In this time of economic turmoil, governments around the world have focused a great deal of money and energy on the construction sector, earmarking billions of dollars for infrastructure projects. Much of this construction is critical to replacing aging infrastructure (bridges, highways), and to reducing the carbon emissions and energy consumption of our built environment. It should not be seen only as a matter of economic stimulus or putting people to work. It must equally be seen as an investment in meeting critical energy and environmental security objectives for, if not, we will place future generations in an even more perilous position than is currently the case. How do we do this? Where is the information technology to not only increase the productivity of the AEC sector, but also to ensure that this information is acquired, validated, and made available for decision making? How will we know if the money is being well spent? Unemployment figures will not be a sufficient measure.

I believe that the source of low and declining productivity in the AEC sector is, in part, the poor facilities for collaboration and information sharing. “Fit and Interference” problems, which are the bane of the construction industry, are exceedingly rare in the manufacturing sector, and I believe this difference is largely to be attributed to better information management. Instead of dedicated and permanent systems to share information and collaborate on infrastructure projects, architects, engineers, and construction companies rely on ad hoc exchanges by e-mail or couriers. In spite of the billions spent on physical infrastructure projects, strategic investments in IT for infrastructure management by all levels of government are minuscule.

Fortunately, the solution to the AEC productivity crisis can also go a very long way to helping us with the accounting and management of infrastructure spending from the perspective of climate change and energy management. Information infrastructure that supports collaboration and integration of government and private sector business processes for architecture, engineering, and construction can also provide us with the foundation for energy and environmental “accounting”. It only requires that governments see stimulus as truly an investment!