Technology, Construction, Business - 5 min read
Being an early adopter of new building technology is one of the best ways to win you work. It signifies to your clients that you are looking towards the future of construction, and striving to deliver the best possible products and technology. We explore four promising construction innovations that you should be embracing and promoting in your business.
Project management platforms may not be especially far-fetched or particularly technological, but they are becoming essential for all kinds of construction businesses. Organising tasks, communicating with team members, tracking workflows and integrating with your other construction technologies, like estimating software, is simple with effective project management software.
Adopting project management software into your business operations doesn’t need to come at a high cost. There are a number of cost-effective project management options for builders, like Flow, Basecamp and Asana.
Drones have already taken off in the construction industry, demonstrating a range of uses such as site inspections, deliveries, and maintenance. Busy or remote clients may not be able to afford to attend the site regularly, which is why drones are being used to bridge divides. Drones now have the ability to send live video updates to clients on the progress being made.
They are also utilised to monitor the job site, inspecting the progress, workers, and safety standards. With regular drone monitoring, site managers are able to locate potential risks, such as unstable pillars and potential falls or collisions.
Constant monitoring also helps in identifying parts of the project that are going off-track, to make more informed decisions on the distribution of resources. The data can be transferred and managed using software for builders, ensuring the project remains within budget.
3D printing is shaping the future of construction. PolyBricks are a custom clay recipe and made using a ZCorp 510 3D printer. The bricks ultimately reduce waste, labour, and manufacturing costs. The ceramic bricks can also be hollow, reducing their overall weight, while the shape of the bricks can be easily altered. Building with PolyBricks requires no mortar, as they are designed to interlock.
According to designers, Sabin Design Lab, “it will allow for the production of ceramic wall assemblies that are robust and high strength due to the novel implementation of highly complex and organic generative design strategies that are also simply and economically produced. … 3-D printing allows us to build and design like nature does.”
WinSun, a Chinese company specialising in 3D printing construction, have also achieved enormous feats using the technology after building a five-story apartment block using a 3D printer. The building is 6.6 metres wide, and 40 metres long, it was developed by Ma Yihe, who has invented with 3D printers for over a decade. The process was estimated to save 30 to 60 percent of construction waste, decrease production time by 50 to 70 percent, and labour costs by 50 to 80 percent.
Traditional approaches to construction are being changed for the better with new innovations in construction estimating software. Time-costly practices such as preparing the prices and components for tenders are being replaced by professional construction software to generate reports. Spreadsheets are commonly used by construction professionals, however, the process remains tedious due to the nature of data entry, frustrating errors, and limitations to do with collaboration and information sharing.
Construction estimating software like Cubit is becoming increasingly accurate and trusted by industry professionals. It is easy to use and makes the early stages of construction faster for commercial builders, project builders, and quantity surveyors, a necessity to meet the future demands of the industry.
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