DM Monitoring
TIANJIN: With a few clicks on a screen, the apartment’s lighting and air conditioning systems can be operated, the skylights can be opened or closed, as well as the curtains… In a smart room displayed at an expo held in north China’s Tianjin Municipality, all futuristic home ideas have been translated into business reality.
The smart room made its debut at the China Building Science Conference and Green Intelligent Building Expo, which concludes, along with over 500 exhibitions with their environment-friendly construction technologies. “The room is recyclable and renewable, and can respond to environmental changes,” said Yang Wei, project leader and professor at the School of Architecture of Tianjin University.
Photovoltaic materials are installed on the apartment’s facade to collect solar energy to power the apartment and surplus electricity can be shared with the city’s power grid, bringing both environmental and economic benefits, Yang added.
Zhong Jing Building Materials, another exhibitor at the expo, showcased its latest construction materials produced by 3D printing.
Giving the appearance of wood, the floorboards are made of siliceous and calcium materials, said Zhang Bo from the company. “We can also process pollutants from chemical plants such as haze and dust into marketable panels and boards.”
A scale model of Huoshenshan Hospital grabs the attention of many participants as the hospital was originally built in Wuhan in just ten days and was the first makeshift facility of its kind for treating patients infected with the coronavirus.
Yu Dihua, a principal engineer involved in the construction of the hospital, said they adopted the method of prefabrication.
“The hospital consists of a number of building blocks as all components are produced in the factory and transported to the construction site for assembly,” Yu said, adding that it greatly reduced consumption and construction waste.
High-tech has also taken center stage at the expo. China Construction Second Engineering Bureau Ltd. showcased a digital platform that can record the life cycle of steel used for construction.
“The platform can monitor the whole process of steel from designing, purchasing, transportation to installation, which can help effectively avoid installation errors and reduce waste of construction materials,” said Wu Libo from the company, adding that each steel has its own QR code for further tracing.
