Looking Ahead: Construction Industry Trends 2022

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The construction industry has made a significant recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite bouncing back the industry must remain vigilant and competitive.

As we look into the new year, Plant Planet investigate some key trends that we feel will prove to be a recurring theme for the industry throughout 2022.  These top five trends will be a key factor in keeping the industry on its toes and staying competitive:

  • Construction costs to increase
  • Sustainability
  • Digitalisation & Modern methods in construction
  • Heightened Interest in Rental Equipment
  • Skills Shortage

Costs:

With the cost of building materials, such as concrete and brick being set to rise and it not looking to decrease anytime soon, it is important that businesses look toward prioritizing efficiency and cost-saving opportunities. The cost factor will have a major hand in most trends that we will see affecting the industry throughout 2022, with many adaptations being made as a way of reducing construction costs to accommodate for the rising price of materials.

Modular Construction is just one of the trends that will become a popular trend to cut construction costs. Modular projects have several benefits, such as the ability to be completed in nearly half the time and saving about 20 percent on construction costs. Modular buildings can also be disassembled and refurbished, reducing demand for raw materials as well as less waste. When building in a factory, waste is eliminated by recycling materials ensuring a greener, faster and cost-efficient method of construction.

Heightened Interest in Rental Equipment:

Plant Hire is looking to become a more popular trend throughout 2022. With many turning to plant hire instead of owning their machinery. Rental equipment is expected to be on the rise in 2022 and many find that by renting, they are able to make use of the most recent technologies and experience less breakdowns with machinery. Many rental companies are aware of their equipment being in constant use by others and so ensure their equipment fleet is up-to-date and regularly serviced and usually updated with the latest technologies. 

Sustainability:

Many businesses are looking toward going green in the upcoming year with more emphasis on how to create a more sustainable way forward. New developments in renewable and recyclable materials as well as electric machinery give people even more options for planet-friendly structures. Using materials such as sustainable concrete could cut CO2 emission by almost 50%.

Recycled materials — using recycled materials has been around for years. Using recycled materials could reduce material and waste disposal costs.


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3D printing continues to play a big role in construction and is set to become a major trend of 2022. There are a wide variety of sustainable materials that can also be used when 3D printing and can create building materials such as concrete, walls, floors, and other essentials. The reduction in waste, costs of raw materials, turnaround times, and the ability to mass print custom designs means 3D printing is a construction industry trend to have on your radar.

Technology:

The introduction of modern methods of technology in the construction industry promises increased efficiency, productivity and workforce safety. Digitization has been given a powerful boost forward by covid-19 with further innovations in constant development, such as:

Connected Sites – Using such cloud-based technology allows for sites to remain connected with accurate information available to anyone who may need to see it from almost every aspect of a project. Regardless of location or hardware in hand. This technology keeps construction sites united on a single platform while transforming communication.

Robotics – Robots can perform an increasing number of tasks, including painting, loading, brick-laying, tying rebar, and installing drywall. Robotics have also been used to increase the safety of the construction workforce protecting workers from dangerous or repetitive tasks and can go hand in hand in providing a solution to the construction skills gap – where available robotics can be put in place to cover a worker when labour shortage occurs.

Drones – Drone use in the construction industry has increased 239 percent year-over-year. Drones have been found to be a suitable replacement and a solution to safety issues that present themselves, particularly when working at height.

The industry is looking at a predicted continued cultural development in 2022 as the industry continues to move towards digitisation and automation. 

Skills Gap:

The skills gap is a very real issue in the construction industry. Due to many factors, including Brexit, the industry is desperately trying to draw in as many workers as possible by including competitive wages and benefits, worker development and training, better tools, and new technologies.  However, this gap is due to only increase throughout 2022 with UK Construction needing 216,800 new workers by 2025 to meet demand.

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