In 2021, Stewart Russell OBE (Professor of Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley) in his Reith Lectures expressed some principles that he had co-developed to make the development of AI positive and safe.. Altruism – AI is there solely to improve human outcomes and purpose.

This is obviously predicated on consistency of demand; when every construction project is bespoke, it’s impossible for manufacturers (other than material suppliers who make highly standardised, commoditised products like rebar) to develop products that are likely to be used repeatedly.But consistency of demand will come with other forms of progress, like widespread adoption of construction Platforms.

We will come back to this as well..When achieved, this will benefit construction in a range of ways.. Firstly: it would provide greater market transparency and diversify the supply chain, meaning that companies of all sizes could engage with large-scale programmes, in the private and public sectors.. Secondly: late payment (particularly between contractors and their supply chains) has been a well-recognised problem in construction for a few decades.It means smaller suppliers, to whom cashflow is critical, operate in a state of uncertainty and ‘financial distress’.

Late payment is, unsurprisingly, one of the key triggers of insolvency..Even way back in 2013, the Government’s ‘Construction 2025’ vision proposed that construction should no longer be characterised by ‘late delivery, cost overruns, commercial friction, late payment’.

While this has been partly addressed through legislation such as the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 and the Prompt Payment Code, it is still a problem.. A digital marketplace would help make payments more timely – in some cases even instant.

It would also make the construction procurement process more transparent and give suppliers greater certainty of cash flow.. Thirdly: procurement is another significant cause of ‘friction’ in projects, as noted in Construction 2025.Bryden Wood has carried out an operational and embodied carbon analysis on three different levels of intervention on an existing commercial building:.

Light-touch refurbishment, which includes only an upgrade of MEP equipment, windows and ceilings.. A full refurbishment, retaining only structural elements and including MEP upgrade, new façade, finishes and internal partitions.. Full demolition, and construction of a new building..The calculation consists of a whole life cycle carbon analysis (WLCA) of the three options, including operational and embodied carbon (A-C).

The embodied carbon figures used are estimations based on LETI 2020 benchmarks for office buildings, excluding sequestration.The operational carbon estimates are based on RIBA ‘business as usual’ (light-touch refurbishment), our own assessment of 2020 good practice (full adaptive reuse refurbishment) and RIBA 2030 targets (new construction).