The new year is here! Most construction industry professionals are well past planning for 2020, but we think these 2020 construction industry trends are still worth a look. While we can never be sure what challenges and curveballs a new year will toss our way, we can look to the data and our long experience to uncover which factors will continue to be important in our industry going forward.
1. Construction Industry Investment Will Remain Fairly Steady
Though whispers of a slow-down are growing louder around the country, data from Dodge Data Analytics indicates that overall construction industry growth will remain fairly steady. The most recent report from Dodge shows a dip of 6% in residential construction starts and 3% in non-building construction. However, public works construction is anticipated to see a 4% growth in starts in 2020. This data should give contractors planning their next year some comfort that they can continue to invest in solid partnerships and maintain their current level of business.
2. Increased Dependence on Technology and Innovation for Efficiency
The use of machinery, computers and robotics to improve efficiencies is not a new construction industry trend, but we do expect to see continued growth in this area in 2020. For instance, augmented reality and BIM will both continue to play integral roles in the design and modeling process.
Technological innovation continues to pervade the glass manufacturing sector, as well, with machinery such as computer numerical control (CNC) equipment making a huge impact.
3. Continued Staffing Challenges
According to Construction Dive, 60% of contractors expect to add employees in 2020 but nearly all of them (around 95%) indicate that they have experienced difficulty in finding skilled workers to fill those roles. With unemployment levels remaining low, it will continue to be challenging for contractors to find workers with the skills they need. In some cases, this may mean that it makes sense to turn to more subcontractors than they normally would, to make sure that standards are upheld and work can be completed efficiently.
4. Interest in Green Construction Expected to Grow
According to the Global Alliance for Building and Construction, “Buildings and construction together account for 36% of global final energy use and 39% of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions when upstream power generation is included.”
With an intense focus on climate change in the media and within many governmental organizations, many industries including construction are making efforts to mitigate their own contributions to pollution and other environmental problems. In the construction industry, we can expect this to manifest in 2020 with even more focus on finding creative solutions to problems that impact both the construction itself (via programs such as LEED certification) as well as those that impact the impact of the completed building (such as renewable energy sources and energy efficient glass). Rather than considering an increased attention to the environmental impact of the work we do to be a 2020 construction industry trend, it may be more useful to think of the industry itself as trending towards sustainability as an ongoing consideration in all future projects.
While trends should never define the direction of our businesses, it can be helpful to keep in mind in which direction the winds are blowing when it comes to mapping out the coming years and the new decade.
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