April 11, 2022
By: PhoenixBizz Staff Writer
PhoenixBizz is a division of Sofvue, LLC
Printed with permission of Data Titan and Sofvue LLC
2020 and 2021, given the pandemic and general conditions in the marketplace, produced a rough time for the construction industry. Many projects were halted due to the pandemic, labor shortage, and supply chain disruptions, many of these issues still hanging on today, but the tide is changing, and the market appears to be gaining new traction in 2022.
The challenges over the last two years have given rise to the development of smarter technologies and trends to lessen the hardships many construction companies face. Read on to learn more about the top five commercial construction trends that are bringing new value within the construction industry.
1. Virtual Design Techniques and Visualization go Mainstream
Planning and designing commercial construction projects often requires input from dozens if not hundreds of stakeholders, including architects, engineers, designers, construction crews and clients. Using traditional approaches is both tedious and time-consuming, but the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) within the construction software marketplace is increasing rapidly. Broadly speaking, BIM is the process of bringing together many of the disparate drawings into a single software system allowing a much more robust collaborative effort using 3D modeling during a building’s design and construction.
Statistics indicate that in 2020, construction professionals using BIM rose from 13% in 2011 to 73% in 2020.
BIM allows architects and engineers to create a virtual model of the building. This helps identify issues and bottlenecks early in the development process, improving overall workflow efficiency and time to completion. Also, BIM tools act as a single source of information, ensuring everyone is building from the same set of documents. This minimizes reworks of faulty or incorrect builds, thereby reducing the overall construction costs.
Construction management software (CMS) is also a crucial tool for commercial construction companies. It helps companies better manage their projects, schedule resources, and track budgets.
Data Bridge Market Research valued the construction management software at $1.54 billion in 2021. The market is expected to reach $3.23 billion by 2029, registering a CAGR of 8.80% between 2022 and 2029.
2. Modular Construction Will Gain Popularity
The goal of modular construction is to facilitate 60-90% of the building construction process to occur in a nearby factory-controlled environment, then transporting and assembling the modular components at the construction site.
According to Fortune Business Insights, the modular construction market is forecasted to grow from $75.89 billion in 2021 to $114.78 billion in 2028, registering a CAGR of 6.1% from 2021 to 2028.
The primary reason behind this increase is easy to understand. It helps lower construction costs, shortens construction time, and reduces waste. And, according to Dodge Data & Analytics, healthcare facilities, hotels and motels, and multifamily residential structures are expected to realize the greatest cost benefit from modular construction and prefabrication.
3. Smart Cities Change the Way Commercial Construction Companies Operate
A smart city is a city that is fully integrated with the latest technologies and infrastructure. It uses various electronic methods, voice-activated tools, and sensors to collect specific data.
The smart cities market was valued at $739.78 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $2036.1 billion by 2026, registering a CAGR of 18.22% over the forecast period (2021-2026), and that doesn’t include the new “smart city” being developed outside of Phoenix near Tonopah.
As smart city concepts become more prevalent, they will likely change the way the construction industry operates. For instance, construction companies will have to start using tech advancements like IoT in their buildings, and facilities management companies will become accustomed to using RFID and monitoring technology to track everything from water pressure to land erosion to automated fire detection alarm testing.
4. Environmentally Sustainable Construction
The need and awareness of sustainability have increased significantly in recent years. However, to survive and thrive, construction companies need to build environmentally sustainable buildings using a greener building process.
In fact, major construction companies have already started focusing on environmental factors and implementing green building methods. As a result, the green building market in the US is expected to reach $99.8 billion by 2023.
Another study by McKinsey found that 90% of construction industry respondents believe a shift towards environmental sustainability is imminent. With this point in mind, using environmentally sustainable construction and design processes will reduce greenhouse gas emissions and use less energy and water.
5. Remote Construction Monitoring
Commercial construction projects often involve tracking thousands of components, equipment, and personnel, making it difficult to monitor, especially using dated manual processes. This is where remote construction monitoring can help. Companies have started using drone technology to monitor construction sites to make better decisions quickly.
Once thought of as a novelty, drones are helping companies save time and money on construction projects. Here are two major stats that indicate how drones are helping construction companies.
✅ Construction-related waste makes up anywhere between 25-40% of America’s solid waste stream. Using drones to combat this can lead to a 61% increase in measurement accuracy.
✅ Construction companies report a 55% increase in safety standards using drone technology.
You may also like to read: How to Develop a Real Estate Mobile App for Your Real Estate Brokerage Firm
Tips: Mobile Apps for Commercial Construction
Commercial construction requires massive collaboration and coordination efforts of people and resources in the field, especially for large commercial developments for office, high-rise condominiums, and large apartment developments. The traditional process is not only time-consuming but also kills efficiency and slows down progress, but today, everyone on a construction site has a smartphone by their side, and this offers a great opportunity to improve efficiency and productivity while reducing costs with custom mobile solutions.
Here are a few ways mobile app developers in Phoenix can improve the construction management processes using a custom app mobile solution.
✅ Provides access to real-time information even when offsite.
✅ Improves communication between owners, project stakeholders, and on-site construction personnel.
✅ Enhances back-office efficiency by eliminating the use of paper and spreadsheets.
✅ Helps monitor draw schedules using GPS, improving accountability, and reducing labor costs.
✅ Photos, videos, time stamps, and signatures captured on-site give you an accurate project aging and trailing recap for current projects, while also providing critical historical project information.
Conclusion
The construction industry is no different from hundreds of other industries taking advantage of modern techniques driven with technology, from the increased use of BIM and construction management software to IoT and mobile apps.
PhoenixBizz is located right here in Maricopa County, and we’ve developed mobile applications and web-based application systems for companies in Phoenix, Glendale, Cottonwood, Mesa, Prescott, Flagstaff and other companies from coast-to-coast. PhoenixBizz offers extensive, relevant, and cost-effective solutions for bespoke mobile applications in the construction industry. For more information, please contact us at 623-845-2747.
Link: https://www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-construction-management-software-market
Link: https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/modular-construction-market-101662
Link: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-reports/smart-cities-market#:~:text=The%20smart%20cities%20market%20was,market%20in%20the%20forecast%20period.
Link: https://comfyliving.net/green-building-statistics/
Link: https://blog.dronebase.com/drone-impact-on-the-construction-industry-a-statistical-round-up