While electric vehicles are zero-emission, they require a lot of energy in their manufacture and maintenance. One area that is getting more attention is the chemical composition of the batteries that are, literally, the life blood of the electric vehicle.  Electric vehicle powertrains are much more materially diverse than the internal-combustion engine they replace. As a result, they are putting sudden and unprecedented strain on several raw materials industries, some of which are primarily located in what could be considered politically unstable areas.

One of the most crucial materials is Nickel (Ni), an essential part of the cathode in Lithium-ion batteries. Most automakers utilize Nickel-based batteries for their balance of energy and power density. For example BMW, Hyundai and Renault use variants of the Lithium NMC (Nickel Manganese) Cobalt Oxide chemistry, while Tesla uses a Lithium (NCA) Nickel Cobalt Aluminum Oxide chemistry.

In 2019, more than 95% of new electric passenger cars sold used a variant of either NMC or NCA, as detailed in the IDTechEx report “Materials for Electric Vehicles 2020-2030.” Demand for Nickel is further amplified by the trend towards higher Nickel content in battery cells as manufacturers switch to chemistries like NMC 622 or 811 to reduce dependence on Cobalt.

Nickel is the second most expensive material in electric vehicle batteries—after Cobalt—and is also one of the most highly used outside of the battery industry. While Nickel is often not discussed as much as Cobalt or Lithium, sustainable and environmentally conscious supply is becoming more of an issue.

Most of the world’s supply of nickel is mined in the Sudbury region of Ontario, Canada. Vale is the world’s largest mine operator and produces almost 65,000 metric tons of Nickel there annually. Meanwhile, other nations are looking toward securing their share of the market.

In 2017, the government of the Philippines suspended nearly half of its Nickel mines, citing environmental concerns. Indonesia accounts for the largest supply of Nickel and in 2019 the country banned exports of raw Nickel ore to boost their domestic processing industry. Indonesia also has the most planned developments for increasing Nickel production and is set to dominate the supply chain.

Nickel is typically mined from ores that contain only a small percentage of useful Nickel, resulting in a large amount of waste material. Recently it has been announced that two Nickel mining companies in Indonesia are planning to use deep-sea disposal into the Coral Triangle for the raw material waste as they ramp up operations. Less than 20 Nickel mines worldwide use deep-sea disposal, but these new facilities would account for millions of tons of waste material each year. This method is typically used because it is cheaper than the alternatives of dam storage or converting the raw materials to useful products.

Many automakers are aware of the environmental concerns in Nickel supply and that it can undermine the environmentally friendly message of the electric vehicle. Most, including PSA, VW, and Tesla, have pledged to reduce the environmental impact of their batteries. This becomes challenging as the choice of suppliers that can meet the demands of these large automotive companies are limited.

In the future, Nickel producers will have to prove that their practices are environmentally friendly if they want to sell into the European and American markets, where the automotive industry is making this a priority. Elon Musk has been quoted as saying that Tesla would give a “giant contract” to any companies that could mine Nickel “efficiently and in an environmentally sensitive way.”

As the electric vehicle market grows with the trend towards higher Nickel chemistries, IDTechEx expects the demand for Nickel from electric vehicle batteries to increase ten-fold by 2030 compared to 2019. This makes the environmentally conscious supply of Nickel a serious issue going forward for the electric vehicle market.

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The post Battery Technology Update appeared first on Constructech.

One of the newest groups to enter this field is iBUILT, a design-build-operate company combining the assets of Deluxe Modular, a company in modular construction for over five decades, and a focus on state-of-the-art technology to transform modular construction. The new company hopes to solve developer’s pain points by using end-to-end technology and offsite manufacturing to eliminate inefficiencies at each stage of the building lifecycle, to build higher quality smart buildings in half the time, and effect significant cost savings.

The COVID-19 pandemic and current economic recession have only accelerated the industry movement to develop more productive approaches to construction. To achieve approximately 20% lower construction cost and 50% faster construction, iBUILT will seamlessly integrate design, detailing, fabrication, and onsite assembly.

iBUILT is re-imagining the entire design, development, and construction processes to create end products—buildings—that are more sustainable, meet the highest standards nationally and are “smarter” than those that result from a traditional development approach. iBUILT’s proprietary software and process ensure each project’s financial viability with guaranteed budgets and timelines.

Upcoming iBUILT work includes a multi-family condo project in Brooklyn leveraging smart building technology, a 100-unit affordable housing development in Baltimore, and an 80,000-sq.-ft. residential building in New Haven, Connecticut. iBUILT is also designing a number of branded hotels in North and South America. The company’s approach to designing and constructing sustainable, “smarter” buildings will transform the development process across asset classes, including affordable and market housing, student housing, hospitality, retail and more. iBUILT claims it can deliver complete buildings of up to 35-stories anywhere in the country.

But modular construction is only part of the iBUILT program. iBUILT plans to “de-risk” construction for developers and owners by delivering a fully designed building in 30 business days at a guaranteed price and schedule, with no change orders. Called the Fast Track program, deliverables include comprehensive interior and exterior designs, 70% of architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, plumbing, and fire prevention drawings, a complete schedule of finishes, and a guaranteed price and delivery schedule. As a part of the program, iBUILT is committed to never putting forward a change order unless requested by a client.

The company’s BIM-based blueprints incorporate proprietary digital twin software that gives developers complete control over the ongoing management of buildings, including preventative maintenance, projected to result in 70% lower operating costs. In addition, by guaranteeing schedules and budgets with no change orders, building offsite, and leveraging technology-driven construction, iBUILT can continue to deliver products on time and on budget while the construction industry navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, all while being safer due to the controlled manufacturing environment. Social distancing and new protocols to control the spread of COVID-19 have become a new normal for the industry, reducing productivity on work sites as much as 20%. By building off-site, and guaranteeing delivery and specs, iBUILT hopes to create a new construction paradigm.

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In this Build Show I’m doing my Very First Slab Top Insulation! I’ve thought about this for years and I’m finally doing it. This 1970’s house is going to be SUPER comfortable with 1.5″ of BASF Neopor insulation from Halo. I’m specifically using Halo Interra which has a vapor barrier attached and I’ll show you how we used two layers of Huber Advantech above the foam to make a floating subfloor (not anchored to the concrete).

More info on GPS Insulation by BASF Neopor https://neopor.basf.us/

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While there are many technologies to watch such as AR (augmented reality), VR (virtual reality), digital twin, robotics, edge, 5G, the IoT (Internet of Things) and more, perhaps one of the big technologies construction will need to keep an eye on will be AI (artificial intelligence)—and there are new needs coming in the years ahead.

IDC forecasts the worldwide revenues for the AI market—which includes software, hardware, and services—is expected to grow 12.3% in 2020 compared to 2019, which is a pretty impressive feat, amid a pandemic. Going forward, it predicts global spending on AI will double in the next four years, as companies deploy it as part of their digital transformation efforts and to remain competitive in the digital economy.

Quite frankly, it isn’t if construction companies should implement the technology, but rather when. Two big drivers for adoption are delivering a better experience and helping employees get better at their jobs.

Looking to the future, though, the challenge becomes not just implementing the technology, but also doing it in a way that is responsible for users—something that could be said for any type of technology including artificial intelligence.

Forrester suggests there will be a rising demand for ethical AI, meaning companies that have adopted machine learning and other AI technologies in the past will now need to take into consideration the values of consumers and employees. In the next few years, firms will need to deliberately choose to do business with partners that commit to data ethics and adopt data handling practices that reflect their own values and their customers’ value.

Really, at the end of the day all of this technology amounts to one thing—data. The construction industry needs to be able to access data in a way that is intuitive, ethical, and drives quick decision making for those in the office and at the jobsite. Any tool or technology that does that will be front and center for construction in 2021 and beyond.

In the last two weeks of this blog series, we will discuss the drive for smart infrastructure (especially considering we will be getting another ASCE Infrastructure Report Card in 2021; we need to be prepared) and finally we will wrap up the year with a conversation on the need for resilience in the face of change. Join us next week, as we continue to look at what big trends are coming in 2021 and beyond.

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The post Five Steps for Construction: Technology appeared first on Constructech.

Today, they are spending an inordinate amount of hours on a screen such as a phone, tablet, or computer. On average this generation receives their first smartphone at the age of 10, and a study released in October from App Annie shows 98% of Gen Z owns a smartphone already. They also control an estimated spending power of $143 billion annually and they influence an estimated $600 billion in spending. These individuals are digital natives, as they have experienced the internet as part of their everyday lives since the moment they were born.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, a child received little or no supervision for several hours, as parents tried to work. (Look for more about the generations discussion and Sustainability in my new book coming shortly.) But for today’s blog post, I want to take a closer look at how education might change as a result of this younger tech-savvy generation.

Here at Constructech, we have been talking about the shortage of qualified workers in construction and the opportunities that exist with trade schools and on-the-job learning that offer real opportunities in a different format—and it seems people might be listening to us.

Between the 2007/2008 school year and the 2017/2018 school year, prices for undergraduate tuition, fees, room, and board at public institutions rose 31%. In contrast, private nonprofit schools rose 23%, after inflation, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. Prices are skyrocketing.

As this is happening, enrollment is falling. The amount of fall enrollment in postsecondary institutions was 26% higher in 2007 than 1997, while there was only an 8% increase between 2017 and 2007. If we look at the numbers a little bit deeper, we see between 2007 and 2010, there was still a 15% increase, but between 2010 and 2017, there was actually a 6% decrease in fall enrollment. No wonder universities are raising their prices at rates faster than ever before.

This is presenting us with an interesting dichotomy. If you look at how our young generations learn today, something isn’t going to add up in five to 10 years. The traditional education model doesn’t fit our up and coming generation.

We are at a crossroads with our education right now. There are some interesting examples of how technology is already disrupting education in the trades. Many CTE (career and technical education) professionals are developing creative methods to teach hands-on content and skills in a remote environment during this pandemic. We are seeing the rise of AR (augmented reality) and VR (virtual reality) to help students visualize and interact with data in a very real way.

For example, zSpace recently announced the release of CTE content that allows students to earn up to 33 industry credentials. It also supports 12 out of the 16 federal CTE pathways and is being used in school districts, career centers, and community colleges. As another example, startup Transfer VR simulates on-the-job experience for workplace training and skills development. The company just received a whopping $12 million in series A funding to scale training programs. Even higher education institutions are tapping into AR and VR technology.

Being able to learn a skill remotely using AR or VR certainly is an emerging trend to watch, especially amid this pandemic, but there is another potentially bigger disruption coming to education that we all need to be watching closely.

We know in construction, there are huge opportunities in trade schools or alternative forms of education—something Google is looking to get in on. I am sure many of you have already heard of Google’s recently announced Career Certificate Program. The premise here is students can earn the equivalent to a four-year degree in about six months. The courses are taught by Google employees and currently include fields such as IT support specialist, data analytics, project management, and user experience design. Google promises to connect students with more than 50 different employers including the likes of Walmart, Bank of America, and more.

The reality is while this seems like an innovative concept, it is not. Google is just repacking the concept of a trade school, which first emerged back in 1879 when Calvin M. Woodward was appointed the director of the newly formed school, the St. Louis Manual Training School of Washington University. This set into motion the Trade School Movement, which saw the first school to offer specific trade training with supplementary studies in 1881, with the New York Trade School founded by Colonel Richard Tylden Auchtmuty.

Still, as we all know, when technology companies get their hands around a concept like this one, disruption is likely to follow. Google already sees the opportunity. Others are soon going to follow.

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The post Rise of Screeners appeared first on Constructech.

The (PCA) Portland Cement Assn., representing cement manufacturers in the United States, has initiated an industry-wide project to reduce carbon emissions and further address the impacts of climate change. Members will continue to drive down the carbon intensity of their operations and products, and PCA is developing a roadmap, due by the end of 2021, to facilitate its member companies achieving carbon neutrality across the concrete value chain by 2050.

Industries, environmental groups, and local governments across the U.S. are increasingly working to mitigate the effects of climate change and create a more sustainable future, and this roadmap positions the cement and concrete industry as the leader in the construction materials sector in delivering cleaner and greener infrastructure.

Concrete provides energy efficiency and lower lifecycle costs, is long lasting, durable and stands up against natural and man-made disasters. By continuing to drive down emissions and striving for carbon neutrality, cement manufacturers are expanding the positive impact that concrete has on communities. For example, the sustainable benefits of Portland-limestone cement, engineered with more limestone, performs comparably to Type I Portland cement with up to 10% less greenhouse gas emissions.

PCA believes that concrete is critical to building a sustainable future, and they will identify how to address the challenges that stand in the way of driving down emissions to achieve carbon neutrality, such as developing advanced technologies to reduce energy consumption, and developing and adopting regulations to allow for such technologies. Since 1990, the industry has reduced energy consumption by 35%, emissions intensity by 11% while their improvements have led to the increased use of alternative fuels, such as industrial byproducts that otherwise would end up in landfills.

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The post Footprints in Cement appeared first on Constructech.

Cybersecurity, once the domain of the IT departments of major corporations and government agencies, is now front and center in the minds of small and medium sized businesses with no IT department at all. The COVID-19 pandemic has, indeed, increased our dependence on all things digital. With remote working having become integral to our economies, the rising dependence of citizens and businesses on everything digital is only going to continue.

The digital response to the COVID-19 crisis has also created new security vulnerabilities. Attackers seek to exploit the gaps opened when telecommuting employees use insecure devices and networks. Threat actors also use known attack techniques to exploit people’s fears related to COVID-19. For example, Google tallied more than 18 million malware and phishing emails related to the novel coronavirus on its service each day in April. It also reported identifying more than a dozen government-backed groups using COVID-19 themes for these attempts.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the efforts to contain it have had serious economic and business consequences. McKinsey & Co. reports these are affecting core dimensions of the business environment, from digital strategies to operational and enterprise risk appetite. Supply-chain configuration and business interactions with regulators are likewise being reshaped, as are the ways we think about the very nature of work.

A McKinsey survey of digital sentiment revealed that most employees who are now telecommuting do not expect to return to the workplace soon. About 70% of those responding believe that the ability to continue telecommuting will factor into their next job choice.

The pandemic response has underscored the vital role that security plays in enabling remote operations, both during and after a crisis. As companies reimagine their processes and redesign architecture amid the COVID-19 response, cybersecurity teams are being perceived in new and important ways. They must no longer be seen as a barrier to growth but rather become recognized as strategic partners in technology and business decision making.

McKinsey cautions that with every new device, user, and business that connects to the internet, the threat of cyberattacks increases. If a government cannot provide secure and trusted digital connectivity, economies won’t thrive.

The analyst firm reports there are the five elements of successful a national cybersecurity strategy: a dedicated NCA (national cybersecurity agency) a National Critical Infrastructure Protection program a national incident response and recovery plan defined laws pertaining to all cybercrimes a vibrant cybersecurity ecosystem.

If NCA can only focus on one aspect of cybersecurity, it should be protecting the critical infrastructure of the country. Critical infrastructure is typically the most attractive target for hostile state actors and disruption can have an impact on the economy, business confidence, society, and even overall national security. Critical infrastructure typically consists of both information technology and operational technology, which makes it harder and more complicated to protect.

At a more localized level, the implementation of the BYOD (bring your own device) policy—and its corollary, the use your own device at home policy—is driving the importance of the non-government cybersecurity market. The implementation of the BYOD policy in organizations has seen significant growth as it increases productivity and enhances employee satisfaction.

However, BYOD poses a major challenge, by making corporate data vulnerable to cyberattacks. Employees’ devices have wide-ranging capabilities, and IT departments may not be able to fully evaluate, qualify, and approve each and every device, and that may pose a high security threat to confidential data. Also, AI (artificial intelligence) offers advanced protection through machine learning technology and thus provides a more complete endpoint security, largely mitigating security threats and preventing attacks.

According to Prescient & Strategic Intelligence, the increasing number of cyber frauds and malicious attacks, adoption of BYOD, rising implementation of IoT (internet of things) and increasing number of connected devices are the factors driving the demand for AI solutions in cybersecurity. The growing penetration of the mobile internet, a customer shift to digital banking from traditional banking, and increasing investments by financial, government, and IT firms in the AI technology are some other factors contributing to the industry growth. The result is that the global market for AI in cybersecurity is projected to generate $101.8 billion revenue in 2030, growing with a CAGR of 25.7% during the period 2020–2030.

The data security risks during the COVID-19 period are expected to propel the implementation of AI-based cybersecurity, as the present circumstances are resulting in increasing cyberattacks, which businesses are witnessing as data breaches and exposure of sensitive data. Cybercrime has increased significantly, and malicious actors successfully breached major entities, including government agencies. The WHO (World Health Organization) and the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency are among those who have fallen victim to cyberattacks during this pandemic.

The AI in cybersecurity market is divided into hardware, software, and services. Among these, the hardware category dominated the industry during the historical period (2014–2019). During the period 2020-2030, the software category is projected to witness the fastest growth. AI systems need different types of software, including APIs (application program interfaces), such as speech, language, vision, and sensor data, along with ML (machine learning) algorithms, to make the applications appropriate for cybersecurity. The cloud has made data and applications accessible from anywhere, thereby leading to a higher level of convenience for users—and for hackers and other cybercriminals.

Advances in AI, coupled with the rising need for almost continuous connectivity and realtime communication, are enabling the exponential growth in the efficiency of IoT-powered devices. The number of IoT-connected devices is expected to witness healthy growth in the coming years. According to a report by IDC (Intl. Data Corp.,) there will be around 41 billion IoT-connected devices, generating 79.4 ZB (zettabytes) of data, by 2025. The growing adoption of IoT and increasing number of connected devices are boosting the AI in cybersecurity market growth.

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The post COVID-19, Cybersecurity and AI appeared first on Constructech.

CoConstruct, a Va.-based SaaS (Software-as-a-Servce)-provider of project, financial, and client management software for independent home builders and remodelers, has acquired CBUSA, an organization that allows custom and semi-custom builders to combine their buying power to more effectively compete with national builders. The acquisition complements CoConstruct’s existing construction software, used to manage the financials of building projects, by integrating into it group purchasing programs that improve the economics of residential construction.

CoConstruct is used by more than 5,000 residential construction companies managing over $23 billion in projects in the past year. Handling everything from communication tracking, field scheduling, and payment processing, CoConstruct plans to use this acquisition to further the company’s “Build Together” mantra by expanding its community-building efforts beyond best practice sharing to lowering hard costs on projects.

CBUSA is a powerful homebuilding network devoted to the success of independent home builders by reducing costs, increasing service levels, and creating a community of shared knowledge. The company is currently established in 29 cities nationwide, with a distributed team of 16 employees focused on serving and expanding their markets.

While work will begin immediately on integrations to enhance the value to CoConstruct users, existing CBUSA customers who are not currently using the CoConstruct platform will continue to participate and benefit from the CBUSA network. The combined teams will also be working with CBUSA’s national manufacturer partners to help them best capitalize on the greatly expanded post-acquisition reach of the group purchase network.

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The 2020 Constructech Vision Awards

The world of construction, like everything else, changed dramatically in 2020. In March and April, many businesses closed to slow down the spread of the coronavirus. However, even though construction, like healthcare and the food supply, was considered an essential activity, the impact on companies and individuals in the industry was significant.

The companies that were considered for the Constructech Vision Awards for 2020 were judged on work they mostly did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. And while the pandemic has caused a lot of changes in how companies work internally and with their customers, the most successful companies didn’t wait for a pandemic to initiate changes.  (Special thank you to our judges).

Our winner in the residential field, for example, started almost two years ago to transform field production by leveraging technology specifically aimed at its market segment. Even before COVID, labor shortages were a problem, and it saw the value in optimizing field labor, reducing risks, and automating processes where it made sense.

By implementing the digital twin concept along with appropriate technology, it reduced travel by project management teams. Instead of going to remote jobsites, it can now see the work done in Fieldwire, review it in OpenSpace, and collaborate on its field portal.

The result of the technology program is estimated to be a net of $1.4 million in hard savings by redesigning its processes while providing a more innovative solution to twice as many team members. That’s the reason the gold Vision Award for residential, AEC and design, goes to Power Design of St. Petersburg, Fla.

While true that many contractors are keeping busy, especially those involved in maintaining and building infrastructure, as they are essential to the economic recovery, what is sometimes overlooked is that public policy—the government’s rules and regulations that companies must meet—haven’t changed that much to compensate for the pandemic.

Performing public works often mandates reporting and compliancy requirements related to prevailing wages, apprenticeships, and certified payroll. This requires a significant amount of time pulling data, running reports in third-party tools, exporting data to spreadsheets, reformatting information, and submitting files.

After analyzing its current and anticipated needs, our next winner decided to work with its current supplier, Computer Guidance Corp., and implemented its cloud-based eCMS ERP. By using a cloud-based system, its placed the management, maintenance, and upkeep of its ERP (enterprise-resource planning) solution into the hands of the Computer Guidance experts.

The results, a 25% productivity gain in invoice approval and elimination of weekly reports, realizing a savings of $35,000 annually, plus a savings of $36,000 by not having to purchase new onsite IT hardware to run its system, led to the silver Vision Award for commercial specialty contractor going to Alcorn Fence Co., of Sun Valley, Calif.

Since the lockdowns, stay-at-home and remote work orders in the spring, many aspects of our normal life have become virtual. One of the uses of the term, virtual, was when IT departments went from physical servers to virtual machines—the VM movement—that provided expanded availability and capability.

Our next winner migrated to VM nearly a decade ago, but it became obvious that if one of its 43 VMs went down, the remaining systems would be over-taxed and performance would be degraded. The direction it chose was to implement Scale Computing’s HC3, combining servers, storage, virtualization, and backup/disaster recovery into a single appliance.

In the end, its IT department needed only 10 days to migrate and there was zero downtime during working hours. Additionally, it has increased storage capacity to 43 Tb, increased memory to 1.1 Tb, and upgraded processors to the latest architecture. For this reason, the silver Vision Award winner in the commercial builder/general contractor segment is M. J. Harris Construction Services of Birmingham, Ala.

Our next winner has been in business more than 75 years but growth over the last five years caused job backlogs, increases in labor, materials and equipment and administrative headaches. They found an expert guide by collaborating with Computer Guidance Corp., to review business-critical processes and implement automated workflows to avoid unnecessary administrative overhead and achieve heightened control.

One result was the automated import and processing of equipment data from HCSS HeavyJob and E360. Now field mechanics enter repair time and related information into E360 for automatic routing to Computer Guidance’s eCMS ERP payroll and equipment accounting applications. eCMS automatically calculates and processes per diem rates for each mechanic.

Verifying job costs—material, labor, and equipment—and calculating equipment utilization, reporting on job costs, and job status now takes less than 30 minutes per week. With savings estimated at more than $61,000 annually by automating time-consuming and labor-intensive processes and $90,000 annually by not having to hire additional staff to support increased administration, the results are impressive at Miller Brothers Construction of Archbold, Ohio, the winner of the Silver Vision Award in the Heavy/Highway General Contractor category.

Our next winner was involved in the restoration and remodeling of a Chicago landmark, the Old Post Office building. The $600 million project required the clearing of more than 1.2 million tons of crumbling infrastructure within the 2.7 million-sq.ft., buildings, entirely new mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems, and repurposed floor plans.

There were inconsistencies in the three building that compose the old post office—they are of varying heights and number of floors in a historic 1920 era building. And a unique factor was that an Interstate highway, the Eisenhower Expressway, goes through the building complex and commuter trains heading for Union Station run underneath it.

The design team provided structural and architectural Revit models and the onsite team established a 3D model using Autodesk BIM360 so the infrastructure subcontractor team could collaborate in realtime design and review processes.

The result was the building’s core mechanical, electrical, and plumbing package, more than 70% of a $100 million plus contract, was completed in the span of a year without any significant subcontractor field conflicts. That, in turn, led to the gold Vision Award in the commercial builder/general contractor category for Bear Construction Co., of Rolling Meadows, Ill.

Companies that have been around for a while will have a wealth of organizational memory and knowledge stored in the minds of the employees and managers. It may also have technology experts, IT folks, who know how to put together all-important systems. After all, technology should be specialized to the industry, yet flexible enough to adapt to individual projects.

One winner found a way to use its employee’s expertise via internal software development. The company recognized the advantage: technology would be developed by employees who knew the industry and its needs, working hand in hand with project teams. Buildfore, an internal commercial software company, was the result. For developing its own solutions and making them available to others in the industry, the winner of the gold Vision Award in the commercial builder/GC category is Robins & Morton, Birmingham, Ala.

Although construction companies have always depended upon common building materials, such as brick and wood, today’s companies depend almost as much on the building blocks of data and information. Our next winner knows how to create custom, move-in ready data centers for hyperscale, cloud, and enterprise customers and it has embraced sustainability, efficient use of land, green energy, and water free cooling. But success caused it problems. Customers demanded faster and faster turnaround, often in six months or less from breaking ground to key turnover.

To meet those requirements, it depended on Procore and OxBlue. Procore is the repository for everything associated with the project: all drawings, site plans, schematics, and documentation. Meanwhile, one or more OxBlue cameras are located at every jobsite to record site activities at regular intervals during the day. Footage is routinely used by its construction teams to identify areas for improving processes and procedures. So for knowing how to use data, the gold Vision Award for land developers goes to Compass Datacenters in Dallas, Texas.

Since desktop computers became ubiquitous, independent developers have been creating specialized apps for every possible niche market. The problem was integrating all those applications so each benefited from the others. Our next winner, for example, relies on Computer Guidance eCMS ERP for its core applications but also runs some specialized heavy construction-focused third-party apps for business-critical processes.

Unintegrated systems in the field resulted in duplicate data entry, manual data processing, and clumsy workflows. So, it decided to partner with Computer Guidance to integrate the third-party applications. It automated, streamlined, and integrated the entire workflow of estimating, job costing, invoicing, reporting, and forecasting, eliminating manual intervention, human errors, and wasted time across all their critical processes.

Data flows easily between HCSS HeavyBid applications and eCMS in both directions. The initial annual savings is more than $174,000, equal to $1.50 for every dollar spent on the improvements. That partnering also resulted in the gold Vision Award in the heavy construction-civil category for Herzog, St. Joseph, Mo.

Our next winner created a BIM (building information modeling) group back in 2009 so it could get an advance on its competitors with the new technology. Over the years, it watched its technology investment grow as the company grew—60% in the past five years alone. It also found it had data silos, information was scattered and hard to access.

In response, it developed better workflow using Autodesk Assemble, Microsoft Power BI and SharePoint, and Oracle Primavera 6. This allowed it to track realtime work-in-place and progress using an interactive 3D BIM model.

Tasks that once required hours of walking around the jobsite, checking physical pages of notes, hand-marking updates, and then going back to the jobsite trailer to record all the information can now be performed seamlessly from a single software platform on an iPad, resulting in a 70% reduction in overall time spent tracking job progress. It also resulted in our gold Vision Award in AEC/Design going to Gray Construction of Lexington, Ky.

Cybersecurity was once the realm of tech geeks. Today, it impacts us all. So, when the next winner did an analysis of its email security and found that, out of 1.8 million emails it averaged every month, 38% were spam or phishing attempts, it partnered with KnowBe4, a security awareness and training company, to teach its employees how to recognize and avoid security holes, especially phishing attacks.

Every quarter, the company runs a phishing campaign, much like you’d run a fire drill to test employee reaction to an alarm. The first time it did, 15% of the employees failed, including some who entered confidential information and log-in credentials. Training was called for and everyone had to attend; new hires now take a cybersecurity course on their first day. By 2020, the failure rate during the quarterly test was down to less than 8%. For taking cybersecurity seriously and acting on its concerns, the gold Vision Award in the specialty contractor category, goes to Rosendin Electric of San Jose, Calif.

Success in construction is dependent on many factors, two of which are the right employees and the right equipment. When equipment is in the field, keeping track of it is essential; if you don’t know where it is, you don’t know if it is making you money—or costing you money. Inventory management is a key technology category.

Our next winner was having a problem managing its equipment inventory, particularly scaffolding, using a third-party software. Unlike most companies, however, it has an internal application development department, so it decided to build its own app.

The solution it developed provides realtime data from the field as scaffolds are built, using a mobile application that automatically generates billing transactions. Supervisors can perform crucial safety audits as well as know the precise location of every scaffold. It even uses GPS to pinpoint all of them, giving a complete up-to-date inventory.

All the data captured in the field allows the project team to receive advanced reporting, giving them an opportunity to schedule their scaffold builds, audit scaffolds, and track the status, use, and materials. Not only does it know where its scaffolding is, Turner Industries of Baton Rouge, La., also has the silver Vision Award in the general industrial contractor category.

Adapting to changing circumstances is a hallmark of successful companies and in 2020, with COVID-19, protests, and elections in the news every day, there has been a lot to adapt to. Our final winner has a track record of both adapting and success. A recent project shows just how it does it.

The challenge it faced was in renovating and expanding an existing hotel-casino without a negative impact on ongoing activities at the property. Oh, and building what is considered one of the most unique hotels in the world, along with several specialized buildings and facilities, all on a tight schedule. The budget was $1.5 billion for 13 individual projects across a 3.2 million-sq.ft. master plan—and the work was to be done while the existing hotel and casino continued to operate at 100% capacity.

One of the 13 projects was a 450-ft. tall, 36 floor, 638 room hotel tower with no repetitive floors—much more complex than a typical hotel project. The tower is clad in a custom pre-glazed curtain wall system with LED lighting in the design. The unique shape of the hotel, the exterior lighting system and other elements, including synchronized sound, light, and water shows, really raised the level of difficulty.

The team also had to plan for a temporary concert venue, seating 3,500 guests, without disrupting the construction or other activities on the property. And, just to add to the complexity, the project had a 30-month deadline, meaning constant collaboration among the many specialty contractors involved was absolutely necessary.

Our winner was represented on-site by 110 team members, from 23 countries—with 30% of them women. Technologies, like virtual design and construction, and immersive VR were critical throughout the construction process. In fact, the team went beyond typical 3D models and created comprehensive 4D, 5D, and VR (virtual reality) models that became critical decision-making tools. Total stations, laser scanners, and other technologies were used in conjunction with the models.

Management implemented a “plan and control” program that included weekly meetings with the hotel, casino, and property operations teams. During these meetings, the VR mock-ups were used to clearly communicate the impacts to the casino/property operations.

As a result of the extensive planning, crews were able to complete one floor per week of the hotel, with some taking as few as five days to finish. Overall, it took the team just nine months and one week from the time it poured the pile cap to the time it topped out the 36th floor with concrete.

Constructech magazine is proud to present the 2020 Project of the Year Vision Award to the Suffolk-Yates Joint Venture and managing partner Suffolk for its work on the guitar-shaped Seminole Hard Rock Hollywood Hotel and Casino in Miami, Fla.

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