The Good NEWs: 6 Emerging Trends That Are Actually Good for the Construction Industry

There was a time — and it wasn’t too long ago — when what it meant to build something changed little over the course of hundreds of years. There were artisans, tradesmen, skilled laborers, and a certain finite set of tools that craftspeople relied upon to make everything from the local palace to the local mill. Of course, the Industrial Revolution and the ensuing Technological Revolution has changed all that. From forklifts to construction apps, building isn’t just different from what it was 100 years ago; it’s different from what it was 100 days ago. The environment seems to be constantly in flux, and staying on top of it can be both difficult and discouraging. However, there are some changes afoot that actually seem to be positive. Here are six emerging trends that look like good news for the construction industry and the broader world.

1. New Materials

From adapted sheet metal to custom fabric buildings, the materials available to today’s contractor, builder, and architect would have been unrecognizable as building materials at all to the people who constructed the Sistine Chapel. Not only do these new materials offer a wealth of features that are unique to them, but they also provide builders with a remarkable versatility that allows for everything from off-site prefabrication to the option of actually moving a structure once it’s “finished.”

Energy efficiency is more than just a buzzword. With climate change looming as one of the most significant challenges facing humanity in the 21st century, the need for every industry to move away from fossil fuels and toward greater energy sustainability is ever-pressing. In construction, this need has brought about new tools like energy recovery systems, occupancy sensors, green construction software, and more. Every bit of it reduces the planet’s collective reliance on fossil fuels and saves construction companies — and the people they’re working for — money.

3. Less Paper

As software gets more versatile and robust, “paperwork” is getting a lot less paper-y. In the construction industry this translates to the vast majority of companies not only working with design software but construction management software as well. However deep the mountain of paperwork you lived beneath during the early 2000s was, today’s technology can keep you in the midst of all of it without requiring you to exist around any of it in real time and space. Invoices, contracts, updates, LEED forms, RFDs, accounting — it can all be handled by software in the cloud. It’s easier to track, search, and make sense of, and it makes for a much tidier office.

4. 3-D Printing

No one is sure just how deep the rabbit hole of 3-D printing goes, but since there seems to be no shortage of people trying to find out, its promise and potential has gotten the attention of even the construction industry. From creating materials and tools more cheaply to crafting entire structures, 3D printing is poised to revolutionize construction. Whether that revolution will transform the industry in a way that manages to leave it intact remains to be seen, but, at least for now, the news seems positive.

5. The Sharing Economy

One of the nicest elements of the 21st century economy has been an increasing emphasis on what is called the sharing economy.  A socio-economic system built on the idea and practice of sharing resources of time, people, and physical goods, a sharing economy can allow smaller construction firms and companies to pool their resources so they are able to tackle larger projects, purchase heavy equipment (or choose the heavy equipment rentals in Vancouver) together, overlap employees, share office spaces, and more. A sharing economy sidesteps cash or credit as the only ways in which building and business can happen by including a larger group of people to share the load.

6. Consolidation

Until very recently, construction used to have many points along the way in which a different professional — or company — weighed in on the work as it was being designed, before it began, and as it happened. Architects handed documents off to engineers, who would make some changes before passing the same documents over to the general contractor, who would also likely make some adjustments, which would start the process all over again. As the move to save time and money gets nearly Olympian in its quest for success, it’s common for design and construction to live within the same business so customers can have a singular and consolidated experience that allows for greater efficiency and improved communication for everyone involved. In https://www.asifoam.com/riverside/ you can find great product for your construction needs.

Technology’s effects on the construction industry are far from being fully known or over. Hopefully, these six trends are evidence that the news about its influence is more good than not.