New quality productivity has come, the construction industry must be "three new and five wants"

We should think about the big changes and big strategies under the background of the big changes and big thinking with a big pattern and big thinking, promote transformation and upgrading and new kinetic energy conversion, and truly realize the innovation and development of new quality productivity in the construction industry.

■ Wang Tiehong, former chief engineer of the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development and former president of China Construction Industry Association

In September 2023, General Secretary Xi Jinping proposed "new quality productivity" for the first time during his inspection in Heilongjiang, emphasizing the need to actively cultivate strategic emerging industries such as new energy, new materials, advanced manufacturing, and electronic information, actively cultivate future industries, accelerate the formation of new quality productivity, and enhance new momentum for development. The Central Economic Work Conference held at the end of last year made it clear that "it is necessary to promote industrial innovation with scientific and technological innovation, especially to promote new industries, new models and new kinetic energy with disruptive technologies and cutting-edge technologies, and to develop new quality productive forces".

Recently, Huang Qifan, the former mayor of Chongqing, said in a speech at Peking University that the new quality productivity he understands is roughly composed of three "new" of new manufacturing, new services and new formats. New manufacturing represented by strategic emerging industries and future industries, new services represented by high value-added producer services, and new business forms represented by globalization and digitalization are the new quality productivity.

Three "new"

The new quality productivity of the construction industry should also be considered around these three "new".

First, a new type of construction. First of all, assembly, to structure, electromechanical, decoration and decoration full assembly, and then to achieve the industrialization, standardization, partialization, modularization, and intelligence of the construction industry, to build a house like a car, to build a "good house", better, more economical and faster, and then to achieve assembly +, + supply chain, + digital twin, + AI, + blockchain, metaverse, but also + double carbon. Not only the new building is fully assembled, but also the existing building decoration and decoration must be assembled. This is not only a new quality industrial chain, but also a new quality supply chain.

The second is the new service industry. The construction industry is represented by high value-added producer services, such as the market model, innovative design and construction general contracting model EPC, and PPP model, through optimizing design, saving investment, shortening the construction period, to achieve better, more economical and faster construction of the project, to create value for the country, for the owner, but also for the supply side to create value and form a new higher core capability; Another example is the new whole-process consulting service industry, where digital technologies include project-level BIM, enterprise-level ERP, city-level CIM service industry, BIM or CIM+, + supply chain, + digital twin, +AI, + blockchain, + metaverse, and + dual carbon service industry.

The third is a new type of business. The new format of the supply side of the construction industry should focus on investment-construction-operation, urban renewal, assembly +, digital transformation and upgrading, the "double carbon" of the construction industry (carbon reduction in building operation and carbon reduction in construction), and the "dual circulation", especially the new development of the "Belt and Road" going out projects through Hong Kong.

Five "Wants"

To this end, five research suggestions are proposed:

First, it is necessary to study the transfer of labor dividends and green transformation in the construction industry. The key to the transformation is assembly +, which is fully assembled (that is, structure-electromechanical-decoration and decoration full assembly), and then industrialization, standardization, parts, modularization, intelligence, but also + EPC (general contracting), + BIM, + ultra-low energy consumption, and then + AI, which is the logical backbone of green development. The key to breaking through the bottleneck lies in the real implementation of the city-level government.

Second, it is necessary to study the market model reform of the construction industry and EPC and PPP. Document No. 19 of the State Council clearly stipulates that the construction market model must be reformed, EPC must be implemented, design and construction general contracting, turnkey, and better, more economical and faster construction can be achieved by optimizing design, saving investment, and shortening the construction period, so as to ensure that public investment projects do not exceed the estimated budget, do not exceed the construction period, and avoid corruption. At the same time, the reform of PPP projects actively promoted by the development and reform departments is to "let the person who can be Party B be Party A", and will definitely pursue optimizing the design, saving investment and shortening the construction period.

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out that it is necessary to "promote reform with real knives and guns", and to "grasp the outstanding problems and key links, find out the crux of the system and mechanism, come up with solutions, and ensure the quality of major reform plans".

Third, we must study the low-carbon transformation of the construction industry. To solve the deep-seated problems in the construction industry to achieve the "double carbon" strategy, we should focus on the relationship between carbon peak and the increase of carbon emissions in construction (operation), and highlight the relationship between carbon neutrality and carbon emission reduction in construction. The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council pointed out that it is necessary to vigorously develop energy-saving and low-carbon buildings, continue to improve the energy-saving standards of new buildings, and accelerate the large-scale development of ultra-low energy consumption buildings.

Fourth, we must study the systematic digital transformation of the construction industry. The first is to emphasize systematic digitalization and realize project-level BIM, enterprise-level ERP (enterprise resource planning), industry-level DRP (data resource planning), and city-level CIM. The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China pointed out that guided by the national strategic needs, we should gather forces to carry out original and leading scientific and technological research, and resolutely win the battle of key core technologies. Breakthroughs have been made in this area. At present, there are several solutions for BIM independent engines and platforms, ERP has independent and controllable solutions, and CIM also has several independent and controllable base solutions. The second is to emphasize that from BIM to CIM, CIM+, + supply chain, + digital twin, + AI, + blockchain, + metaverse, + "double carbon". We must grasp the relationship between CIM and BIM, without BIM, there is no CIM. But BIM is not the same as CIM, BIM is the foundation, it is an important aspect, but it is not all. Therefore, now all cities must have CIM to make it clear that the future has come, to use CIM to guide BIM, and BIM to adapt to CIM; To use an autonomous controllable base solution; Autonomous and controllable solutions should be able to carry various regulatory and service systems of the city; CIM should be developed from the park level to the district level and then to the city level. The construction industry is a huge scene of digital industrialization, and the scene is very important.

Here, I would like to highlight two points: First, the construction industry should take the lead in solving the problem of elementalization of data assets in the field of engineering construction and the entry of data assets into the table. Let's take project BIM as an example, which is to turn paper design drawings into data assets, which is valuable; It can realize the joint modeling of design and construction, guide operation and maintenance, and fully connect the digitalization of investment, construction and operation, which is valuable. In the construction process, BIM can solve a large number of errors and omissions in advance, saving rework costs and construction periods, which is valuable; Only on the basis of BIM can + supply chain, digital twin, AI, blockchain, metaverse, etc., realize the comprehensive and systematic digitalization of engineering construction, which is of great value; It is of great value to achieve city-level CIM on the basis of project-level BIM; From the autonomous engine BIM and autonomous 3D graphic platform to the city-level autonomous controllable CIM base, the potential huge value to our entire country is immeasurable. If paper design drawings account for about 5% of the project cost as design results, then what percentage of project data assets should be accounted for? Is it okay to press 0.5%~1% at the initial stage? In the future, it will be appropriately increased to 1.5%~2% according to its value, which is a major issue and must be solved. In the field of engineering construction, not only about 270,000 new projects (about 31 trillion yuan of total output value) are newly started every year, but also 5 million to 7 million existing projects (involving hundreds of trillions of yuan or even hundreds of billions of yuan in total assets), and the problem of data assets being included in the table must be solved, which is a major problem of hundreds of billions or even trillions of yuan of data assets.

The second is about AI large models. It is said that the United States has begun to mobilize the strength of the whole country to occupy this high-end of technology, and hopes to solve the problem of the stock of American development. Now it is the stage of "100 model war" and "1000 model war" of AI large models, but it focuses on the 0 to 1 problem of general large models and solves the computing power algorithm of large models. China is also struggling to catch up. In this regard, the core technical teams of some of our leading enterprises and technology-based enterprises should pay attention to and study, as long as the general large model competition reaches a certain level, there will be a number of mature general AI models, both the United States and China, at this time the industrial scene is very important, and China's late-mover advantage begins to appear. To seize this important development opportunity, that is, from 1 to N problem, on the basis of the general model of in-depth research and development of industrial models, such as design AI model, the whole process of consulting AI model, full assembly + AI model, EPC project management AI model, investment-construction-operation management AI model, double carbon AI model, etc., to plan the layout, which are mainly based on the enterprise, which focus on participation.

Fifth, it is necessary to study the transformation of new kinetic energy and the transformation of the construction industry. The new drivers include urban renewal, new core competitiveness of PPP and EPC, integration of investment, construction and operation, and dual circulation, as well as assembly+, "dual carbon" and digital transformation. deepen the 1+1+N model, of which 1+1 is the traditional infrastructure mode of existing public investment and social capital investment; N is the increment of the construction industry driven by new kinetic energy.

We should think about the big changes and big strategies under the background of the big changes and big thinking with a big pattern and big thinking, promote transformation and upgrading and new kinetic energy conversion, and truly realize the innovation and development of new quality productivity in the construction industry.