Trimble Digital Constructions Summit 2019

• November 18.-19. 2019
• Copenhagen, Denmark
• Tivoli Hotel and Congress Center
• 400 participants from 35 countries
• 40 presentations and 10 exhibitors

The event brought civil and building engineers together

The overarching theme of collaboration brought both building and infrastructure sides of construction under one roof.

The two-day event included a wide selection of presentations by industry professionals and forerunners, expo stands from different companies and, of course, valuable networking and brainstorming opportunities over food and drinks.

Highlights: 2 key takeaways

It was a busy two days of keynotes, presentations, exhibitions, discussions, and product demonstrations. Here are two selected highlights from the event.

#1: Construction sector’s CO2 emissions have to halve every decade

The most influential and memorable speaker was Dr. Matti Kuittinen from Finland’s Ministry of the Environment. Kuittinen talked about sustainable building with a focus on circular economy and reuse of building materials. The presentation demonstrated how the construction industry must lower its carbon footprint by half every decade from now on.

First decade: Measure the CO2 emissions

The first reduction by half is possible to achieve by using low carbon building materials, such as wood, and carefully calculating the carbon footprint. “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,'' said Dr. Matti Kuittinen. For example, property owners will want to know the CO2 emissions of their real estate portfolio.

CO2 calculation of buildings is already mandatory in the Netherlands and is becoming mandatory in many countries, for instance, France in 2020, Sweden and Norway in 2022, and Finland by 2025. 

Second decade: Use buildings as material banks

The second reduction step will require more than just using low carbon materials. We will need to stop using raw materials in construction and re-use existing buildings instead. We need to find ways to use buildings as material banks and manage material and energy flows efficiently.

#2: Digital construction builds on open data, APIs, and people

Trimble Civil Engineering and Construction Division’s Vice President Michael Bank opened the event with a call for connectivity and confidence: To fully arrive at constructible BIM,  we must collaborate and use new tools. “Digital transformation is the constructible process built upon an integrated open data ecosystem that transforms task and system level workflows.” said Michael Bank.

Katrin Johannesdottir from Skanska continued that technology only provides a toolbox, digitalization is about people using the tools.

Jaana Hannila from Trimble explained that APIs open up data to the outside world, and connect processes and systems as well as people. With the help of APIs, developers can  speed up daily work by automating repetitive processes. This increases productivity.