Bernarda Franco

Prof. Rebecca Lorenz

ARCH 476 - Modern Construction Technologies
NYIT - Spring 2018

March 2nd, 2018

Homework 1 - Essay Response (Revised)

The world has gone through extraordinary changes and advancements in technology over the past
few decades. Unfortunately, while most industries have utilized the new technological innovations to
transform their industries and make them more efficient, according to Paul Teicholz, professor of
Stanford University, the Architecture, Engineering and Construction Industry (AEC), has been in a state
of decline in terms of productivity and efficiency that continues today since 1964.

There are several reasons why the AEC industry has been in a decline according to the WEF
report. Some of these reasons are that AEC companies put more attention into what the final product
(Project) will look like and spend little time into analyzing how the project will be constructed; companies
do not learn from their previous projects in terms of construction process and waste time; most companies
do not have a proper project monitoring system to let them know if anything goes wrong; It is difficult for
all the stakeholders to coordinate about the project; companies usually only contact their suppliers only
once they are working on a project instead of having the materials ready; construction companies are not
innovative or “forward-thinking”, and lastly, the AEC industry is often viewed as not diverse and
unattractive to young talented people. Although all the previously mentioned reasons are valid, one of the
most critical reasons that the AEC Industry has fallen behind the other industries, is that while the other
similar industries took advantage of the new technological advancements and became more efficient, the
AEC industry has not yet adopted the technologies available therefore making the productivity go down
each year by 0.32% as a result.

In my opinion, the obstacles for the lack of innovation in the AEC industry are fair. Unlike the
automobile, ship or airplane industry, the AEC industry deals with many more people, making
coordination more difficult therefore making it difficult to keep projects on time. Not only does the AEC
industry have to deal with the primary stakeholders such as the client, contractors, engineers, architects,
suppliers, etc. but also with outside parties such as the local governments and citizens. In the automobile
industry, cars can be assembled quickly by robots which allows for better quality. In the AEC industry
buildings are much larger than automobiles and cannot be built as fast as cars. The AEC industry has to
deal with safety considering that the AEC industry basically builds and shapes everyone's environment
including the ones these other industries are working on top of; the automobile industry does not have to
worry too much about safety because they simply have to make one model of the car and they can
duplicate it millions of times. For AEC it is impossible to duplicate the same building millions of times
and instead build one million different buildings one time.

Fortunately for the AEC industry there are new advancements in technology that have huge of
potential to make the industry rise again in terms of efficiency and productivity. Some of the new
technological advances mentioned in the report that the AEC industry is beginning to adopt are 3D
printing, Drones and Virtual Reality. These technological innovations allow the AEC industry to move
forward and at the same time, boost the productivity and efficiency rates of the industry. According to the
website AEC Business, the technology of 3D printing in the construction industry, not only reduces the
cost of labor but also reduces the overall cost of the project and the usage of materials by 30-60%. What
this means is that by using this technology, there would not be a lot of people required to work on the
project since an automated machine would be working on it which, not only would reduce the risk for
human error and the overall time to complete the project but also project delays. An example for this is a
residential house in Russia built by Apis Cor; the residence is 400 sq. Ft and it took less than 24 hours to
3D print the concrete walls for the house.

Drones are also an innovation that helps the AEC industry to become more efficient and
productive. According to Randy Deutsch, author of the book “Convergence: The Redesign of Design”,
“Drones are changing the AEC industry for the better being that drones can capture a very high amount of
detail with which can then be produced, site plans, various types of 3D models, contour line maps etc.
They can also reduce risk in the construction process by being able to overview the project at all times
from above and provide progress updates. With drones it is easy and cost and time efficient to provide site
observation, construction administration, oversight and data gathering. By using a drone, the company
can reduce human error, save time and cost of labor since with only this technology they can collect a lot
of data that is necessary start and manage the project throughout the process of construction. One example
of the use of drones in the AEC industry is the Dorchester Hotel's Coworth Park Hotel in Ascot, Berkshire
where drones were used to document the project throughout the time of the construction from 2008 to
2010 and provide the client and the contractors with the collected data.

Virtual Reality is also another emerging technology in the AEC industry. With virtual reality, it is
easier to communicate to the people involved in the project and also allows to better understanding of
technical information and in general better understanding of spatial configurations. In the AEC Industry,
virtual reality can contribute by allowing construction simulation performance, comparing the status of
the project, improving collaboration opportunities, etc. With this technology, the overall construction time
will be reduced as will also human error and communication between all parties involved will also be
easier and faster, also, decisions about the project will take shorter time to conclude. Overall, according to
Sara Rankohi, author of the book “Virtual and augmented reality technologies in the AEC industry”, this
technology will reduce the time to complete the project by 25% and it will also increase the accuracy of
detected changes”. As an example of virtual reality, today it is known mostly in the gaming industry and
medical industry and it is becoming more known in the AEC industry. It is mostly used by some
architectural and construction companies to share with their clients; create semi realistic walkthroughs
and also to interact with the design and work on it just like they would in real life.

The AEC industry has noticeably collapsed over the last decades but fortunately with the new
technologies mentioned above, there is a lot of potential for the industry to come back up just like similar
industries like the automobile, ship and airplane industries have done by taking advantage to benefit and
improve their businesses.
 Works Cited:

Deutsch, Randy. Convergence: the Redesign of Design. John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2017.

GenieBelt https://geniebelt.com Smart and easy-to-use construction management software, which

revolutionizes the construction industry. “The Present And Future Of VR In Construction
Management.” GenieBelt, 2 Oct. 2017, geniebelt.com/blog/vr-in-construction-management.

National Society of Professional Engineers, publisher. “Construction Productivity in Decline.” The

Magazine for Professional Engineers, June 2014, p. 13.

Rankohi, Sara. Virtual and Augmented Reality Technologies in the AEC Industry. 2014.

“The Future of 3D Printing in Construction.” AEC Business, 8 Apr. 2016, aec-business.com/the-future-of-3d-

printing-in-construction/.

Woollaston, Victoria, and Ian Steadman. “The Race to Build the First 3D-Printed Building.” WIRED, WIRED
UK, 4 Oct. 2017, www.wired.co.uk/article/architecture-and-3d-printing.