The Technological Revolution

Do you realize that it would take longer today to build the empire state building than it did in 1930 where is was constructed in only 410 days? 410 days to build a skyscraper that at the time was the tallest building in the world. 86 floors and 1250 feet from the street level to the rooftop, where it was being erected at average of less than 5 days per floor. Let’s compare that to the 2006 project One World Trade center which finished its 1368 ft 104 floors of construction in roughly 6 years, approximately 21 days per floor. We are in need, and about to see a big change.

How are you preparing for the transformation, and how do we increase our efficiency globally to keep up with the other industries like manufacturing who have leveraged technology to re-imagine their processes?

Its no secret that the skilled labor force numbers are declining and will likely continue to do so, but how are you going to handle those shortages? There are robots on constructions sites all over the world right now that are assisting with labor intensive tasks and allowing one person to do the work of 3 or 4 with less fatigue and higher efficiency. There are brand new million+ sq.ft manufacturing facilities that are prefabricating and modularizing entire buildings. And for the first time in our history there are venture capitalists supporting and investing billions of dollars into companies that are inventing these new ways to build.

We sit on the verge of a Technological Revolution with the advancement of many "new" technologies working their way into our field. How many of them are here to stay and how many of them are simply stepping stones to a larger or undiscovered tech? BIM, VR/AR/MR/XR, Wearable Tech, Robotics, 3D/4D Printing, Drones, Exo-Skeletons, Artificial Intelligence, and Autonomous machinery all have a part to play. What are you doing right now that will prepare you to take that next step? And what about the one after that? Can you imagine a scenario where this technology is abandoned, or do you see these as the infrastructure to the new way of building our cities? How will artificial intelligence play a role? Can we get to the point where a building can help build itself?

Try to imagine 50 years from now where the only workers that are physically on a construction site are robots and drones. Drones will be constantly scanning and monitoring progress of projects while Artificial Intelligence determines if the project is on track, and can make adjustments on its own in order to resolve issues. How many safety incidents do you think they'd have? Our people will be able to work on these projects remotely, using some form of Mixed and Virtual reality while being able to control the entire process with a neural-control device. Brand new building processes will begin to be the normal way of construction. Plastics will begin to take the place of steel and concrete structures. Most of the jobs you and I will be working do not exist today and have not even been considered or thought of. In my opinion, this is the most exciting time in history to be working in construction.

We are standing on the precipice, are you ready to climb?