Information Flow Optimization in Construction Design Projects Based on DSM

The information-intensive and interdisciplinary iterative nature of construction design projects makes it hard to plan and schedule using traditional tools. This results in inevitable rework and time waste in design process. The DSM method can handle sequential, parallel, in addition to coupled activities, and thus to optimize information flow in construction design project. In this article, a quantitative algorithm has been developed to determine information dependence among design activities with sensitivity and variability among them based on Euclidean distance formula. A new kind of DSM optimization method is proposed to optimize information flow among design activities with decomposition and integration. The main objective is to optimize the planning of design projects, and therefore shorten the project duration. Finally, the optimization method is applied to a construction design project, and it shortens the design period by 33%.