Technology is helping the construction industry shed its image of being slow to integrate change. Smartphones and mobile apps have made communication and collaboration on construction projects much easier and, more importantly, are significantly increasing the speed of sharing information. BIM is improving project visualization, making scheduling more efficient and reducing waste and rework.

Reprinted courtesy of Michael McLin, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

Sustainability of buildings is an essential topic – buildings and construction consume almost half of raw materials and one third of energy in Europe. Therefore, scaling up the building sustainability assessments and making them faster and more reliable is a key challenge.

Building sustainability is evaluated with a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). An LCA is a quantitative method of assessing a building’s environmental impact throughout its life cycle, i.e., procurement, construction, operation, and decommissioning. The assessment allows owners to optimize the entire building process from a life cycle cost perspective instead of resorting to short-term sub-optimization.

Construction companies can’t afford to scrimp on jobsite safety because even a single accident comes at too high a price, say industry professionals and insurers.

When it comes to the latest trends and innovation in construction, drones, big data, smart and connected jobsites, virtual reality and artificial intelligence get most of the headlines. These technologies appear to hold great promise to enhance and further enable the interface of man and machine to work faster, smarter, safer and more efficiently.

However, innovation in construction also is taking on new forms as it relates to efficiency and environmental sensibility in the design and operation of machines and equipment. For the last decade, machine design and manufacturing revolved substantially around achieving progressively more stringent emissions standards. Due to their unmatched combination of power, efficiency, performance, reliability and durability, diesel engines are the primary power source in the overwhelming majority of construction equipment.

Reprinted courtesy of Allen Schaeffer, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

Construction’s November unemployment rate fell sharply from the year-earlier level but rose slightly from October’s mark as the industry added a modest 5,000 jobs during the month, the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics says.

Kanchanaburi, Thailand (AP) -- The trial of a Thai billionaire construction tycoon charged with poaching an endangered black panther and other animals in a wildlife sanctuary began Tuesday after months of delay.

McDermott project managers held their breath as a nearly 3,000-ton module journeyed on a carefully ballasted barge along the Gulf Coast to Lake Charles, La. Anticipation mounted as the module arrived safely to the site of the $1.9-billion ethane cracker McDermott was building for a joint venture of South Korean Lotte Chemical and Houston-based Westlake. Over the course of the next two days, self-propelled modular transporters shuttled the component to its intended spot, where it was placed carefully on preconstructed piers. As seamlessly as two Lego bricks snapping together, the module fit snuggly in place. Over the next two months, an additional two heater modules—each over 2,500 tons and 155 ft high—made the daylong journey from Gulf Island Fabrication in Houma, La., and were set in place without a problem.

How is technology influencing the construction industry? The short answer is in each and every aspect of construction. Technology and construction are both ever-evolving industries–from the world’s first skyscraper to the under-construction Vista Tower which will be Chicago’s third tallest building when completed in 2020.

Reprinted courtesy of Michael Rivas & Scott Chinn, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

Uruguay’s largest construction firm is scouting for highway, rail and energy projects in Argentina even as South America’s second-largest economy slips into a recession and a corruption scandal stalls investment.

Engineering and construction leaders need to think about how they will change processes, systems and operations in preparation for the industry’s inevitable digital transformation. Done right, it can be a game-changer. But companies must ensure that their change management plan addresses both technology and culture, or they will be doomed to fail.

“For us, digital transformation is really that intersection of technology innovation and business innovation,” stated Mark Peacock, principal and global IT transformation practice leader with The Hackett Group, in a 2017 CIO article. “It’s how you’re taking digital technologies and, as a company, fundamentally changing the way you’re delivering products and services. It’s about applying technology innovation to come up with new business models, which really drive new revenue above the line and new ways to deliver products and services.”

Reprinted courtesy of Jay Snyder, Alyssa Menard & Sabine Hoover, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

Looking to bolster development of new technologies for construction and give industry players a place to test new products, Oracle has created a Construction and Engineering Innovation Lab. Located on the campus of the former Textura headquarters in Deerfield, Ill., the 15,000-sq-ft initial phase of the facility is designed to resemble an “in-progress” construction site, ready to be rigged with the latest in sensor and automation technology for testing and demonstration.