About the project
To boost the systemic transformation by shortening the learning curve for all industry stakeholders, the Circular Construction Copilot project is introducing digital means for dynamic knowledge sharing in the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Operation) industry, adapted to the specific needs of planners engaged in circular and sustainable construction.
1. Problem: Learning by doing is not fast enough for the circular economy to succeed
The topic of the circular economy is becoming increasingly relevant and practical at the same time. However, there are still many uncertainties surrounding circular construction, and this is likely to remain the case for a long time to come as developments are dynamic. It is clear that the traditional process of learning from experience to achieve change is not a promising strategy in an environment where new insights and learning experiences are constantly being made. Organisations that want to deliver outstanding services in terms of circular and sustainable construction need to find ways to keep their entire workforce up to date – this is why they need access to the latest information, also to the one that is not explicitly documented.
2. Solution: AI backed knowledge hub for a circular construction industry
The challenge of keeping up with a fast changing environment is somewhat new to the construction industry but not new to other domains, specifically the software world. Here, the driving force to stay up to date are communities. Through the open exchange of expertise and experience, individuals can build on the knowledge of others without making the same mistakes over and over again. This speeds things up a lot – and creates trust on the client side.
To make this possible, the Circular Construction Copilot project is introducing means of dynamic knowledge exchange that are already established in other, digitally savvy communities. At the core, the project provides two ways of interacting with available knowledge:
1️⃣ Through a question and answer platform for expert to expert to laymen discussions (think “Stack Overflow”)
2️⃣ Through a chatbot that is trained on the many resources, initiatives and upcoming regulations around circularity (think “Bing’s CoPilot”).
3. Approach: Step by step to a vibrant, sharing and learning oriented community
Dynamic knowledge sharing can not be achieved in siloes. And it can not be achieved without tech. For this reason, we have designed the project as a co-creation process that enables focussed discussions between industry peers on the one hand and technology experts on the other.
To regularly provide tangible results and enable the involvement of interested parties from the industry, the project is organised in three successive stages, each with a duration of around 6 months.
Phase 1 – Foundations (June – October ‘24)
In the first phase, we will focus on the elements “community building”, “tech foundations” and “business case”. The targeted results of the first chapter are as follows:
◾️ Use Cases: We do deep dives into concrete use case scenarios from individual organisations along the value chain to understand their current status quo regarding information management and analyse what incentives they have to share information with a bigger community.
◾️ Partner: Key partners to support the project are identified (and onboarded)
◾️ Prototype: Functional prototype (Q&A platform and ChatBot) to demonstrate the potential of the knowledge hub application is live.
◾️ Specifications: Technical specifications for version 1.0 are defined
◾️ Business Case: Business case for the development and maintenance of the knowledge hub is defined
Phase 2 – Implementation (Winter ‘24 / ‘25)
Provided that financing for the business case is secured, we will roll out the knowledge hub in the second chapter. Alongside the roll out, further national and international initiatives will be onboarded and possible integration scenarios at involved partner organisations are studied.
Phase 3 – Scaling (Spring ‘25)
The target of the third chapter is to establish additional use cases to make the knowledge from the forum and the LLM (large language model) available in further workflows outside the existing chat / forum interface, e.g. in design or procurement tools or administrative processes.
Also, the onboarding of further communities will be checked.
4. Roadmap Phase 1: Foundations
To achieve the goals as described above, we will host a mix of public events and focused workshops.
To achieve the goals as described above, we will host a mix of public events and focused workshops.
Event 1: Community – onsite (C33 Community Anlass)
The goal of this event is to further investigate WHY people are sharing and how it can be facilitated. Keynotes: 1. Community Building and 2. Community Management Break-Out Session: WHO will be sharing WHAT information and WHY?
🪩 Event Participation “Community”: free of charge
🎫 Event Registration: follow this link
Event 2: Technology – onsite (Google Zurich)
The goal of this event is to give attendees an overview of the current status quo of the potential and limitations of Large Language Models (LLMs). It is a great opportunity for real talk between decision makers and experts, using the Circular Construction Project as an exemplary case to discuss internal needs and hopes. The exact agenda is still under development:
Block 1
◾️ Big picture: Google‘s Gemini and the future of search (google)
◾️ Trustworthy AI: Applying AI in a closed context within an organisation (tbd)
Block 2
◾️ Open Source AI: Why do companies publish LLMs open source, how competitive are they and how can they be used (tbd)
◾️ Information retrieval: How does information need to be structured (and stored) to be understandable for a state of the art LLM (tbd)
Block 3
◾️ Start Up Offerings around the topic of Information Retrieval with a relation to the construction industry.
🪩 Event Participation “Technology”: CHF 119 p.P.*
🎫 Event Registration: link will follow soon
—👇— core team only —👇—
Workshop 1: Community – online
Wrap up of Public Event: WHO will be sharing WHAT information and WHY? The goals are:
◾️ Definition of use case scenarios from partner organisations along the value chain.
◾️ Definition of the first draft of our “rule book” that outlines the focus and style of questions, the role of community management and further topics relevant to building the community and maintaining it’s energy.
Workshops 2 & 3: Use Cases – online
In two sessions, we will dive deeper on individual use case scenarios provided by partner organisations. The goal is to assess the current status quo for knowledge management. This is done to identify potential improvements and touch points with the circular construction project.
Workshop 4 Technology – online
In this session, we will learn about the approach taken regarding the AI chatbot. We will:
◾️ Revisit the first prototype
◾️ Define specifications of a valuable setup for the MVP
◾️ Define the requirements for the sources that are taken into account by the LLM
◾️ Define measures to keep quality of responses at a high level
Workshop 5 Business Case – online
In this session, we will tackle the business case of the project. We will map out the costs and evaluate possible revenue streams.
◾️ Definition of roles and responsibilities
◾️ Evaluation of costs for the development, implementation and maintenance of the tool
◾️ Evaluation of costs for community management
◾️ Evaluation of potential revenue streams
5. Participation and benefits
The project is financially supported by the CBI Booster from Innosuisse. It is hosted by the non-profit organisations C33 and opensource.construction.
Most people agree that a collaborative approach is needed to boost the existing efforts towards a circular built environment – the Circular Construction Copilot project is your opportunity to put words into action. To get all experts on board and trigger a high quality discussion about knowledge management, community activation and tech as an enabler, we need you – and your commitment to the project. We offer 8 spots to participate in the core team:
Next to making this project possible, the top 3 reasons to participate in the core team are:
👉 Boost your internal knowledge management – learn with the experts and gain valuable insights based on an assessment of your status quo
👉 Hands-on digital empowerment – build a real life AI use case with us and improve your digital skills and understanding about the potential and limits of this new technology
👉 Get early access and make sure, the project supports the transformation of the sector and new circular business cases
🪩 Event Participation “Community”: free of charge
🪩 Event Participation “Technology”: CHF 119 p.P.*
🧑🤝🧑 Member of core team: CHF 1’449 p.P.*
**discount available for public / non-profit organisations and members of c33 or opensource.construction