Building materials have been getting added scrutiny by construction professionals examining how much carbon is locked in them and what happens as the material ages and releases that carbon. Embodied carbon, as a byproduct of building materials, accounts for 11% of annual global emissions.
In Canada, the City of Calgary has a data-sharing partnership with Waze, a navigation platform that is structured around a community of app users on and off the road. Designed as a free, two-way data sharing arrangement of publicly available traffic information, Waze for Cities Data creates safer roads for citizens of Calgary along with more than 1,600 other partner locations around the world.
Calgary’s TMC (Traffic Management Centre) can improve traffic flow by gathering road information in realtime and informing its citizens about traffic delays, construction and lane closures, accidents and other important information during the daily commute and all other times. Waze for Cities Data will give traffic managers a look at real-time road activity along with the ability to harness driver input to improve congestion reporting and make better-informed planning decisions.
Most heavy construction companies, those involved in infrastructure projects especially, are long-time users of multiple software platforms. Every aspect of the project must be controlled and monitored for government regulation adherence and public liability. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic slowing and even stopping projects, contractors are looking for innovative ways to stay active while protecting their workers and the company’s assets. Two major software companies involved in this segment, Command Alkon and HCSS, are working to help companies to quickly expand safe social distancing capabilities on critical infrastructure jobsites.
One of the biggest challenges contractors face is getting the most out of every dollar invested in heavy equipment. Measuring fleet utilization has always been a tricky science, but the more precisely a business can track each machine’s contributions to their bottomline, the better their return on equipment investments will be.
New hardware that integrates with smartphones or tablets is becoming invaluable for measurement and quality control on jobsites. With a focus on MEP (mechanical, electrical, and plumbing) system energy performance, I have found several new tools that are indispensable additions to anyone’s field kit. Beyond MEP, these gadgets can assist with a range of construction tasks.
With many construction companies on the move to make more processes efficient and paperless, Austin Lane Technologies, Inc. www.austinlane.com, is furthering its mission to eliminate the need for paper on the jobsite with the release of its new ALMobile Grid Time Entry platform.
In anticipation of elevating its mobile SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platform to the next level, Klipboard, klipboard.io, a startup provider out of London, announced a Pre-Series A investment round, from private equity and angel investors, bringing its previously raised amount of $900,000, to a little over $2 million.
Lighting is essential on any construction jobsite, but one of the many challenges workers face is setup time associated with lighting. One new solution comes from a tool provider.
The next generation of technology—connected hardware—is beginning to make its mark on the construction industry. While tools themselves are changing, so too are the software and apps associated with tools.
Can mobile apps help improve capital project execution? e-Builder, www.e-builder.net, Plantation, Fla., says yes. Last year, e-Builder indicates it saw unprecedented acceleration in the adoption and use of its mobile technology. Additionally, mobile apps have become increasingly important, as they enable users to improve capital project execution by becoming more efficient through the access of information in the field.