In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic had caused the unprecedented interruption. For the construction industry, trends like social distancing requirements, the rise of teleworking, breaks in supply chains, shifts of resources, and cash flow disruption spell differences at each level. Yet, some trends will, against all probabilities, continue, if maybe a little bit modified. Here are the 5 construction industry trends we see on the horizon for 2021.
5 Trends in Construction
Safety
Safety is a concern, but in the Covid-19 circumstances, it extends to the top of the list. Changes to mitigate disease spread will focus on the separation of workers and enhanced equipment and cleanliness protocols. Separation is a particularly tricky thing to achieve on a job site, where cooperation and teamwork are the norms. Expect smaller companies, and the use of staggered turns to keep job sites less crowded.
Improved protocols will involve ordinary things, like masks and hand sanitizer, and things specific to construction. The passing of tools, sharing of gloves, and solid hats will be curtailed. We will all likely be writing our names on things and using only our protecting equipment.
Living Materials
One of the exciting construction trends to watch is the growth of living materials. These biological compounds improve themselves and are poised to move from exciting experiments to full-scale production. The upside is too substantial for these materials to continue exotic.
The most encouraging biological materials are built by and made of bacteria and fungi. This makes them strong, light, and weirdly manageable. Self-Mending Concrete leads to concrete saturated with bacteria that fix materials around them into new structural material. This material can expand in the pores of the concrete, continuing to its impermeability. It can even grow into cracks and fissures, filling and repairing them – all on their own.
Also, there are Mycelium Composites. Rather than bacteria, these materials are the work of fungi. Mycelium is the massive network of fungi living underground, the flowers of which are mushrooms. Almost no commercial site now is without a Drone. Construction is the fastest-growing adopter of industrial drones. By looking down at a project from above, contractors find invaluable information.
Blockchain technology is a user-verified method, real-time input of an endless number of data points, completion of tasks, and revisions of schedules, from transactions, to payments. This technology is enhancing simpler to use and is being rapidly adopted in large-scale work, with invasions now being made even on smaller jobs.
3-D Printing
No technology reduces job site worker density like 3D printing. According to a programmed design in the field, it’s essentially a big nozzle methodically laying concrete in vertical piles.
This method is in commercial use around the world and is expected to grow rapidly. Though it will likely never replace injection molding for mass production, 3D printing makes custom pieces affordable.
Modular Construction
Modular construction and pre-fab building, which already steadily rising, should see a massive boost in interest in the post-pandemic era. Both the manufacturing process and the results are perfectly suited for the times. Manufactured buildings are built in a way that promotes low worker density. The manufacturing is done in airy buildings, with lots of room for distancing. And the material used — conveyors, ceiling cranes, and lifts — is specially designed to let fewer workers move larger components, decreasing labor cost and worker proximity.
After manufacturing, those buildings are typically small, bound by the strength of trucks to move them. As a result, they are suitable for a world where separation is necessary. They are perfect if a business needs individual offices with independent systems, a hospital needs a few additional rooms, or a distant worker needs an office at home. Prefabricated construction buildings have the dual advantage of being affordable and also probably temporary. In times of change, a quick solution is usually the best option. This construction trend is not going anywhere.
Supply Chain Diversification
The interruption to supply chains has forced builders to struggle to find alternative suppliers or to pay higher prices for materials. There is no hint that this is going to improve in the near term.
This construction trend will reevaluate long-term business relationships and brand loyalties and take risks on new companies. This hazard will come at a cost, and it will take excellent coordination from suppliers, generals, subs, and owners to make timely, notified decisions on alternates.
New contracts will likely maintain acceleration clauses to cover unforeseen cost increases, and current deals may need to be correspondingly revised. But it is also an opportunity for quick suppliers and builders to move into areas and customers that might have previously been difficult to access.
Takeaways for Construction in 2021
Though it is difficult to predict the future, we can make intelligent guesses and look to past supervision. But, with families forced to cancel their holidays and socialize outdoors, one type of construction is unexpectedly growing and presenting no sign of slowing: swimming pools.