Café Zai: Intelligence for Informed Environments

Kimon Onuma and Cyril Verley trade confessions from decades inside the BIM and digital twin world. From hoarding data and chasing flashy visuals to selling LOD 500 models that nobody could use, they name the “Seven Deadly BIMs” and discuss how the industry can find redemption through open data, APIs, and collaboration.

This episode of Café Zai invites listeners to reflect, and rethink how architectural intelligence can finally move from drawings to data.

Join Kimon Onuma as he takes you behind the scenes of the US Green Building Council's 2025 LA Conference, where sustainability meets cutting-edge technology. In this episode, Kimon shares his insights from a day packed with innovative discussions about AI, green design, and the future of architecture.

Dive into a world where building certification goes beyond simple checklists, exploring how LEED is evolving to track building performance throughout its entire lifecycle. Hear about the exciting conversations with industry leaders, the challenges of integrating new technologies, and the critical importance of sustainable design in our changing world.

From AI applications in sustainable cities to the collaborative spirit of modern education, Kimon provides a glimpse into how architects and technologists are reimagining our built environment. It's a journey of innovation, uncertainty, and hope, showcasing how professionals are tackling climate challenges with creativity and passion.

AI and Standards. Real-time Café Zai reflections from Day 1 at Greenbuild 2025. Kimon Onuma pushes back on the corporate sustainability script and narrative, and calls out architects for hiding behind PDFs and being afraid to share their secret sauce with AI. An unfiltered Café Zai update straight from the conference floor. Stay tuned for a new post from day 2 of our presentation at 2:15 in room 402: AI for Sustainable Cities.

Reanimating buildings with living, owner-run data.

Kimon Onuma and Cyril Verley crack open why “living” planning beats glossy shelfware master plans. Fresh from Tradeline, they map how to turn a static master plan into an owner-run data product: across assets/spaces/projects, you can actually query. They lay out a simple governance cadence, explain how to rewrite RFPs (“No Dead Data”), and share real wins and pitfalls—from brochureware masquerading as living master plans to examples where live sensor/BIM data finally flows.

Join their upcoming monthly webinars here:

https://www.cdvsystems.com/bim-lecture-aec-data-2-digital-twin-2-ai

Data is changing real estate. Amy Polvado breaks down the density story—capital, energy, and intelligence—inside today’s data centers. We unpack why “dollars not square feet” matters, how higher rack power reshapes sites, where cooling and water go, and why handovers still miss critical information. We close on owner exposure and duty of care: accessibility, safety, and giving responders the data they need.

Highlights

When a building is completed, it often stops talking to us. All the knowledge, intelligence, and memory that shaped it disappear into the walls.

In this Café Zai conversation, Kimon Onuma and Chikara Inamura, Director of Digital Technology at CO Architects, explore what it means for a building to have a soul in the digital age. 

We discuss why architectural education is “broken,” how information has become the new material of design, and why data access should be treated as a civil right under the ADA.

Together they ask:

This is a conversation about ethics, material, and meaning, where architecture, AI, and access converge.

A video of this session is also available here

Visit Chikara's website

and LinkedIn

Café Zai with Fire Chief Victor Esch:

Other Café Zai podcasts have focused on how we design, construct, and operate facilities and assets. My conversation with Victor Esch is about what happens when those facilities are on fire.

Firefighters are asked to risk their lives to save others, but too often they go in blind. Critical building information exists in “smart” systems, yet remains locked away from those who need it most. As Chief Esch explains, this isn’t just a fire service problem; it’s a systemic industry failure that endangers occupants, owners, and responders alike.

This episode makes the case that open, accessible building data is not optional. It is a moral and legal responsibility.

Victor Esch is a former Fire Chief and global emergency management advisor with over 20 years of experience leading disaster response, fire and rescue operations, and executive-level crisis planning. He has advised governments, militaries, and private organizations worldwide on risk mitigation, continuity of operations, and public safety. His career spans roles as Chief, COO, professor, and senior adviser in high-risk environments across the Americas, the Middle East, Asia, and Africa.

AI is reshaping the built environment, and it demands structured, open data. In this Café Zai episode, Kimon Onuma meets with BuildingSmart USA industry leaders to explore how decades of buildingSMART standards are now becoming the fuel for both humans and machines. opnBIM standards are now have one of the best use cases for AI-driven innovation, helping buildings finally get smarter.

Guests:

• Calvin Kam, PhD, PE, FAIA — President of Strategic Building Innovation (SBI) and a founding leader in buildingSMART USA and buildingSMART International, Calvin has been advancing open standards, owner adoption, and global collaboration for over two decades.

• Tony Rinella — Principal at SBI, long-time buildingSMART USA leader, and champion of education and training programs that help project teams embrace openBIM and data-driven collaboration.

• Min Song, PhD — Technical Director at SBI, active contributor to buildingSMART USA and buildingSMART International initiatives, including open data exchanges.

  
  

  Together, they unpack:

  • How AI raises the stakes for openBIM

  • Why IFC5 and modular data matter for digital twins

  • Owners’ role in making buildings truly smarter

  • Moving from file exchanges to living, connected data

  Listen now to When AI Meets openBIM: How Buildings Are Getting Smarter

Kimon Onuma and Cyril Verley trace the evolution of architecture’s digital journey, from hand drafting, to early CAD experiments, to the rise of BIM and Revit. Cyril shares firsthand stories from Skidmore, Goody Clancy, Autodesk, and HOK, where clash detection became BIM’s first killer app, saving thousands of dollars per conflict. Together, they unpack how beautiful models often bury critical data, why “Hollywood BIM” still fails owners, and how AI now forces the industry to deliver on the long-promised value of structured information. A short history of CAD, BIM, digital twins, and the persistent clash between flashy models and usable data.

Most owners are still trying to manage their facilities and assets with static PDFs and mutating Excel files, like calling an Uber by downloading a spreadsheet of cars. From projects to existing buildings to business plans, the result is a virus that mutates into a plague: endless rework, wasted resources, and consultants paid to treat the symptoms over and over.

In this Café Zai session with the Asset Leadership Network, we explore why owners remain stuck in the blue pill illusion, and why the red pill cure is already here. With governance, standards, and enforcement, owners can administer structured, interoperable, living data across projects, facilities, and business plans.

Featuring Michael Bordenaro (Executive Director, ALN), Cyril Verley (President, CDV Systems), and Kimon Onuma (Onuma, Inc.).