As we move into mid-February and the summer is coming to an end, now might be a good time to look at the key construction and building trends we expect to see in the coming 12 months. Particularly in refurbishments in commercial buildings in Dubbo and surrounding areas.
Because, while the construction industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic, it has not stood still. There have been some exciting and innovative developments in both construction and working practices which we expect to continue into 2021.
So we have gathered our thoughts and consulted various industry experts to come up with our five top construction and building trends for 2021.
Living materials
We expect to see more widespread use of living materials over the coming year. These are biological compounds which are grown in the lab to produce environmentally-friendly building materials.
Examples include Mycelium composite which is a biologically grown insulation material already in widespread use around the world. Another is self-mending concrete which is saturated with bacteria to help bind the material together to make a stronger structure.
While this sounds like science fiction, many industry experts believe the technology is ready to go mainstream. The first commercially available products should be released in Australia later this year.
3D printing
3D printing is nothing new in construction, but it is still only used on a small scale. We expect to see more widespread use of this technology with more and more projects making use of the efficiency it provides.
The most popular form of 3D printing is concrete laying, which is spread according to a pre-programmed design through an application nozzle. This method is much faster than traditional concrete laying and produces far superior results.
Building information modelling
New design technologies such as building information modelling (BIM) are set to supersede traditional CAD technologies. These software packages allow architects to create the building virtually before constructing it in real life.
This can help to expose problems with the design of the building before the construction stage. This will not only make life easier for us builders. It should reduce the cost of construction and eliminate delays.
Modular construction
The move towards modular construction has been slowly happening over the past decade. These are buildings where key structures and components are manufactured off-site before being delivered for installation.
Modular construction methods are more efficient and can reduce build times. However, up until now, its use has been limited to small scale projects. We expect modular constitution techniques to be used for larger-scale projects this year.
Cloud-based tools
The construction industry is not usually slow to adopt new technologies. We were the first to deploy drones on a commercial scale and we are constantly developing new building techniques, but we have been slow to adapt to cloud-based software tools.
Coronavirus has changed that. Many project managers, surveyors and architects are now working from home and making full use of cloud-based scheduling and project management tools. This promises to help bring efficiency and productivity gains to projects of all sizes.
Reach Out To Us Today
As you can see, these are exciting times in the construction industry. There are several technologies under development which look set to transform the industry over the next few years.
But to make the most of them, you will need to partner with a building contractor familiar with the technologies or prepared to experiment with them. BLD Construction is one of the most professional and innovative building contractors in the Central West community.
So if you want to benefit from the latest environmentally-friendly building techniques. Talk to our friendly team in Dubbo or Orange today. We can support projects of all sizes from single-family homes to large industrial buildings. Complete the form here for more details.
