There is no doubt that the different technologies available are increasingly changing different aspects of our lives. One such area where the impact of technological changes continues to be positively felt is in the building construction industry. The latest technologies are increasingly being adopted to update and upgrade the building construction industry. Consequently, here are 7 new technologies used in architecture/building construction.

1. Honeycomb Panels

A honeycomb panel is increasingly being used in construction because of its different advantageous properties. Apart from honeycombs being lightweight, they are also corrosion resistant, waterproof, moisture-proof, and have high compressive strength.

Honeycomb panels are incorporated into building construction to help with the provision of sound insulation and to guarantee a stable indoor temperature. The honeycomb panels can be used as pavement in parks and gardens and as parking pavement. Moreover, the honeycomb panels can be incorporated into fairing and ceilings.

Honeycomb panel is a construction material alternative that is light-weight and cost-effective, unlike plywood.

2. Wearable Technology

Apart from wearable gadgets being used by other different industries, they have also been adopted by the building construction industry for the purpose of keeping workers safe. Building construction is generally a hazardous sector. With wearable technology, construction workers do not have to look down constantly at their instructions since this technology has made it possible for them to communicate with one another. In addition, wearable technology may also help for the purpose of tracking the behaviour and location of a worker, especially helpful in case there is an accident.

3. Drones

In the construction industry, the use of drones or UAVs (unmanned aerial vehicles) is relatively less problematic or controversial. Drones are increasingly used in the construction sector for conducting site surveys, particularly hard to reach places like around tall buildings, and tracking real-time project progress. Drones are able to accomplish this task by generating aerial maps, 3D images, and photos.

And so, drones are important for ensuring improved worksite productivity and safety. Furthermore, since drones deliver faster reporting and more accurate measurements, this can help in considering the appropriate time for buying different building construction materials and as a result reduce construction site wastage.

4. Self-Healing Concrete

Many building construction industry experts believe that sooner we will start seeing the use of self-healing concrete on buildings and roads. Cement is the main building material used and also it contributes to harmful carbon emissions.

One of the main construction problems is cracking and it is usually as a result of concrete exposure to chemicals and water. A self-healing concrete will entail the use of microcapsules bacteria, able to germinate once the concrete crack comes into contact with water. The result will be limestone production which then covers the existing crack to safeguard against the steel reinforcement corrosion.

5. Transparent Aluminum

This is a relatively new building construction material that is strong and durable like steel. Despite the herculean strength of transparent aluminum, its look is comparable to that of glass. Glass is four times weaker and is able to shatter easily, unlike transparent aluminum. The use of this see-through material promises to enrich buildings with a futuristic feel.

6. Pollution Fighting Buildings

The pollution fighting buildings are also usually referred to as vertical forests. These buildings are designed to appear as high-rise forests for the purpose of tackling the pollution menace. A pollution fighting building will have numerous trees and shrubs to help it filtering the polluted air and hence make the air cleaner.

7. Smart Buildings

Smart buildings employ the use of information technology for the purpose of staying connected to people, the global environment and building systems. Smart buildings employ the use of automated systems and processes for controlling different building operations such as security, lighting, heating, ventilation, and air conditioning.

These building construction technologies together with other technologies are guaranteed to remain relevant in the many years to come. All these different technologies will continue to play an important role in making building construction more productive, sustainable, effective, and safer.

Globally, there is an evident transition towards efforts that aim for a sustainable energy ecosystem. Electric cars have become a wild topic of discussion for the past decade and Tesla’s contribution to this is unprecedented. Tesla’s endeavors for clean energy generation have been noteworthy and even though critics have openly provided warnings about the hovering of competitors in the electric-car market, there are not sufficient grounds for which this competition can be said to be meaningful.

Considering that electric vehicles’ sales entail only 1 percent of the total sales of vehicles globally, it is safe to claim that there is not a significant basis for competition at this level. With such a small share of sales, this market is not yet as profitable for the conventional automakers.

Tesla has been a powerful brand and its alluring marketing strategies combined with its innovations are appealing to those who have the resources to own a Tesla. However, as the market for these vehicles is predicted to grow due to a worldwide increase in the stricter global-emissions policy as well as the requirements of fuel-efficiency, big automakers are aware of the need to penetrate into the market; therefore, competition is not the only reason.

Tesla’s latest launch of Model 3S was a prominent step as along with it the high-profile competitors also announced their preparations for the release of their electric vehicles. These include BMW Mini E, Volkswagen I.D, and Bayton K-Byte.

Clearly, these brand names have a stringent policy towards customer satisfaction and they have never lagged behind in utilizing innovative technologies for the development of their vehicles in order to ensure safety, and additionally be attentive towards a strategy for sustainability that goes beyond zero-emission cars. The intentions of these automakers are more inclined towards making a mark in the “electric vehicle space” rather than only aiming to compete with Tesla.

Moreover, research suggests that the apparent competitors of Tesla are having a difficult time getting their electric cars up and running at a competitive level because their marketable characteristics are incomparable to those of Tesla. These companies have not yet achieved vertical and horizontal integration of markets which is a vital step in overcoming the high costs of operating in the automobile industry, whereas Tesla is already effectively functioning under the same.

Tesla is a seller of multiple markets which is unmatched by any other auto company in the industry simply due to its dynamic research and design efforts that have allowed the development of technologies that are unparalleled. Being the first manufacturer of the electric vehicles, Tesla has been able to undertake the production of these cars at higher levels than any company may have produced, annually.

The aforementioned discussion portrays that as Tesla continues to innovate at a faster pace and lower cost than its apparent competitors, it is quite far ahead in committing to its claim of accelerating the transition to sustainable energy.

The question is whether there really is a competition between Tesla and the rest of the big automakers; Tesla’s potential and distinguishable features are giving a tough time to the rest of the automakers in the industry to catch up with the new developments.

Elon Musk is the genius mind of the current tech-driven era. He stood behind a lot of innovations and cutting-edge concepts, set to radically change people’s life in the future. His widely discussed ideas find their application in the modern world, being intensively powered by advanced technology and top-quality resource.

Prior to Musk’s flawless developments, there were similar concepts in the last decades that were also brilliant, but failed to get into practice due to money shortage and reduced expertise. Here are some resounding global projects that never managed to make the cut:

1. Space tourism. In 2017, Musk announced about the preparation of a space tourism mission, with two pilots flying around the moon. With a payment of $100 million, the travelers would get access to professional training, health check-ups and a lightning-fast space ship that would drive them around the solar system. It may seem exaggerated, knowing that $40 000 was the price that the first space tourist was charged, in 1984.

Charles D. Walker was the first individual to take a space flight, together with his employer, who was a NASA engineer. Later there were projects, featuring passenger capsules for 32 and 74 seats that implied a tax of up to $1.5 million from each tourist. However, the breakthrough never stood to happen, due to government’s refusal to provide funds, and the Challenger disaster from 1986, that ruined space industry’s reputation and potential.

2. Link brain to computer.Elon Mask set up a company that specializes on producing brain-machine interfaces with an ultra high speed of data transfer. It helps connect human with computer via a technology of ingraining electrodes in the brain.

Thus, people would be able to transfer their thoughts on the artificial memory of a computer and download them when needed. This is not, yet, the first try to build such a connection. The term of brain-computer interface was coined in 1960’s, and implied many experiments, that ended-up bad due to rudimentary equipment and limited knowledge.

In 1973, professor Jacques Vidal carried out an experiment, where electroencephalogram signals were used to move objects on a computer screen. The innovation triggered no interest and investment, which sent Vidal into oblivion.

3. Space colonization.Elon Musk is the mastermind behind a mission, planned for 2022, of Mars colonization. First it is going to be an unmanned landing, which will test the interplanetary transportation system. The inventor plans to build huge reusable spaceships for trips back and forth to Mars, to carry humans and equipment. Also, the project implies the building of research bases, settlements and resource extraction plants on the red planet’s surface.

The intentions to colonize a planetary body, existed since the beginning of space era. Another space body, with similar terrestrial properties, that was the subject of colonization, is Moon. In 1954, the science-fiction writer Arthur Clarke, came with an idea of building a lunar base, with igloo-shaped modules and a radio transmitter. The plan implied the further development of the base, through new settlements, an air purifying plant and a nuclear reactor. The brilliant idea, that took roots in the contemporary era, remained only on a Clarke’s book page, without being taken into consideration.

There are many new gadgets that are becoming a growing influence on households within households around the world, there are many new Sony, Amazon and Google products that have been bought for people especially around Christmas time. Many of these could have been given as a gift to a loved one however many can also be bought with a leftover Christmas money.

The first product is the Amazon Echo and Amazon Echo Dot these products are very similar as they are just a smaller version of each other and therefore they are becoming a growing household item, the echo can do many things such as play music, control any lights should they be smart light and search on the internet. These are small little items that can help do many things especially as you talk about it rather than have to press any buttons, it will also help you with other jobs such as writing a shopping list that you can update.

The Google home mini is Google’s alternative to Amazon’s Echo as they do similar things such as tell the weather when asked therefore it will save people time while getting changed or doing other things as well as this it can tell you the news or even search up Wikipedia pages online.

Another product is the new iPhone X from Apple, this is a well known but expensive product. The iPhone X is the biggest screen on an iPhone since its 0.3 inches bigger than the next biggest, iPhone 8 plus. The main new addition to the iPhone X is facial recognition, therefore, making it harder for people to log in without it being their own phone. You can also purchase using facial recognition making it more secure than ever.

The next product that will be seen in households will be the new Microsoft Surface this is because it’s a very thin laptop that does more than any other laptop on the market however its retailing at around $1300, it also comes with Windows 10 S.

The next product is a gaming monitor, this is the Samsung CHG90 this is a 49-inch gaming monitor for the top gamers, the product is also curved for optimal results and graphics. The monitor has a 32:9 aspect ratio which is the market leader and therefore for any top-level gamers this is the
perfect fit for them.

The final product is another Apple product this time the MacBook Pro and it has an easy to navigate iOS software that is on all Apple devices from MacBooks to iPhones. The retail price of the new MacBook Pro is also, around $1300 which is the same price as their competitors over at Microsoft but there are many more advantages to the MacBook when compared to Microsoft’s product such as a bigger screen and an extra USB Port.

Overall there are many new products on the market that can be bought to improve many other parts of daily life as listed above, therefore this article shows many of them that can be bought however it’s important to see there are many other products.

Let’s look at five of the leading technological trends for 2018: AI Foundation, Intelligent Apps and Analytics, Intelligent Things, Digital Twin and Edge Computing.

AI Foundation changes behavior in the empowerment to decide; Intelligent Apps and Analytics track behavior of the old and new Internet users; Intelligent Things allows the programming robots to interact with the environment; and Digital Twin is becoming strong in biometrics and medical fields and Edge Computing brings it all closer.

1. AI Foundation has almost immeasurable capabilities when it comes to business models and ecosystems, restructuring of the buyer’s existence and affecting behavior by empowering the ability to make decisions.

In the Gartner survey, 59% of businesses are constructing AI strategy. The remainder of businesses are beginning AI programs. Big investment and skills production tools are quite likely; therefore, companies might want to pinpoint micro creations and one task focus.

By the year 2020, AI programming will be in 30% of CIOs priority list for investment. These investments would be in preparation for data, areas of integration and the production of models; plus, training in algorithm and methodology selection.

2. Intelligent Apps and Analytics at one point or another, with AI eventually becoming part of most applications, apps and different services, AI is the site of war between software and service vendors. Companies can get apps that augment human activity and should. And should be aware of activity in higher analytics, the closer involved with the reaction of a user it can always be aware of intelligent processes.

3. Intelligent Things will operate independently, or not, with AI programming. For example, a butler who cleans up spills in the kitchen, and does it almost by himself. In this technical revolution many factors will come together in resolution. At a programmer’s conference, one programmer demonstrated how to program a robot with JavaScript.

4. Digital Twin are digital reflections of real-world interconnecting networks, and report on their real-world counterpart. Billions of dollars are at stake here. These reflections can change or increase production as a possibility of saving billions of dollars to maintain machinery and production work.

Creativity for production of those projections that don’t fall under the category of “thinks” are like biometrics and medical information to doctors; or a digital twin represents a city to provide information for a zoning.

5. Edge Computing comes closer to the user in working with the computer to the behavior that goes into processing. Bandwidth is reduced, and the latency found with sensors in the cloud is gone as compared to regular cloud operations. As technology grows the real-time using of an extraordinary amount of information will also grow.

In this equation, the leveraging of resources is imperative because these resources may not be attached to a network. Resources like sensors, laptops, tablets, and smart phones.

Many solutions require a culmination of resources. There is an enormous blanket of technology that the edge computing covers: augmented reality, peer-to-peer ad hoc networking plus processing found often in local cloud/fog computing and grid/mesh computing, dew computing, wireless sensor networks.

There is also mobile edge computing, autonomic self-healing networks, cloudiet, remote cloud services, distributed data storage and retrieval.

The ongoing development of technology creates a huge demand for continued education, self-development and awareness. And the Internet has provided a vast number of tutorials.

Just when you thought you had seen a fair share of reforms in our business sector, technology and some of the worlds known moguls solicit to disagree. It may all have started as a small project idea in the mind of a visionary techie, but recent interest in drone technology has revolutionized a lot of sectors in our economy. A statement made by Amazon’s chief executive, Jeff Bezos proposed the inclosing of drone technology in the business sector as far as delivery of goods is concerned.

In December 2016, Amazon made their first commercial delivery to an English customer, courtesy of a drone delivery. Though not so many people or organizations have adopted this system yet, some of the benefits that it brings to our doorstep remain undisputed. Let’s face it, human delivery systems are slow and not always reliable; although in recent years human delivery has sped up tremendously, a drone could be far more efficient in delivering goods to your home (especially considering it will be solely handling your package, whereas by comparison a UPS or Fedex driver has to make several deliveries on the same route).

Drones also don’t have to worry about stop and go traffic, as long as we can figure out proper air space, they can flow appropriately from one destination to another.

So far, as usual, technological progress to make our lives more efficient is impeded by mankind. Mostly, people feel it will inconvenience them and fill up the air space above, a true point indeed, and one that logistics companies run by Amazon will have to figure out how to get around to appease society.

As a homeowner or renter, it is wise to keep a keen eye on the type of developments that are happening in your neighbourhood. You should prepare yourself for imminent changes if you wake up one early morning to the sound of construction workers constructing a new condominium. Just like other developments such as roads and commercial buildings, a new condominium in your area has both positive and negative impacts. Assessing the impact of the development helps you develop ways of taking advantage of these condos.

Here are three positive things you should expect from the development.

• Economic Benefits

Once the construction kicks off, it creates an economic boom in the area. The families that will occupy the condo will provide additional income for local businesses and shops. They will also provide revenue for the local government in addition to filling in gaps in vacancies within the area. As long as the condo will be, the community should be ready to enjoy recurring income with the government enjoying a revenue income each year. Additionally, the local businesses should be ready to make more money than they are currently making. That might result in an increase in salaries and wages for their employees.

“A new condo project may create as many as 500 jobs for the local residents who will work on the construction” – says Parham, a representative from Condo Channel. When there is more than one condo coming up, the development can be one of the largest job creators in a region. Some of the job fields created includes law, architecture, electricians, and plumbing among others.

• Development of Social Amenities

Once a new development comes up in area, amenities such as roads tend to come up with the aim of improving the transportation network within the community. The overall benefit is that moving in, out, and around the neighborhood becomes easy. Development of roads also plays a big part in economic as it reduces the time spent moving around the area, which means less gas is used.

Furthermore, the rate of vehicle depreciation that results from driving on bad roads will reduce. That is a plus to the residents of the new condo and the community as well. In short, a new condo development leads to improvement in infrastructure in areas surrounding the development.

• Home-ownership is Easy

An economic depression in the recent past led to a drop in the cost of home-ownership. Condos are some of the most affordable homes you can get today. Therefore, becoming a homeowner in an area where a condominium development comes is easier now than it was in the past. Take up a condo as soon as the development is complete. Remember, the setup of the condos lowers the overall cost of construction and therefore, the prices of the condos are low. If you have been looking for a cheap single family home, then the new condo development in your region might be the solution.

Regardless of the bad reputation in the construction industry, condo development has an overall positive impact on the community at large. Moreover, as long as the contractors carry out proper planning, then it becomes easy to avoid some of the cons associated with condo development.