So, what’s new?…well quite a lot, actually. Obviously, there’s AI
It’s hard to imagine any building as a paradigm for emerging technology: after all, apart from a few doors and windows, buildings have so few moving parts, and unlike computers and satellites, they’re rooted firmly to the earth. So, you might also be pushed to think of a less likely candidate for fast track status in these rapidly evolving, high tech times…But, if so, you need to dig a little deeper. All those brick clad houses and office blocks, hospitals and schools on the high street…they might look pretty much as they always did (from the outside at least), but over the last decade or so (and getting faster track every day), the way in which they’re being built has been transformed by nothing short of a technological revolution.
That humble old building, seemingly so traditional and trenched deep in the ground, is now just as much a miracle of our modern times as ChatGPT, Blockchain, and FinTech. Which makes this is an especially good time to take a closer look at the way we build, and live, now…
Breaking out of the box
In the not so distant past (and occasionally even now), most buildings began their life on a drawing board, and the designer (or architect, assuming there was one) would pay an occasional visit to the land slated for development: literally to check the lie of the land. And then, eventually, on a timeline that made your average London to Manchester train look like Ussain Bolt, a set of plans would be produced (four foot wide by three deep…so hardly pocket sized), and the surveyors and engineers on site would begin to find disturbing variances between the blanket sized plans and the actual topography of the site. That’s because the people producing the plans had been working in an office somewhere, with very little understanding of what the site actually looked like: or, indeed, what the building would look like when it finally took shape.
Mismatches of that kind would often mean walls had to be taken down (to make way for reality), and drainage systems dug up because the fall didn’t quite match what had looked like reality back in the office. And the list of gruesome disconnects went depressingly on…which was one reason cost overruns, material wastage, and unscheduled delays were so much a feature of dinosaur construction back in the bad old days.
Happily, that’s all changing.
Building Information Modelling…and so much more
Building Information Modelling (or BIM) uses digital technologies to create a 3D model of the building, as well as its related components, which enables architects, engineers, and contractors to collaborate much more efficiently from the outset: significantly reducing error rates, and radically reducing levels of waste (bear in mind that traditional construction has historically been the biggest producer of industrial waste in the world). And BIM also allows productivity rates, sustainability levels, and overall quality assurance standards to go up too…which is why, for the last decade, it has become a must have technology for any construction project. And, if nothing else, it’s nice finally to ditch those blanket sized plans…modern construction professionals are working from a laptop, tablet, or mobile phone, and doing things a whole lot better in the process.
3D Printing Technologies are also facilitating the creation of much more accurate large scale modelling (using a layer by layer approach), and the scope for increased accuracy makes it possible to create complex materials on site (from scratch): again, reducing costs (see above), and maximising the bottom line by dispensing with redundant transportation and storage costs. The tallest 3D printed residential building in the world (three stories high) was recently completed in Wallhausen, Germany (www.stirworld.com): and all the materials were bespoke created on site, with no individual parts that required shipment or separate assembly.
And that’s by no means all...
Other emerging technologies, such as Advanced Robotics, AI, Augmented Reality, Blockchain, and, inevitably, the Internet of Things, are also increasingly combining to improve site efficiencies, as well as (not unimportantly) site safety standards too. Drones are being used to conduct more accurate surveys than ever before, in addition to enabling buildings under construction to be inspected from angles previously the stuff of science fiction.
Modular Construction
And then, of course, when it comes to advanced building technologies, Modular Construction is in a class of its own: creating units and components in carefully controlled conditions (no more wading around in the mud), which can then be readily assembled on site, at a third of the cost of traditional construction, and twice as quickly as well. That means more buildings where we need them most (and especially more new homes in these challenging times).
If ever there was a paradigm of what emerging technologies can achieve, Modular Construction is it.
Modulex
Modulex is a ConstrucTech Company working at the vanguard of emerging global construction: making use of 3D volumetric steel modular techniques: harnessing the power of emerging technologies, including AI, Blockchain and IoT, to meet burgeoning housing and infrastructure needs in developing and emerging markets. Delivering at pace and with optimal cost efficiencies.
Executive Overview
Beneath the façade of those familiar buildings, it’s easy to forget how complex the technologies are that put them together in the first place.
Invest in Red Ribbon Asset Management
Red Ribbon Asset Management (www.redribbon.co) aims to harness the full potential of fast evolving and emerging technologies to meet the needs of global communities as part of a circular economy, fully recognising the compelling demands of planet people and profit.
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