The construction sector needs a 22nd-century approach to sustainability
Andy Flood, UK Business Manager, Topcon GB
SUSTAINABILITY poses complex challenges for international, national and local construction and infrastructure policy. Whether it is the UK Green Building Council calling for regulations to avoid missing net-zero goals or the implementation of COP 26 commitments by national governments, construction operations cannot avoid moving towards low-carbon and net zero ways of working.
From minimising the carbon and waste generated during the construction process to designing buildings that are carbon neutral or carbon positive over their lifespan, the industry’s sustainability journey is not simple.
Sustainability does, however, make good business sense.
Approaching the construction process with a view to minimising waste, reducing fuel costs and eliminating mistakes leads to better profitability. Businesses looking to implement a sustainability strategy must ensure they have a long-term plan as well as make significant improvements immediately.
Globally we estimate that, based on the current number of machines with Topcon automation technology fitted, automation could reduce CO2 by around 600,000 tonnes per year. Using automation to drive short-term results helps give businesses more time to tackle long-term sustainability in a strategic way.
What does a sustainable future for construction look like?
Widespread adoption of automated technology will drive short-term improvements in sustainability and provide the foundation for construction businesses to realistically achieve low-carbon operations. Full automation of machine control allows the construction process to be tackled from a point of complete precision.
Widespread adoption of automated technology will drive short-term improvements in sustainability and provide the foundation for construction businesses to realistically achieve low-carbon operations.
While teams are still required on-site to monitor machinery, project managers can stay up-to-date remotely and make changes to the project from anywhere in the world. As a by-product, remote working minimises the health and safety risks associated with being on-site.
Machine control also makes running machines more efficient by reducing the likelihood of user error and costly rework by giving you the power to put in the right material at the right height, or to take the right amount of material out.
Rework can be costly as it relates not only to one crew, but also to the upstream and downstream work being performed on the whole site – which can cause further delay and frustration.
Machine control technology also allows for better allocation of equipment and personnel through more accurate estimates of the specific amount of time and materials needed for a job. For example, if too much material is removed from a site, time and resource is wasted on both removing the material and delivering new material.
On the other hand, contractors may incur unnecessary fuel and labour costs by delivering more material to site than what is actually needed. Machine control ensures material costs can be calculated accurately to avoid unnecessary expense.
In the long-term, automation and artificial intelligence (AI) will be capable of ensuring that most on-site work is right-first-time with minimal supervision. Systems like Topcon’s MC-X machine control solutions and Sitelink 3D software are already bringing these ideas to life and the data and learnings we gather will underpin how construction delivers on its sustainability goals. Coupled with advances in electric heavy machinery, advances in automation will help achieve significant carbon reductions across the industry.
Working smarter
The three key trends that will drive sustainability in construction are automation, renewable energy and smart technology.
The key to making any business more sustainable is finding a strategy that is right for your business – taking into account current operations, plans for future growth and local factors in the territories you operate in. By changing the way we approach running existing machines we can achieve quick results on carbon reduction.
Automation is probably the most impactful of these trends as it addresses another significant challenge for the industry, the skills gap.
By modernising equipment and software with full workflow machine control, monitoring and data analysis solutions, on-site teams with fewer experienced operators can get the job done to the required standard.
As younger people in the industry have been brought up using technology and are familiar with different software, these workers will find it even easier to use automated solutions due to the simple user interface, reducing the training window even further.
From a sustainability point of view, they will also complete the work with fewer errors, less material waste and fewer heavy machinery movements – reducing emissions.
If the construction sector is to establish itself at the forefront of the move to net zero, automation is the key.
Without automation, carbon neutrality is much harder to achieve.
Coupling an automation-based approach with electric machinery, rather than diesel-powered, and the integration of smart technologies means construction businesses can equip themselves with a suite of tools to drive towards sustainable construction.
Barriers to sustainable working
The subject of improving sustainability in construction often leads to talk of barriers to progress.
Having the latest technology is as big a benefit as the actual impact of the technology itself. Regardless of the reason for adoption, the key to improving efficiency and achieving low-carbon working lies in part with widespread adoption of these solutions.
Generally, smaller firms have proved they are more nimble than their larger counterparts by adopting advanced solutions quickly and embracing the potential they offer.
While bigger companies tend to take ‘watch and wait’ approach; monitoring successes and waiting to see how difficulties are overcome before implementing full strategies.
For multinational businesses, the complexities surrounding multiple governmental policy changes makes rapid adoption of new technology particularly challenging.
It is also interesting to note that smaller businesses are using automation to boost their productivity, to close the gap on large rivals.
Major contractors meanwhile are adopting automation for commercial benefit. Having the latest technology is as big a benefit as the actual impact of the technology itself.
Regardless of the reason for adoption, the key to improving efficiency and achieving low-carbon working lies in part with widespread adoption of these solutions.
The importance of taking the right approach
The key to making any business more sustainable is finding a strategy that is right for your business – taking into account current operations, plans for future growth and local factors in the territories you operate in. By changing the way we approach running existing machines we can achieve quick results on carbon reduction.
The key to sustainable success lies in precision and intelligence. When construction firms can harness the power of data, they can truly understand what’s happening on the ground and amend their workflows accordingly, reducing unnecessary works, duplication of effort and resource, errors and material waste.
Andy Flood, UK Business Manager, Topcon GB
www.topconpositioning.com/gb @TopconGB_IRE