7 Statistics on Innovative Building Methods

According to a March 2022 article in Autodesk Digital Builder, over 180 million people work in construction around the world. Considering risk, labor shortages, supply chain issues, and emerging technologies, the construction industry is increasingly complex. Building methods are just one of the areas that affect everyone involved in the industry.

Following are seven statistics that provide a glimpse into the future:

1. Design-Build 102%: Compared to traditional design-bid-build projects, design-build projects are completed over twice as fast. On its website, DBIA says design-build outperforms all other construction delivery methods when it comes to cost, schedule and quality. Compared to managing separate contracts in a traditional project, there’s only one contract to manage in design-build, and all stakeholders work together to move the project forward.   
2. Prefabrication 90%: The Dodge Data & Analytics (DD&A) report, “Prefabrication and Modular Construction 2020,” states 90% of companies using prefabrication have improved productivity, higher quality and more certainty around schedules as compared to traditional construction methods. The number of companies prefabricating multi-trade assemblies to be used in buildings is expected to increase from 33% today to 58% within the next three years.
3. Design-Build 58%: The Design Build Institute of America [DBIA] reports that design-build is the fastest growing and most popular delivery method in the US. In a move away from traditional design-bid-build – involving an owner, a designer and a contractor – 58% of owners said they have used or plan to use design-build. As explained in a study by Fails Management Institute [FMI], the design-build scenario enables an owner to contract directly with one entity for design and construction, leading to reliable performance and cost savings.

4. Lean Construction 23%: Lean construction methods, like building information modeling (BIM) and prefabrication, are based on continuous improvements to reduce costs and increase value. Companies are learning that lean construction methods improve performance during a project – small changes can have great impacts. According to Associated General Contractors of America [AGC], 23% of companies are taking steps to incorporate lean methods in their workflows. The emerging trend of BIM enables everyone involved to collaborate on a project’s 3D design and detect conflicts among systems and design elements early in planning, drastically reducing rework.

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5. Prefabrication 14%: In a report published by Autodesk and DD&A,14% of construction trade contractors surveyed reported prefabricating more than half their work in the shop rather than the field. The same report explains the cost and labor savings from using prefabrication could be shared with general contractors, possibly improving a trade contractor’s odds of winning additional work in the future.
6. Modular Construction 4.7%: The compound annual growth of modular construction is predicted to be 4.7% year over year through 2026. A February 2022 Business Wire article explained that growth would result in an increase in modular market share from $40.7 billion in 2021 to $51.2 billion in 2026. The article states modular buildings can be built offsite in managed factory settings in about halfthe time of a building erected on the project site. Because of greater schedule predictability, the process can ease supply chain issues and save 20% in production costs.

7. Robots 13.6%: Outstripping the growth of modular construction is anticipated to be the construction robot market, with 13.6% compound annual growth. A Mordor Intelligence report on construction robot market growth and trends stated that a driving factor behind this growth is the reduction of construction materials waste, estimated to be nearly 30% by weight of all the materials transported to a building site. In addition, robotic machines shorten a project’s schedule and reduce task-related safety risks to people on the job.

These seven statistics are just a few indicators that companies are moving toward technologies and construction methods that will help them surmount the risk, schedule, labor, and supply chain challenges facing them in this increasingly complex industry.

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