Forward-Looking Vision of the Future Building Leads the Way in Future Architecture

The Construction Industry Council’s (CIC) Youth Affairs Committee recently organised the “2024 Construction Industry Youth Greater Bay Area Exchange Program,” leading 110 students to visit several iconic construction projects in the Greater Bay Area, including the China Academy of Building Research’s (CABR) Future Building project located in Shenzhen’s international low carbon city in Longgang District. Ir Prof. Thomas HO, Chairman of the CIC, also led a delegation to visit the project earlier.

The Future Building project, invested and constructed by the CABR, has a total construction area of 62,900 square meters. The project includes office buildings, exhibition and conference facilities, laboratories and residential apartments. Ms. YE Qing, Chairman of CABR, stated that the project integrates future architecture, new technology applications, green building design, and operation. The team hopes that the design and planning of the Future Building can set the benchmark for architectural standards for the next 15 years at least.

Prefabricated Steel Structure Enhances Quality, Sustainability and Safety

The Future Building uses prefabricated steel structure components extensively, with approximately 7,000 tons of steel used throughout the project. The use of prefabricated steel structures can improve construction efficiency and environmental performance. The project team stated that steel structure materials can be reused, hence bringing a 30-50% reduction in carbon emissions than concrete.

Compared to traditional concrete, steel has higher strength which allows larger spans and structural column spacing, create larger indoor spaces. Higher storeys are possible with increased design flexibility and enhanced building safety. Ms. YE Qing mentioned that although the cost of fireproof coatings for steel structures is higher, steel structures can provide triangular spaces for refuge during disasters such as earthquakes to save lives.

Transparent Construction Process and Strengthens Supervision with Blockchain Technology

The CABR also aims to conduct management innovation research through the Future Building project. Therefore, it adopted blockchain technology and established a “full-process transparent construction management system” to record the entire construction process from 2018 until the topping-out of the main structure. This system helps establish transparent communication and record-keeping, aiding quality supervision and project quantity auditing. Blockchain technology stores all information, including logistics, corrections, and construction progress, creating an immutable evidence chain that prevents concealment, eventually building a trusting and safe working environment.

Using blockchain to establish a transparent management system can help construction personnel from various professions to collaborate, allowing construction, supervision, adjustments, and approvals to be handled through mobile applications. This enables project participants from different companies and organisations to assess anytime, anywhere, and allows comprehensive management through mobile phones or computers. The management system can assist foremen in issuing reports after inspections, notifying the engineering team to make necessary adjustments or modifications. The project team can also remotely check the adjustment results via mobile phones, boosting work efficiency.

The Future Building project also adopts a smart construction site management system with virtual reality technology for online 360-degree supervision. The system automatically identifies the distribution, types, and quantities of heavy machinery in danger zones in the project site and uploads the data to the system, forming immutable monitoring records. It is also capable of combining virtual reality patrols to check for potential hazards, weather conditions, construction progress, and provides real-time monitoring and early warnings.

Multiple Approaches to Achieve Zero Carbon Operation

As a projects that aims to lead the industry, the project strives to achieve 3-star green building standard and net-zero energy consumption. Considering the climate of the region that has hot summers and warm winters, the Future Building adopts multiple environmental protection equipment, including passive energy-saving techniques such as natural ventilation, natural lighting, shading, and thermal insulation, combined with active energy-saving technologies such as connected inverter air conditioning and high-efficiency LED lighting. It also uses direct current (DC) power equipment and incorporates a “photovoltaic-storage-direct-flexible” power system to help achieve zero carbon buildings and zero carbon power systems.

The power system of the Future Building consists of building photovoltaic systems, energy storage systems, DC distribution systems, DC power equipment, and flexible control systems.

The Future Building includes DC power equipment for building air conditioning, indoor lighting, office sockets, security equipment, emergency lighting, monitoring display equipment, and charging piles, reducing the burden on transformer capacity. Compared to traditional alternating current (AC) distribution systems, transformer capacity requirement is reduced by 68%, effectively lowering the building’s demand for power requirement from public power supply.

Ms. YE Qing believes that sustainable buildings are not just about adding carbon reduction equipment to buildings but more importantly about changes in lifestyles. Therefore, it is necessary to adjust users’ lifestyle. She mentioned that the CABR tries to design a 15-minute living circle for employees to reduce their carbon emissions from travelling. The Future Building also has green areas for planting vegetables and fruits, integrating production, life, and ecology.

The Future Building adopts Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) systems. Ms. YE Qing believes that “BIPV” is not just the integration of photovoltaics and buildings but also the integration with space, ecology, and cities, and describes the Future Building with “BIPV”: Building, Innovation, People, Value and Vitality.