Developing iRoom visualization technologies to balance cross-disciplinary decision factors —A cost and risk analyses approach to evaluate conceptual alternatives

During the conceptual design phase of a construction project, the building owners make major decisions that have life-cycle influences on their capital facilities. Often without technical experience in building construction, the owners rely on the construction managers, or owner representatives, and their technical skills to provide analytical support during the decision processes. This seed proposal is motivated by two recent examples in which the owners were unaware of, and subsequently dismayed by, the resulting cost and risk implications of two seemingly discipline-specific adjustments. Specifically, the owner team in our first case study approved architectural adjustments without evaluating the ramifications for structural rework, mechanical coordination, and the life-cycle operating costs. In the second case, the technical team was not able to quantify the ripple effects of a spatial adjustment in an ad hoc situation. Analyzing current best practices, we find that the lack of an easily understandable summary view of the decision parameters and the discipline-specific reporting mechanism have hindered an objective interdisciplinary evaluation of project alternatives. There is a need to develop visualization tools that support decision-making across different architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) domains.