Global scarcity of resources
The prices of many building materials are currently skyrocketing. This will not change this year either – insulating materials, steel, everything will become more expensive and scarce. Construction prices are rising accordingly and threaten to make many projects unprofitable. In addition, the emerging countries in particular are currently asking for a lot of material and are buying the market empty. So the situation will continue to worsen. In the long term, only improved project planning with a greater focus on reusability can help, because circular economy and resource protection already begin in the planning phase. If entire buildings, parts of buildings and building materials can be recycled or found a subsequent use, this not only reduces the material requirement, but also contributes to greater sustainability at the same time. It is important to think big about Cradle to Cradle in the future.
Sustainability not only through energy savings in the usage phase
The German construction industry in particular has an urgent need to catch up when it comes to sustainability. In the Netherlands there is already a CO 2 cap per square meter of new construction. With the new government with green participation, it is quite conceivable that such a cap will also become the new guideline in Germany. In addition, disposal costs will remain a major issue and will increase proportionately. Due to the still immature framework conditions for recycling processes and the low landfill capacities, waste is becoming a further driver of construction costs. This shows how important it will be in the future to use building materials and building parts for a long time and to reuse them later – as is already possible in modular construction by refurbishing reused modules. The circular economy should therefore be the focus of the project early on in the planning.
Digitization and AI also in construction
In order to increase sustainability across the entire industry and to counteract the scarcity of resources, both planning and production must be optimized. Both must become more intelligent overall and network. The use of “artificial intelligence” is ideal for this. It supports construction projects, for example, through generative design, proactive problem detection and the avoidance of delays and cost overruns. But it also has to be used in production. An example: Digitizing the cut leads to less offcuts and waste. Thanks to good advance planning and the use of an AI, the remaining material from a cut can be used for further use in other future projects. This not only saves material, but also additional work steps and thus increases the efficiency of the entire production process. After all, residual materials are also resources.
Industrialized manufacturing as in the automotive industry
The advance of digitization within the construction industry also enables the use of semi- or fully automated processes. They reduce sources of error and make production more efficient. Affordable living space can be optimally realized with robot-supported construction processes in connection with the necessary digital management of the construction data – from planning to construction site. In view of the acute shortage of skilled workers, which will not be solved in the next few years, this development is the logical consequence. Daiwa House Modular Europe will also rely on automated processes in the already planned German gigafactory.
These four trends should encourage the construction industry to rethink. In addition, there are a number of other changes such as a generational change in the ranks of managers as well as political and social change. Builders are now open to standardized building solutions. Modularly planned and built buildings offer a short construction time and high quality thanks to around 90 percent prefabrication in the factory. In the residential, care, hotel and education segments in particular, there are similar needs despite the different locations – so not every building has to be a prototype.
