Building The Future: 3 Current Trends Your Construction Projects May Follow
Construction is an industry that literally changes the world; how, where and what we build can change a city right down to affecting the ambient weather in that city, so a decision taken by a developer over lunch today could literally have ripples that are felt decades, even centuries from now. As such, it is important for people involved in the construction industry to consider how their decisions will affect the future, and evaluate each decision carefully.
As a person working in construction, it is always worth being aware of prevailing trends and new innovations that could make changes, positive or otherwise. So, as we look below at some of the key trends of the present day, it’s worth considering where you and your business stand in relation to them – and figuring out how you can work within them as the world continues to change.
Smaller, sleeker build teams
The coronavirus pandemic has had substantial implications for construction in most of the world’s cities. Projects have been slowed and even halted in some areas, even while others have kept going. Some of these projects were carried out under social distancing rules, but it would probably be naive to assume that they all did.
Most of us until this year had never lived through a mass, lethal pandemic. We will all hope that we never do it again. However, it is essential to consider carrying smaller teams on each project for the foreseeable future; smaller teams can be more mobile and, in the current climate, safer.
Sustainability of materials
Building for the future means taking into account not just what will be important today, but for decades to come; ensuring a building is truly made to last and will not require structural overhauling in the near future. This is important for environmental reasons, but also for simple business considerations; after all, no-one is going to want to move into a property that seems likely to need work before too long. Sourcing canopy footers for metal buildings, and finding innovative ways to use recyclable materials, will make a big difference for your projects.
Prefab and modular builds on the increase
No sooner did the world start to move on from the global recession of the 2000-10s, than a pandemic-driven financial crash moved into view. An inescapable result of any crisis like this is the need to manage resources, which means that the trend towards modular builds is going to pick up pace in the next few years. Prefab-led projects are by their very nature less ambitious than bespoke efforts, but construction companies will need to complete projects and ensure profit, while buyers simply need reliability and a lasting product. This is sure to affect hiring decisions and bidding processes for, at a minimum, five to ten years.
The future is sure to present construction businesses with new challenges on top of the existing ones as listed above. For now, though, any construction project that begins in the next few years will need to be undertaken in full recognition of the above points.