After a turbulent period of adjusting forecasts and changing expectations, 2022 will be a year of reemergence and growth in the construction industry. Rising construction costs and labor shortages persist, challenging the industry to innovate competitive new ideas, while stricter regulations contribute to a reduced margin for error and waste.

Since last year, the COVID-19 pandemic changed how the construction industry does business, from scheduling and closing projects to hiring workers to meeting with clients. Looking forward, many industry trends will be affected by the fallout from the pandemic. New technology continues to change the construction site, improve the ability to win projects, and increase profit margins. Trends and movements are changing the roles of industry professionals and frontline workers.

As the industry becomes more competitive and the market shifts, harnessing these construction trends will prove valuable for any construction firm. Read on for the 10 must-watch construction industry trends for 2022 to help you stay competitive.

Table of Contents

Protective Equipment
Efficient Technology
Growing Need for Laborers
Remote Worksites and Mobile Access
Rising Material Costs
Green Building
Modular and Offsite Construction
Construction Management Software
Focusing on Residential Projects
Smart Cities

1. Protective Equipment

The COVID-19 pandemic drastically impacted the construction industry, already affecting construction site guidelines by way of updated state regulations emphasizing cleanliness and strict safety protocols. This also includes increased union influence in projects, possibly adding cost and time to projects.

The industry is also witnessing a rise of machines capable of identifying common safety issues and eliminating those threats one at a time. Wearable innovations are making their way to the job site with work boots that connect to Wi-Fi and alert others if a person has fallen. Material-moving “mules” transport heavy or hazardous materials, and tasked robots construct scaffolding or lay bricks autonomously. Headsets can even actively reduce noise pollution while keeping workers in tune with their surroundings.

Beyond worker gear, we are already seeing robots that fully replace certain human workers. More accurately than “replacing” humans, these robots are changing the jobs humans do — in most cases, they’re augmenting human decision-making (like deciphering and translating data findings into actionable insights) and making room for different, higher-level jobs.

Reliance on 3D printing continues to skyrocket, resulting in decreased transportation risks, and environmental sensors that detect noise, heat and wind at construction sites provide warnings to evacuate construction workers and move costly construction equipment in the event of an emergency or natural disaster.

2. Efficient Technology
The biggest differentiator for builders and developers this year will likely be technology in construction — specifically, the innovations that can enhance efficiency. The COVID-19 pandemic has caused increased reliance on construction technology, too. These are a few types of tech that will only increase in popularity through 2022 and beyond:

Smart Contracts

Experts see blockchain technology improving relationships in the construction industry — it’s a powerful component in providing a more secure and fast-moving workflow that allows all involved parties access to improved productivity.

Smart contracts offer all organizations in a project a shared system to do business, allowing them to buy, track, and pay for services. Rather than getting contracts and tracking deliverables from separate parties, firms can use smart contacts as an all-in-one tracking system where rules and deadlines are set and the blockchain enforces them. This system will make for faster closeouts, increased security, better project tracking and an automated supply chain.

Construction Drones

Drone use in the construction industry continues to be one of the fastest growing trends, with usage rising by 239% year over year. The technology offers far more uses than just aerial photography for real estate and commercial efforts.

Today’s drones are used for rapidly mapping large areas over long distances, producing valuable aerial heat maps and thermal images. The advancing drone software provides real-time, actionable data that can be used for rapid decision-making, further streamlining the entire construction process.

Personal safety and equipment loss continue to be the biggest liabilities in construction. Drones can perform jobs in place of human workers to prevent injury, such as jobs requiring scaling supertall structures. As on-site security tools, drones can be leveraged to reduce labor costs and minimize the risk of theft, keeping projects on schedule and minimizing hiccups.

More advanced future uses include monitoring equipment depreciation and incorporating AI to organize moving construction equipment.

Augmented Reality (AR)

The global AR market is expected to be valued at more than $1.2 trillion by the end of the decade, up from about $37 billion in 2019. On the client front, AR means efficient project-staging, and making preconstruction projects tangible for buyers and tenants.

For builders and developers, AR facilitates the use of wearable technology and 360-degree video to enable:

3D visualization of future projects on their surrounding environment
Automated measuring of buildings
Fast and affordable simulation of architectural and structural changes
Safety training and hazard simulations
Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Building information modeling technology is helping industry leaders stand out with improved efficiency. BIM allows users to generate computer renderings of buildings and utilities. The ease of managing these models and sharing data can enable superior prefabrication of parts, leading to on-time and accurate completion. Autodesk describes it as “an intelligent 3D model-based process to help professionals manage buildings and infrastructure.”

According to Finances Online, top-rated BIM software solutions available in 2022 include:

Autodesk BIM 360
Trimble Connect
Archidad
Navisworks
Revit
BIMx

3. Growing Need for Laborers

One of the most noticeable construction trends of the past few years is a vast increase in the demand for labor. Quality labor is expensive and competitive, though robots do pick up a lot of the slack.

Despite these robots’ best efforts, we will need more educated workers to manage and interpret the data produced by new technology. Fortunately, women are stepping in to fill more competitive roles. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, women occupy only 10.9% of construction industry jobs, and industry hiring trends show a 94% growth in female-owned construction firms from 2007 to 2018; additionally, 30% of construction companies promoted a woman to a senior position in 2018.

The industry is also targeting Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2010, in recruiting efforts. In the past, negative perceptions of trade school were detrimental to efforts to hire new talent in construction. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a shift in attitudes toward alternative education options and resulted in increased positive attitudes toward trade school, positioning construction firms to show off the career growth potential in their industry and the abundant opportunities to experiment with new technologies.

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By: BigRentz, Inc.