Keeping up with new civil construction industry trends is a must for any company or professional that wants to stay competitive in a market amid advances and transformations.
The construction sector has been progressing with technological changes in the construction process.
Using modern equipment, materials, and new construction techniques, the industry can create lighter, more sustainable, and more durable buildings.
Add in cloud-based collaboration, robots, super-materials, wearable tech, pollution-eating buildings, and artificial intelligence, and you have an incredible array of actions helping to improve the civil construction industry.
All of this helps reduce construction costs and labor costs, improve productivity and efficiency, and helps create a civil construction industry that aims to enhance the quality of life for customers.
In the article below, we will look deeper into some of the new trends in the civil construction industry.
Civil construction is Focusing on Sustainability
The idea of sustainability has been increasing in the civil construction industry for a while.
This issue has grown in importance in society and is valued by most people in general, so it only makes sense for the construction industry to embrace it.
Sustainability is more than meeting customer demands and reducing damage to the environment,
It will also add better energy efficiency and leads to longevity and cost savings on projects.
Solar panels for the production of renewable energy are already an innovation that has become commonplace in buildings.
However, there's an even more sustainable alternative that can replace photovoltaic panels called Organic Photovoltaic Films.
This technology, also known as OPV, consists of organic photovoltaic cells printed on thin, resistant, and recyclable film.
These panels are much lighter, more flexible, and more transparent than the traditional panels.
Other sustainable technologies that are being incorporated into civil construction projects are:
Cisterns for rainwater collection and storage
Green roofs
Skylights for lighting
Vertical gardens to regulate the internal temperature
Ecological bricks
Reusing materials like floors and tiles, the reuse of old furniture, and demolition wood are trends that will further improve sustainability in buildings.
Building Information Modeling (BIM)
BIM, or Building Information Modeling, is very similar to CAD or Computer-Aided Design, but they aren't entirely the same.
BIM software uses 3D modeling to design and model what will be built.
But BIM technology doesn't just create a visually appealing 3D model of your project.
It also creates layers of metadata and renders them within a collaborative workflow.
It captures things in a way that old paper blueprints never could.
Today, 30-35% of civil engineers are using BIM software.
BIM software allows for better collaboration because each person and expertise area can add their piece to the same model instead of breaking it into multiple versions of a paper drawing.
This allows the model to evolve immediately as people contribute and streamlines the process, and increases efficiency.
BIM can also help with problem-solving in a project's design and planning stages.
It can automate detection and provide a complete picture of your project.
Virtual Reality and Augmented Reality
Virtual reality technologies have begun to significantly impact many industries worldwide, including the construction industry.
Modern buildings are becoming more complicated by the day. However, these technological advancements can help architects and construction teams improve their designs and detect design errors.
Architects and design teams can significantly improve building design through interactive design and gesture interfacing.
This could help avoid errors in HVAC system design or find missing elements that have been overlooked during the design phase.
These technologies can also be utilized in the construction industry to:
Aid n the 3D modeling of buildings and structures.
Helping improve and innovate BIM visualization.
Help provide a permanent record of the building
Allows clients to explore designs before construction.
Helping maintenance workers and service engineers "see through walls."
Safety has always been a concern, but in a post-COVID-19 world, safety rises to the top of the list.
Adjustments have been made to mitigate the spread of disease. They will focus on the separation of workers and enhanced equipment and cleanliness protocols.
Separation can be difficult to achieve on a job site, where cooperation and teamwork are necessary.
You can expect smaller crews and staggered shifts to keep job sites less crowded.
Enhanced protocols will also include obvious things like masks and hand sanitizer and things specific to construction.
The passing around of tools, sharing of gloves and hard hats will be curtailed to keep workers safe.
We'll all only wear our own protective equipment.
Increase in Prefabrication and Modular Construction Projects
The modular construction and prefabrication market has also gotten increasingly popular recently, and it isn't hard to see why.
Both trends are energy-efficient and cost-effective and eliminate the amount of manual labor required, which is ideal at a time when most material prices are rising.
The popularity of modular and prefabrication projects will continue to increase even more, especially for construction companies looking to cut overall costs.
Expect to see a lot more permanent modular buildings in the future, as well as pop-up buildings and other prefabricated civil engineering projects.
Project Management Solutions
In addition to the countless technological advances that have been made, construction project management software is a trend that will carry on.
The number of companies creating construction project management solutions has increased within the last couple of years.
Construction professionals have better software options than were available even just a couple of years ago.
User interfaces are designed to be more user-friendly, and there are countless options to choose from.
Project management solutions have features like time solutions, equipment rentals, change orders, and traditional project management options.
This makes it much easier for construction companies to manage their projects.
Project management software can also keep all documents related to the project in one location, helping subcontractors and contractors get paid at the end of a project.
It's an exciting time to be in the civil construction industry.
With all of these new trends, the future of the civil construction industry is very bright.
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