A good worker never blames their tools. Instead, a great worker should always make the most of the tools available to them. Although 2020 hasn’t been a great year, in general, it has been a great year for innovation, particularly for people in construction. The development of new tools aims to make it much easier for construction workers, handymen, and contractors to do their jobs.
Drones
Drones are an excellent way of capturing progress and increasing safety and accuracy on site. A great way to survey on-site activity, drones can capture precise visual data on demand as it’s able to monitor a whole site in a matter of minutes. Drones can also help enhance safety by providing updated site maps and help with communication across teams. Comprehensive area photographs can help with measurements, surfacing, and distance analysis.
Drones are also a relatively cheap way to conduct data analysis compared to other traditional methods, particularly if the location of your site can only be accessed remotely. Depending on your location, you might need to get permission to fly a drone over your site. Remember to always take health and safety into account.
Printed Fence Mesh
Perforated fence mesh can work as an opportunistic form of advertising as well as help control dust on site. When you look at printed banner mesh on construction sites, they are often high-quality materials that advertise the construction company or give insight into the end result of the site.
FenceWrap can encompass the site perimeter and stop dust and debris from escaping the work area into the public space. It can mask the day-to-day life of the site and provide a source of privacy for workers and staff while advertising your company logo in a perfect location.
The materials are very versatile, so they are both easy to put up and take down, as well as being easy to transport from one site to another. When you consider that it can be used over and over again, the product has a big impact for a small price.
Augmented Reality Glasses
Augmented Reality glasses can help make construction easier in a number of ways. AR technology is advancing at an exponential rate and is incredibly useful when it comes to the trade space, making it possible to form a combination of ground reality and the virtual architectural designs of the construction site.
Augmented Reality can be transmitted onto the site in a number of ways, like digital tablets. But a really innovative method is by turning PPE safety glasses into an extremely useful tool. These tools can help reduce timeframes, save on budget, and improve the health and safety of workers. Safety inspectors are now using AR Glasses when inspecting sites to ensure they are up to spec, capturing data and photos as they go. They are also a great way to help train staff or to give clients a 3D insight into their project.
Go Green
Green technology is a growing trend in the construction industry–from high-rise gardens to green spaces and sustainable materials. That’s why incorporating green technology into your development project is a must in 2021.
Going green means your development is more sustainable since it aims to reduced your carbon footprint. Your building could have hanging gardens by using a cantilevered heliostat, a core water recycling plant, as well as low-carbon tri-generation power plant. Rather than petroleum generators that cause environmental damage, many green developments adopt solar technologies for power. This is beneficial for construction companies since using sustainable materials reduces expenditure. There are also tax incentives when a building goes green.
Going green can also generate more jobs and has many benefits for employees. Some companies are even consulting landscapers when considering larger projects in urban areas to make the development aesthetically pleasing for the public.
Smart Clothing
When it comes to ensuring the safety and comfort of your construction workers on-site, smart clothing is a game-changer. Clothing that can adapt to a person’s unique body temperature to heat or cool in adverse conditions is another step forward in providing job satisfaction on site. Items can include jackets, t-shirts, and even charging work boots that track fatigue.
Smart clothing has been proven to increase output onsite and provide comfort and increased safety for your staff. This is also a wise investment if you have full-time staff who’ll be with you for a long time on an intense job, especially if you work in an adverse geographical location.
Hard hats with built-in communication or LED lights that can be seen from a distance at night are being developed to help make construction safer and more efficient. Having a constant method of communication across the site without having to stop what you are doing could have a huge impact on productivity.
3D Printing
From manufacturing small bespoke fixtures to building whole buildings, 3D Printing is at the forefront of modern construction. Using this technology for projects can mean less waste, reduced costs, and quicker production of more complex designs.
Although 3D Printing is not a new concept, we are only beginning to see its full potential when it comes to the construction industry. 3D Printing can reduce labor costs and complete a job in less than half the time. Accidents at work would also be reduced, so the technology has many benefits if you are keen to invest.
3D Printing does come with drawbacks. Some governing bodies and code do not recognize it as a viable construction method, hence you may not be granted planning or license to use the technology. So, do your homework before diving in headfirst to the 3D printing space.
Although the speed of construction technology can be overwhelming and comes with added pressure to purchase, most of these new innovations are worth the investment. Trends like Augmented Reality tools and the need to become more environmentally conscious will be the biggest concepts of the new construction era, but they have the power to change on-site efficiency and help construction workers work smarter not harder.
