Smart and Emerging Technologies: Shaping the Future of the Industry and Offsite Construction
Publication: Computing in Civil Engineering 2021
ABSTRACT
The interest in smart, emerging technologies and offsite construction methods continues to grow. While previous studies investigated different offsite construction aspects, there is still lack of research work that explored the current and future use of smart and emerging technologies, especially those used in offsite construction. This study addresses this knowledge gap through a multi-step research methodology. First, a list of 24 technologies was identified. Second, a survey was distributed to study the current use and the experts’ future perceptions of the identified technologies in offsite construction. Third, descriptive statistics and computational clustering analysis were used to quantify and classify the current and expected future use of offsite construction technologies. The findings reflected that the industry will experience an increased reliance on all offsite construction technologies in the future. The outcomes also indicated that the top 10 technologies with the highest potential in the future include: (1) drones and remote monitoring; (2) smart sensors; (3) artificial intelligence, cognitive learning, and computer/machine vision; (4) extended reality (i.e., virtualization); (5) integrated real-time project management information systems; (6) wireless technology and nG networks; (7) big data, data analytics, and data ecosystem; (8) robotics; (9) internet of things (IoT); and (10) nD printing and additive manufacturing. This study adds to the body of knowledge by helping practitioners identify strategic technologies that will shape the future of the construction industry and offsite construction.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this chapter.
REFERENCES
Abdul Nabi, M., and El-Adaway, I. H. (2020). “Modular construction: determining decision-making factors and future research needs.” J. of Management in Eng., 36(6), 04020085.
Abdul Nabi, M., and El-Adaway, I. H. (2021). “Understanding the Key Risks Affecting Cost and Schedule Performance of Modular Construction Projects.” Journal of Management in Engineering, 37(4), 04021023.
Arashpour, M., Bai, Y., Aranda-Mena, G., Bab-Hadiashar, A., Hosseini, R., and Kalutara, P. (2017). “Optimizing decisions in advanced manufacturing of prefabricated products: Theorizing supply chain configurations in off-site construction.” Automation in Constr., 84: 146–153.
Assaad, R., and El-Adaway, I. H. (2020). “Enhancing the knowledge of construction business failure: A social network analysis approach.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 146(6), p.04020052.
Assaad, R., El-Adaway, I. H., and Abotaleb, I. S. (2020a). “Predicting project performance in the construction industry.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 146(5), p.04020030.
Assaad, R., El-Adaway, I. H., El Hakea, A. H., Parker, M. J., Henderson, T. I., Salvo, C. R., and Ahmed, M. O. (2020b). “Contractual Perspective for BIM Utilization in US Construction Projects.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 146(12), p.04020128.
Assaad, R., El-Adaway, I. H., Hastak, M., and Needy, K. L. (2020c). “Commercial and Legal Considerations of Offsite Construction Projects and their Hybrid Transactions.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 146(12), p.05020019.
Barbosa, F., Woetzel, J., Mischke, J., Ribeirinho, M. J., Sridhar, M., Parsons, M., Bertram, M., and Brown, S. (2017). Reinventing construction: A route to higher productivity. New York: McKinsey & Company.
CLMA (Construction Labor Market Analyzer). (2013). “20/20 foresight report.” <www.myclma.com/clma-tools-services/skilled-labor-market-analytics>(February 14, 2020).
Dias Barkokebas, R., and Li, X. (2021). “Use of Virtual Reality to Assess the Ergonomic Risk of Industrialized Construction Tasks.” J. Constr. Eng. and Management, 147(3), 04020183.
Duncheva, T., and Bradley, F. F. (2019). “Multifaceted productivity comparison of off-site timber manufacturing strategies in Mainland Europe and the United Kingdom.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 145(8), 04019043.
Enshassi, M. S., Walbridge, S., West, J. S., and Haas, C. T. (2020). “Dynamic and Proactive Risk-Based Methodology for Managing Excessive Geometric Variability Issues in Modular Construction Projects Using Bayesian Theory.” J. Cons. Eng. and Man., 146(2), 04019096.
Haskell, B. (2018). “Insuring modular construction: Casualty considerations.” <https://axaxl.com/fast-fast-forward/articles/insuring-modular-construction_casualty-considerations>(October 6, 2019).
Kwiatek, C. (2018). Impact of spatial cognitive abilities on the effectivenesss of augmented reality in construction and fabrication. Master’s thesis, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Waterloo.
Larsson, J., Eriksson, P. E., Olofsson, T., and Simonsson, P. (2014). “Industrialized construction in the Swedish infrastructure sector: Core elements and barriers.” Construction Management and Economics, 32 (1–2): 83–96.
Martinez, P., Livojevic, M., Jajal, P., Aldrich, D. R., Al-Hussein, M., and Ahmad, R. (2020). “Simulation-Driven Design of Wood Framing Support Systems for Off-Site Construction Machinery.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 146(7), 04020075.
Nasirian, A., Arashpour, M., Abbasi, B., Zavadskas, E. K., and Akbarnezhad, A. (2019). “Skill set configuration in prefabricated construction: Hybrid optimization and multicriteria decision-making approach.” J. of Constr. Eng. and Management, 145(9), 04019050.
Qi, B., Qian, S., and Costin, A. (2020b). “A Predictive Analysis on Emerging Technology Utilization in Industrialized Construction in the United States and China.” Algorithms, 13(8), 180.
Qi, B., Razkenari, M., Li, J., Costin, A., Kibert, C., and Qian, S. (2020a). “Investigating us industry practitioners’ perspectives towards the adoption of emerging technologies in industrialized construction.” Buildings, 10(5), 85.
Wu, H., Qian, Q. K., Straub, A., and Visscher, H. (2021). “Stakeholder Perceptions of Transaction Costs in Prefabricated Housing Projects in China.” Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 147(1), 04020145.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
History
Published online: May 24, 2022
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.