Construction Group Seeks to Build Support for RFID

The RFID in Construction Consortium, formed by RFID and construction industry members, hopes to foster technology's adoption, primarily by acting as a source of information.
Published: June 11, 2009

A new organization hopes to help the construction industry take advantage of radio frequency identification in the work place. The nonprofit group, known as the RFID in Construction Consortium, will provide education and support to industry members seeking to learn more about or deploy the technology, as well as other forms of automatic investigation and data capture (AIDC), sensor and wireless technologies.

The idea of establishing such a consortium first surfaced a few years ago, and has been gaining interest and momentum within the industry ever since, according to Jose Faria, the consortium’s president and an associate professor at Florida International University‘s Department of Construction Management. Several individuals helped spearhead the organization’s creation, including Francis Rabuck, the consortium’s senior VP and chief operating officer, and the director of the Intelligent Infrastructure Lab at software design company Bentley Systems; and Harry Pappas, president of the International RFID Business Association. Pappas has helped create similar RFID groups for such vertical industries as tires, health care, animal identification, retail and aviation. Rabuck is contributing his knowledge of the construction industry, as well as his hands-on experience with RFID, sensors and wireless technologies. He is also a member of FIATECH, a nonprofit research group composed of construction companies, material suppliers and academics, and operating under the umbrella of the Construction Industry Institute (CII).

The recent economic downturn provides some incentive to establish this type of program, Faria says, since many construction firms are examining their current processes and searching for ways in which technology can improve efficiencies and productivity, in addition to decreasing operational costs. “We launched the organization at a time when education is imperative,” Faria states, adding that he hopes the Obama administration’s rollout of its stimulus plan may free up funding for RFID programs.

“The RFID consortium’s mission is educating end users in a vendor-neutral and technology-agnostic manner,” Faria says, “so they can take advantage of the benefits of implementing RFID in their enterprises.” The group, he notes, will focus on helping each company to examine the solution to a particular problem as part of a total picture, without focusing solely on the RFID portion of the implementation.

The construction industry has already begun employing RFID to track materials, assets, equipment, explosives, hazardous materials and people. Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, for example, is being used to identify the exact location of such materials as precast concrete panels and metal beams that have been tagged with RFID (see German Research Institute Tests RFID in Construction).
The technology is also utilized for tracking tools and equipment as they are used, stored and repaired on the job site, as well as for controlling the access of personnel and vehicles to restricted areas. In addition, RFID can transmit sensor data from construction sites, such as when pouring concrete to help a user track temperatures, particularly in climates in which freezing can occur (see RFID Cures Concrete).

In the future, however, RFID is expected to become more prominent. Applications of the technology will be used for measuring supplier reliability, Faria predicts, as well as for simplifying inspections. Many construction sites will need to integrate the use of sensors, wireless and possibly bar-coding technologies, he notes, for a total system solution that may include radio frequency identification.

The new consortium addressing these challenges includes a mix of educators, systems integrators, manufacturers and construction companies. The group’s diversity, according to Faria, is intended to provide research for real-world application expertise.

To accomplish this goal, the group will offer workshops to construction firms, and will promote the use of an RFID in Construction “cookbook” based on the results of multiple studies and pilots of radio frequency identification in the construction environment. Rabuck expects FIATECH to publish such a guide by the end of 2009.

Additionally, Faria indicates, the consortium plans to issue white papers and journal articles related to RFID and its applications in construction. “We will research interoperability, establish a working lab, and partner with trade associations and trade publications to deliver an educational message specifically tailored to the various areas of the construction industry,” he says. The group intends to offer its services globally, and has received requests for information for chapters to be formed in Europe, South America and Asia. What’s more, the consortium also plans to coordinate its work with other groups similar to FIATECH, to prevent duplication of efforts.
“We believe the progress [of RFID in construction] will be cautious,” Faria states. “However, it will move forward and gain momentum over time.” The group will start by publicizing itself and its plans to the industry. “In the short term,” he says, “we want to become known to the community, present our value proposition to the industry, and promote membership while we start building our Web site.” The Web site will include a virtual library, as well as areas for discussion, information requests, and general information. “We would look at each particular case and recommend the concept that best fit the problem,” he says. “It will be up to the system integrators and the customers to agree on specific brands, hardware and software.”

Later this year, the group plans to launch workshops, seminars and discussions regarding testing standards, and would like to partner not only with the industry, but also with universities, trade associations, governments and standards bodies. “Our initial plans,” Faria explains, “are to collect thoughts from our members and listen to key problems that need to be addressed immediately.”

In the meantime, FIATECH will continue to focus on speeding the development and deployment of technologies in the construction industry. The organization recently completed a study of RFID for tracking tools as a benchmark comparing radio frequency identification and bar-code technologies. In the past four years, Rabuck says, the group has also completed pipe-tracking and concrete maturity studies using RFID and sensors (see Case Builds for RFID in Construction).

Today, FIATECH supports the use of the ISO 15926 standard, which focuses on data integration and sharing for industrial automation systems in oil and gas plants and other production facilities, as well as the possible adoption of its framework for RFID tag standards and transactions in the construction industry. With the standard in mind, FIATECH has helped to develop iRing, a set of open-source Web-based software solutions for the construction industry, complying with ISO 15926.

FIATECH also conducted a study with RFID vendor Identec Solutions and software company InSync to combine the use of GPS and active RFID tags for construction yard management. The study involved the technologies’ use for tracking prefabricated components.