The rapid rise of AI tools is talked about a lot in the media, but you’d be forgiven for feeling a little confused and apprehensive about how they’ll affect your building firm, and the industry as a whole. These new digital technologies can be incredibly useful at all stages of a construction project. For instance, AI algorithms can help with project planning and management; visualisation tools can enhance on-site safety, and generative AI can be game-changing during the design phase.
To make sense of how AI is affecting the construction industry, we went along to London Build 2024 Expo (20-21 November) to listen to four panel discussions that focused on the future of digital tools. Read on to discover how the talk participants addressed a few of your questions about AI in construction.
1. How can I get started with using AI and digital tools in my business?
Panel members recommended that construction business owners focus on needs first rather than the tools themselves. Tamas Borodi of OpenSpace, who spoke in the Data Analytics & AI in Construction – Bridging the Gap Between Myths & Reality discussion, said, “Clients come to us asking to incorporate AI, but they should really focus on the problem and find the correct tools.”
Karl Smith of Creative ITC told the audience at the Top Tech Trends 2024: Hear from the Actual Users talk that you should find problems within your business then identify the tools that can help to solve them. He also advises setting up a taskforce, then working with the IT team to test things, which is something he does in his own firm.
Martin Wilding of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates also recommended an AI taskforce in Tech Trends talk, saying, “We listen to colleagues who’ve found new tools, and then we make sure we understand the security around them. We’ve set up a taskforce that can quickly review new tools and then roll them out.”
“The entry point for introducing AI is often free, so you can experiment,” James Garner of Gleeds said at the previously mentioned Bridging the Gap discussion. He also told the audience about AI hackathons, where you can bring a problem and collaborate to come up with a solution.
2. What should I be aware of when trying out new technologies?
“Data security is a key thing to look at,” Martin Wilding says. With so many AI tools being online, he makes sure his taskforce looks into how access to this data can be controlled.
Mairéad Gallagher Morgan of Grimshaw told the Tech Trends panel that it’s important to educate yourself here. “Speak to experts and make sure they are actually experts,” she said.
She also advised being conscious around your requirements and the scope of what you’re using and how this will change over time. “Keep your IT teams in the loop and test things in stages,” she said.
Another thing to remember, according to the panel members, is not to rely solely on the technology. “AI is not going to do all the work for you,” Vaisakh Krishnadas of Sir Robert McAlpine said at the same talk as Mairéad and Martin. “It can be a really powerful tool, but it’s up to you to use information to work out how you want to use it.”
3. Will AI take my job?
It’s an understandable concern that, with such fast growth in new technologies, our jobs will become redundant, but the panel members were reassuring in their answers.
“The concern about it taking jobs is nothing new – combine harvesters took people’s jobs,” James Garner said. “This time, though, it’s faster, and those who adapt will thrive. Take the opportunity to upskill and you’ll be in a great position to super-charge productivity.”
“There will always be a need for a person to do a job, but tech will enable them to do it more efficiently,” Bill Holden of AtkinsRéalis told the Retrofitting in a Digital Age: Digital Twins & AI’s Roles panel. “So it’s not a job loss, but a job change.”
James recommends people use AI like another team member, something you can ask for advice and help, and you’re free to decide whether or not you want to take that advice.
The experts also highlighted that there will always be a need for human creativity. “AI without the human touch turns into something generic, so it needs the human at the helm,” Matteo Orsi of Morris+Company told the Bridging the Gap panel.
4. What are the barriers to new technology adoption in the construction industry?
Discussion participants talked about how the building industry has been a little slow to take up new digital technologies compared to other industries. “Construction is an outlier in adopting AI because it’s fragmented,” James Garner said, for example.
This was also highlighted in a 2024 study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which found that only 12% of UK construction businesses use AI technologies.
Costs, government policy and a skills gap were all mentioned as barriers to take-up by the panel members.
“The Government has a role to play in adopting new technologies, particularly for carbon reduction,” Mo Qureshi of Wates Smartspace said during the Can Technological Solutions Alone Drive Us Towards Net Zero? discussion. “For a contractor, one of the challenges is that if policy and regulations aren’t there to help adopt AI, it makes it hard.
“The policy gap means investors are less likely to invest in new technologies,” he added. “Governments must put accountability in the sector to encourage investment.”
Mo also talked about a huge knowledge gap, which he said is a main challenge. Aleksandra Przydrozna of Mace added to this by saying it would help for people outside of large cities to be given opportunities to come to global hubs and try out new technologies, as well as at universities and institutions.
At a local level, James is working on helping people adopt AI at different entry points. “We use a programme called Upskill for people who want to use tools for different reasons and at different levels,” he said. “So we’re saying that this is for everyone and we allow people to jump on at a point that works for them.”
5. How can AI help make buildings more energy efficient?
During the Net Zero talk, Elias Anka of Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates identified how AI can be useful during three stages of a building project.
At the design stage, AI algorithms can assess data within the building to identify improvements to energy inefficiency or model sustainable design options. During the construction phase, digital tools can help with pre-fabrication in order to mitigate waste disposal, and at the post-occupancy stage, real-time data can analyse how far a building is from its initial efficiency targets.
Calin Gruia of Autodesk told the Retrofitting in a Digital Age panel that the aim would be for buildings to be autonomous in how they manage energy efficiency. “For instance, if energy is failing in one part of a kitchen, an AI tool would send the information to another system, which would kick in to increase the energy efficiency in that area.”
Another example Calin highlighted was that people would be able to buy a flat in a building, scan the QR code on a cooker and immediately know the specifications and usage history of that appliance in order to maintain its efficiency.
The panel members acknowledged it was harder to find tools that can work in retrofit projects than for new-build construction. “Retrofitting is far more complicated than a new-build, as it’s difficult to know what’s inside the walls – particularly when the original information is on a piece of paper from the 1960s, for example,” Calin said.
However, Bill Holden, in the same discussion, was hopeful and used the analogy of Formula 1 innovations. Eventually, that cutting-edge technology of Formula 1 makes it down to the family car, and Bill sees retrofit as the family car.
