Top 11 Construction Technology Trends for 2025

The construction sector is expanding, and with it come construction technology trends to accommodate new lifestyles, environmental concerns, and technology advancements. Major trends for 2025 include wearable technology and connected worksites, construction business intelligence and data analytics, and the creation of smaller, drone technology and more. Each trend offers benefits and drawbacks for architects, contractors, and clients.

Introducing these cutting-edge construction technology trends couldn’t come at a better moment for construction, which is facing a slew of vital issues. This involves huge workforce shortages amid growing demand in the United States, thanks to billions of dollars of government and corporate investment in new roads, bridges, and other key infrastructure projects.

Technological advancements generate innovation and success in all businesses. However, few firms have seen such a drastic transformation as the construction industry. Every year, this industry reaches new heights and completes ambitious projects. Today is a fresh and exciting time in the industry, from design and planning to IT support for construction enterprises.

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Why is the Traditional Construction Industry Changing?

The factors driving this transition can be pretty fascinating. They are numerous, but each is significant in its own right and has an impact on emerging construction technology trends and how they are used. Construction industry trends are shifting. The building industry and technology have various complementary aspects, including:

1. Constantly Changing Client Expectations

Clients are well aware of the continually shifting marketplace. They have higher expectations for more innovatively designed items for their homes, workplaces, commercial structures, and so on. Client demands are rapidly increasing. As a result, you may expect structures to be more flexible, specialized, and energy-efficient, with better security and health characteristics.

2. Burgeoning Startup Environment

With new business opportunities created by construction technology trends, start-ups are increasingly making vital contributions. Oliver Wyman, a global management consultancy, has identified over 1,200 real estate and construction start-ups that have raised more than US$19.4 billion since 2010.

3. Technology has powerful capabilities.

New possibilities have emerged in the construction business. Sensors, as well as the hardware and software that connects to them, are becoming much more affordable, and their rising utilization is improving your operation’s efficiency.

With new construction technology trends in place, construction workers may expect more innovative and valuable transformations, including augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), drones, robotics, and additive printing.

4. Supportive Legal Plans

Digitalization provides a great chance to reduce the environmental impact of construction projects. Given that the construction industry accounts for 38% of worldwide energy-related CO2 emissions, governments around the world are raising CO2 and energy efficiency restrictions for the industry. There will be increased standards for data usage and cybersecurity in buildings and infrastructures.

As construction professionals, you may be aware of the industry’s aversion to change. However, sensibilities are evolving. Modern workers are more tech-savvy and open to the latest technologies on the market. With increasing construction technology trends and technology-related occupations, the younger generation will have an exciting decade to apply innovation to procedures.

Top 11 Construction Technology Trends for 2025

1. Smart Cities Change the Way Construction Companies Operate

One of the most significant construction technology trends affecting the building sector is the rise of smart cities. A smart city is one that is almost completely integrated with the Internet of Things (IoT). All of the infrastructure and buildings contribute to data collection, which helps everything work more efficiently. It is anticipated that global smart city spending will total $124 billion in 2020. That’s about a 20% rise over 2019.

IDC expects that investments in smart cities will reach $203 billion by 2024. Some projections predict that the market will treble again to more than $676 billion by 2028. As this notion develops, it is likely to revolutionize the way the majority of the construction sector operates. More and more construction industry participants will have to incorporate technological improvements such as IoT into their building components.

According to a recent research, around 60% of US building managers are aware with Internet of Things technologies. And 43% expect IoT technologies to have an impact on their firm in the next years. The building sector will have to adapt quickly, as huge firms and localities commit to build smart cities within the next year. Toyota has proposed a 2,000-person smart city outside of Tokyo. The business intends to test autonomous vehicles and “smart buildings” with actual citizens.

2. Wearable Technology and Connected Worksites

Another construction technology trend is to find solutions that connect those on the jobsite, whether that means expediting projects, communication, or processes. Contractors are rapidly adopting connected work environments, which frequently begin with wearable construction technologies.

• Sensing Wearables: This construction technology trend frequently takes the form of badges and sensors that may be affixed to hard hats, glasses, shoes, and other personal protection equipment. The purpose of these wearables is to monitor physical, environmental, and biological variables and offer data to you and your team.
• Visual Wearables: These glasses or other visual aids generate visuals for remote viewers and/or the one using the equipment. This technology can be utilized to enhance training and communication with off-site team members.
  Tactile wearables are suits that workers can wear to improve their strength and durability, lowering the risk of strains and injuries. A bionic suit that allows the wearer to lift up large objects and operate heavy machines is one example of a progressive solution.

3. Construction Business Intelligence and Data Analytics

Construction business intelligence and data analytics are gaining popularity within the industry. Using real-time data and automation to provide accurate reports on demand can help mitigate hazards before they become problems and reveal insights on how to optimize workflows to improve operational efficiency.

Construction companies can tailor business intelligence reports to track specific KPIs (key performance indicators) and see data in real time and in various visual formats, allowing them to better understand their operations and decrease profit fading.

Businesses that want to use construction business intelligence (BI) and reporting to improve their operations should assess the accuracy of the data extracted by their business intelligence platform. Superior business intelligence and construction reporting rely on construction software that connects field and back office activities in real time and can convert massive amounts of operational data into accounting and cost information.

4. Construction Industry Benefits from Drone Technology

Another way that the construction business is becoming more efficient is by utilizing this construction technology trend. Drones were often considered novelty devices, but they are now responsible for significant cost savings on big construction projects.

It is believed that drone use has greatly reduced the yearly $160 billion in waste generated on construction sites. Using drones to measure building material stocks in real time increased measurement accuracy by 61%.

Many people believe drones will drastically cut construction worker injuries and deaths. In the United States, 20% of occupational deaths occur in the construction industry, which accounts for only 6% of the labor force. Construction organizations can use drones to examine and evaluate diverse sites without endangering actual humans.

5. 3D Printing to Prototype and Visualize Jobs

3D printing is a construction technology trend that allows you to create a three-dimensional solid object from a digital file. With greater accessibility to 3D printers, businesses are able to construct prototypes of jobs before getting to the actual site. This can help with visualization, concepting and project management.

This construction technology trend might also lower supply costs and final customer prices, as well as reduce waste, because it uses a manufacturing process where only the necessary materials are used. This printing may also help with more streamlined customer communication because it allows you to provide a more realistic look at the final product.

6. Construction Robotics and Automation Enhance Productivity

Reduced waste, improved safety, increased productivity, and reduced the workforce gap—early adopters in the construction industry are achieving all of these objectives by implementing robotics and other automation solutions.

The market for construction robots is anticipated to be worth $359 million by 2031. According to a poll commissioned by ABB last year, more than half of construction companies are presently utilizing robots, and 81% plan to introduce robots within the next decade.

Construction companies are using robots to do a variety of duties both on and off-site. Tying rebar without a robot requires workers to do repeated hand and arm twisting movements while stooping or bending at the waist. It is literally backbreaking work.

7. Data Ownership and Management

The industry’s increasing reliance on technology has brought data security to the forefront like never before. It is not enough to focus on the outcomes; construction companies want site management software that protects sensitive information and adheres to local standards. Otherwise, the hazards may outweigh the benefits.

The fact that data management compliance is not one-size-fits-all complicates matters even more. Some regions require data to be kept locally. In other cases, privacy requirements such as GDPR must be enforced at whatever cost. If your business spans borders, determining whether the digital tools you entrust with your data are reliable can feel like a separate project.

But it must be completed. You should understand where your data is going, how it is being stored, and who has access to it. Ignoring these things could expose your organization to regulatory issues or worse. What you don’t know can actually hurt you.

8. Augmented Reality (AR)

Augmented and virtual reality are causing ripples throughout the building industry. While augmented reality superimposes a computer-generated image onto a user’s vision of the world, virtual reality can replace the real world with a simulated environment.

However, AR is gradually gaining traction as an emerging construction technology trend due to its advantages and applications over VR. Already in 2019, the industry share was $9 billion, and by 2030, it is expected to reach a stunning $150 billion.

Imagine the power of seeing the real world through a camera lens. AR systems can display crucial information about equipment while the user examines components or sees display alerts when risks are present.

To avert harm, the user can receive alerts via the AR lens that can “paint” surfaces if they are exposed to high temperatures or electrical currents. As buildings become more complex, AR and VR can help discover design and coordination issues.

This construction technology trend can also offer BIM data via a next-generation visual platform, which could aid in encouraging collaboration among consultants, designers, and construction teams. Thus, AR can be utilized to discuss projects with clients.

9. Virtual Reality (VR) for Risk Mitigation

Virtual reality (VR), AR’s cousin, is a fully immersive experience that transports the user to a totally digital world. This would be equivalent to putting on a pair of goggles and feeling as if you were truly moving and strolling in other settings, utterly disconnected from the world around you. Imagine being able to train and test on the jobsite before rebooting and starting over—this is achievable with VR tools. This might make training far more tailored to the actual workplace, allowing your staff to picture the work without risking their safety in the field.

Contractors can virtually walk through a jobsite before it is built. Because the technology enables contractors to develop and solve problems in a virtual area before implementing them on a physical jobsite, they can identify and handle issues before purchasing supplies or laying foundations.

10. Cloud and Mobile Technology

Cloud operating systems have already been used in numerous industries. Today, with mobile devices that use cloud technology (anywhere, anytime), you may store vast amounts of data and share it immediately. To remain competitive, you may need to adopt a cloud-based company phone system that is easy to access.

Cloud solutions can not only help to store vast volumes of data, but also make it accessible to project managers while keeping it secure in a remote location. Later, this data can be retrieved by connected devices or data analysis systems. So, powerful data processing and storage are just two of the advantages of cloud computing technology, but the latter might be important for businesses to meet contractual responsibilities.

11. Self-healing Concrete

In 2025, self-healing concrete will be utilized on buildings, roadways, and residences. Consider the use of new construction technology trend to address issues such as structural deterioration and building flaws. Although the technology is still in its early stages, it has the potential to be a great solution to such problems. With 4.4 billion metric tons produced in 2021, concrete is the most extensively produced and used material in the building sector, thus many companies around the world will be keeping a watch on this technology as it evolves.

FAQs 

What are the major Construction Technology Trends for 2025? 

• Answer: Wearable technology, linked worksites, business intelligence, drone technology, 3D printing, robotics, augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), and self-healing concrete are among the top construction technology trends for 2025, each with their own set of advantages for the sector.

How does wearable technology impact the construction industry?

• Answer: Wearable technology is an important Construction Technology Trend that connects workers on-site while improving safety, efficiency, and communication. Sensing wearables and visual aids can help monitor physical, environmental, and biological aspects in order to increase productivity and reduce injuries.

What role does smart city development play in Construction Technology Trends?

• Answer: Smart city development is revolutionizing the construction business by incorporating the Internet of Things (IoT) into building infrastructure, resulting in increased efficiency and data-driven decisions. As part of the Construction Technology Trends, this change is projected to transform construction operations and design.

Why is data security important for Construction Technology Trends?

• Answer: With the proliferation of digital tools and technology in construction, data security is a top priority. Construction firms must ensure adequate data ownership and management to preserve sensitive information, comply with rules, and limit risks, making it an important component of developing Construction Technology Trends.

Conclusion

It’s a fascinating time to adapt construction technology trends. It is critical that we all work together to develop clear plans based on the pain points and problems that our sector faces. Just because we have the ability to disrupt the industry does not imply we should. We can identify simple methods to incorporate technology like AI into our existing systems, increasing their efficiency and usefulness. The industry has enormous potential for growth, and its thrilling to be at the forefront of it alongside our industry partners and customers.

Resources:

Imaginovation | Explodingtopics | ENR | Forbes | ConstructionBriefing | JonasConstruction | OpenAsset | ABCSupply | Deloitte

For all the pictures: Freepik