricity supply and the water and cleaning

products will be.

It must be safe enough (prevent falling accidents) and be more efficient and sophisticated

than the current systems.

Easy to use

The adaptability of the window-cleaning solution to the greatest number of façades and

its simplicity when prototyping will be positively assessed.

Expected

Outcomes Improved productivity and safety in window/façade cleaning

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6. Use of sensors to monitor growth and environmental factors and maintain plant health by

using AI to control micro environment factors, reducing maintenance needed for urban

greenery

Theme: Urban Greenery

Use of sensors to monitor growth and environmental factors and maintain plant health by using

AI to control micro environment factors, reducing maintenance needed for urban greenery.

Current

Situation

There are many benefits to urban greenery from improving building occupant's well being

to improving thermal comfort and circulation and enhanced biodiversity in urban

environments. Common problems include:

. dehydration and withering of plants due to weather changes

. uncontrolled growth of plant species which damages

the building wall

. corrosion of windows and ledges due to drainage

failure

. VGS structures’ inability to support plants that

become too heavy as they mature

Challenge

Statement

Use of sensors to monitor growth and environmental factors and maintain plant health by

using AI to control micro environment factors( i.e. optimising irrigation, soil condition,

shading etc), reducing maintenance needed for urban greenery.

Basic

Requirement

The solution must consider how the irrigation, drainage, soil conditions, shading, light and

fertilizer can be dynamically altered.

Expected

Outcomes Reduce operating cost and resources needed to maintain urban greenery

7. Rebar-tying robotics

Theme: Automated/Digital Construction

Rebar-tying robotics

Current

Situation

Rebar-tying is a time consuming, repetitive, and accident prone activity in an industry

facing increasing labor shortages. Currently a lot of planning is required to carry out rebar

work, including re-mapping, programming or calibration

Challenge

Statement

An innovative solution, e.g. using robotics, to simplify rebar-tying work, thus help

complete the riskier, undesirable tasks, increasing overall productivity

Basic

Requirement

With the help of an autonomous rebar-tying robot, workforces are augmented and labor

needs are reduced throughout bulk rebar-tying operations.

Expected

Outcomes

A robotic rebar-tying solution that enhances productivity, improve safety, increase profits

and reduce schedule risks

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8. Accelerate soil-drying process

Theme: Operations and Maintenance

Accelerate soil-drying process

Current

Situation

Soil-drying works are time-consuming and especially prone to delays, especially in large

projects that involve massive earthworks

Challenge

Statement

Call for innovative process, additive or machinery, which accelerates the drying of soil,

reduces the extra cost of projects due to delays and applicable in massive earthworks.

Basic

Requirement Process using either additive or machinery that helps accelerate soil-drying

Expected

Outcomes

Besides, to the following additional properties should also be considered:

- enhance the workability of soil;

- preserve or improve the mechanical performance of the original soil;

- maintain or increase the usage of in situ soil (reducing cost of hauling, dumping and

soils from borrow pits);

- reduce the cost of treatment with additives if applicable;

- be applied in any weather conditions (wind, cold, etc.);

- ensure uniformity in application; ensure durability and volume stability of the additive if

applicable

9. Cost efficient, energy efficient cooling system for improved livability in tropical climate

Theme: Urban Greenery / Sustainable Living

Cost efficient, energy efficient cooling system for improved livability in tropical climate

Current

Situation

Overcooling is a critical problem faced by building users in Singapore. 68 per cent of the

respondents from Singapore indicated that they often encountered excessive cooling of

public places such as offices, shopping malls and cinemas.

Air-conditioning accounts for up to 40 percent of the electricity bill for the average

household, according to a study from Singapore’s National Environment Agency and

Singapore has the highest per capita installed rate of air-conditioning among Asean

countries.

Electricity demand in the region is expected to more than double to 2,000 tera-watt hours

(TWH) by 2040.Most of this growth will come from residential and commercial buildings,

largely for cooling.By 2040, air-conditioning could account for up to 40 per cent of

Asean’s overall electricity demand, up from 25 per cent now.The rapid rise in Asean’s

electricity demand in recent years has led to a surge in CO2 emissions and pollutants

that threaten to create an environmental crisis for a region already vulnerable to the

impact of extreme weather and poor air quality.

Yet, consumers are not upgrading their sets to more energy efficient systems despite

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improvements in industry standards. Hence, cost efficient solutions are also needed to

drive adoption of more efficient cooling systems.

Challenge

Statement Cost efficient, energy efficient cooling system for improved livability in tropical climate

Basic

Requirement

Most energy efficient than current cooling system solutions

More cost effective than current cooling system solutions

Enhanced thermal comfort for users

Expected

Outcomes

Reduce energy efficiency of cooling solutions by at least 10% . Increased user uptake of

more cost effective and energy efficient cooling solutions

10. Smart assembly of rebar cages

Theme: Design & Manufacturing and Assembly

Smart assembly of rebar cages

Current

Situation

For Prefabricated Prefinished Volumetric Construction (PPVC), modules need to be

reinforced with mesh and reinforcing bars (also known as rebars). The steps involved in

fabrication and the assembly free-standing volumetric modules are:

1. Interpretation of rebar drawings by skilled personnel

2. Assembling the mesh and rebar to form a structured cage

3. Install the rebar cage into the mould

4. Closing of steel mould and installing of services ducts

5. Checking and closing of mould

It requires effort by a 4-man team that takes 8 – 10 hours a day to prepare the rebar

cages.

Challenge

Statement

It is extremely time consuming process to assemble rebar cages. Moreover, as the

interpretation of the rebar drawings are conducted by human, it leaves room for

misinterpretation of drawings which means missing rebars and links. If the checks fail

(often due to the inaccuracy of rebar drawing interpretation), workers have to amend and

rework on the cage all over again. This means more time required to amend the rebar

cage.

Basic

Requirement

Challenge owner is seeking innovative solutions to save time and manpower in the

fabrication and assembly of rebars.

Expected

Outcomes

The proposed solution should also boost the accuracy of the rebar cages’ structural

integrity and greatly reduce unnecessary re-work and save time and manpower in

reading/interpretation, fabrication and assembly of rebars.

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11. Reliable method of tagging and tracking materials

Theme: Operations & Maintenance

Reliable method of tagging and tracking materials

Current

Situation

Materials tagging and tracking in construction projects is a key function that significantly

contributes to the success of a project. Construction materials that require tracking

include steel bars, precast concrete components and others.

Challenge

Statement

This is critical for the pre-casters and site managers as these construction material

require proper tracking not just for accountability but also to ensure the quality and

reliability of each construction material. Existing solutions such as physical tagging by

barcodes or QR codes can be unreliable with challenges such as stickers being

damaged, removed or require additional effort to remove after installation. Using exposed

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags also will be subjected to similar concerns. But

if these tags are embedded, then signal interference caused by concrete and steel

reinforcement, as well as the possibility of malfunction of tags losing the identity of the

components, give rise to another set of concerns.

Basic

Requirement

The challenge owner is looking for alternatives to existing solutions and welcome further

enhancements to current solutions proposals for new innovative solutions with the

emphasis on reliability, durability and viability.

Expected

Outcomes

A dashboard with analytics and notifications to key personnel for the management and

tracking of these materials will provide better visibility and efficient progress reporting.

12. Early and comprehensive underground service detection

Theme: Automated/Digital Construction

Early and comprehensive underground service detection

Current

Situation

In various construction projects, underground service detection is crucial as any damage

to these services will lead to project delays and stoppages.

Challenge

Statement

Among them are critical items such as power cables, telecommunication cables, gas

pipes, water pipes, and sewers. Furthermore, serious injury or death to workers can

come from striking buried power cables or gas pipelines. Any form of reworking would

have to involve various service providers which will increase the cost and time of the

project. The accuracy of the existing solutions using electromagnetic (EML) and ground

penetrating radar (GPR) is still unable to predict and prevent stoppages. There are

varying solutions from various devices and manufacturers, which causes a lack of

coherent and integrated system.

Basic

Requirement

The challenge owner is looking for new detection technology for incident and network

management.

Expected

Outcomes

The solution proposed should also take into account the various open source database or

public records of underground utilities from other projects in the construction site. Further

enhancements through unique collection of information about new underground

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infrastructure that will help in providing effective detection are preferred by the challenge

owners.

13. Seamless and self-propagation between design, engineering and construction analytics

models

Theme: Automated/Digital Construction

Seamless and self-propagation between design, engineering and construction analytics models

Current

Situation

Architects and engineers involved in the same construction project have two very

separate processes. This difference, coupled with human errors within manual

processes, leads to a lot of work duplication and inefficiency.

Challenge

Statement

Despite the current use of BIM models, changes on both ends are not always reflected;

especially if one of the partners or subcontractors within the project is not using the same

model. This leads to complications, whereby both parties are unable to fix a problem in

the event where there are unreflect changes within the project.

Basic

Requirement

The challenge owner is looking for innovative and smart ways in which changes made in

one model could be automatically shared to ensure integrity of models as well as to

reduce the manual work, which are prone to human errors and often not done (the self-

propagation/integrity parts).

Expected

Outcomes -

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V. APPENDIX - REFERENCES

https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/us/Documents/energy-resources/us-2019-

engineering-and-construction-industry-outlook.pdf

https://esub.com/10-construction-industry-trends/

https://viewpoint.com/blog/8-construction-trends-to-pay-close-attention-to-in-2019/

https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/trend-insight-sustainability-in-construction-

300494115.html

https://www.constructconnect.com/blog/operating-insights/4-major-challenges-facing-the-

construction-industry/

https://connect.bim360.autodesk.com/construction-technology-challenge

http://datumpoint.org.uk/challenges-facing-uk-construction-industry-2019/