Professionals in the AEC industry are well aware of the issues that grapple the built environment. That the construction industry is the largest consumer of materials and is responsible for 40% of all carbon emissions is a commonplace fact. Construction work is also a large waste generator and could greatly benefit from circular design principles. Almost three-quarters of all construction projects tend to be over budget, and nearly half of the spending on buildings goes into the overheads. In a fast-paced world with multi-faceted challenges, technology, and digitization seek to deliver significant solutions.
The construction industry has notoriously been slow to adapt to the wave of digitization spreading across various fields. In 2015, McKinsey’s published their digitization index and placed the design and construction industry at the bottom in the progress toward digitization. The workforce in the construction sector is aging, an increase in project demand and complexity are growing, and employee productivity is falling. Even as reluctance and uncertainty plague the industry, a digital push is intensifying.
