Three days of discussion and analysis on how the construction sector has transformed, and in this change, what are its challenges but also its opportunities. This has been the focus of REBUILD 2023, which celebrated its sixth edition with solids such as innovation, technology, industrialization and sustainability, but with the need to skilled labor as a merge of all of them.
That is why, during the three days that the event lasted and which managed to gather a total of 22,854 visitors, there was not a single paper, discussion table or presentation that did not have as a backdrop the need for change. Faced by the sector which is only to achieve a new paradigm of Construction of industrial buildings.
[La escasez de mano de obra o los nuevos procesos industriales protagonizarán la sexta edición de REBUILD]
Manufacturing a traditional craft activity that will not only improve the efficiency and digitization of the sector, but will also promote the creation of qualified employment and attracting young men and women, Gemma Traveria, Director of REBUILD, also defended it a few days ago.
However, there is still a long way to go in this goal, as was indicated during the event, currently in Spain industrial construction It represents only 2% of the total construction which are implemented in the national territory, while in regions such as Germany or the United Kingdom they represent 9% and 7%, respectively.
For this reason, one of the key messages of REBUILD was the need to Cooperation between the public and private sectors In addition to the firm commitment of the public authorities to create the ideal climate that allows this industrialization of the sector.
Tax and regulatory changes
In this sense, the event participants highlighted the urgency of the undertaking Changes in standards such as the Technical Building Code Or in the sector’s own financing system. “You have to change the mortgage law to make banks evaluate other factors and not just what is being built on the site,” he noted. Roberto Albizar, Director of Corporate Development at ACR.
An idea shared by Paloma Martín, Minister of Environment, Housing and Agriculture of the Community of Madrid Government who highlighted the The “responsibility of public authorities to improve the conditions that facilitate companies to deploy their full potential and creativity”, among other measures, indicated the need for “administrations to develop tax environment That helps investment, as well as public-private cooperation to build affordable housing.”
For his part, as well as in the search for public initiatives that promote industrial construction, Iñaki Karnicero, Secretary General of the Urban and Housing Agenda at the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda, It highlighted the modern architecture quality codewhich wants to promote industrialization, among other things, in order to contribute to decarbonization.
Net zero access in the building
Specifically, decarbonization of the sector was another key figure in REBUILD 2023 with sustainability as the umbrella. It is a particularly important challenge if we consider that construction in our country accounts for 30.1% of final energy consumption and 25.1% of carbon dioxide emissions.
Thus, during the event, there were many ideas on how to move towards more sustainable construction, betting on materials such as wood with a zero carbon footprint and circular economy standards. “thefor woodIf handled properly, we can include it back into the cycle, and if biomass continues to burn, we will also emit carbon dioxide at the end of its useful life.”
The way they are built must also change and, as Marcel Gómez, Director of Marcel Gómez Consultória Ambiental, points out, “it has to take into account the end-of-life of buildings. Deconstruction design is essential to be able to Recycling Then materials and creating a circular economy.”
There is something that Mariano García, Director of Sustainability at Holcim Spain, agrees on: “The sector must be able to build better with fewer resources to reach more efficient buildings. We cannot forget Circular economywhich has not yet been fully assumed by the value chain.” In addition, the sustainability manager of Holcim Spain went further and proposed a broken solution that would allow carbon dioxide capture Emitted in construction operations “to be stored in brine bunkers or used for a second use, thus revaluing the emissions as fuel.”
Ideas for achieving a more socially sustainable sector, spoke Stepan Martynovski, Senior Associate and Project Head for Wood Architecture Studio Heatherwick Studio, in his speech: “We are committed to finding a balance between flat sustainability (calculations of the carbon footprint or energy used in operations), and social sustainability, which is associated with the construction of buildings that add value to society and the city. We hope that these types of buildings that people love will last longer and be demolished less.”
Technology and cooperation
The digitization of the sector, a process parallel to its industrialization, was another thematic focus of REBUILD 2023. And so, there is another edition, which is BIM methodology He has been the protagonist of many discussion tables and presentations, which have highlighted how this collaboration model reduces communication failures in the build process and allows resource optimization.
There are many examples of the use of BIM, including by public administration, as explained by Jesús M. Gomez Garcia, Undersecretary for Transportation, Mobility and Urban Agenda at the Department of Transportation, who stated that “This methodology allows us Save 10% on lead times, as well as reduce maintenance and operating costs. In addition, it facilitates waste reduction on construction sites and optimization of energy consumption, as well as a circular economy. On the other hand, it is also an ally in the face of talent shortages, as the production form reduces the gender gap and provides added value to young people.
But, besides BIM, REBUILD has also had a presence in technologies like digital twins, artificial intelligence, virtual reality, or even the metaverse. During the event it was possible to learn about use cases and solutions, for example, anticipating building needs, through a digital twinor to view the design of a building through augmented reality, visualize it and make adjustments, for example, to its plumbing installation.
Thus, for example, José Manuel Olizola, Head of Digital Transformation and Building Automation of the company, explains how the digital twin is necessary from the very beginning of the project, from the design stage. On the other hand, the augmented reality It is an element of integration, as it allows us to share information between different agents. This is necessary to detect possible incidents and act as quickly as possible.
In short, the version summed up by David Martinez, President of REBUILD, “We have verified that construction needs to pursue an industrial future to struggle for complete decarbonization, overcome the challenge of lack of talent, integrate new professional profiles, reduce production costs or guarantee Everyone has access to housing. Added to this is the integration of technology, which is a key part of automating and transforming construction.”
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