Countries around the world are setting accelerated targets for decarbonization. In the UK, the government’s latest Carbon Budget features plans to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 – compared to 1990 levels – taking the nation more than three-quarters of the way to reaching net zero by 2050.[1] Moreover, in
A new study from Juniper Research has found that the number of buildings globally deploying smart building technologies will reach 115 million in 2026, from 45 million in 2022. This growth of over 150% reflects increasing demand for energy efficiency from businesses and residents alike, as energy costs spike. Juniper
The first two episodes of a new podcast have already caught the attention of construction bosses this month, exploring urgent issues around the skills shortages in construction and the best ways to train the new generation. The new ‘Construction Talk’ podcast interviewed Alasdair Reisner, chief executive of the Civil Engineering
– Climate targets across the world are accelerating the implementation of smart, decarbonized, energy-efficient buildings. – In order to meet climate change commitments however, building stock requires significantly higher investment – around 3 times the current rate. – Smart financing can enable greater rates of investment in a financially sustainable
Construction firms are being targeted by cyber criminals with fake invoices and bank details as part of a sophisticated fraud netting more than £100m a year in the UK. Mandate Fraud, also known as Payment Diversion Fraud (PDF) and Business Email Compromise (BEC), tends to affect businesses and customers where
A new partnership between Abtec Building Technologies and Acutrace will help organisations across the UK benefit from enhanced energy measurement as the drive to deliver smarter, more efficient buildings intensifies. Acutrace is a cloud-based energy measurement and sustainability platform designed to provide businesses with reliable and accurate energy consumption data.
Contractors can create estimates up to 10x faster with Houzz Pro Takeoffs Houzz Inc., the leading platform for home renovation and design, today announced the acquisition of ConX, a SaaS takeoff and estimation tool. The ConX software, which enables contractors to do on-screen takeoffs from construction plans and turn them
Combining reality capture and AI to close the gap between BIM and on-site fieldwork Imerso’s smart construction monitoring platform enables true-to-life digital twins In line with Nemetschek strategy of investing in AEC/O innovators The Nemetschek Group, one of the leading software providers for the architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AEC/O)
Why improved communication is key for the built environment UK construction accounts for around seven per cent of GDP and employs over 3 million people. But despite its significance, many firms are far behind modernisation and digital innovations seen in other parts of the economy — this includes its tools
Gira, global leader and supplier of intelligent system solutions for the connected home and building, unveils the latest automated systems and technological trends to enhance your home in 2022. “The last two years have seen us all spend more time at home and so it’s no surprise that we want
Countries around the world are setting accelerated targets for decarbonization. In the UK, the government’s latest Carbon Budget features plans to reduce emissions by 78% by 2035 – compared to 1990 levels – taking the nation more than three-quarters of the way to reaching net zero by 2050.[1] Moreover, in its ‘Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’ this administration has highlighted the decarbonization of buildings as a key aspect of its policy towards reaching these targets.[2] Given buildings account for 36% of final energy use, they are a prime target for energy efficiency initiatives and will be a major contributor to climate target attainment.[3] In order to achieve these goals, more attention needs to be paid to the existing commercial and public building stock. In Europe, for instance, roughly 75% of the building stock is energy-inefficient[4]. This means that a large part of the energy consumed is in effect wasted. Renovating existing buildings could reduce the EU’s total energy consumption by 5-6% and lower carbon dioxide emissions by about 5%. Yet, on average, less than 1% of the national building stock is renovated each year. To meet climate and energy objectives, experts state that the current rates of renovation should at least double[5]. To get on track to net-zero carbon building stock by 2050, the International Energy Agency (IEA) estimates that by 2030, direct building CO2 emissions need to fall by 50 percent and indirect building sector emissions by 60 percent. A recent study[6] from Siemens Financial Services estimates the gap between the existing rate of investment in energy-efficient smart buildings and the accelerated rate which experts are saying needs to be reached to achieve sustainability and climate change targets. This gap is where smart finance can step in to enable the investment that should be made but is not yet happening. To bridge the investment gap, building owners and managers are having to look at changing how their buildings operate, their business models and how they are going to finance the required upgrades. Regarding operational technology, commercial and public buildings are going to have to become smarter to cope with these new demands for decarbonization. Smarter buildings allow flexible working – whether from the perspective of hot-desking, agile changes of use, security and safety, greater efficiency and flexibility or adapting to cope with volatile circumstances. While there is wide consensus around the need to make buildings smarter, all countries and sectors need a way of making that conversion financially sustainable. Yet how can this be done in practice? The starting point is to use smart technology to reduce building energy consumption. This produces hard financial savings that – through smart financing arrangements – can be harnessed to significantly subsidize the energy efficiency renovation of existing buildings. In selected cases, the energy savings might even pay for overall conversion. This can be done at an enterprise level, or in small incremental steps, each of which proves its return on investment. Typical building energy efficiency savings are usually at least 20%[7] (often far higher) representing very substantial operating economies. New models for smart financing Smart financing takes a variety of forms, depending on the business processes that need to be enabled. At the technology component level, financing tools are available to help vendors and distributors add value with cash flow capabilities for their buyers. For larger installations or systems, smart financing arrangements can be flexed and tailored to align costs with the rate of benefit gained from the energy-efficient technology. At the most complex level, Smart-Buildings-as-a-Service provides the financing solution, with future expected savings from energy efficiency being harnessed and used to pay for the capital investment and more. Conclusions Renovation projects to decarbonize buildings by transforming them into smart, energy-efficient environments are falling behind governments’ declared climate goals around the world. Many experts have declared that the annual investment rate should scale by three times or more to reach those declared targets. In order to bridge the gap between current investment rates and the required volumes, smart financing methods are being offered by private sector finance. They all seek to make the conversion to decarbonized, energy-efficient, smart buildings affordable for owners. At the least, these financing tools ease cash flow and align costs to the rate of benefits gained. At the best, smart financing makes the transition to decarbonization budget neutral, by harnessing future savings to pay for current investment. [1] Gov.uk, ‘UK enshrines new target in law to slash emissions by 78%’, https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uk-enshrines-new-target-in-law-to-slash-emissions-by-78-by-2035 [2] Gov.uk, ‘The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution’, 2021 https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-ten-point-plan-for-a-green-industrial-revolution/title#point-7-greener-buildings, 2020 [3] GlobalABC, Status Report 2019 [4] European Commission, In focus: Energy efficiency in buildings, 17 Feb 2020 [5] European Commission, In focus: Energy efficiency in buildings, 17 Feb 2020 [6] Siemens Financial Services, Bridging the Investment Gap: Smart Financing for Decarbonization in Buildings, 2021 https://www.siemens.com/financing-decarbonization-manufacturing [7] IPF Research Programme, Costing Energy Efficiency Improvements in Existing Commercial Buildings, Oct 2017
A new study from Juniper Research has found that the number of buildings globally deploying smart building technologies will reach 115 million in 2026, from 45 million in 2022. This growth of over 150% reflects increasing demand for energy efficiency from businesses and residents alike, as energy costs spike. Juniper Research defines a smart building as a building that uses connectivity to enable economical use of resources, while creating a safe and comfortable environment for the occupants. The new research, Smart Buildings: Key Opportunities, Competitor Leaderboard & Market Forecasts 2022-2026, found that by enabling buildings to monitor and automate common functions, significant efficiency gains can be made, while improving the environment for workers and residents. The report recommends that vendors focus on building analytics platforms for the most value to be driven from deployments. Non-residential Smart Buildings Driving Spend The research found that non-residential smart buildings will account for 90% of smart building spend globally in 2026; at a similar level to 2022. This dominance is due to the larger economies of scale in commercial premises driving this spend, as well as the commercial focus of most smart building technologies. “Smart building platform vendors will understandably focus on non-residential use cases, as these provide a stronger return on investment, but they should not neglect the importance of residential deployments, as environmental concerns intensify,” explained research co-author Dawnetta Grant. Smart Building Sensor Shipments to Accelerate Quickly The research found that the global shipments of sensors used in smart buildings will exceed 1 billion annually in 2026 from 360 million in 2022; representing a growth of 204%. Sensors, when combined with intelligent management platforms, will allow smart buildings to adapt to conditions; matching elements such as lighting, heating and ventilation to live requirements. The report recommends that smart building vendors partner with AI vendors to maximise the benefits of automation, such as reduced energy costs and improved working environments. Building, Design and Construction Magazine | The Home of Construction Industry News
The first two episodes of a new podcast have already caught the attention of construction bosses this month, exploring urgent issues around the skills shortages in construction and the best ways to train the new generation. The new ‘Construction Talk’ podcast interviewed Alasdair Reisner, chief executive of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), for its first episode, taking a hard look at the skills crisis in construction and the impact of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) Skills Plan to support the recruitment and retention of talent in the industry in 2022. Alasdair Reisner talks on the podcast about how COVID-19 acted as a catalyst for a new collaborative approach to skills issues: “As an industry we’ve never been able to work collectively. But through the CLC, it’s been the first chance to say ‘look, we’re all facing a problem with talent’ – there’s not a single bit of industry saying no, we’ve got all the talent we need. Our whole industry really struggles to recruit the employees we need, to deliver what looks like a pretty good future,” he says. “It’s crazy that, until last year, there wasn’t a single plan for our industry about how we were going to do that. So I was delighted when we did publish the CLC’s Skills Plan. For the first time we’ve got a skills plan that covers the whole industry, including measures around the attractiveness and culture of the industry, the routes into the industry and the skills for the future.” The interview goes on to talk about the new Government-backed Construction Talent Retention Scheme and Talentview Construction which gets young people into apprenticeships, traineeships and entry roles, as well as exploring the huge impact of major infrastructure projects like HS2, creating 20-year careers and cutting-edge skills that can be exported around the world. “2022 is the year of recruitment,” says Alasdair Reisner. “The skills shortages have got worse. We really have to go out there and sell this industry. People won’t just come to us because we want them to – we have to go out there and market the brilliant opportunities that are opening up to everyone.” Episode 2 of Construction Talk tells the story of Nicola Bird, director of groundworks contractors K W Bell Group and founder of AccXel, the UK’s first industry-led education centre and a multimillion-pound facility established to tackle industry skills shortages. Nicola describes how she set out initially to develop an apprenticeship scheme to help safeguard the future of the family business, but then became motivated to pursue a much bigger project, funded by government and her local enterprise partnership, to build AccXel – the aspirational and high-tech construction skills accelerator centre based near the Forest of Dene. Nicola Bird also talks eloquently on the podcast about the importance of digital skills in construction and the expectations of young people curious about the sector. “They expect that technology to be in our industry,” she says. “The only way we are going to start getting people inspired by our industry is by a quicker introduction into digitalisation, and it will make us more efficient in the long run anyway.” The bi-weekly Construction Talk podcast forms part of a new community that Causeway Technologies is creating for its customers and the wider industry, including a monthly newsletter with six question quick-fire interviews with guest contributors, and plans for community events like roundtables, dinners and other networking opportunities later in the year. The podcast is hosted by Peter Haddock, a well-known voice in construction, and is freely available via both iTunes and Spotify. Peter Haddock says: “It’s great to be working with Causeway Technologies on creating a community that can share ideas, experiences and views on key topics impacting the construction sector now and in the future. Our podcast guests share their passion for how we improve skills development and technology integration, showing us how we can do things differently, collaborate properly and embrace change.” The most recent episode of the podcast features Mathew Ayres, group managing director at the Bennie Group, talking on the theme of “Winning the competitive edge with early technology adoption.” To listen to the first three episodes of the Construction Talk podcast, go to: https://www.causeway.com/construction-talk-podcast Causeway Technologies was established in 1999. Headquartered in Buckinghamshire in the United Kingdom, it serves over 2,500 customers and has over 350 employees. Causeway provides enterprise and cloud software solutions to the construction and infrastructure maintenance industries and spans the full value and supply chain. www.causeway.com
– Climate targets across the world are accelerating the implementation of smart, decarbonized, energy-efficient buildings. – In order to meet climate change commitments however, building stock requires significantly higher investment – around 3 times the current rate. – Smart financing can enable greater rates of investment in a financially sustainable way. – New research from Siemens Financial Services (SFS) estimates the ‘investment gap’ between current investment levels in energy efficient renovation of buildings stock, and those needed to achieve decarbonization targets in 4 regions across 3 sectors. Siemens Financial Services (SFS) has released a new insight study entitled “Financing Decarbonization: Smart Buildings” which estimates the ‘investment gap’ between current levels of investment in renovating the office, hospital, and education estate and the actual level needed to meet accelerated decarbonization targets by 2050. Part of a series on financing decarbonization, the research focuses on buildings – which account for 36% of final energy use – as a prime target for energy efficiency initiatives, and a major potential contributor to climate target attainment. The ‘gap’ represents a substantial shortcoming in each of the 4 countries studied, specifically: USA ($5.3bn for offices, $1bn for hospitals, $3.8bn for education) China ($12.7bn, $2.7bn, and $10.8bn respectively) India ($0.9bn, $0.6bn, and $6.2bn respectively), and Europe ($7.8bn, $2.2bn, and $5.5bn respectively). The research finds that smart buildings – which incorporate hot-desking, health and safety, information access controls, security, infection mitigation, and much more – are best suited to ensure more efficient use of commercial and public buildings, significantly reduced energy usage and emissions, and the transformation of buildings into far more sustainable assets for society. In order to bridge the gap between current investment levels and the required volumes, smart financing methods are being offered by private sector finance. These solutions seek to make the conversion to decarbonized, energy-efficient, smart buildings affordable for owners. Financing tools can ease cash flow and align costs to the rate of benefits gained. Smart financing also has the potential to make the transition to decarbonization budget neutral, by harnessing future savings to pay for current investment. “Our use of buildings has been disrupted and altered by the pandemic,” says Jo Harris, Sales Director, Commercial Finance UK, Siemens Financial Services. “Not only can smarter building stock better cope with this change, it will contribute significantly to a cleaner and greener future. Smart financing solutions can accelerate the rate of transformation, helping buildings owners to achieve net-zero carbon building stock by 2050. Methodology Proprietary data from Siemens Financial Services on cost of energy efficiency renovation per m2 (existing buildings) was applied to total m2 of the hospital, office and education estate for each country/region studied. The total cost of energy efficiency renovation was calculated based on the Global Alliance for Building and Construction’s estimate of the % of building stock that would have to be converted by 2040 to meet current climate targets (rising to 2% by 2030 and 3% by 2040). Then, the cumulative % of actual current renovation rates (approx. 1% of existing building stock) was projected to 2040 and the cost of renovation calculated at those current rates. The Investment Gap is the difference between current energy efficiency renovation rates and the projected rate of renovation needed to meet climate targets. For further information, please see: www.siemens.com/financing-decarbonization-smart-buildings For further information on SFS, please see www.siemens.com/finance
Construction firms are being targeted by cyber criminals with fake invoices and bank details as part of a sophisticated fraud netting more than £100m a year in the UK. Mandate Fraud, also known as Payment Diversion Fraud (PDF) and Business Email Compromise (BEC), tends to affect businesses and customers where electronic financial transactions are common place, such as the construction industry. Criminals will contact businesses or customers via email, usually claiming to be from a company that the business or customer has been dealing with. They will request a payment to be made via fake but very plausible invoices, or payment details to be changed. It is estimated that mandate fraud costs the UK more than £100m annually, with the average loss per business around £27,700. In 2019 alone, 3,577 reports were reported to the police. One historical mandate fraud cost a single construction company £1.1m. The scams are becoming ever more sophisticated with the criminals often creating fake e-mail addresses which are very similar or identical to genuine business, down to the e- signatures and disclaimers. These directs payments from businesses and customers go straight into the criminal’s bank account where it is quickly moved on. The scammers do their homework and will often go to extraordinary lengths to mimic their victim’s online presence and email branding. The NEBRC – North East Business Resilience Centre – which advises businesses on how to prevent such fraud are currently advising across the construction sector including prevention, recovery from an attack and putting in robust IT protection. Supt Rebecca Chapman (pictured) , head of the not-for-profit NEBRC, said: “Mandate fraud aimed at construction businesses is becoming more commonplace as the nature of the sector with complex supply chains, multiple third-party contractors and a fast-moving work environment often meaning there’s little time to double check authentic looking requests that come in on email. “But the construction industry needs to be aware of this threat and ensure they have robust systems and checks in place. The NEBRC can advise businesses who don’t know where to start with audits to check current security measures, IT enhancements and, most importantly, staff training. It only takes a split second for a member of staff to unwittingly allow a mandate fraud to take place, and the criminals will take no time at all to move any monies on from genuine customers and bank accounts.” CASE STUDY: Tom is the managing director of a successful medium-sized construction-based firm with a £3m turnover based in Yorkshire: “I operate a small construction-based business and we have a reasonable customer base; we’ve been trading a long time and had all the relevant standard industry protection you would expect for a company our size. We thought we were safe. “We had a customer who owed us a substantial amount of money and when we were chasing them for our monthly payment they announced they had already paid us – which they hadn’t. “It turned out, they showed us an email purporting to be our offices that was instructing them to change our payment banking details and they paid our monthly payment into someone else’s bank account on what seemed to be our instruction. We realised this was a very serious situation that can affect anybody. We never thought we were vulnerable to this sort of thing, and obviously it causes an awful lot of stress, undue heartache, and financial. “We have been consulting with NEBCR who have been extremely helpful and informative on these issue and we have put systems in place to hopefully make sure this sort of thing can’t happen again. All I would say to anybody out there is make sure this is front of mind , it can happen to you, it can happen to anyone, and it happens every day.” Tom’s full interview can be seen here: General advice to follow an possible attack includes: STOP: Taking a moment to stop and think before parting with your money or information could keep you safe. CHALLENGE: Could it be fake? It’s ok to reject, refuse or ignore any requests for your financial or personal details. Only criminals will try to rush or panic you. PROTECT: Contact your bank immediately if you think you’ve fallen for a scam. TO PROTECT EMAIL IDENTITY AND AUTHENTICATION: Use a strong and separate password for your email. Create strong passwords using 3 random words. Save your passwords in your browser. Turn on two-factor authentication (2FA). Update your devices. Back up your data. For further information go to the NEBRC website www.nebrcentre.co.uk
A new partnership between Abtec Building Technologies and Acutrace will help organisations across the UK benefit from enhanced energy measurement as the drive to deliver smarter, more efficient buildings intensifies. Acutrace is a cloud-based energy measurement and sustainability platform designed to provide businesses with reliable and accurate energy consumption data. It uses a Measure, Visualise, Analyse and Control (MVAC) process to help organisations save energy, and reduce costs and carbon emissions. The platform can interface with any building management system and existing energy meters, with data accessible 24/7 from any web-enabled device. The data gathered can be used within sustainability reporting to achieve international certification and standards such as ISO5000, LEED and the Global Real Estate Sustainability Benchmark (GRESB). With Abtec acting as Acutrace’s System Integration Partner in the UK, it opens a new market for the Dublin-based software company whilst enhancing Abtec’s existing energy monitoring portfolio with customers able to integrate the platform into their building management projects to create smarter and more efficient buildings. Dave Watkins, Director of Abtec Building Technologies commented: “Making simple changes to how we manage buildings can have a significant impact on energy consumption and carbon emissions. In the face of rising energy costs, we are finding that more than ever, carbon-conscious businesses are seeking out solutions that help them create more efficient buildings. Acutrace’s measurement platform complements our existing building energy management services, and this new partnership allows us to offer customers across the UK a complete approach to monitoring and measuring their energy use so they can save energy and reduce carbon emissions.” Aidan McDonnell, CEO at Acutrace, added: “Abtec has a proven track record in delivering successful energy management projects from start to finish. Their turnkey building management offering combined with the Acutrace energy measurement and sustainability software platform will provide businesses and building owners with complete peace of mind when tackling energy measurement projects. We have already collaborated with Abtec on several projects, including the iconic Leadenhall Building in London. The strength of the relationship we have built ensured that when we sought to appoint a System Integration Partner in the UK, Abtec were the logical choice. By working in partnership with them we can ensure our customers across the UK have access to full project support as they reduce energy consumption and decarbonise their buildings.”
Contractors can create estimates up to 10x faster with Houzz Pro Takeoffs Houzz Inc., the leading platform for home renovation and design, today announced the acquisition of ConX, a SaaS takeoff and estimation tool. The ConX software, which enables contractors to do on-screen takeoffs from construction plans and turn them into professional estimates up to 10 times faster, is now fully integrated and available in Houzz Pro, the all-in-one marketing and business management software. Contractors can streamline the estimation process and turn bids around faster with Houzz Pro Takeoffs, helping them save time and win more jobs. In addition, takeoffs created in Houzz Pro can be directly converted into estimates, as part of the Houzz Pro project management workflow. “We’re excited to bring the power of ConX’s takeoff tool to contractors using Houzz Pro, and to welcome ConX’s customers around the world to the Houzz community,” said Alon Cohen, Houzz co-founder and president. “Creating estimates can be incredibly time intensive for contractors. By providing fully integrated, easy-to-use Houzz Pro Takeoffs, we’re helping pros to efficiently manage and grow their businesses, and spend less time on back-office work.” “We are thrilled to join forces with Houzz in their mission to create the best software for construction and design,” said Annie Slattery, ConX co-founder and CEO. “It is incredibly exciting to see ConX’s tools built into the end-to-end Houzz Pro offering, helping contractors around the world run efficient, profitable businesses.” Houzz Pro Takeoffs is applicable to builders, renovators and speciality contractors across the construction industry from carpenters to roofers, electricians, plumbers and concrete contractors. Pros can upload plans and start measuring instantly. Houzz Pro Takeoffs can auto-calculate total material costs, based on prices added by the pro. The tool is available to Houzz Pro Essential and Ultimate subscribers. Houzz Pro helps residential construction and design professionals to run an efficient, profitable business and makes it easy for them to reach new customers, all while delivering a standout client experience. The software is available in more than 10 countries across North America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Subscription packages, priced to fit any budget or team, also include estimates, invoicing, lead management and business management tools. Pros can learn more and get started at houzz.co.uk/pro. The Houzz Pro app is available on iOS and Android devices. The Houzz community includes more than 65 million homeowner and home design enthusiasts and over 2.7 million home renovation and design professionals around the world in more than 100 categories, including architects, interior designers, contractors and landscape professionals.
Combining reality capture and AI to close the gap between BIM and on-site fieldwork Imerso’s smart construction monitoring platform enables true-to-life digital twins In line with Nemetschek strategy of investing in AEC/O innovators The Nemetschek Group, one of the leading software providers for the architecture, engineering, construction, and operations (AEC/O) industry, has led a financing round for Imerso AS. The Norway based deep-tech company is offering a next-generation platform to automate construction quality monitoring through a combination of advanced artificial intelligence (AI), reality capture, and BIM technologies. The solution enables easy, everyday use of industry grade 3D scanners on site. The scanners capture the as-built status throughout the construction phase with point clouds – a collection of 3D data points that accurately digitize real-life physical spaces, such as a building, a floor, or a room. Imerso’s cloud-based platform automatically analyses the captured 3D scan data against the plan in BIM. Combining AI and advanced computer vision, it highlights and lists in real-time any relevant work deviations or issues, so these can be resolved efficiently through re-planning or fixes on site. By connecting the BIM model directly to the as-built snapshot on site, Imerso delivers an efficient roadmap for accurate, as-built digital twins – with great benefits across the entire building life-cycle. “Imerso is a perfect fit to our goal of helping our customers worldwide shape the world,” says Dr. Axel Kaufmann, spokesman and CFOO of the Nemetschek Group. Tanja Kufner, Head of Start-ups and Venture Investments at the Nemetschek Group, explains further. “We see great synergies, particularly with our brand Solibri. Both companies are on a mission to improve the quality of construction and to create better buildings. Customers can accurately monitor the project’s progress and efficiently improve the results,” she says. Combining the technologies of Solibri and Imerso will generate significant opportunities for owners, engineers, and contractors. They can monitor the progress and quality of work on site at a detailed level and produce reliable final client deliverables for the management of the facility. “This is a tremendous step in our journey, as we continue scaling our solution with some of the leading players in our industry. Partnering with the Nemetschek Group is rocket fuel for us to leverage their deep roots in the construction sector and in-depth knowledge, and to accelerate the go-to-market strategy of our technology,” says Frederico Valente, founder and CEO of Imerso. The Norwegian start-up has been developing its solution in collaboration with leading research institutes and some of the largest industry players in the Nordics. Seven million square meters of floor have already been captured in the platform across several customer projects. Imerso is currently being used on some of the largest and most ambitious projects in Scandinavia and central Europe. The investment in Imerso is a strong continuation of the Nemetschek Group strategy of supporting young companies to shape the future AEC/O market and drive innovation. See also our recent announcements regarding the start-ups Sablono and Reconstruct.
Why improved communication is key for the built environment UK construction accounts for around seven per cent of GDP and employs over 3 million people. But despite its significance, many firms are far behind modernisation and digital innovations seen in other parts of the economy — this includes its tools for communication. Here, Kristian Torode, Director and Co-Founder of business phone systems provider Crystaline, explores why construction needs to up its communication game. Besides its slow uptake of digital technologies, pressures from COVID-19 and Brexit have also created productivity challenges across the construction sector. For instance, research from the Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme (CHAS) found that 80 per cent of the 900 construction business owners it surveyed have had to postpone or cancel projects because of the pandemic. As a result, industry is falling behind in productivity, operating on very tight profit margins and therefore the smallest inefficiencies are having a considerable impact. Challenging comms According to the Project Management Institute (PMI), poor communication is the main reason why construction projects fail one-third of the time. In fact, more than half of project budget risk is due to ineffective and improper time management of project communications. Even if the project doesn’t fail, the effect of poor communication can still be detrimental. The PMI found that, in projects with minimal communication, only 37 per cent were completed on time and just 52 per cent met their original goals. In contrast, projects where effective communication was implemented resulted in 71 per cent completing on time and 80 per cent meeting their goals. Considering the industry is already under pressure from external, uncontrollable challenges, it must make improvements to reduce communication problems that can worsen these issues. Playing catch up Construction may be one of the largest industries in the UK, but it’s also one of the least digitised. 2020 research by IDC and Autodesk found that while almost three quarters of construction firms say digitalisation is a priority to improve their processes, business models and ecosystems, only 13 per cent are well on their way to achieving this. The emergence of IP-based telephony, along with cloud (hosted) technologies and Unified Communications, presents greater opportunities to upgrade legacy systems and develop effective communication tools for construction businesses. IP-based telephony such as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls will become a necessity from 2025 when British Telecoms (BT) switches off the public switched telephone network (PSTN), moving to an entirely IP-based model of voice communication. This comes with numerous opportunities for construction. Firstly, VoIP works independently from local power and systems availability, so as long as the user has a stable internet connection, they can enjoy high-quality voice calls with 99.9 per cent connection uptime. Uptime can be boosted even further by ensuring access to a backup power source in case of power outages. So, in the event of an unpredicted outage, workers can still access the people and information they need from any internet connection or mobile device. Furthermore, there is no additional maintenance costs with VoIP as the hardware is located offsite in a data centre. Improving communication In remote and rural areas where connectivity isn’t reliable, it can be difficult for colleagues on-site to communicate with those located elsewhere. So, how do dispersed teams keep in touch? If time-sensitive information isn’t available in real-time, such as last minute changes or updates that could impact work safety, workers must wait to retrieve it, delaying work. Construction companies should implement a Unified Communication system such as Vodafone One Net Business, provided by Crystaline. This solution integrates landlines, mobiles, desktop and tablet connectivity on one system, allowing on-site workers, project managers and those back at headquarters to remain connected on any device. This ability to remain connected enables workforces to have a live, shareable view of project information at their fingertips, helping to bridge the gap between on site and the office. Construction is renowned for costly overruns, expensive equipment and increasingly narrow project schedules. But, by streamlining communication into one system that does not rely on cellular connectivity, projects will run faster and more efficiently, helping the industry to combat its productivity challenges. To find out how Crystaline can support your construction project, visit crystaline.uk.
Gira, global leader and supplier of intelligent system solutions for the connected home and building, unveils the latest automated systems and technological trends to enhance your home in 2022. “The last two years have seen us all spend more time at home and so it’s no surprise that we want to make our personal interior spaces as comfortable and versatile as possible. This is where the “connected home” has come to the fore, equipping the modern home with smart functions and devices that are specifically designed to improve daily life and contribute to a more efficient household” says Jacob de Muijnck, Managing Director at Gira UK Ltd. In fact, UK consumers are now very familiar with smart TVs, fitness trackers, voice-activated assistants and 24/7 access to all kinds of media, and this has become part of everyday life as the features and benefits appeal to multiple generations. The global health crisis and inevitable after effects have only highlighted that we need reliable systems in order to stay in touch with the outside world anytime, anywhere. With this in mind Gira present four key smart home trends that are set to redefine the idea of a ‘connected home’ next year and beyond: 1: The home office that thinks for itself Fewer people leave their house to go work in 2020 and the concept of working from home has become increasingly mainstream, but digital tools and services alone are not enough to maintain a high level of productivity. A home office requires a healthy, well considered environment that keeps you focused and motivated and so premium manufacturers are creating innovative solutions for the connected home office. Innovations include clever chairs and desks reminding you to stand up, multifunctional charging stations for mobile devices and smart lighting and blind systems that adjust room brightness according to the time of day or work discipline under way. 2: Smart appliances for easy living From stoves that won’t let anything burn to bathrooms that know how you like to shower in the morning – intelligent technologies make life safer, easier and more energy-efficient. Automated vacuum cleaners, washing machines, and dryers are only the first steps towards a connected home in 2022, with indoor greenhouses becoming increasingly popular as we bring the outdoors in. More and more, smart devices are compatible with IFTTT (“If this then that”) technology, which makes it easy to configure individual systems where products from different manufacturers need to work in sync. For example, you can switch off multiple electric appliances with just one command before stepping outside – to save energy and prevent accidental short circuits. 3: Connected Smart Home concepts are in demand Single, standalone applications are giving way to sustainable all-inclusive solutions as architects and builders consider the digital infrastructure and connectivity of living spaces early on in the planning phase. Lights, blinds, heating, entertainment systems, security systems, home gyms and electronics, along with smart tools and appliances, can be controlled via one central unit in connected homes adding luxury and touch of design exclusivity. Connected living is easy to facilitate whether you want to build a new house, renovate your existing, or just rent an apartment. Wireless systems such as Gira eNet SMART HOME communicate via radio transmitter – which means they can be retrofitted in both old and new buildings. Thanks to a synchronised interplay of all components, your Smart Home will do exactly what you need at any given time. Smart sensors, for example, react automatically to external factors such as ambient brightness, temperature, or humidity levels. Jacob adds “Many digital services and applications are already indispensable to modern lives like Alexa light control via voice command to blinds that go up automatically at sunrise. Smart technology will become even more universal in the years to come so be future-ready with a connected house (or apartment). Once you’ve installed your system, you can add all sorts of functions and devices whenever you want so your home can evolve with your lifestyle.” Since March 2015, the Gira interactive online magazine G-Pulse has been providing regular, up-to-the-minute information on interesting developments in multiple areas: smart home technology, interior design, lifestyle, trends and architecture. The online magazine is your source for interior design and lifestyle inspiration and your platform for exchanging views on your favourite topics with other design enthusiasts. 15 authors keep you informed, up-to-date and are especially keen on visiting key industry events, so you will always be informed about the latest interior and smart home trends.
