Asgardian team receiving an award for their innovation in the National Project Cost Estimation competition at the Civil Engineering Festival

ITS Campus, ITS News — Emphasizing sustainability while minimizing costs is a challenging task in the construction industry. Addressing this challenge, the Asgardian team from Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) has introduced lean construction methods, modeling, and virtual technology to streamline project costs.

One of the team representatives, Yonda Shafa Salsabila, explained that waste reduction is a crucial aspect of the lean construction method. “In essence, with this method, we need to reduce waste while simultaneously increasing the project’s value,” she stated.

Yonda and her team realized the application of this method by using concrete formwork made of phenolic film. The use of this material is claimed to be reusable for up to 10 concrete casting cycles, saving up to 60 percent of formwork costs.

Additionally, cost savings are supported by the division of site plans or zoning areas. This division includes project execution schedules, worker rotations, equipment, and materials. “In this way, the workers take turns in tasks to expedite the work duration,” Yonda explained.

Asgardian Team’s innovation using Building Information Modelling (BIM), a three-dimensional modeling that aids stakeholders in understanding construction project designs

Interestingly, to implement both methods, Yonda and her team members, Nazarudin Al Qikam and Pulung Gogo Wisnu W, first created a three-dimensional model of the building for which they estimated the costs. With this modeling, the volume of work becomes more easily measurable, and construction cost estimates become more accurate.

Furthermore, the team from the Civil Engineering Department also employed drones as monitoring tools. “The use of drones can assist in surveying and mapping during the early stages of the project, as well as in monitoring and documenting throughout the execution,” she said.

Monitoring was further enhanced by combining Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) technologies. Through these visual technologies, stakeholders and project managers who are the subject of analysis find it easier to conduct monitoring.

The innovation poster by the Asgardian team from the Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) combines lean construction solutions, modeling, and virtual technology for project cost estimation.

Through the excellence of their innovation, the Asgardian team achieved first place in the National Project Cost Estimation competition, which was part of the Civil Engineering Festival held at the end of August. In this competition held at the Jakarta State Polytechnic, they were tasked with proposing project cost estimates without knowing the building size and the required budget limits.

Having outperformed 59 other teams, the 2021 batch of students emphasized that the success of Asgardian’s innovation was not possible without the support of various parties, especially their supervisor, Ir Retno Indryani MT. “We hope that in the future, the application of these implementation methods will become more widespread in real projects,” she concluded optimistically. (ITS Public Relations)

Reporter: Fathia Rahmanisa