However, within the commercial and residential construction industries, we are starting to see amazing technological advancements that help improve safety, productivity, sustainability, and operational efficiencies. In fact, investment in construction technology reached $5.38 billion in 2022.
Flying cars? No. But we only have to look at our personal lives to see that the transformation and trust of new technologies are often gradual. The slow growth of Amazon.com, which then transformed into Amazon Alexa and upended the shopping habits of millions, is a smart barometer for technological advancements in construction. The acceptance will be gradual, as opposed to a landslide.
With this in mind, we have identified four technology trends that we see becoming major factors within the daily activities of a construction job site—particularly involving construction equipment. Some are already here; some are close to implementation; and some are just over the horizon.
The electric construction equipment market is estimated to
grow from $9.2 billion in 2022 to $24.8 billion by 2027.
This electric growth is fed by two main factors: the need for lower emissions and lower noise. The closer your job site is to an urban environment, the greater the need to reduce noise pollution. Previously constricted urban work hours are suddenly extended with quiet electric equipment.
Improved safety, particularly indoors, is also a benefit. And with fewer parts than similar diesel equipment, the need for maintenance is substantially less.
Today, construction companies have a choice. Soon, the choice will be made for them by state and local governments, so they must get familiar with this technology. (The recent success of electric passenger vehicles has fed the acceptance of electric power nationwide.)
Construction equipment manufacturers have taken note and produced electric models of their popular equipment, particularly mini-excavators, forklifts, telescopic handlers, and boom lifts. As an example, JCB’s electric E-TECH products offer 100% electric power, fast charge in as little as 60 minutes, low noise, and up to a full day’s work. When considering the implementation of electric vehicles, be sure to research the performance characteristics and charge time of the manufacturer’s batteries. The benefit of low emissions isn’t helpful if the equipment can’t lift, carry or dig to your needs.
For renewable energy that delivers identical power and torque as a diesel engine, look no further than hydrogen fuel—a relative newcomer to the future of construction energy.
Hydrogen fuel is a clean, renewable, safe and transportable fuel and is the ultimate zero CO2 solution. Hydrogen is stored as gas under high pressure, which is stepped down to lower pressure when injected into the engine.
JCB is currently at the forefront of hydrogen fuel technology, investing more than $120 million to date, with the creation of the world’s first hydrogen internal combustion engine. This engine technology maintains the DNA of a diesel engine, yet runs on clean-burning hydrogen gas.
This technology allows JCB to maintain power and torque while delivering zero emissions. To date, JCB hydrogen combustion engines are powering backhoe loaders and Loadall telescopic handlers.
In addition to electric batteries and hydrogen, hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is currently at work with JCB machines on job sites around the world. Thanks to its diesel-like qualities and similar storage stability, HVO can be used as a drop-in fuel to replace conventional fossil diesel without any engine modifications (providing it meets specification EN15940).
Collaborative robots (or "cobots") have been highly successful within the manufacturing industry, working side-by-side with workers to improve productivity and efficiency - particularly on repetitive, mundane tasks such as picking, packaging, and palletizing. To do so safely, cobots often feature sensors and collision-avoidance technologies. (This makes them unique from industrial robots, which work in isolation.)
Do they make sense on the construction site? Research says "yes," with the global construction robotics market size expected to reach $164 million by 2030, with annual cobot revenues accounting for 15.7% of the total robot market.
The main drivers of this growth are productivity, safety, and a severe lack of workers.
Regarding productivity, meet the TyBot from Advanced Construction Robots - a rebar-tying robot that can tie 1,100 sections in an hour. TyBOT is currently on site, particularly on large bridge projects.
Autonomous equipment is a proven technology that’s being utilized by mines throughout the world, though adoption within the construction industry is slow. The industry is already accustomed to basic autonomy such as rider comfort control, auto idle, auto throttle, and return-to-dig backhoe features; however, fully autonomous equipment is not science fiction.
Rio Tinto utilizes more than 130 autonomous trucks and has hauled more than one billion tons of material.8 In construction, prototypes are currently in high use and will soon be viable solutions (if not ready today). The dynamic construction site does make implementation difficult, but with the promise of improved safety and increased production—two benefits that have been diametrically opposed in the past—the opportunity for autonomous equipment implementation will soon be too exciting to pass up. Current self-driving equipment applications include repetitive tasks with minimal human interaction (other than oversight) and maximum yardages, such as grading and housing pad finish.
Technology such as LiDAR, RFID, and GPS—which have become extremely prevalent in society—will help guide autonomous equipment around the job site safely.
Construction executives will have two options for equipment automation:
Self-driving cars have been in the news for seemingly decades yet haven’t made the leap to our highways due to safety and trust issues. This same stigma exists in construction, and could for years, yet the steps taken to full automation will be many—not one giant leap. Remote equipment (such as drones) is on-site now. Semiautonomous equipment is on-site now. And AI and machine learning are improving every day.
Yes, autonomous equipment holds a market share of less than 1% of total construction equipment sales worldwide, so their adoption has not arrived. Yet every generation of construction equipment is smarter than its predecessor, hinting at a smarter, safer, more productive future on the job site.
If you’re not collecting, monitoring and acting upon your equipment data, you’re stuck in the year 2000. Not good.
What the Apple Watch does for your personal fitness and health monitoring, telematics does for your construction machines’ health. Personal inspections are still a critical part of machine maintenance, yet the fastest, easiest way to monitor machine health is online—where you can observe and react to the data remotely, 24/7/365.
With the proper fleet telematics solution in place, companies can radically improve the efficiency, productivity, and security of their fleet (even with multiple brands of equipment). The benefits are a truly connected fleet that maximizes uptime and profitability remotely:
Truly connected telematic systems—such as JCB LiveLink—offer the latest satellite technology, mobile app access, web portal access and full compliance with AEMP Telematics Standard. They also offer proactive oversight by dealers and OEM telematics teams to add even more value to your business.
Knowledge is power, particularly when your construction equipment investment is such a substantial part of their business. As the pressure on the construction industry to reduce emissions, improve productivity and maximize safety on the job site continues to grow—while simultaneously minimizing costs— emerging technologies will play a vital role.
No, a 100% autonomous construction equipment job site is not commonplace, and we’re not surrounded by cobots bricklaying for hours on end, yet the adoption of these emerging technologies will continue to grow. Savvy construction business owners know they must stay on top of the latest and greatest tech to survive or their competition will do it for them.
