By Lindsey Marburger, Program Manager for the Earth Systems Program
The FAS Building Technologies Project, in collaboration with experts from the Structural Insulated Panel Association (SIPA), created a module in the Second Life virtual world to train building inspectors and code officials to inspect a structure built with structural insulated panels (SIPS), a type of panelized high performance building system used for flooring, roofing, and walls.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 appropriated $53 billion to education and training for the new “green” economy. The federal government also appropriated more than $30 million to weatherize existing homes. Despite a downturn in new home sales, energy efficient houses continue to grow their market penetration rate. Residential energy use accounts for more than 20 percent of all energy use in the United States. Through federal investments in weatherization, energy efficiency retrofits, and energy efficiency and renewable energy tax incentives, there is now an opportunity to retrofit homes to use fewer fossil fuels, save money, and reduce carbon output.
One barrier to meet new residential energy efficiency goals is the shortage of skilled workers to design, construct, retrofit, and inspect these buildings. If properly utilized, the Recovery Act funding can train tens of thousands of workers to design with, construct with, and inspect buildings made with the latest energy efficient materials and technologies.
The training of construction industry professionals has changed little over the past decades, with current training and certification programs failing to take advantage of new learning tools. Two components comprise current training practices: a field-based demonstration and a classroom-based instructional course, which consists of reading, lectures, and a question-and-answer period with the instructor.
With field-based instruction, building inspectors or code officials are brought to a site and shown what to look for when inspecting a building, and the steps and materials necessary to properly complete the inspection. The interactive experience of looking at a building with an expert instructor and going through the inspection process is an essential aspect of training and a superior method of learning how to apply the codes and concepts learned in the classroom.
Classroom-based instruction emphasizes the memorization of facts, codes, and concepts, and assesses knowledge through a multiple-choice exam.
The introduction of new technology has been limited to online courses where students read code sections, then answer problem solving questions based on the relevant code; and instructor-led webinars for students to ask questions of the instructor or cover content from the classroom curriculum. There is little opportunity for students to practice inspection skills, to undertake scenario-based learning by solving code violation issues or other problems in the field, or to integrate knowledge of specific codes and concepts with the act of inspecting a building site.
To meet this curriculum void, training must include hands-on, scenario-based learning tools that allow the user to visually explore content in an interactive environment. The building industry needs tools that have the following capabilities: easy access; flexible learning pace; an interactive environment that can be manipulated by relatively inexperienced users; the ability to select and modify learning objectives; and the ability to replicate intricate structural and architectural details and model the physical assets of a building, such as energy flows and duct tightness.
The FAS pilot program explores the use of virtual learning technologies to ease the adoption of advanced building systems and technologies. One objective of the virtual training module is to prove the concept rather than assess the training capabilities of virtual worlds on a large scale. The module integrates written descriptions, training activities and guides, CAD drawings of structural details, media aids, and supporting documentation and informational materials.
Within Second Life the training module consists of three main scenes. The first scene includes an introduction and orientation area where users practice moving within Second Life and learn that SIPs are an energy efficient material which, when properly installed, create a tight building envelope that requires minimal heating and cooling. SIP manufacturers and installers note that building inspectors frequently do not know what proper SIP installation should look like, are unfamiliar with the recent addition of SIPs to the International Residential Code (IRC), and are unsure of how to inspect SIP houses for adherence to structural and architectural plans. A presentation and several animated, linked models demonstrate SIP composition, physical properties, and construction techniques.
The second scene, the Training House, is a virtual demonstration house that illustrates multiple phases of SIP construction — from laying the foundation and framing doors and windows to exterior cladding and roofing. Based on the architectural and structural drawings of an existing SIP house and CAD drawings of building details provided by SIPA, the virtual house demonstrates 20 key details or features that an inspector must look for when inspecting a house. Special attention has been paid to details, such as corner joints, where installation or construction mistakes are frequent. This scene is highly interactive, allowing users to visualize how SIP construction should look; click on a detail to learn more about it, the applicable codes, and the detail’s role in creating a tight, energy efficient building envelope; compare the house to a set of detailed plans; and walk through the process of inspecting a house with the assistance of the Training House Guide.
The final scene, the Assessment House, allows users to assess their knowledge of proper SIP construction and energy efficiency concepts. The assessment scene contains a house identical to the Training House with 10 common mistakes added to the building’s construction. In Second Life, users answer multiple-choice style questions to test understanding of construction issues, such as what specific mistake was made, and conceptual comprehension, such as why that particular mistake impacts the tightness of the building envelope.
The capabilities of this virtual world training module demonstrate its utility for training building inspectors, and all building industry professionals. This advanced learning technology not only fills key voids in the current training curriculum, but can also replace current training practices. Instead of going to a physical classroom or actual building site, an expert instructor can walk through the virtual site with a class and create different scenarios within the scene for students to solve, while guiding students through the process of inspecting a building.
Students can also independently utilize the virtual training module and the corresponding Web 2.0 technologies to practice inspecting buildings, prepare for the written and physical inspection aspects of their certification, and gain in-depth knowledge of technologies, materials, and key concepts.
Virtual worlds and training modules, if widely implemented, are capable of improving industry-wide training and education. To train and certify a high skilled “green” workforce to create a substantively more efficient, more sustainable, and more affordable housing stock, improvement must be made to training methodology, tools, and scale.
There is an Irish company with a private offering that is Second Life compatible. They provide a hosted island that companies and organisations can use to build their own objects, which can be controlled and admnistrated away from the publicly open Virtual Realities like Second Life itself. Their website is http://www.daynuv.com
I can’t believe they can use Second Life for that!
This sounds pretty impressive, I have worked with auto-cad programs but this seems like it is a step in a new direction.