ISMR July/August 2024 | Page 14

INDUSTRY NEWS

Harnessing AI for design of

Image : Shutterstock . com . zero-emission buildings

The University of Oxford in the UK is to be a partner for the ZEBAI project ; a major new initiative which aims to revolutionise the way that zero-emission buildings are designed . The project , backed by 3.8 million euros of funding from the European Commission Horizon Programme , will establish demonstrator projects in four countries to test innovative approaches to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of buildings .
The building and construction sector is a major source of carbon emissions , accounting for over 34 % of energy demand and around 37 % of energy and process-related CO₂ emissions in 2021 ( UN Environment Programme ). Currently , the sector is far off-track from decarbonising by 2050 , presenting an urgent need to adopt low-carbon materials and building processes . Led by the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid , ZEBAI will address this by bringing together a consortium of 18 academic institutes from seven European countries .
The Departments of Engineering Science and Physics at Oxford will focus on characterising and modelling how materials respond to temperature and mechanical forces , harnessing the power of AI to select locally sourced building materials that are suited to specific environmental conditions . In particular , studying the specific properties of building materials and how they behave under the combined influence of different forces will reveal how they are likely to be affected by changes in temperature and loads or stresses .
The Departments ’ analysis of the mechanical properties of materials used in buildings across Europe will be used to create a simulation that will be integrated with AI methodologies so that the resulting software can be incorporated into construction design platforms used by architects and engineers . ZEBAI software will include a large library of properties of materials based on their work and will be used to ensure that constructions meet netzero targets .
Professors Sonia Antoranz Contera ( Department of Physics ) and Antoine Jérusalem ( Engineering Science ) will work with Lurtis Ltd to integrate AI modelling into the material selection process .
Professor Jérusalem explained : ‘ This is a very timely and exciting project where the work that Professor Contera and I are doing with engineering materials at multiple scales will feed into direct practice to maximise impact in the real world . ZEBAI is posed to push forward the frontier of energy-efficiency in future constructions with state-of-the-art mechanics and AI .”
The research done at Oxford will contribute to the project ’ s core goals of optimising materials for different environments , streamlining the design process to make it more efficient and user-friendly , and ensuring that cost effectiveness and environmental objectives are achieved .
“ We are very excited to participate in this collaboration which assembles such interesting companies ( including Ukrainian partners ); institutions ; engineers ; scientists and architects . We had this idea four years ago , and it is great to finally see it coming to life !” added Professor Sonia Antoranz Contera , Department of Physics , University of Oxford .
ZEBAI aims to revolutionize zero-emission buildings design through a comprehensive methodology which will incorporate analyses , decisionmaking processes and holistic evaluations of energy performance , environmental impact , indoor environmental quality and cost-effectiveness . This approach promises more efficient and user-friendly design processes and the potential to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of future buildings .
The project will also develop a database of well-characterised materials and assess the differences between predicted and actual building performance . AI techniques will play a pivotal role in optimising the selection of materials and systems across various aspects of building design . By integrating AI-assisted processes , the project aims to enhance the efficiency and user-friendliness of the design process , while adhering to environmental quality and cost-effectiveness objectives .
The four representative demonstrators in the Ukraine , Spain , United Kingdom and the Netherlands will serve as test cases , allowing the project team to assess the methodology ’ s performance across different climates , usages and building patterns . n

QMS software market to reach new heights by 2034 Above : Top : Professor Sonia Antoranz Contera . Below : Professor Antoine Jérusalem . Image : Pamela Davis Kivelson .

The escalating demand for product quality from customers , spurred by news cycles highlighting issues across industries such as aerospace , pharmaceuticals and automotive , is driving significant growth in the Quality Management Systems ( QMS ) software market . Global technology intelligence firm , ABI Research , is forecasting revenues to rise to US $ 13.7 billion by 2034 .
“ Growth will primarily be driven by an increasing need to focus on product quality from manufacturers , Artificial Intelligence ( AI ) creating a wide range of new use cases in QMS software and the strong growth of closely associated software products such as Manufacturing Execution Systems ( MES ) and Product Lifecycle Management ( PLM ), into which QMS software is often partially built . The success of these aligned software markets will drive the increased adoption of QMS solutions ,” explained James Prestwood , Industry Analyst , ABI Research .
“ Process manufacturing , especially in highly regulated industries like pharmaceuticals and food & beverage , is poised for rapid adoption of QMS software , driven by ongoing scrutiny ,” he continued .
The QMS software market is home to a wide range of vendors , with the market dominated by solutions providers that package their solutions alongside a broader software portfolio , such as Dassault Systèmes , Honeywell , PTC and Siemens . The long tail of smaller players such as ComplianceQuest , Dot Compliance , Veeva Systems , IQVIA and Intellect either differentiate their solutions with manufacturing market-specific focuses or innovative new functionality such as AI .
“ Overall , the quality software market has been somewhat pushed to the side in the past but is now defining its space and value far more clearly across organisations ,” Prestwood concluded . n
www
. abiresearch . com
14 | ismr . net | ISMR July / August 2024