‘For the people who were mentioning the fear from Silicon Valley. I am Silicon Valley. Get over the fear. Silicon Valley has already stepped into construction, and I am part of it.’
AEC technophile Rohit Arora—who joined the design-build startup Katerra in April as a Product Excellence engineer—put his thoughts on AEC tech innovation quite bluntly at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference this past May. But it needed to be said.
Talk after talk at the event referenced the AEC market’s ongoing angst about a tech-industry takeover of AEC, with traditional companies getting squeezed out by hotshot VC-backed startups and enterprising design and construction firms. Arora’s advice for the traditionalists: “Embrace technology. Do not fear. You can shape it.”
I don’t need to tell you about the profound impacts that technological advancements are having on architecture, engineering, and construction. However, I suggest that the pace of innovation and the rate of tech adoption by AEC firms have taken on a Moore’s law-like stride.
This past April, while attending an industry event targeted at GCs and subcontractors, I sat in on a two-hour breakout session focused solely on disruptive construction technologies (yes, 120 minutes!). The speaker, a well-known AEC technology expert, flipped through slide after slide—well more than 60 slides in all—each with a specific technology tool or application, and how construction firms are utilizing the innovation. Labor tracking, BIM/VDC optimization, multi-user VR coordination, indoor drones, rules-based clash detection, exoskeletons, smart tools, 360 cameras for creating detailed 3D models, and AI for everything from construction scheduling to language translation on the jobsite. The applications went on and on, and that talk was just for construction companies. The speaker could easily put together a two-hour talk on emerging tech for architects. And one for engineers. And one for building owners and facilities professionals.
And based on the amount of venture capital funding that is flooding into the commercial construction field, two hours may no longer be enough to cover emerging technologies. JLL, in a new report, found that VC firms invested a record $1.05 billion in construction technology startup companies during the first half of 2018. That is nearly 30% more VC funding than during the same period in 2017, and it adds to the more than $3 billion in funding since 2009, across 478 construction technology deals.
In my nearly two decades covering commercial construction, there has never been a more compelling time to report on this $500 billion industry. On one hand, it’s exhilarating to see the incredible opportunities that lie ahead for enterprising firms. On the other hand, I empathize with firms that are struggling to keep up.
Related Stories
Architects | May 9, 2017
Movers + Shapers: The social connector
Studio Gang gains fans with buildings that unite people and embrace the outside world.
Sponsored | Building Team | May 8, 2017
The builder is the building: Finding the right builder
The most important factor in making sure the where, when, what, and how go smoothly is making sure you pick the right who.
Architects | May 3, 2017
Avoiding trouble in paradise: Tips on building successfully in the Caribbean
The island setting itself is at the root of several of these disruptive assumptions.
Libraries | Apr 7, 2017
Eight recipients selected for the 2017 AIA/ALA Library Building Awards
Columbus Metropolitan Library, National Library of Latvia, and Varina Area Library were all honored by the AIA and ALA.
K-12 Schools | Apr 7, 2017
Is an alternative project delivery method right for your K-12 school district?
With California’s increasingly busy—and costly—construction market, it’s becoming more difficult to predict costs with a typical design-bid-build delivery method.
Market Data | Apr 6, 2017
Architecture marketing: 5 tools to measure success
We’ve identified five architecture marketing tools that will help your firm evaluate if it’s on the track to more leads, higher growth, and broader brand visibility.
Sports and Recreational Facilities | Apr 5, 2017
Informed design: A dynamic approach to athletic facilities design
With the completion of the athletic facility upgrade—dubbed the Arden Project—students will have access to state-of-the-art facilities.
Building Team | Apr 4, 2017
Dispelling five myths about post-occupancy evaluations
Many assume that post-occupancy (POE) is a clearly-defined term and concept, but the meaning of POE in practice remains wildly inconsistent.
Office Buildings | Apr 4, 2017
Amazon’s newest office building will be an ‘urban treehouse’
The building will provide 405,000 sf of office space in downtown Seattle.
Healthcare Facilities | Mar 31, 2017
The cost of activating a new facility
Understanding the costs specifically related to activation is one of the keys to successfully occupying the new space you’ve worked so hard to create.
