It’s oddly fitting that sensors, some of the cheapest technologies on the market, are poised to completely redefine construction, one of the world’s largest industries.
Sensors are rather simple. They attach to something and gauge temperature, humidity, light,
It’s oddly fitting that sensors, some of the cheapest technologies on the market, are poised to completely redefine construction, one of the world’s largest industries.
Sensors are rather simple. They attach to something and gauge temperature, humidity, light, motion, or whatever else you might want measured. Similarly, GPS technology is one-note, in that it only tells you where something is located.
But when you combine these two technologies with 3D modeling in the cloud, you no longer have mere raw data. There’s now a real-time connection between a physical construction site and its digital twin in the cloud—unlocking an infinite number of opportunities for efficiency and project management.
Those three things will dramatically change construction practices by ushering in connected BIM: Building Information Modeling (BIM) plus the power of the cloud. The evolution of BIM is a necessity to address the increasing challenges facing the construction industry.
According to McKinsey & Company, “The construction industry is ripe for disruption,” and I couldn’t agree more. First and foremost, construction is a massive industry. It represents 6 percent of global gross domestic product (GDP) and employs about 200 million people.
Its biggest challenge is that the world’s population is growing and moving to cities. Today, 3.5 billion people live in cities—by 2050, just 30 years from now, cities will need to accommodate another 2.5 billion. To address that need would mean building almost 1,000 buildings every day for the next 30 years.
Unfortunately, construction is one of the least-prepared industries to address this challenge. It has barely digitized at all: The McKinsey report places construction only slightly ahead of agriculture and hunting, as only 1.2 percent of its of revenue goes toward advancing technology.
Some governments are mandating BIM technology to streamline and modernize construction processes. For example, as of 2016, Level 2 BIM is mandatory for all public projects in the UK. But professional architects, engineers, and contractors weren’t waiting around for regulation before adopting BIM.
That’s because construction productivity is in dire need of improvement. Last year, McKinsey & Company reported that large infrastructure construction projects “typically take 20 percent longer to finish than scheduled and are up to 80 percent over budget.”
Two threads are emerging: One, BIM is going to continue to be standardized. And two, many industry leaders who are currently ahead of the technology curve will work hard to stay out in front.
Even if you look at the U