This article is part of a blog series on construction 4.0, embracing digitalization, urbanization of emerging economies, and the changes it implies for the construction industry.
Technology is revolutionizing the digital transformation in the construction industry. Emerging technologies remodel:
In the rapidly changing digital world, you have to meet the challenges of tomorrow, by proactively pushing changes through your organizations. For example, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) may help you get rid of ineffectiveness and poor productivity. The construction technology trends in 2023 are reshaping the industry.
There are few drivers impacting changes in the industry, but they are crucial for the development of a digital world in the Architect, Engineers, Construction, and Operation (AECO) sector, as they complement each other and influence the use of emerging technologies. The drivers are:
Clients’ expectations are more and more demanding and innovative, in a swiftly moving market. Clients ask for customization of products or materials
Connected sensors, hardware, and software prices are decreasing, so they can be used in your projects easily and efficiently. There are a few new technologies used by professionals:
More and more startups are created every day, delivering profitable solutions to the construction industry.
According to constructiondive in 2022 the construction industry worldwide, reported startup funding reached $5.38 billion, just under the $5.4 billion from 2021, despite a tough economy. 80% of investment was in North America and Europe, the United States was the most active.
Despite an industry that is prone to resistance to change, the younger generation of professionals are familiar with technologies and are watching closely what the market has to offer, to streamline and automate processes.
Digitalization decreases the environmental impact construction projects may have on the planet. The construction industry produces 40% of global energy-related CO2 emissions.
To accommodate a sustainable building growth from 2020 to 2060, of 2.6 trillion square feet of new floor area worldwide, governments, that already mandated zero emissions from new construction, will require energy-efficient buildings that use:
According to the McKinsey report “imagining construction’s digital future”, the industry is ready to embrace the following technological trends:
Ground conditions are delaying projects’ completion. To mitigate this risk and increase accuracy and speed, surveyors may combine several advanced techniques:
BIM is a digital representation of the physical and functional attributes of a project. It plans, scopes, schedules, and verifies that clients' requirements are met through its life cycle.
Combining BIM, immersive technologies, and wearable devices will help transform the construction industry's decision-making process.
Automating and systemizing workflows in a construction project will improve collaboration and data collection across all stages of a project to facilitate the management of:
The Internet of Things (IoT), artificial intelligence, sensors, and near-field-communication (NFC) devices will collect and manage data.
Using a platform on the cloud will allow project managers to monitor the productivity and reliability of:
The building materials worldwide industry market will reach $1.2 trillion by 2025. With new building materials, you can speed up your project’s delivery, improve quality and safety, and reduce costs.
Examples of materials are:
To streamline the construction processes using new technology like
Immersive technologies include Augmented Reality(AR) and Virtual Reality (VR)
AR superimposes a computer-generated image on the real world, to help visualize objects, and find out how they will behave in their real environment by:
VR is a digital representation of the real world that simulates the environment.
It is complex and difficult to feel the space, even in 3D models. with AR and VR you are immersed in the digital world as if you were in the real one, and you can easily detect design and coordination errors you would not have been able to do in 3D or 2D drawings.
AR and VR can be used to discuss projects with clients as they visualize the final result, creating new opportunities for the industry.
The initial investment may be high but avoiding costly reworks will deliver a quick return.
Everybody is talking about BIM. That's because it is the best way to improve the accuracy and quality of the building process.
With BIM you can plan the project development in an open and highly collaborative environment. The BIM benefits are as follows:
To make sure that the robot market remains competitive and will meet the future requirements of the construction industry, it is important to establish automated and robotized construction systems today. This includes an industrialized process in the following subsections of the market:
Companies like MIT and Construction Robotics are launching automated robots designed to solve two major issues:
Modular construction is a way of building more quickly, using modules, which are constructed in a factory and assembled on-site.
The definition given by the Modular Building Institute is as follows:
Permanent modular construction is a design and construction process performed in a manufacturing facility that produces building components, or modules, constructed to be transported to a permanent building site.
You can find these modular construction approaches in many sectors and construction types such as residential buildings, multi-family dwellings, schools and universities, prisons, railways, and high-rises.
Modular construction has very specific requirements and as such cannot be used for all architectural styles and building classifications, mainly where there is little repetition, but with the use of new technologies this is starting to change.
Modular construction:
The biggest sustainability issue in the construction industry is the amount of waste generated. Modular construction and prefabrication allow you to recycle leftover materials and reduce waste, so it is an eco-friendly technique.
Self-healing or self-repairing concrete is used on buildings, roads, and homes to freely fix its own cracks. By:
In 2023, and beyond, self-healing concrete technology could repair structural degradations and building cracks, to reduce the 4.1 billion metric tons of cement produced in 2022.
Concrete, made with cement, is an extensively produced and consumed material in the construction industry, so this technology will certainly be used widely worldwide.
Nowadays, you can:
To meet your contractual obligations, you can leverage cloud solutions to:
Cloud-based collaboration facilitates effective communication among project team members, a prerequisite to delivering successful projects. It:
According to a survey from the cloud construction industry 87% of the respondents are open to using the cloud to streamline and automate their processes.
Increasingly, construction companies integrate and manage their existing processes through a single, always-connected cloud-based platform.
The cloud can help project teams to work on the same sets of data across all stakeholders to:
Drone technology is rapidly evolving, their usage in the construction industry has increased 239 percent year-over-year, according to BigRentz, an online equipment rental network.
Construction sites use drones to monitor project progress, complete safety inspections, and survey dangerous sites. Drones are known to improve onsite security and reduce labor costs by mitigating the risk of theft.
Analyzing data collected by drones with AI, visualization, and monitoring tools help to test and change, in real-time, new ideas to improve:
The global construction drone market was USD 4.9 billion in 2021. It is expected to reach USD 15.8 billion by 2030.
In the construction industry, the use of drones can be inside a building to survey a specific room, or outside to scan hazardous sites. The possibilities are endless as drones can be used in various applications.
Drones are very trendy right now in the construction industry, thanks to their ability to collect data. They offer great benefits in:
Drone technology can be used throughout the whole life cycle of a project, for example
Surveying a site can be done in minutes, compared to traditional methods that could take weeks or even months. So, it saves time and money and improves accuracy and precision.
You can expect some great digital solutions in the construction industry, revolutionizing the way we work. The industry is going through interesting times right now with automation and digitization.
The construction consists of bespoke projects and one-off designs, and every building is unique so implementing digital solutions requires:
Digitalization will improve the quality and sustainability of your projects.
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