A digital revolution on construction sites

While a 3D printer finishes building the roof, a sanding robot tweaks the ceiling, watched by an android driving an excavator. This seems like something straight out of a science fiction film, but it will be a reality in the years to come. “We’re no longer an industry of people carrying wheelbarrows,” openly states Francis Carnoy, head of the Confédération Construction Wallonne in Belgium. “The emergence of digital tools in the construction industry is significantly modernising all aspects of building, from architecture offices to construction sites.”

Jeffrey Huang, director of the Media and Design laboratory at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), agrees: “This is just the beginning, but robotics and 3D printers will definitively be part of the construction industry. It’s inevitable. Experiments are already underway around the world, especially in the Middle East, to build entire houses using gigantic printers. NASA is also testing a machine to build a base on the Moon using lunar dust.”

In China, the Winsun company, for example, is already able to print 10 basic houses in 24 hours, at $5,000 each. The printer – a huge machine equipped with an articulated arm – builds these houses by adding layer upon layer of concrete paste made from cement, tailings and construction waste (cement, glass and sand).

This could mean big savings in terms of labour, but also time and waste management – which is a significant expense in the industry. In Russia, start-up Apis Cor used a similar machine to build a 40 sq. metre house in December 2016. While these buildings seem abstract and far from Western standards, they do open the door to automating construction sites, especially in that 3D printing isn’t the only option available to builders.

Christian Grellier, Head of innovation at Bouygues

French giant Bouygues, for example, has been using Roby, a robot, on its biggest construction sites since 2012. Developed in partnership with BA Systèmes, Roby can complete difficult work such as drilling or hammering walls. But there is a big problem with robots: the variety of tasks.

“Machines are very effective for repetitive tasks in a predictable environment, but as soon as something changes, they have trouble adapting,” said Philippe Souères, head of the Laboratory for Analysis and Architecture of Systems (LAAS) in Toulouse and co-designer of the humanoid worker robot Pyrène. In 2007, Japanese companies Kawada and Kawasaki Heavy Industries presented excavator operator HRP-3, the successor of HRP- 1 and 2 that came out in the 1990s.

This robot was expected to replace workers on risky construction sites by 2010. But nothing came of it.

Additionally, all the data of a construction project needs to be digitised before moving on to automating the fabrication process. This isn’t yet the case. Construction companies are just starting to enter the world of fabrication 4.0. What exactly is that?

“Construction 4.0 is riding the wave of industry 4.0. The original term was invented by the German government in 2012 to encourage companies to integrate the internet into fabrication processes,” explained Huang. “The concept of construction 4.0 is similar, and the aim is to digitise the entire value chain of a building, including the design, construction and final use. This allows for the various players, machines and smart parts to connect, interact and communicate with each other.”

In the next 10 years, the use of 4.0 technologies in the construction industry is expected to save between 15% to 20% per project, according to a study published by Boston Consulting Group in 2016.

The first step of digitisation is called the Building Information Model (BIM). It is a digital model that goes far beyond 2D or 3D views that are traditionally used in computer assisted design (CAD) software. The BIM is the exact virtual model of what the building will look like. Purely graphic representations are now replaced by virtual models that include the materials used (brick, glass, steel, tile, etc.), costs and deadlines, as well as thermal, structural and acoustic data for the new building. “Everyone involved in the project can edit the data in real time, which results in significant productivity gains, with less paperwork and redundancies,” said Huang.

For example, US architecture firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) used this type of software in their emblematic One World Trade Center project, the 541-metre tower that replaced the Twin Towers in the heart of Manhattan. According to figures from the firm, BIM technology reduced the documentation of “20,000 CAD files down to five architectural databases”, which significantly simplified coordinating construction teams. It was a very convincing experience, according to SOM.

Francis Carnoy, director of the Confédération Construction Wallonne

“BIM software was first used in the aeronautics industry. In the 1970s, the pioneering company Dassault Systèmes developed the system to finalise and build its fighter jet, the Mirage,” said Huang. “The software, dubbed CATIA, improved efficiency and productivity in the aeronautics industry by 1,000%!”

Understandably, this attracted companies from all other industries. CATIA was very quickly adapted for the auto industry, shipyards and now in construction. “The Fish building in Barcelona built in 1992 by the Frank Gehry firm was one of the first uses of CATIA in architecture industry,” said Huang. “They used a tool that made it possible to build a creative, extremely complex design.”

But ever since, it is mostly the increased productivity that entices various players to use the system. The expected benefits seem so significant that several countries even require companies to use BIM technology: Singapore (in 2013), the UK (2015), United Arab Emirates (2016), Spain (beginning in 2018), and Germany (beginning in 2020) have either required or will require all construction companies to use BIM if they want to participate in public tender offers.

This is a big help for software manufacturers in the industry, as governments have paved the way for them. Autodesk, the market leader, posted a turnover of $2 billion in 2016 and is expecting 25% growth in the coming years, with a turnover of $2.5 billion expected in 2018.

But there are still difficulties: “Purchasing the software, undergoing the necessary training and even BIM construction is a high cost for SMEs,” said Huang. “Additionally, some architects don’t like the rigid structure of the software, claiming that it doesn’t allow for enough creativity.”

As a result, some are against it. However, companies reticent to change must be aware: “Companies that aren’t getting on the BIM train or aren’t sufficiently aware of the importance of this evolution will be pushed out of the market in five to 10 years”, predicts Carnoy. So as not to miss the digital revolution, all the major players in the construction industry keep an eye on innovations and start-ups.

“We don’t want to miss the Uber of real estate,” said Christian Grellier, head of innovation at Bouygues, during an interview with Les Echos magazine. As a result, the French company identified 250 start-ups in 2016, approached and tested about 50, and then proceeded to acquire a stake in approximately 10 of them.