Top 5 Trends to disappear from AEC industry in 2022 and Beyond

2022 is the year of re-emergence and evolution in the construction sector. The effects of the pandemic in 2020 and the surviving period of 2021 have given the life lesson in upgrading technology. 2022 is the year of revolution for the construction sector with technological advancements. The complete AECO ecosystem is getting by with new trends and advancements and it helps companies to be tuned with time and be future ready. Trends and actions are completely altering the roles of industrial experts, but, for implementing new trends, it is necessary to upgrade previous technology to stay ahead of the competition.

Here are some of the conventional trends that are bound to disappear from the construction industry in 2022 along with highly anticipated new trends that are supposed to rule the year 2022.

It’s time to upgrade the process and techniques along with the time by considering the result-oriented approach towards the construction sector. Let’s see the trends to disappear in 2022:

Manual construction monitoring to reduce drastically

Construction monitoring can be a huge task for engineers and contractors to maintain the quality of work, track the deadlines, manage reports, and most important monitor the progress of the site. Doing all these things manually is difficult because it involves visits, discussions, follow-ups, and meetings.

In the period of COVID, manual monitoring became a difficult and risky task. And, here drones come to the rescue in dropping inspection and reporting issues. With ensuring work efficiency and time management, drones allow making construction monitoring faster and smoother than before.

2. Manual collaboration Techniques to minimize physical appearance

Construction is a sector that grows with communication and collaboration. It thrives on a combined effort between field workers and the office. Linking all involved teams through cloud-based tools reduces the efforts required to run the project, allows seamless communications in a team, and helps to collaborate all the players effectively to take quick actions in the project.

Cloud-based collaboration allows accessing required documents immediately by all the teams from all permitted devices and any location. Any changes in the drawing, budget, design, or strategy are updated quickly which helps faster implementation and progressions against the project. It not only helps in handling the team coordination but also benefits in managing virtual meetings and discussions.

3. Project Management issues to disappear with the use of better PM tools

In the construction industry, delivering projects on time is a vital responsibility and for that, it is a must to keep everything structured predominantly. While handling the project, it is required to access updated drawings, issues lists, plan details, or clash reports to all the parties managing projects.

Accessing and monitoring all these can cause a lot of delays. Hence, the use of better project management tools is going to increase dramatically. Cloud-based project management tools access to an overview of all ongoing and planned projects which benefits to ordering all the tasks and proceeding with the actions faster.

In fact, nCircle has developed BIM connections which are SaaS-based platforms to connect different BIM solutions. This solution is for multiple project management services and their Sync which help to automate transferring, organizing, and archiving project files.

4. Traditional construction technology to disappear

Traditional Construction Technologies will be taken over by newer advanced solutions such as VR/AR/Robotics because of the new expansions in the industry. In 2022, AR/VR will play a primary role in the construction industry because of its ability to overcome challenges, makes working safer in dangerous locations, and capability of examining many-sided structures.

Advanced technologies such as Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality empowered the construction industry as well as customers to visualize planned and post-construction stages and fundamentals of the project. Along with AR/VR, robotics is another solution for replacing older construction technology which mainly helps in monitoring, arranging, managing all the project-related records intelligently.

5. 100% Manual drafting/ designing would be discouraged

Last but not least, manual drafting/designing would disappear from the trends in 2022. All manual techniques require a lot of time and dedication which will surely be minimized by replacing them with the latest technologies. Even manual Scan to BIM is disappearing from the list and available with the newer additions like automation. Implementation of Machine Learning and Digitization in these techniques can save time, help to manage tasks without difficulty, and reduce resource engagement in one task.

In fact, nCircle is developing an ML-based scan to BIM automation. nCircle is also using ML in developing various other automation for construction to make processes smoother and well-organized.

What should you look up to in 2022?

Here is the list of top trends which are making the construction sector able to achieve expected results and management.

3D visualization/AR/VR

This technology helps to see digital data in the real world which is generally used to edge directions onto objects, illustrate 3D models of constructions, and also help to maintain safety. In this technology, the first step is to design a 3D model of the building and the second step is to take a walkthrough of the building by using the AR/VR feature.

Advantages of using 3D visualization/AR/VR in AEC:

Helps to do an exact simulation of the design.
Helps in automated measurements and to make revisions in design
Enables to take walkthroughs through the layout of the design
Enables project teams to work together from a remote location
Increase safety and help in decision-making

Digital Twin

A digital twin enables to create a virtual replica of the existing entity which benefits to take model-driven decisions for the construction business. It offers precise modeling and real-time data by using log files, IoT sensors, and other appropriate information. Digital twin helps to know the status regarding the development of the project, related operations, and the growth of the physical entity.

What digital twin enables AEC with;

Offers valued data in the form of analytics.
Makes construction more efficient and affordable.
Helps to reduce downtime by predicting and recognizing issues.
Allows construction teams to manage and sync projects remotely.

Automation/Robotics

Automation and Robotics in the construction industry are like using two different solutions to overcome the issues and speed up the completion. Implementing automation in different processes is helping to minimize physical engagement and save manual efforts. Like ML-based Scan to BIM, automation helps to reduce the management determinations in the completion process. Robotics is another fruitful innovation that is involved in the latest construction trends in 2022 which helps to automate repetitive tasks, enhance productivity, site monitoring management, and data collection from the construction sites.

Benefits of implementing Automation and Robotics:

Helping to overcome skill shortage in the industry
Offering safer work environment on sites
Helps to conduct complex and dangerous tasks safely
Minimize the project delays by proceeding tasks faster

Read the Case study on Robot Automation

Prefabrication in construction projects

Modular construction is now in the latest trends which enhances the prefabrication demands for residential as well as commercial buildings. It allows the off-site building of a whole structure by using the same materials as conventionally-built sites. This trend allows working in a safe place by avoiding any type of risk and helps to build structure faster than the traditional process. The implementation of prefabrication can save energy as well as cost and that’s the reason for its increased popularity.

What Prefabrication changing in the AEC industry:

Eliminating the confusion caused on the construction site
Reduce wastage of material and helps in good construction planning
Offers flexibility in designing the structure
Minimizes unnecessary distractions

nCircle Helped DPR Construction in building a Mobile based onsite Panel installation app to aide Modular Construction –

AI/ML

AI/ML is playing a vital role in the construction industry which is expected to grow in 2022. Construction costs are rising nowadays and companies are trying new solutions to lower the cost by applying automation and faster solutions to reduce the time loss and required labor work. AI/ ML is the best technology to apply in the construction sector which offers benefits like;

better results in the design of buildings
reduce repetitive tasks, increase efficiency and guarantee safety
forecast any price overruns, set accurate timelines, and help in faster access
reduces the use of machinery and the engagement of the human workforce.

Read our blog highlighting guidelines for choosing an ML-based solution for your AEC projects.

Conclusion:

Overall, in 2022 we can expect to see some groundbreaking transitions among digital techs in the construction industry. It’s going to be an inspiring year for construction technology. Improved technologies are becoming more readily available for a safer, more productive, and smarter working environment. By removing older technologies, leveraging new trends, and implementing innovative practices, in new projects, builders and engineers can reduce risk, enjoy profitability, and can win more contracts.

The pandemic formed a glitch for statistics in the construction sector, but looking onward, the outlook is mostly optimistic. After a period of the pandemic, an upturn in construction is expected in 2022. Hence, adopt newer technologies and make things automated, organized, and lucrative. For any help and suggestions, contact us and get suitable solutions.