Predictions are hard, but industry leaders should not have to step into the new year oblivious to the trends ahead. Multiple sectors within the construction industry are growing in scale, priority and sophistication, therefore in this Editor’s Question we zoom into a few selected areas that will continue to rise in 2024.
As the UK dives deeper into the cost-of-living crisis, construction companies will prioritise technology that will save time and resources, and therefore, money. BIM for example can be useful beyond the design stage as it can even help building owners with maintenance down the road as everyone can reference the BIM models when needed, resulting in reduced errors and streamlined construction processes, potentially leading to cost savings. Of course, BIM is not a new technology and is already widely used within the industry, but due to its wide utlisation, we should expect to see continuous improvements and enhancements in the coming year.
Due to this dark financial forecast, construction projects will also continue to prioritise money-saving techniques when working on both new-builds and retrofits for its inhabitants, such as thermo-active building systems and heat pumps.
Globally, however, although green projects were an exciting and headstrong priority for the UK previously, this will naturally take a backseat in the coming months but will not lose its seat entirely. From my perspective, I have seen some fantastic green solutions come to the market and I expect to see them widely utilised in 2024. These include the use of scientific materials such as C-Crete’s zeolite-based concrete, a carbon dioxide emission-free product and electrochromic glass, also known as Smart Glass, that uses tiny gusts of electricity to charge ions on a window layer and alters the amount of light it reflects. Of course, we should still expect the continuous rise of integrating solar technology into our everyday infrastructure.
These are only a few of the technologies I expect to see rise in the coming months, so we asked three experts for their expectations for the year ahead.
Starting with Martin Huber, CEO and Co-founder of 3D modelling and spatial data company, Amrax, who believes the virtualisation of design will continue to benefit the construction and architecture industry.
“As we look to the future of construction, there is no doubt that the virtualisation of design is going to play a much bigger role. Put simply, the benefits are too big to ignore.
“Take, for example, the latest generation of 3D modelling and spatial data capture technology which can be used to generate quick true-to-scale 3D models of individual rooms and facilities to ensure project-specific customisation and precision.”
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