Author: Constructech Editors

The interest in 3D printing of houses and other structures has been growing at various levels of the market for a few years now, and one segment, local government, is picking up on it. Azure Printed Homes, innovators of 3D printing utilizing recycled plastic, has been chosen by Enfield Housing Corp. of Enfield, N.C., for the delivery of seven two-bedroom homes. Enfield’s Mayor, W. Mondale Robinson, believes this will be a great start to tackling the lack of affordability in Enfield, a town rated the 8th poorest city in America with 43% of the current homes uninhabitable. Azure has a…

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The IoT (Internet of Things) is only part of the ecosystem called The Internet. Most people don’t even recognize that they are interacting with the IoT, whether through their appliances or Personal Systems like Alexis. It is “just there.” But everyone knows when they interact with the Internet on their computer, tablet, or smartphone. Open a browser or email client, and there is the Internet. Families, especially, recognize the importance of the Internet. With nearly every piece of information, accurate and not, available at a click of a link, the Internet has become part of the family’s daily routine. Accessing…

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Parks Associates’ new consumer research finds that nearly three-fourths of EV (electric vehicle) owners own at least one smart-home device, compared to 38% of all U.S. internet households. EV momentum is real, and so is the opportunity for utilities and connected home players. Major auto OEMs (original-equipment manufacturers) have committed to a conversion to fully electrified fleets across the next 10 years, so the EV revolution has already begun. When our survey fielded with new electric vehicle questions in December 2021, global market forces were forming up to push vehicle electrification forward: The U.S. congress was working out an infrastructure…

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Most companies want to stay away from politics since whichever side they appear to be supporting will make the other side distrustful. In an election year, politics and politicians are everywhere and avoiding the subject gets harder each day. In 2022, the standard saying, “All politics is local,” can be a bit deceiving as world politics, from tariffs to war, are making the news daily and impacting the lives of everyone from workers on the line to C-level executives. According to Gartner, technology governance issues, emanating from cross-country politics, have led to “digital geopolitics” rapidly becoming an issue that multinational CIOs…

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Statistics don’t lie, the saying goes. But interpreting those statistics, that can be something else. Monthly reports on employment, starts and completions, various demographic data, and deep drilling into where those numbers are coming from, makes for interesting reading. Then the next month, it all changes. Take the monthly summary of federal data on construction spending. The analysis by the AGC (Associated General Contractors of America) of total construction spending in August, the latest month government statistic cover, shows a decline of 0.7% as spending on new houses turned sharply lower, while public and private nonresidential construction posted mixed results. Association…

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Known around the world simply as Cat, Caterpillar is a global player in many segments of the heavy mobility market.  With 2021 sales and revenues of $51.0 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Besides the readily recognized construction equipment, dozers and loaders in particular, Caterpillar is noted for its long list of off-road, mining, and infrastructure equipment. Perhaps less known is the engine division, providing power for heavy equipment, trucks, busses, and even yachts from many other companies. Cat has been…

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Concrete, steel, and masonry have long been the staple building materials, especially in non-residential construction, worldwide. However, as the focus turns more and more towards emissions control and climate change, wood is making a comeback. According to the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy in the School of Intl. Service at American University, Washington DC, mass timber construction has many advantages over the concrete and steel commonly used in commercial buildings. Mass timber is a carbon removal technique that involves using specialized wood products to construct buildings, including high-rise buildings. Manufacturers use products such as CLT (cross-laminated timber), LVL…

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The Swedish furniture company IKEA made its fame by offering “assembly required” kits of parts so people could provide the labor of furniture building for themselves. The concept was that labor costs were a major part of any manufacturing operation and buyers could provide that, saving money. Carrying that idea a bit further, Project Frog, with nearly two decades of institutional knowledge in designing, developing, and managing prefab Kits-of-Parts for the modular building industry, has launched KitConnect, a SaaS DMS (Design Management Solution) for the AEC industry that enables building productization workflows in BIM, effectively a digital kit-of-parts approach. Design…

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The Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman has said the U.S. government, “…is basically an insurance company with an army.” So much of the government’s work involves insuring its citizens—think Social Security—that much of its funding does go to those programs—and the military, of course. However, the Federal government is also a major, if not the largest, property owner and landlord. Our national government occupies 2.8 billion-sq.ft. of building space in the U.S. and U.S. territories, of which 2.5 billion-sq.ft. are owned and otherwise managed and 286 million square feet are leased. And, according to government agencies, there are many…

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Building technology has come a long way in a short period of time. In the decades after World War II, mass housing was the driver, finding ways to provide for the returning veterans and their families. In some cases, short cuts were taken that showed up later as major problems. As the industry finds problems, however, companies find answers. As an example, no building engineer today would consider erecting a commercial building without a continuous, full air barrier system. This was not the situation prior to the 1980s. The need to eliminate or control air infiltration/exfiltration through wall assemblies to…

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