We have all heard about smart homes. In the 21st century, people all over the world are talking to devices calling them names like ‘Siri’, ‘Alexa’ or ‘Hey Google’. Moreover, efforts are being made to use technology and AI in the daily operations of a home. By using a variety of data input, energy can be saved and people’s lives can be made more pleasant. But technology and data is not only being used once the house is already built.
Construction and the way we build our world affects almost every person living on our planet. The buildings we call our homes, the ways in which we travel and how we build our economies are all shaped by the way our infrastructure is made. Despite its importance, the sector has had a very slow start towards digital innovation. The way construction companies do their business hasn’t had any significant changes during the last 50 years (Buehler, 2018).
This is all about to change. The world’s leading construction companies are actively digitalising the building process. One of the main evolutions ‘smartening’ the construction industry is off-site manufacturing powered by large amounts of data. The planning, design, fabrication and assembly of building components is done in a factory that is not on the building site. During this process, advanced software is used to expose all possible risks and challenges associated with the construction project. Once the components are analysed and manufactured, they can be transported to the construction side. The building can then be assembled with astonishing efficiency, accuracy and safety while reducing costs. All generated data can then be used to further enhance the entire process.
Population is increasing rapidly and our planet is transforming at alarming rates. Off-site manufacturing is one of the ways construction companies are using technology to catch up on other sectors in the digital race, and many more will appear in the next few decades. I believe construction firms will have an important role to play in the future. Using technology, the industry can ensure a safe and healthy environment for everyone, in an efficient way.
Buehler, M., 2018. The Fourth Industrial Revolution Is About To Hit The Construction Industry. Here’S How It Can Thrive. [online] World Economic Forum. Available at: <https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/construction-industry-future-scenarios-labour-technology/> [Accessed 8 October 2020].
Hi Nathan,
Very nice and interesting piece !
There are some people that claim population growth will decrease within the next 100 years as developing nations reach similar levels of prosperity as we enjoy here in the Netherlands. This is because the richer a family becomes, the fewer children they will have. The building procedures you are highlighting sound mostly efficient but not necessarily aesthetically pleasing, what do you think about this? I personally believe architecture is an art form and construction should mostly be highly sustainable. Especially in developed nations I question whether we should focus as much on efficiency as we do right now, look at the outskirts of Singapore for example, it is starting to resemble the soviet era! But what do you think about this ? 🙂
Best,
Gerbrand
Some nice background on my arguments: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsBT5EQt348
Thank you for the great comment Gerbrand!
The fact that population will not necessarily increase (or even decrease) in the future is a great point. It is however expected that urbanization will keep increasing in the future! This is obviously not 100% sure, but articles like this one ‘https://ourworldindata.org/urbanization#what-share-of-people-will-live-in-urban-areas-in-the-future’ seem to suggest that cities will become more crowdy in the future.
Looking at the aesthetics, it might be possible that generic buildings will be built when the manufacturing of generic components becomes very efficient. That being said, I don’t think off-site manufacturing necessarily leads to generic buildings. For instance, building with timber is becoming very popular: Finland is even going to build an entire city using timber (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L4QYkEpw9pA). Off-site manufacturing is highly applicable for using this material, and it can result in very original buildings (in my opinion). Moreover, off-site manufacturing does not necessarily mean that the same components are used for different buildings. I think that original and very modern towers can be built using off-site manufacturing as well. But it is definitely something to consider!
Nathan