Construction Workspace Management under Covid-19 and Forthcoming Pandemics

建筑业是加拿大经济的重要组成部分，支持城市/农村的关键服务，目前几乎每14个工作的加拿大人中就有一个就业。虽然许多建筑作业被认为是必不可少的服务，在大流行期间（及之后）必须保持进行，但建筑工人和现场工人的健康和安全至关重要。在2019冠状病毒病大流行的危机下，建筑作业的恢复（和继续）需要在建筑工地执行特定的健康、安全和环境（HSE）规定（包括使用额外的个人防护设备；保持身体距离；以及经常对建筑设备进行消毒）。这将使工作流程发生根本性的变化，并将影响各种建筑活动（特别是劳动密集型活动）的生产率。拟议的项目将推进和扩展Concordia大学Co-PI最近开发的软件工具，以帮助根据社交/物理距离要求和其他HSE规定更新施工时间表。基于云的软件即服务（SaaS）将由两个主要模块开发：流程建模器；和一个时间表优化器，它可以用于一系列的计划决策；从简单的施工活动到复杂的项目工作流程，利用2D图纸和/或3D和4D BIM（建筑信息模型）。此外，低功耗蓝牙（BLE）技术将用于跟踪参与每个模拟活动的现场人员，并控制/提醒HSE政策的执行。现场跟踪结果反馈到云数据库中，将不断提高仿真模型的精度。康科迪亚的团队正在与两个行业领导者合作：SNC-Lavalin，作为加拿大最大的承包商之一，在国际建筑市场上有着广泛的存在；以及基于ble的人体追踪先驱ReelyActive。拟议的项目将招聘和培训5名HQP，他们将在合作公司和建筑工地接受培训。

Construction industry is an instrumental component of Canadian economy, supporting urban / rural critical services, and currently hiring almost one in every 14 working Canadians. While many construction operations are considered essential services and must be maintained ongoing during (and following) pandemic, the health and safety for construction crews and site workers are of paramount importance. The restoration (and continuation) of construction operations under the crisis of COVID-19 pandemic requires enforcement of specific Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) provisions in construction sites (including the use of additional personal protective equipment; applying physical distancing; and frequent disinfection of construction equipment). This will make essential changes to work processes and will affect the production rate of various construction activities (particularly the labor-intensive ones). The proposed project will advance and extend a software tool recently developed by the Co-PI's at Concordia University, to help with updating construction schedules with requirements of social/physical distancing, and other HSE provisions. A cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) will be developed with two main modules: a Process Modeler; and a Schedule Optimizer, which can be used for a range of planning decisions; from simple construction activities, to complex project workflows, taking advantage of 2D drawings, and/or 3D and 4D BIM (Building Information Models). Furthermore, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) technology will be used to track the site personnel involved in each of the simulated activities, and control / alert the enforcement of HSE policies. The on-site tracking results fed back into the cloud database will continuously improve the accuracy of simulation models. The team at Concordia is partnering with two industry leaders: SNC-Lavalin, as one of the largest Canadian contractors with a wide presence in international construction market; and ReelyActive, a pioneer in BLE-based human tracking. The proposed project will recruit and train five HQP, who will receive training in the partner companies as well as construction sites.