How extreme Climate Change Is Affecting Construction Industry – Part 3

How extreme Climate Change Is Affecting Construction Industry – Part 3


In the preceding articles we looked at the ways in which the existing infrastructure and buildings must evolve in order to deal with hurricanes, wildfires, excessive heat etc. We further discussed how construction sites must be prepared for extreme weather conditions. Finally, in the last part we state the changing job roles as well as how the construction industry can change its processes to reduce its impact on climate.

Digitization and changing Construction Processes to increase sustainability:

Two crucial factors have contributed towards construction industry’s aim to become more sustainable. One is the growing trend of digitization and the second is non-traditional construction methods.

Digital engineering in the preconstruction stage significantly increases sustainability. It fosters greater transparency during the design stage and allows all the stake holders to stay updated. Since all the involved members can visualize the changes taking place in real time it leads to less errors which cause material waste. Secondly it provides greater efficiency at design and construction stage. Enhanced visualization capabilities of BIM allow the architects and designers to properly design buildings which through their functions consume less energy as well as utilize environmentally friendly materials. Using BIM can also optimize facility management. The as-built BIM model can be used to track the building’s energy consumption and update the MEP systems on timely basis so that it doesn’t emit excessive and environmentally harmful gases. 

Non-traditional construction methods like prefabrication also increase sustainability in various ways. Prefabrication refers to the process of constructing building and building components in a factory controlled location and then installing them onsite. Its indoor environment allows to use more technological solutions like robots, drones, machines which improve accuracy and reduces waste. Even the excess materials can immediately be stored and recycled or reused. Similarly, it reduces the environmental impact and pollution caused by onsite construction activities. Moreover, using BIM could increase accuracy in the prefabrication process and ensure that the components prefabricated are of the correct dimensions. For instance, using Architectural BIM Services in the preconstruction stage means that any doors, windows that are prefabricated are precise and that they fit onsite. Along with prefabrication, 3D printing is also slowly becoming popular in the construction. It offers similar benefits to preconstruction but one significant advantage is that it increases the use of non-traditional and environmentally friendly materials.

New Jobs in the construction sector:

The unfortunate realities of climate change have created now job roles. As the need to revamp infrastructure and buildings increases so does the need for skilled labour. The efforts made to battle climate change aid sustain the economy by increasing the opportunity for new jobs. According the U.S. Bureau of labour statistics the new jobs for architects are expected to grow by 8% in 10 years. The augmented requirements for sustainability has also created new jobs in the sustainability sector like construction, management and operation of renewable energy plants like nuclear, hydropower, solar power etc.

Since the climate change has now become an undeniable part of our live the battle to adapt and change it. Thus, helping the plant will not just have the benefit of securing the plant for the future generation but it will have added benefit of helping the economy.

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