Category: Smart Construction
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The Power of Immediate Incentives
How do you build new employee or subcontractor habits that are necessary but still need consistency? For example, how do you make workers log daily activities with a new project management software? In the latest episode of the AEC Business podcast, I had the pleasure of interviewing Drew Carter, the CEO, and Laurel Newman, Ph.D.…
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Construction Collaboration Today: Making File Sharing Work for You
As construction workflows become digitized, efficient file sharing stands out as a crucial success factor for collaboration. How do you succeed with it? A bit of history The question of collaborative construction file management is not new. My first CAD project was in the mid-1980s. File sharing was simple because the design disciplines worked on…
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Behavioral Science Meets Construction: Insights from Whistle Rewards
In this episode of the AEC Business Podcast, Aarni Heiskanen hosts Drew Carter, CEO of Whistle Rewards, and Dr. Laurel Newman, a behavioral scientist, to discuss instant rewards for driving behavioral change in construction. Laurel shares her psychology background and academic career, studying how the environment influences behavior. Drew introduces himself as a data scientist,…
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How to Ensure Construction Business Growth in Staff Shortages
Demand for construction is growing steadily, regardless of seasonal variations. At the same time, construction companies can’t hire enough skilled workforce. How does this discrepancy impact companies’ ability to grow and bid on new projects? The US construction industry is short half a million workers 41 percent of the construction workforce from before 2020 is…
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Construction’s Mission Impossible? – AEC Business
“Good morning, Construction. Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to lead the construction industry in a high-stakes race against time. The challenge: double the industry’s growth by 2040.” That is the gist of McKinsey’s August 2024 article, “Delivering on construction productivity is no longer optional.” The article paints a picture of an…
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A Preconstruction Tool Receives Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Award
JE Dunn Construction’s innovative preconstruction tool, Align, was honored with Fast Company’s 2024 Innovation by Design award in the large business category this July. Developed in collaboration with design and technology consultant Crema, Align can revolutionize how the industry handles project cost estimation and budgeting. It eliminates much of the initial uncertainty and stress typically…
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What Can We Learn from a Leading BIM Country?
Finland has been a global pioneer in systematically using Building Information Modeling. A study by the LAB University of Applied Sciences aimed to determine the current state of BIM and competence needs in building construction. What can international construction professionals learn from Finland’s experiences to better strategize their approach to increasing BIM adoption? The 2021…
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From ‘Cuckoo’s Egg’ to Today’s Cyber Threat Landscape
In 1990, I read an exciting book titled The Cuckoo’s Egg: Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage. The author, astronomer Clifford Stoll, managed computers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (LBNL) in California. He was tasked with resolving an accounting error of 75 cents in the computer usage accounts. The tedious process eventually led him…
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ACTOR: Pioneering Automation in Construction Management
The ACTOR project aimed to empower supervisors and construction workers with automated and visual management. Its goal was to improve a construction project’s performance and considerably reduce its carbon footprint. The project has now released its final report, which paints an exciting picture of the future of construction management. Imagine a day on the jobsite…
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Making Renovation Less Risky – AEC Business
Dutch bank ING’s research found that the overall EU construction market’s share of renovation and maintenance grew from 48% in 2008 to more than 54% in 2022. Despite its prevalence, renovation remains a conscious risk-taking for developers and builders. Due to various surprises, the costs of these projects can increase unpredictably, and builders may even…