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The future of the construction industry: 3D printed homes, drones and floating buildings

A report looking at the role that technology will play in the construction industry in the future, has revealed that 3D printed walls, drones and a roof made from recycled plastic bottles from the Ocean will all be possible by 2025, thanks to advancements in technology.

The report, written by renowned future gazer, Dr. Ian Pearson BSc DSc(hc) and commissioned by Colmore Tang Construction and Virgin StartUp, also revealed that floating buildings or apartments will be possible by 2050 thanks to carbon foam, which is lighter than air.

By 2025, drones will be able to carry large materials up construction sites and even more remarkably, plastic bottles recovered from the world’s oceans will be recycled to create a roof.
Over the next decade, artificial intelligence (AI) will be commonplace, linking to sensors and cameras around construction sites, ensuring that buildings are being developed according to the architect’s plans. Humans will work alongside AIs and will not only see these robots as clever tools, but also colleagues and even friends as they start to develop unique relationships.

Looking more than 50 years into the future, by 2075 Dr. Pearson suggests that self-assembling buildings under AI control will allow a new form of structure – kinetic architecture – where a structure is literally thrown into the sky and assembled while gravity forms the materials into beautiful designs.

However, it is 3D printing that will steal most of the construction headlines in the immediate future, according to the future-gazer. Cheap homes, built quickly using 3D printing, will essentially put an end to the housing crisis.

The report was launched by Colmore Tang Construction, who has partnered with Virgin StartUp to deliver a £10m innovation fund that is open to entrepreneurial companies in a construction industry-first technology accelerator programme called ‘ConstrucTech’.

The fund will be provided to those companies that can successfully show how their innovation and technology could improve the sector’s productivity, sustainability and skills issues.
Futurologist, Dr Ian Pearson BSc DSc(hc), said: “By 2025 we will already see huge changes in the construction industry thanks to technology with drones, AI and 3D printing all becoming commonplace.

By 2050, we could see floating buildings or apartments that could save the housing crisis using carbon foam that’s lighter than air – the possibilities for this really are endless.”

Andy Robinson – Group CEO, Colmore Tang, said “The forward-thinking report has shown that technology can have a positive impact on the construction industry, however, we need to discover those exciting and innovative start-ups, whose products and services could deliver the technologies and innovations that will be the key to future success.

“We are hopeful that our partnership with Virgin StartUp to create the ConstrucTech programme and £10m innovation fund will be the start of a new dawn within the industry, where the future innovations predicted become a reality.”

Virgin StartUp is a leading business support organisation which has run a number of successful accelerators and supported 11,000 entrepreneurs across the UK. Construction in the UK has been slow to embrace innovation and adopt new technology and Colmore Tang has identified a number of key areas within its business, and the industry as a whole, which it believes could benefit from the contribution of enterprising start-ups.

Colmore Tang and Virgin StartUp are calling for businesses to apply to the ConstrucTech programme to address the following problems:

  • People: improving analysis of performance, sharing best practice across building projects, measurement of quality and also implementation of health and safety.
  • Data: using data to pre-empt potential delays, more efficient material ordering, more effective use of labour along with use of performance data to improve cost, timescales and estimates of new projects for future clients.
  • Smart Materials: design and implementation of materials to improve sustainability; improve safety and finding materials which are digitally connected.

Colmore Tang is providing start-ups with the opportunity to use the programme as a test bed and development platform to bring products and ideas to the construction sector. It’s hoped the £10m innovation behind ConstrucTech will be the spark to improve lacklustre productivity levels and also begin addressing the need to re-skill over half a million construction workers to suit the industry’s future Mace Report – Moving Construction 4.0.

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Artificial Intelligence: What it means for the built environment

The RICS has launched an insight paper which explores the impact of using artificial intelligence (AI) in the built environment, and the urgent need for industry professionals to understand how it will influence their role, as the future will rely less on human labour and more on technology.

AI in FM

One sector that the Artificial Intelligence: What it means for the built environment highlights as facing a significant impact of AI is facilities management (FM), due to the labour-intensive and repetitive nature of many FM jobs, making it an ideal place for automation of previously human-dominated tasks. However, the report weighs up the positives and negatives of such changes and how companies should deal with them.

Paul Bagust, RICS Global Property Standards Director says “FM will always have a vital role to play within the built environment, and even though many operational roles will become more technology-led, the sector could benefit hugely from AI at a strategic level. For example, machinery utilising AI will revolutionise the FM industry, making many jobs faster, safer, less costly and this will ultimately improve a company’s service offering and increase their bottom line.

“Technology and the availability of data is also changing the way investors look for opportunities and invest. This will present a huge threat to the industry if ignored, but, again, it presents so many opportunities for those who work in the built environment. So, all businesses, however large or small, must act now and analyse and prepare for how this disruptive technology could transform their role, sector and the wider built environment — otherwise they face becoming obsolete.”

Chris Hoar, co-founder of AI in FM added “The paper discusses how AI will transform the property industry by driving smart, efficient buildings from design through to construction. It also highlights how those in the industry can exploit the latest AI applications and developments, including drones and BIM (Building Information Modelling), to plan and work more effectively, while improving and better maintaining the quality of buildings and the wider built environment.

“The overarching message of this report is that organisations should seek out and maximise the opportunities that artificial intelligence presents, while minimising any potential threats. This way, they will have a much better chance of controlling their business strategy, direction and financial health.”

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VIDEO: The first residential house has been printed!

Whilst plans were released last year, Apis Cor company have now successfully finished the residential house printing project (built in Stupino town, Moscow region) using mobile 3D printing technology.

In December 2016, the Apis Cor company in cooperation with PIK proceeded to print the building using a mobile 3D printer. Construction took place at the Apis Cor company’s test facility in the town of Stupino, on the territory of the Stupino aerated concrete factory. Printing of self-bearing walls, partitions and building envelope were done in less than a day: pure machine time of printing amounted to 24 hours.

After completing the wall structures, the printer was removed from the building with a crane-manipulator. The overall area area of the printed building is 38 m².

According to their website, construction is based on Apis Cor’s unique 3D printing technology. A distinctive feature of the printer is its design, which is reminiscent of the tower crane, allowing the printer to execute the printing process of constructing the building both inside and outside.

The printer is small in size, easily transportable and does not require long preparation before the commencement of the construction works because it has a built-in automatic horizon alignment and stabilization system.

The printing process itself is automated as much as possible to eliminate the risk of human error.

On the inside the printed house is no different from a conventionally built home — cozy and comfortable. The interior comprises a hall, a bathroom, a living room and a compact functional kitchen.

The construction cost of the printed house amounted to approximately £8100, which is around £220 per square meter. The cost of the building is surprisingly low, considering the unusual design of the building and the premium quality of the materials specified. Even more impressively, this cost also includes all the works that were done to make a complete house – such as work and materials for the construction of foundation, roof, exterior and interior finishing works, installation of heat insulation of walls, windows, floors and ceilings.

Watch the video below:

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Minecraft teaches students how to overcome common construction problems

More than 400,000 UK construction workers are set to retire between 2018 and 2023 creating an urgent need to attract a new generation of construction professionals.

‘Craft your Future’, developed by the Chartered Institute of Building, is a construction game aimed at 12-14 year olds that takes place in Minecraft. Through it young learners explore the methods and skills to become a construction manager, introducing them to a career in construction.

In a series of four freely available Minecraft Education Lessons, that can be downloaded by teachers anywhere and accessed via the Minecraft Education Platform, students encounter a variety of problems that reflect construction challenges in cities today. The lessons take place in Newtown, a specially created virtual city in Minecraft, to design, plan, collaborate and build solutions that develop a sustainable future for all its citizens. Exercises also include real life scenarios like the challenge of restoring Battersea Power Station.

Bridget Bartlett deputy chief executive at the CIOB said “Combining Minecraft and a thorough curriculum for the teacher makes for a unique and immersive experience and will help reveal why the industry is important and why a career in construction can be so rewarding. There are 70 million people playing Minecraft and just like Lego it has the capacity to inspire and attract a new wave of construction managers into an ever-increasing digital industry.

“What is exciting is that these young learners will not only have fun but also develop their communication, team working and mathematics skills; skills that construction has a high demand for. The lessons are designed to be teacher friendly and we hope construction employers will also want to use them in schools as they bid to switch the next generation onto a career in construction.”

Minecraft is being successfully used in schools to teach computer science programming, chemistry, physics, architecture and even introducing some of the world’s most famous artists to young people through games like Tate Worlds by the Tate.

Such is the impact of Minecraft Education in March 2015 it was announced by the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure that it will provide free licenses to over 200 schools (circa 50,000 school children), and 30 libraries in Northern Ireland to inspire creative writing and engage young people in city planning.

Working with The Gameworkshop from Denmark and the Danish Architecture Centre each CIOB lesson runs between 3 – 6 hours where groups of students usually in teams of 3 or 4 collaborate across the lessons. The lessons cover 4 areas of construction, maintenance, restoration, new build and refurbishment.

Speaking about the lessons Pia Rost Rasmussen from the Danish Architecture Centre said: “These lessons will teach young learners about the importance of architecture, building and city planning and inspire them to engage with the built environment – both as future professionals but foremost as citizens who have a role to play in how our common environment is shaped to fit society’s needs.”

Watch the backstory video below:

To read all the supporting information about the lessons please go to http://ciobmc.org.
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Printing: the future of construction

Dubai has seen the completion of the world’s first 3D printed office building – called “Office for the Future.”

The opening of the first 3D-printed office in the world comes just less than one month of launching Dubai 3D printing strategy, which showcases a modern model of construction.

The building was constructed using a 3D-printer with automated robotic arm – measuring 20 feet in height, 120 feet in length and 40 feet wide. The office took 17 days in total to print offsite, and the structure was erected on site in just two days. Additional mobile printers were also located at the construction site to add the finishing touches.

Saudi newspaper the Gulf Today quoted Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum as saying, “The UAE has emerged as one of the major incubators of innovation and future technology in the world today and its focused initiatives to shape the future have become global models that can be emulated in all sectors. The opening in Dubai of the ‘Office of the Future’, the first 3D-printed office in the world, is another shining example of how the Emirate adopts novel initiatives and ideas and also encourages teams to adopt innovation in their work.”

There can be no doubt that the competitive advantages of 3D printing, in terms of lower costs and faster delivery, will make the UAE one of the most important sustainable economic hubs, enabling the effective use of this technology to establish future cities in all sectors.

What is highly interesting in the case of the 3D printed office is that the labour cost could be cut by more than 50% compared to conventional buildings of similar size.

The Dubai Electricity and Water Authority released an Expression of Interest for the construction of 3D-printed laboratories, to conduct research on drones and 3D-printing technologies at the Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park, the largest single-site project in the world. The Solar Park would be able to generate 1,000 megawatts (MW) by 2020 and 5,000MW by 2030.

Sheikh Mohammed recently mentioned that the future is not built on possibilities and numbers but on clarity of vision, planning, action and implementation.

In the medical products sector, the focus will be on developing 3D printed teeth, bones, artificial organs and medical and surgical devices and hearing aids.

The Sharjah-based daily concluded by saying, “It is heartening that the UAE is successfully embracing technology for the service of entire humanity.”

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VIDEO: 10 amazing construction technologies that could change the world

The effects of humans on the Earth are becoming more profound every day. Our energy consumption is higher than ever, and it is only getting worse. The population is also growing, which is putting a dramatic strain on basic resources like space, water, and food. Finally, the environment is rapidly changing, which has led to extreme weather that has had a tremendous effect on cities around the world.To address some of these problems, innovative changes are being made to old construction technologies to make the future beautiful, clean, and (most importantly) liveable.

Watch the video below to see 10 truly amazing construction technologies that have the potential to change the world:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzucewwlfX0

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Constructing the future: Tokyo 2020

Tokyo-2020_v4

For more information please visit www.futurism.com.
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2045: A construction odyssey!

The year is 2045. The roads are full of driverless cars, artificial intelligence has reached superhuman levels and even buildings have an AI personality that runs them. What does the construction industry look like? Hewden answer that question in their latest report written by full time futurologist Ian Pearson.

Ian is a full time futurologist, tracking and predicting developments across a wide range of technology, business, society, politics and the environment. In the report, Ian talks of a thriving industrial Utopia, rife with technological advancements. He says “New materials and techniques will need new skills for construction workers, increasing both their salaries and personal job satisfaction. They will work alongside automated and robotic equipment and AI so will need new skills to manage them to get the best from them. Natural competitiveness will ensure that humans want to show off areas where their own skills are superior, but mostly, workers will come to think of their machines as colleagues rather than just machines. Instead of driving a large digger or crane, it will become more of a close working partnership, with the person in charge, but the machine doing a lot of the thinking for itself. This will allow faster and safer working as well as very precise operation and a wider range of tasks that can be completed.”

The report predicts several advancements within the sector, particularly within the area of automated machinery and robot workers. Augmented reality software will make life easy for specifiers, surveyors and architects, who will be able to walk onto a site and actually see the building they are designing digitally in situ rather than on a piece of paper or on a computer screen.

Pearson also touched on the topic of house building and the role construction will play in housing a growing population, saying that “there is already a shortage of housing, but strong expectations of significant population increase over the next 30 years thanks to aging, immigration and higher birth rates. We will therefore need a lot more construction of housing, plus all the other infrastructure needed for a growing population and associated business. Thankfully, we are coming out of recession now and will soon recover the normal 2% to 2.5% economic growth, and that will double the size of the economy by 2045. Construction investment is often pushed by government as a mechanism for economic growth, so it will benefit by at least that much, probably more.”

To read the full report, please click here: http://www.hewden-catalogue.co.uk/constructing-the-future/future-of-construction.pdf

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