Emerging Transformative Trends of the Construction Industry in 2020

Garrick Revels
7 min readMay 8, 2020

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This year 2020, it’s a great time to look forward to all innovative advancements to come and already taking place in the construction industry. The industry is as of now and still continuously evolving and changing. Last year, people witness more attention given to the integration as well as the sustainability of technological advancements in terms of construction practices. Eventually, this trend will specifically and likely to continue this 2020 since more advancements will entirely change the project management techniques. The main goal is unchanging — to become environmentally-aware and extra efficient.

Since the competitiveness in the construction industry has become prevalent, harnessing these trends will definitely prove valuable and beneficial to any construction firm. The new technologies improve the capability to win more and more projects and to continuously increase profit margins. Therefore, there’s so much benefits and advantages that these trends offer once executed and applied.

Take a look at several major trends that’ll fundamentally shape the construction industry in 2020:

1. Efficiency- Improving Technology

The most accepted fact goes to “Technology is constantly evolving” and this is certainly the trend all industries cannot turn away. It is known that the construction industry is considered as one which notoriously slow in terms of integrating modern advancements and technologies. However, today, they’re adapting and familiarizing the trend to acquire a better and smart way of planning.

Below are some of the technologies applied and used today:

· Drones

One of the fastest-growing trends these days is the continuous use of drones in the construction industry. This technology is offering far more applications and uses compared with aerial photography. As of now, the drones are utilized for larger areas that require speedy mapping. This produces both thermal images and heat maps. There is also an advanced software drone that efficiently provides valuable and real-time data used for the fastest decision making for every construction process.

· Augmented Reality (AR)

AR means effectual project staging and better creation of pre-construction projects appropriate for both tenants and buyers. Augmented Reality facilitates the applications of 360-degree video and also wearable technology in order to enable the following:

· Faster simulation of structural and architectural changes

· 3D visualization of the next future projects

· Safety training

· Automated measurements for buildings

2. Building Information Modeling (BIM)

This technology has been helping the leaders of the industry to further stand out with much better productivity and efficiency. BIM efficiently permits the users to generate computer presentations whether for utilities or buildings. There are solid benefits it gives to the users. There will be ease of managing the models. It can also enable the superiority for prefabrication parts which can eventually lead to precise and on-time completion.

3. Construction Management Software

The software itself is basically used for maintenance of productivity, logistics, and efficiency in the construction business. Having and using this software tool is a key component for remaining competent and competitive at the same time while establishing valuable business and conquering operational efficiency. Selecting the right and best software solution is realistically vital for construction firms. As of today, there are several software tools for construction management available, and one of which is the Pro Crew Schedule. This cloud-based scheduling software has been proven useful and beneficial in terms of construction project management.

Below are the basic project management features of Pro Crew Schedule:

· Time-tracking feature

· Construction Crew Management

· Real-Time Project Team Collaboration

· Multiple Tasks Scheduling

· Cloud-based Storage

A helpful tip that must be considered upon searching for the right software tool is to– look for a scalable and flexible type that you can take wherever you are with ease and convenience. Organizing the projects, the participating crew members, and the designated tasks must be conveniently easy as well. Any rising issues and disputes should be easily determined within the construction project which is also important. Good thing that Pro Crew Schedule embodied all of these functionalities real-time. On the other hand, project managers have every reason to apply this software solution. This project management software for construction is cloud-based. In actuality, it can easily be accessed at any browsers and while using the app. Now is the time to consider Pro Crew Schedule, request now for a live demo.

4. Green Construction

The majority of home buyers as well as commercial tenants and renters have set a few standards in terms of any construction projects and green construction is one. For instance, a green building’s attached roof is capable of reducing CO2 and improve the quality of air and can able to lower the carbon footprints of a particular building. However, a couple of eco-friendly and sustainable features have remained a luxury regardless of the long-term savings. But then again, it might substantially change for the next several years.

Moreover, green construction includes technology in order to lower the carbon footprint as well as the utilization of building models. This should be necessarily done in order to reduce the use of other resources. And also, a study shows that green buildings can create a positive psychological impact on the occupants.

5. Modular and Pre-fabricated Construction

Have you come across a prefab home? This type of home is usually built and developed off-site in modular units. Prefab and modular construction are capable of accomplishing a major movement over the years. Every year, modular constriction will expectedly grow over by 6.7 percentage and can possibly hit $167 billion upon reaching by the year 2023.

As the technology is consistently supporting established modular units which are now improving, you can have expectations that there will be a lot more activities for this sector. Several smaller builders have been developing ground-breaking green building designs using this method. Thus, it boost the client’s trust and tremendously increases market visibility.

6. Improved Safety Equipment

Aside from implementing construction crew management for all participating laborers, the construction industry is now recognizing the rise of machines that have the capacity to identify basic and common safety issues that are normally difficult for a laborer to identify. Because of this, eliminating these threats one by one will come much easier. The innovation and improvements to work boots have allowed them to directly connect to Wi- Fi and eventually alert the others if there’s a specific user who has fallen.

Try to picture a robotic arm that replaces the exerting effort of work from a construction worker. This by default, a proof of improved productivity and safety. Aside from worker gear, many folks are now witnessing robotics capable of replacing human workers. The ranging goes on and on from material moving “mules” to bricklaying robots as well as scaffolding.

Furthermore, 3D printing is introduced today. This is specifically used for the effective decrease of environmental sensors as well as transportation risks. By the reducing of the two named factors, detecting wind, heat, and noise onsite is easy since it was severe as a constructive warning.

7. Companies Detaching from Mega Projects

It’s called “Moving Away from Big Projects”.

Working on mega projects such as publicly-owned establishments and highways usually have a fixed-price agreement. Until today, this particular issue is still something being dealt upon by the construction firms. For construction projects, there are added materials mandatory needed that require additional costs. Having the fixed-price agreement cannot do justice to the overall costs of the project. Often times, this leads to recurring disputes and misunderstanding between the clients and the contractors.

At the end of the day, the construction companies have the choice of either no longer pursuing larger projects or still considering it. After all, if they choose not to anymore negotiate with clients offering fixed-priced projects, they can have the option to opt for more contract-type and private arrangements. It still is a good option though.

8. Adaptive Reuse

This is another major trend that will soon be taking hold this 2020. This process is purely focused more on structure restoration. Instead of tearing down buildings, restoring it will be an efficient way of improving economic development. Old abandoned buildings have to be restored, giving it life again is what it deserves. The trend of adaptive reuse has been growing in popularity. In some instances, there are rugged and old factories today that are a subject of restoration. It will be restored and developed into warehouses and residential apartments. Even office spaces are also one of the options.

9. Disaster-Proof Structures

The key focus this year 2020 will be structural resilience. This is considered all because of the two factors involving — the growing highlight on developing buildings extra safer while natural disasters are increasing globally. As of now, instead of solely focusing on constructing energy-efficient buildings and houses, builders are more passionate at developing buildings and homes that are extra resilient in terms of weather uncontrollable events, and any natural disasters. While focusing on this, builders also start to incorporate systems and input materials that are low-carbon.

Key Takeaways

The construction industry is continuously undergoing massive and evident changes. New advancements spurring an instant revolution and technology continues to play a huge role in reshaping and redesigning construction practices. Evidently, the above-mentioned trends in the construction industry are ultimately changing the global landscape the same as the related businesses. There are inevitable circumstances that may happen over the next years. The prices will rapidly increase, regulatory challenges, scarcity of skilled laborers and many more can be tougher. Through leveraging new technologies, investing in new projects, and adopting new practices, the developers and the builders can able to win numerous promising contracts, reduce threats, and enjoy immense profitability.

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Garrick Revels
Garrick Revels

Written by Garrick Revels

CEO of Pro Crew Software Inc & also own one of the largest construction companies in the Tampa Bay area, GCM Constructions. Visit us at procrewschedule.com

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