Designing, building, and maintaining functioning structures requires a systematic understanding of the physical, logical, and cyber-physical building components. Furthermore, a good understanding of the social processes that support the building is also required. These elements act together in a complex system that can only be understood using abstract system models. In this module, students learn the basics of model-based system philosophy and system design. The content is illustrated using a series of construction industry role models focusing on sustainable building. Since many of the systems in construction are stochastic, students also learn the basics of stochastics and develop skills for analyzing stochastic systems. Thus, to familiarize themselves with stochastic systems analysis, during the lectures, the students will work on project tasks in which they can program simple statistical functions in the R software.
This module then introduces computer-aided simulation methods to analyze physical, logical, and cyber-physical building components in context. The students learn basic techniques of simulating systems in construction and analyzing systems based on simulation methods. Students develop the skills to design simulation models and carry out structured experiments with the models. Various use cases from the construction industry are used as models (e.g., design of urban infrastructure; construction planning of line construction sites). In an accompanying simulation project, students acquire the ability to create and analyze simulation models themselves in the R software.
