Author: Constructech Editors
The new housing developments going up are more often than not built with sustainability in mind. Architects, designers, engineers, and contractors realize that the future depends on making the right decisions today regarding environmental impacts. Moving the needle in sustainable housing is the modular or prefabricated building methodology. Too often, this construction technique has been relegated to the lower end of the market. Not anymore. Plant Prefab, a building technology company that says it is dedicated to sustainable design, materials, and operations, has won a bid to prefabricate the final phase of custom homes in The Palisades at Olympic Valley,…
Money is often the source of recognition in business. It flows to those companies that investors, at least, see as the wave of the future. Construction equipment hasn’t been one of the big draws for investment funds but that might be changing. Built Robotics, a company focused on construction equipment autonomy, announced the close of a $64 million Series C led by Tiger Global, which brings its total funding to $112 million. Existing investors including NEA, Founders Fund, Fifth Wall, and Building Ventures have also joined the round. Built’s focus on easy-to-install robotic upgrades for heavy equipment is generating significant demand according to…
Most contractors, when asked about drilling equipment, will think in terms of hand drills for wood or concrete. But in infrastructure, mining, and oil and gas exploration, drills come much bigger. Now one of the biggest is making (less) noise in the field. Vermeer unveiled the newest generation of maxi rig drills with the introduction of the D550 HDD (horizontal directional drill). The D550 gets its name from its 550,000-pound (249,475.8-kg) operational thrust/pullback ability. This large drill leads its class with 100,000 foot-pounds (135,581 Nm) of torque, advanced telematics along with smart onboard technology and diagnostic information. The Vermeer D550…
We all have heard about the Bipartisan Infrastructure Bill that passed in 2021. Contractors and suppliers at every level are getting ready to bid on and work the large number of projects that are being proposed as funds become available. Major suppliers to the trade are moving to increase their capacity to provide equipment and material for the future projects. As an example, after experiencing continued demand for its products in key critical infrastructure markets like data centers, EV (electric vehicles), and semiconductor manufacturing, Siemens is investing over $10 million to expand its existing Smart Infrastructure manufacturing hub in Grand…
Smart houses are being built everywhere. Some might even say smart is the In Thing these days. A new study, Smart Buildings: Key Opportunities, Competitor Leaderboard & Market Forecasts 2022-2026, from Juniper Research has found that the number of buildings globally deploying smart building technologies will reach 115 million in 2026, from 45 million in 2022. Juniper Research defines a smart building as a building that uses connectivity to enable economical use of resources, while creating a safe and comfortable environment for the occupants. But if projections are right, residential “smart” is not the driver of the market. The research found that non-residential…
The technologies we use today often evolve from mathematics and science procedures well known long before computers were available. Stress analysis among other functions needed to assure infrastructures, especially bridges and dams, are safe under all conditions can be done more accurately and quicker with the right computer application. One of the foremost finite element analysis programs for infrastructure evaluation is ADINA (Automatic Dynamic Incremental Nonlinear Analysis) software. Civil, structural, and mechanical engineers choose ADINA for its authoritative veracity, including in analysis of buildings, bridges, stadiums, pressure vessels, dams, and tunnels. By virtue of the ADINA System’s integral robustness across disciplines,…
The COVID-19 pandemic has put a two-year long strain on the medical facilities we depend on for treatment. Hospitals across the world have been finding that they were unprepared for the sudden influx of patients with an often severe and sometimes fatal illness requiring isolation and quarantine. Now that the number of hospital admissions is down, boards of directors and executives of medical groups are looking to remedy some of the weaknesses that were found. Skanska USA, a global construction and development firm, has been selected to provide renovation and expansion services for Bon Secours – St. Francis Medical Center,…
The rooftop unit is expensive and critical to the building’s performance. Getting data to and from that unit would make control much easier. Trane, a well-known brand in the climate-control market, is working on it. Trane, Trane Technologies, is seeking to deliver greater energy efficiency with Air-Fi Wireless Sensors for Trane/Mitsubishi Electric CITY MULTI VRF (variable refrigerant flow) and updates to the IntelliPak 1 HVAC Rooftop Unit. The enhancements provide building owners with equipment, data, and controls to help stay ahead of efficiency standards, meet their decarbonization goals, and make retrofits easier and more cost-effective. Building owners using VRF systems can now…
Construction is amid interesting times, with big industry growth in some sectors, the IIJA (Infrastructure Investment and Jobs) act, supply-chain disruptions, and the rise of digital, just to name a few. One of the biggest challenges—or opportunities, depending on how you want to look at it—is labor attraction, retention, and productivity. McKinsey suggests today’s labor mismatches are likely to persist because of structural shifts in the labor market, meaning the relationship between job openings and unemployment has departed from historical trends. In January 2022—two years from the start of the pandemic—the U.S. unemployment rate was at 4%, close to its…
In 1941, the classic film How Green Was My Valley hit the silver screen. In 2022, the classic in the residential market seems to be How Green Is My Home? And how soon? Green houses are smart houses, and smart houses better be green. The combination of technologies for monitoring and controlling the systems that constitute a smart house can also improve the environmental aspects of that building. In response to COVID-19, smart houses—especially new construction—should also be healthy houses. Innovations are showing a strong influence of the pandemic on smart home technology. The “new normal” way of living focuses…