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Existing buildings benefit from BuildAudit’s circular economy and AI solutions.
BuildAudit AI has taken their own measures towards addressing the circular economy challenges in the UK’s existing buildings. Funded by Innovate UK, the platform is designed to make pre-demolition and pre-refurbishment audits more accessible and affordable, particularly for organisations working to meet net zero goals. By simplifying these processes, BuildAudit’s mission is to help reduce the waste that often comes from demolishing or refurbishing existing buildings. (main pic: Proof of concept, combining scan of commercial building with existing building plans using the BuildAudIt Platform.)
Through a collaboration with Unit9, Enable My Team, the Building Research Establishment (BRE), Reusefully, and Imperial College London, BuildAudit’s platform uses AI to streamline the process. By integrating point cloud scanning, visual data capture, and existing architectural drawings, it reduces the need for highly specialised expertise. The result is an approach that may well break down some of the barriers for building owners who want to retain materials and cut costs during the retrofit process.
The UK has more than 30 million buildings needing refurbishment to achieve net zero, the stakes are high. Every year, around 50,000 buildings are demolished, with many reusable materials simply discarded. BuildAudit’s AI technology steps in at the early stages to preserve more materials and components, ensuring that they can be reused rather than wasted.
One of the most pressing challenges is that older buildings lack digital models, unlike new constructions that often come with detailed building information modelling (BIM). Creating these models for existing structures can be costly and time-consuming. BuildAudit addresses this gap by merging data sources, making it faster and easier to conduct thorough audits without the high costs typically associated with manual surveys.
Apparently, the platform could also be adapted for a wide range of building audits, from safety assessments to energy efficiency evaluations. As regulations like the UK’s Building Safety Act 2022 drive demand for better building audits, BuildAudit is looking to play its part in how the UK manages its building stock.
