As a cornerstone in the building operations and safety industry, we are thrilled to announce our newest feature, Operance Task Management, which will be introduced to our user base over the next two weeks as a phased release. This latest feature has been meticulously designed to revolutionise task organisation, assignment, and monitoring in building management, paving the way for heightened efficiency and enhanced safety standards.

Step into the future of building information and safety with our exclusive interview featuring the innovative mind behind our upcoming new feature, Goldenai. In this insightful article, we interview Ian Yeo, the dynamic CEO at the helm of our innovative platform. The spotlight of our conversation shines on Goldenai, the latest feature set to revolutionise how users engage with our platform. Goldenai is not just a feature; it’s your new personal assistant, meticulously designed to enhance your digital experience. This advanced tool promises to streamline navigation, provide tailored support, and bring a new level of efficiency and personalisation to your interactions with our platform. Join us as we delve into the inspiration, technology, and aspirations behind Goldenai.

Before getting into finite detail, we wanted to ask Ian his overall thoughts about Goldenai. Have a read of what he said below:

“I’m incredibly excited about this new feature. The results we’ve been seeing are astonishing, surpassing our initial expectations. This feature not only provides easy access to the content of your building information but also offers valuable insights into your data. We’re all too familiar with the ‘Information Tax’ – the cost incurred every time we search and disseminate information throughout a building’s entire lifecycle. Goldenai is designed to be your solution to this challenge, acting as your personal assistant.

The development journey over the past six months has been intensive, focusing on delivering this innovative solution to our customers. What’s been truly remarkable is the rapid evolution of the technology underpinning this feature since its inception, expanding the possibilities and potential it holds.”

On that note, let’s get started with the interview:

Rest assured, your data with Operance remains entirely secure and is never shared with external AI providers like OpenAI (ChatGPT). We strictly host your data within the UK or EU cloud infrastructure, ensuring it stays within a controlled and protected environment. This means that external AI entities neither retain nor utilise your information for their model training purposes.

Regarding the use of your data for training large language models, we adhere to a stringent policy of non-disclosure and non-utilisation. All data is securely stored within our AWS-provisioned cloud infrastructure, which prohibits its use as training material for any large language models. Your privacy and data integrity are our top priorities, ensuring a secure and trustworthy experience with Operance.

Welcome to a new era in building project management and safety! We are excited to introduce our latest innovation on our esteemed building operations and safety platform – a Home Dashboard! 

In order to calculate the impact, we first need to get an idea of how many construction projects there are each year in the UK, with a focus on those valuing £1m+ for the sake of this study:

• UK Construction Industry Market Report 2023 by Statista: This report estimates that there will be approximately 786,000 construction projects delivered in the UK in 2023.

• Construction Market Insights by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS): This report forecasts that there will be approximately 810,000 construction projects delivered in the UK in 2024.

• Construction Statistics by the Office for National Statistics (ONS): This report shows that there were approximately 734,000 construction projects actually delivered in the UK in 2022.

• The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) estimate that approximately 38% of all UK construction projects are valued at over £1m, a figure which has understandably been steadily increasing in recent years.

Therefore, if we take the average number of those first three figures above as 776,667 construction projects delivered in the UK and use the same 38% spilt, that equates to 295,333 projects £1m+ in value.

Therefore, if the UK construction industry delivers an average of 295,333 projects each year valued at over £1m. This means that printing as-built building information for these projects generates a staggering amount of environmental damage.

Printing and delivering 2 hard copies of as-built building information for 295,333 projects in the UK requires:

• 2,657,997,000 sheets of paper

• 1,063,199 litres of ink

• 295,333,000 watt-hours of energy to print them

• 885,999 gallons of fuel to deliver them

When combined, printing the UK’s £1m+ O&M manuals generates approximately 456,176,318 kilograms of CO2e emissions, and results in the deforestation of approximately 265,800 trees, every single year.

This practice not only has a devastating impact on our environment but also represents a significant waste of resources.

To understand these figures, here are the calculations, if the average O&M manual typically uses around 4,500 pages of paper and, typically, the request is to provide 2 hard copies of this documentation, this translates to:

• Number of Sheets of Paper per Project: 4,500 pages x 2 = approximately 9,000 sheets of paper per project.

• Total Number of Pages Required: 9,000 sheets of paper/project x 295,333 projects = 2,657,997,000 sheets of paper, per year. To be clear, that’s two billion, six hundred fifty-seven million, nine hundred ninety-seven thousand!

• Number of Reams of Paper: 2,657,997,000 sheets of paper ÷ 500 sheets/ream (common industry standard) = approximately 5,315,994 reams of paper.

• Number of Trees Needed: According to a recent study, a standard pine tree measuring 45 feet long and 8-inch across produces 10,000 sheets of paper and a ream of paper equals 500 sheets of paper, basically each softwood tree contains about 20 reams of paper. To put it into a simple perspective, 500 sheets of paper (a ream of paper) use 5% of a tree. Therefore, printing 5,301,298.8 reams of A4 paper would require the deforestation of approximately 265,800 standard pine trees.

• Paper Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions: The carbon footprint of paper production is approximately 2 metric tons of CO2e per metric ton of paper produced, according to common estimates. This equates to 2,000 kilograms of CO2e per metric ton of paper. Given that 80% of an A4 paper’s weight comes from wood pulp, and an A4 sheet typically weighs 80 grams: 1,000 kilograms of paper produces 2 metric tons of CO2e (according to the estimate). This means 1 kilogram of paper is responsible for 2 kilograms of CO2e. Therefore, for 80 grams of paper (or 0.08 kilograms), the CO2e is calculated as 0.08 x 2 = 0.16 kilograms of CO2e per sheet. So, for each sheet: 0.16 kilograms of CO2e x 2,657,997,000 sheets = approximately 425,279,520 kilograms of CO2e/year.

• Litres of Ink: According to the National Association of Printers and Lithographers (NAPL), an average A4 page requires 0.2 millilitres of ink. Therefore, printing 9,000 sheets of paper for two copies per project would require approximately 3.6 litres of ink per project. The total ink consumption for 295,333 projects would be 3.6 litres/project x 295,333 projects = 1,063,199 litres of ink, approximately.

• Ink Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions: Given that the carbon footprint for printing a single A4 page from ink is approximately 9 grams of CO2e, therefore 2,657,997,000 pages × 9 grams/page = 23,921,973,000 grams, or when converted = approximately 23,921,973 kilograms of CO2e/year.

• Total Printer Power Consumption: The average laser printer consumes 200 watts of power, so if, at a printing speed of 30 pages per minute, it would take approximately 300 minutes or 5 hours to print 9,000 sheets of A4 paper, the total power consumption for printing the two copies per project would be 200 watts × 5 hours = approximately 1000 watt-hours of energy/project.

• Total Project Power Consumption: There are 295,333 projects per year, so the total power consumption for all projects would be 1000 watt-hours of energy/project x 295,333 projects = approximately 295,333,000 watt-hours of energy/project/year.

• Power Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions: On average, the carbon emissions from electricity can be estimated at around 0.5 to 1.0 pounds (lbs) of CO2 per kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity generated. So, for 1 kWh (equivalent to 1000 watt-hours) of electricity used, it could result in around 0.5 to 1.0 pounds of CO2 emissions. Therefore, 295,333,000 watt-hours of energy/project/year x say 0.75 pounds of CO2e = approximately 100,436 kilograms of CO2e/year.

• Total Number of Deliveries (Shipments): There are 295,333 projects per year, so there will be a total of 294,527 shipments, not including any return visits with missing pieces of paper, such as last minute certificates or amendments, or even full replacements.

• Total Distance of Shipments: Let’s say the average distance of each shipment is 60 miles (assuming contractors would just find a more local printers to the final destination beyond this, this is admittedly, a big assumption!), so the total distance of all shipments will be 60 miles/shipment * 295,333 shipments = 17,719,980 miles per year, approximately.

• Fuel Consumption: The average fuel efficiency of a delivery truck is 20 miles/gallon, so the fuel consumption for all shipments will be 17,719,980 miles/year / 20 miles/gallon = approximately 885,999 gallons of fuel/year.

• Shipment Related Carbon Dioxide Emissions: The average carbon dioxide emissions per gallon of fuel is 19.6 pounds, so the total carbon dioxide emissions for all shipments will be 885,999 gallons of fuel/year x 19.6 pounds of CO2/gallon = approximately 7,874,389 kilograms of CO2e/year.

Please note that these are just estimates, and the actual numbers may vary depending on the specific assumptions and calculations used.

The impact of printing two hard copies of as-built building information for 295,333 projects in the UK is significant. But how does it compare? Here are some examples:

• The exhaust emissions from a car driving approximately 2,534,313,989 miles/year.

  A typical medium-sized car emits approximately 180 grams of CO2e per mile. Therefore, a car driving 5.6 million miles would emit approximately 10.08 million kilograms of CO2e. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (2023), “Car Emissions”

• The deforestation of approximately 9.94 soccer pitches/year.
  A typical forest absorbs approximately 2,000 tons of CO2e per square kilometre per year. Therefore, the deforestation of 9.94 football fields would release approximately 5,640 tons of CO2e/year. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) (2023), “Forest Deforestation”
• The energy consumption of approximately 245,944 hair dryers running or 118,133 kettles boiling simultaneously.

  To put this into perspective, a hair dryer typically consumes around 1,200 watts of power and a kettle uses around 2,500 watts on average.

• The ink consumption of approximately 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

  An Olympic-sized swimming pool holds approximately 2.5 million litres of water. Therefore, the ink consumption of 2,500 Olympic-sized swimming pools would be approximately 6.25 million liters of ink. International Olympic Committee (IOC) (2023), “Olympic Swimming Pool Dimensions”

• The electricity consumption of approximately 74 homes/year.

  The average UK household consumes approximately 4,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity per year. Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2023), “Household Consumption of Energy and Water”

• The production of approximately 1.5 million bricks.

  The average brick emits approximately 0.2 kilograms of CO2e during production. Therefore, the production of 1.5 million bricks would emit approximately 30,000 kilograms of CO2e. European Environment Agency (EEA) (2023), “Brick Production and Its Environmental Impact”

The cost of O&M printing in the UK can vary depending on several factors, including the size and complexity of the manual, the type of paper used, and the number of copies required. However, as a general rule of thumb, you can expect to pay between £500 and £3,000 for printing a basic O&M manual, in black and white. Colour printing will typically cost more, as will the addition of A3 paper print outs and of course the cost of the ring-binders, page separators, graphic design, and delivery.

If the average printing cost is £1,750, per hard copy, that’s £3,500 for the usual two hard copies, multiply that by the 295,333 £1m+ construction projects in the UK, that’s an approximate cost of £103,366,550 for simply printing out the O&Ms every single year.

But, the cost goes far beyond the general production of the paper base information. Here are some statistics on how much time is wasted when trying to find information in paper format, rather than in a digital format:

• A study by McKinsey & Company found that knowledge workers spend up to 20% of their time searching for information.

• The Panopto Workplace Knowledge and Productivity Report shows that 42% of valuable company knowledge is unique to the individual employee. That’s knowledge they alone possess. Letting that information essentially evaporate is a costly mistake. If an employee leaves the company, that’s 42% of their work that colleagues can’t effectively cover and 42% that a new hire will have to try to learn from scratch.

• According to Deloitte, 72% of employees say they cannot find the information they need within their existing information systems.

• The Value of Information Management in the Construction and Infrastructure Sector paper by KPMG the suggests that the use of IM could potentially secure between £5.10 and £6.00 of direct labour productivity gains for every £1 invested in IM, and between £6.90 and £7.40 in direct cost savings

So if the construction industry in the UK spends approximately £103 million per year on printing and distributing O&Ms, by transitioning to digital as-builts, the industry could save up to 80% of this printing cost by simply moving to digital only.

Additionally, a Forbes article explained how and IDC study found that workers spend an average of 2.5 hours per day searching for information. By switching to digital as-builts, workers could save up to an hour per day, which would free up time for them to be more productive.

Overall, the switch to digital O&Ms could save the UK construction industry billions of pounds per year.

Here are some specific examples of how construction companies are saving time and money by switching to digital as-built O&M manuals:

• Balfour Beatty has saved £2 million per year by transitioning to digital as-builts.

• Skanska has saved 60,000 hours per year by switching to digital as-builts.

• Laing O’Rourke has saved 100,000 man-hours per year by switching to digital as-builts.

These examples demonstrate that the switch to digital O&Ms is a worthwhile investment for construction companies. By saving time and money, companies can also improve their bottom line and increase their profitability.

The construction industry is undergoing a significant transformation as it embraces digital technologies to enhance efficiency, improve safety, and meet stringent compliance requirements. At the heart of this transformation lies the development of digital operational and maintenance (O&M) manuals.

Traditional paper-based O&M manuals often lack consistency, accuracy, and accessibility, leading to inefficiencies and potential safety hazards. This is where Operance’s digital O&M manuals come into play, offering a comprehensive and streamlined solution that aligns perfectly with the requirements of the Building Safety Act and the need for a digital “Golden Thread.”

Empowering Compliance with the Building Safety Act

The Building Safety Act, introduced in 2022, emphasises the creation of a digital “Golden Thread” that captures all relevant information throughout the building lifecycle. Operance’s digital O&M manuals seamlessly integrate into this “Golden Thread” by providing a centralised repository for all O&M information, including drawings, specifications, maintenance schedules, and risk assessments.

This digital consolidation eliminates the risk of discrepancies and ensures that all stakeholders have access to the most up-to-date and accurate information. This is crucial for ensuring the safe operation and maintenance of buildings, particularly in high-rise structures and complex developments.

Securing Data Integrity with Immutable Ledger Technology

Operance’s commitment to data security goes beyond compliance. We employ immutable ledger technology, a tamper-proof and time-stamped record of all changes made to the digital O&M manuals. This ensures the integrity of the information, providing a robust audit trail that can be verified at any point in time.

This unparalleled transparency safeguards against potential fraud, errors, and disputes, fostering trust and confidence among all stakeholders involved in building operation and maintenance.

Embrace the Future of O&M with Operance

Operance is committed to providing the construction industry with innovative and transformative solutions that align with the evolving needs of the sector. Our digital O&M manuals, coupled with our robust data security measures and AI-powered search capabilities, position us as a leader in this rapidly evolving landscape.

By embracing Operance’s digital O&M manuals, construction companies can:

• Effectively comply with the Building Safety Act requirements
• Ensure the integrity and accessibility of critical O&M information
• Enhance operational efficiency through enhanced decision-making
• Streamline maintenance processes and minimise potential risks
• Reduce paper consumption and deforestation

The music industry has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, with the rise of streaming services like Spotify playing a major role in this change. While the traditional music industry was heavily reliant on physical sales of CDs and records, streaming services have shifted the focus to digital consumption. This has had a number of environmental and societal benefits for both the music industry and its customers.

• Environmental Benefits: The shift to streaming has significantly reduced the environmental impact of the music industry. CD production, from the sourcing of materials to the manufacturing process, is resource-intensive and generates waste. Streaming, on the other hand, eliminates the need for physical media, reducing the demand for paper, plastic, and energy. Additionally, streaming services allow users to access music without having to download it, reducing the storage space required and further minimising environmental impact.
• Societal Benefits: The music industry has also benefited from the shift to streaming in terms of accessibility and affordability. Streaming services make it easier for users to discover new music and access a vast library of content. Additionally, streaming services have made music more affordable, especially for those who might not have the means to purchase physical albums or CDs.
• Benefits for End Users: End users have also benefited from the rise of streaming services in a number of ways. Streaming services make it easier to access and share music, and they allow users to create personalised playlists and listen to music on-demand. Additionally, streaming services often offer features such as lyrics, live performances, and behind-the-scenes content, providing a richer and more immersive music experience.
• The Case of Spotify: Spotify has been a driving force behind the transformation of the music industry. With over 406 million active users, Spotify is the world’s largest music streaming service. The company has made a number of commitments to sustainability, including using renewable energy sources, reducing its carbon footprint, and minimising its waste. Spotify has also partnered with organisations like the Rainforest Alliance to promote sustainable forestry practices. Overall, the rise of streaming services like Spotify has had a positive impact on the environment and society. By reducing the environmental impact of the music industry and making it more accessible and affordable, streaming has made it easier for people to enjoy music in a sustainable and convenient way.

Just as streaming services like Spotify have transformed the music industry by shifting from physical CDs to digital downloads, the construction industry can also make significant strides towards sustainability by embracing digital O&Ms instead of paper manuals.

Both the music industry and the construction industry rely on physical documentation, which can be a significant source of waste. In the music industry, physical CDs and records require a large amount of resources and generate pollution, while paper O&Ms in construction require trees to be cut down, water to be used in the manufacturing process, and energy to be consumed in printing and distribution.

All in all, I think thats a pretty comprehensive case I have built for the switch from paper to digital. What do you think? What do your clients think? Is it enough to tempt them to at least give it a go on your next project?

We, the construction industry, has the opportunity to lead the way in sustainability by embracing digital O&Ms. By doing so, the industry can make a significant contribution to reducing its environmental impact and saving money.

It’s time for a change. Let’s bid farewell to these relics of the past. Let’s usher in a new era of streamlined, efficient, and eco-friendly building information management!

We encourage all construction companies, client sand their agents to consider adopting digital as-builts and to promote the benefits of this technology to their clients and partners. Together, we can create a more sustainable and efficient construction industry for the future.

Remember, don’t miss out on the exclusive opportunity to join our AI user programme, limited spots available, act fast before they’re gone! ⏳

If you want to know more about our AI tool and secure early access to it, click here.

You can now share property information with people outside of the Operance platform! Whether you need to send an email or message, all you need to do is navigate to the document you choose and click on the new share button that is now available in the top right-hand corner.

When you click on the share button, you will be presented with two options: Firstly, you can type in the email address of the recipient, or you can copy the direct link, which you can share across any form of communication service. An example is shown in the image below.

Conclusion

It’s as simple as that! Operance has taken a significant leap towards enhancing user convenience by introducing the ability to share property information externally. The new share button feature makes sharing documents with individuals outside the platform seamless. Users can choose between emailing the recipient directly or copying a shareable link, making information sharing more accessible and efficient. This innovative addition reflects Operance’s commitment to improving communication and collaboration in the realm of property information management.

You asked, and we listened! API integration is now available on Operance. Our API allows users to connect various applications to our platform to help automate their day-to-day routine and increase productivity.

All you need to do is navigate to the settings menu when logged in. You should see a new API key section inside the account management area. Once you have accessed our API key area, you can create new keys and delete compromised or redundant ones.

API integration, often referred to simply as “integration,” is the process of connecting different software applications or systems by using Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to enable them to communicate and share data or functionality seamlessly. APIs serve as a set of rules and protocols that allow one software application to interact with another, facilitating the exchange of data, requests, and responses.

API integration is fundamental in modern software development. It is crucial in enabling applications to collaborate, share data, and extend their capabilities. It simplifies the development process, reduces duplication of effort, and allows organisations to leverage the strengths of different software components to create more powerful and feature-rich applications.

Suppose you are a brand-new user of the platform. In that case, you can select the option to get started, providing you with the relevant links and resources you need to get your first organisation, project and model uploaded onto our platform.

Once you have started with our platform and want to find out more, you can search through the help centre at any time using the chatbot to find answers to your questions. You can find out more about our knowledge base in our upcoming article. 

You can contact your account manager anytime to discuss licensing, account management and more. Just click the button, and we will contact you as soon as possible.

If you cannot find answers to any questions, you can submit a support ticket within a couple of seconds straight from the chatbot. Once you have submitted the support request, we will contact you through your preferred contact method to provide a solution.

We find that feedback and communication with our platform users are vital to product development. You can now submit feedback through our chatbot at the end of any conversation to ensure your voice as a day-to-day user gets heard, and we can continue to develop the platform with your feedback in mind.

Search beyond assets with information about your building, floors and spaces now available. 

In addition to your assets, you can now search for information relevant to your actual buildings, floors and spaces.

Should you need the perimeter, area, height or cubic space of a particular room for example, your answer is just one screen away!

Not only can we provide information about individual spaces and floors, but also all your buildings within your portfolio or on your estate/campus.

Whether you are looking to replace the carpets on an entire floor for a new corporate tenant, rent out out a number of spaces to them, find and share floor or fire plans for them, then you now have everything you need in one handy place, your pocket!

With easy access to all this information and more, you can negotiate rates based on exact floor area, plan workspaces, re-name office spaces and so much more whilst standing in the exact space you are discussing and planning.

Let’s say for example you needed to replace the floor tiling within the first floor lobby and WC’s within your building and you need the exact area measurement to obtain a quote. You would simply follow these steps;

1. Click on the ‘Spaces’ tab in the top search bar from the Home page (see above image).
2. Filter your spaces by choosing which builiding and then the floor you require, in this case ’01 FFL’, click confirm.
3. That’s it! You now have the exact square area of each space in this area summarised by each space tab.

Now let’s say you want particular information about an actual room, such as the actual dimensions within say the Accessible WC (01.RM.05) now you simply;

1. Click on the space tab (see below image).
2. Click on ‘Dimensions’ and there you have it, your square and even your total perimiter.

It’s as simple as that! Now imagine you are visiting a carpet shop and remember you didn’t bring along your living room dimensions, soon that won’t be a problem either!

Computer Aided Facilities Management (CAFM) – Wikipedia

Construction Operation Building Information Exchange (COBie) – NBS

The answer is not so simple and whilst the question should be focused on pure usabiity, we cannot get away from the fact dark modes are very much a trend at the moment.

Some interfaces are designed with brand and trend in mind, usually aligned with whether the platform looks ‘fresh’. The most successful platforms however are designed with the end-user in mind, concentrating on critical factors: like whether or not it will improve usability.

Readability: even diametric opposites such as black-on-white or white-on-black have their pros and cons. For most cases, black text on a light UI remains the most readable. However, while this is the most readable, it also can cause fatigue for long periods of time. That is why text-heavy interfaces where the user will be reading for extended periods of time often opt for a dark background with light text. It is still readable, but it will not strain the eyes as much as its inverse.

User Environment: this refers to both where and when the user is interfacing with the platform. The ‘when’ can be simplified as day or night, dark interfaces are ideal for nighttime or evening environments, whereas lighter ones are suited for the daytime. The harsh bright light of a smartphone can cause discomfort when viewed in a dark room, such as a plant room for instance and the muted aesthetic of a dark UI will not show up as well in a brightly lit area.

To switch between light and dark mode is simple and can even be automated depending on your mobile device.;

1. Manual: Access your devices settings, go to ‘Display & Brightness’ and choose between light or dark mode (light mode is generally set as standard). That’s it, open the Operance app and you’ll see the change. Again, depending on your device, you may have a shortcut to your light and dark mode settings as part of your screen lock menu.
2. Automated: Access your device settings, again, go to Display & Brightness and just below or nearby to your light and dark mode settings you should find an ‘Automatic’ toggle switch, switch this on and your phone will detect when the light is dropping and therefore turn dark mode on for you each day, switching back to light mode as the sun rises.

Again, the above may and almost certainly will vary depending on your mobile device, but the instructions shouldn’t be too far off the point either way!

Further reading

Dark Mode vs. Light Mode: Which Is Better?

How to Enable Dark Mode on all Your Apps and Devices

Scott Pilgrim   scott.pilgrim@bimsense.co.uk   0113 3281282   Twitter   LinkedIn