Technology is leading in every possible sphere of industry and business, as it makes life easy by simplifying work. Construction industry is no different; it is now using technology to make construction management and site operations more efficient and sustainable.
There are several tools and technologies that have been in use from over the past few years, and still being introduced with each passing day. The major construction industry trends include Building Information modeling (BIM), construction robotics, and recent trends include the use of advanced building materials.
Also post pandemic times have contributed to a need for workers safety & regulations at the construction sites, necessitating the use of some safety equipment and technologies at the workplace. We bring you here, some of the past and recent trends that brought a necessary and significant change in the construction business.
1. Building Information Modeling
Building information modeling (BIM) is a smart engineering software process that allows the architects, builders and contractors to come and collaborate on the design, construction and operation of the building structure.
Through the use of various monitoring tools also could be referred to as BIM tools which enables real time collaboration between everyone involved in the process of construction.
With the use of BIM technology it is very easy to manage the cost, procedure and efficiency of the construction project on a timely basis.
2. Construction Robotics
Construction robotics is a technology that has been in the market for a long time but only recently has it gained popularity. Construction being the most labor intensive businesses requires a lot many repetitive and time consuming tasks that with the help of construction robotics can be simplified and conducted with more ease, also cutting the operational time of certain activities.
Use of robotics in construction also minimizes errors caused due to human error and also eliminates fatigue related losses, increasing the efficiency of the procedures.
3. Advanced Building Materials
As the name indicates you might have already got an idea that we are not talking here about the regular building materials like concrete, bricks, wood and TMT rebars. Use of modern technology has certainly improved the face of too many facets, and the construction industry is no different.
The advanced building materials that are now used in the construction of buildings includes, 3 D printed graphene, light generated concrete, liquid granite, translucent wood, cross-laminated timber, biologically produced furniture, self healing concrete, transparent aluminum, rammed earth, richlite and flexible concrete among others. Each of these materials have their own use and advantage in the construction industry.
4. Construction Monitoring
Monitoring the pace of construction at every step of the process is extremely crucial. Sometimes the construction site is often situated at far distances which make it difficult to monitor the progress of the building.
To manage and simplify this construction need, contractors and home builders have now started to utilize technology and various tech tools which makes regular monitoring of the construction process easy and accessible. Construction monitoring makes use of high-definition (HD) cameras, and AI based recognition to improve the productivity of workers activity.
5. Use of Safety Equipment
Workers safety is one of the most overlooked factors in the entire construction industry since the construction businesses of course want to minimize the labor costs, they spend less on the safety equipment like Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) kits and others.
Post covid the need to emphasize a safe working environment at the construction sites, use of technology has been emphasizing and getting enough significance.
To ensure the safety of workers, companies are now emphasizing on the use of PPE kits that come with IoT sensors used for monitoring the heart rate, temperature, vibrations and steps of the one using it. This allows the supervisors to monitor workers health condition closely and to provide the requisite aid if any discrepancy comes to their notice.
