New construction technology innovations such as virtual reality, augmented reality, modular construction, and robots could play a larger role in the construction industry in the coming years. The construction industry is often a late adopter of construction technology advancements and very hesitant to change. However, despite this historical reluctance, there are many technological innovations that have the potential to penetrate the industry and change how it operates.
New Construction Technology Innovations and Advancements
These technologies are already making a huge impact on many industries around the world, and the construction industry is no exception. Buildings are becoming ever more complicated, and these new construction technology innovations are helping architects and construction teams improve designs and detect design errors.
To date these construction technology advancements are assisting architects and design teams greatly improve building design through interactive design and gesture interfacing. You will see these new construction technology innovations influence the industry while expanding even further advancements. This could range from errors in HVAC system design or finding missing elements that have been overlooked during the design phase.
New Construction Technology Innovations
3D Printing
Another tech trend to watch out for is the role of 3D printing in the construction industry. The benefits of it have already been explored and exploited by various construction companies around the world.
The ability to either prefabricate offsite or directly on-site has obvious labor and material cost benefits over more traditional building methods. This type of new construction technology innovations reduces waste and being automated is not restricted by construction worker shift patterns.
Robotics
In the future robotics will make a bigger impact in the construction industry. Somewhat linked to the impact of 3D printing, robotics is also seeing impressive infiltration into the industry. In fact, one report by the World Economic Forum predicted that 2020 could be the year of the robot in the construction industry.
From robotic bricklayers to laying roads, these types of new construction technology innovations are increasingly finding their place amongst the workforce on construction sites. This is interesting as traditionally the construction industry has seen very little automation, relying largely on manual labor. By adding robots to the workforce, construction companies are seeing improved construction times and improved quality of builds. Robots are also being used to help demolish buildings too.
Sustainability
For several decades now, building regulations have been placing more and more burden on building design to reduce their environmental impact and sustainability. This is a trend that will only become more strict heading into the future.
Optimized energy efficiency and a drive for low to zero carbon emissions have driven this type of new construction technology innovations in building construction and service design for years. In response, new, better thermal performance materials are being developed that promise to make the buildings of the future incredibly well insulated for a fraction of the cost of current solutions.
One example from a few years ago was the development of a concrete roof that can generate and store energy. This type of construction technology advancements should make buildings of the future cheaper to live in and reduce their impact on the environment.
Reducing waste or recycling old materials is another area where sustainability is helping drive innovation in the construction industry. For example, last year one architecture firm announced its plans for a new method of recycling construction waste into ton new reusable building materials.
Modular and Prefabricated Construction
Modular and prefabricated solutions are nothing new to the construction industry. For example, the end of the second World War saw something of a ‘Cambrian Explosion’ in prefab design in war-torn cities across the UK.
While it has fallen out of favor over the last few decades, new construction technology innovations such as prefabs have been making something of a comeback in recent years. The promise of faster on-site assembly and higher quality, standardized builds are seen by some as the solution to tackle perceived housing crises around the world.
“Advances in high-tech design and construction mean increasing numbers of components can be manufactured off-site. That means buildings can go up more quickly and quietly, with fewer materials wasted.
To accommodate modular house-building, developers are building their own factories, and architects are getting ever more ambitious in their designs.
Exoskeletons
Another popular new construction technology innovations to watch is the use of exoskeletons. The potential benefits this can afford to a construction site’s workforce are obvious.
Laborers can carry more load than their fragile human bodies would normally be able to cope with, and if it is widely adopted, it would largely increase the safety of construction sites. For construction companies, this will dramatically improve their bottom line by reducing the number of laborers needed on-site as well as reduce lost man-hours from injury.
“ABI Research predicts the robotic exoskeleton market alone will reach $1.8 billion in 2025, up from $68 million in 2014. This year, about 6,000 suits will be sold, mainly for rehabilitation. By 2025, ABI expects to see about 2.6 million on the market.”
But they may ultimately lose out to robots and 3D printing alternatives as exoskeletons still rely on a human operator at their heart. That being said, they might offer the perfect compromise between labor unions who will inevitably try to protect their member’s jobs from becoming obsolete.
Building information modeling
Construction technology advancements such as BIM Building Information Modelling, is a process of creating and managing information on a construction project from cradle to grave. This intelligent 3D model-based process has already seen wide adoption by architects, engineers, and other construction professionals.
In fact, many local authorities have made BIM the standard for many of its construction project needs. BIM allows stakeholders and suppliers to more efficiently plan, design construct and manage a building and its infrastructure.
As other new construction technology innovations already mentioned, like AR, and VR, become more popular, their integration with BIM will become ever more important.
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Sites like ESUB of great insight and notable tech trends in the construction industry.