More than one in seven banks now uses blockchain technology. American Express and Mastercard filed several patents last year related to the technology and B2B transactions, according to pymnts.com. And by 2022, global spending on blockchain technology by all sectors could hit $11.7 billion, from an estimated $1.5 billion in 2018, according to International Data Corp. (bit.ly/2uOq9qO).
While AEC firms are still trying to figure out where it fits into design and construction management, blockchain technology has grabbed hold of the financial services sector. IDC notes that the distribution and services sector is also latching onto this technology in a bigger way. And the New York Times reported last October that the concept of marrying blockchain to artificial intelligence is attracting entrepreneurs and investors.
For the uninitiated, the simplest explanation of this technology is that blockchain is a digital distributed ledger of transactions or records that exists across multiple participants and computers in a peer-to-peer network. Transactions can be added to the blockchain using a secure digital “signature.” In essence, it eliminates middlemen, and democratizes recordkeeping that is secured by “witnesses” who are incentivized by the blockchain’s digital currency.
Blockchain “is a clumsy little dance that a computer needs to do in order to simulate something that humans have been doing for thousands of years,” quips Dan Robles, CEO of the Integrated Engineering Blockchain Consortium, which has developed a working blockchain that prices infrastructure risk by monetizing data provided and validated by engineers.
Bitcoin is the best-known cryptocurrency that uses this technology for transactional purposes. And over the past decade, innovations from this technology have evolved from cryptocurrency exchanges and blockchain to smart contracts enforced by computer code and what’s known as “proof of stake,” which does away with data processing centers and replaces them with complex financial instruments for a higher level of security. This, according to Vinay Gupta, Founder of Hexayurt Capital, which was instrumental in creating Dubai’s Blockchain Strategy to issue all government documents on blockchain by 2020.
What users like about blockchain is its immutability—once data is recorded (and usually time stamped) on a block, it can’t be changed retroactively without the entire network’s collusion. Tampering with the integrity of the blockchain voids it, and transactions are no longer valid.
“Trust delivered by way of cryptography” is how Ian Church, Senior Projects Director for CBRE Global Workplace Solutions, describes blockchain. He believes the technology could eventually deliver “highly efficient investment valuations” that lead to incremental gains in property values.
In a 2017 paper by Arup Foresight based on a workshop with Deloitte, PwC, Volkswagon Financial Services, and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the engineering firm predicted that blockchain would have “a major impact on the built environment … in the same way the World Wide Web did.”
The paper didn’t stop there. Blockchain, Arup stated, could have a “profound effect on society” because it provides a platform where people, organizations, and even machines can transact “without having to trust each other.”
Related Stories
Building Technology | May 5, 2017
Tips for designing and building with bathroom pods
Advancements in building technology and ongoing concerns about labor shortages make prefabrication options such as bathrooms pods primed for an awakening.
Building Technology | Apr 21, 2017
AIA selects 2016 Upjohn Research Initiative Projects
Grants awarded to initiatives that study various aspects of design within the built environment.
Building Technology | Mar 9, 2017
Prefabrication's predicament: It's much harder than it looks
Many of the nation’s largest contractors, including Gilbane, Mortensen, Skanska, and Turner, have been utilizing prefab techniques on select projects for a decade or more.
Great Solutions | Mar 8, 2017
Pop-out balcony is a breath of fresh air for stuffy hotel rooms and apartments
In less than one minute, Bloomframe transforms from an insulated picture window to an open balcony.
Building Materials | Feb 15, 2017
New metamaterial cools roofs without any energy consumption
The material is barely thicker than aluminum foil and can be economically manufactured for large-scale residential and commercial applications.
Building Technology | Feb 13, 2017
Denver’s ‘smart neighborhood’ will be packed with futuristic technology
The neighborhood will become a test lab for innovative technology.
Virtual Reality | Feb 1, 2017
Tour ancient buildings and cities as they were when new with Lithodomos VR
An Australian archeological startup is bringing the ancient world to a VR headset near you.
Building Technology | Jan 30, 2017
Machine learning could help buildings notify occupants about critical systems failures before they happen
Data from sensors built into HVAC units paired with a machine learning algorithm predicted 76 out of 124 real faults for an Italian hospital.
Building Technology | Jan 27, 2017
The driverless clinic: How buildings powered by AI can help promote wellness and enhance human connections
In the future, we envision that the smart technology in our phones will be embedded in the items we wear and the objects we use.
Building Technology | Jan 24, 2017
A U.S. startup is working with Dubai to advance 3D printing for construction
Cazza Construction Technologies is building a crane that it claims can layer more than 2,000 sf of concrete per day.
