From Concrete Jungles to Green Cities: Envisioning Sustainable Construction in 10 Years

From Concrete Jungles to Green Cities: Envisioning Sustainable Construction in 10 Years. Photo by C Dustin on Unsplash
Reading Time: 4 minutes

From Concrete Jungles to Green Cities: Envisioning Sustainable Construction in 10 Years. Photo by C Dustin on Unsplash

Reading Time: 4 minutes

From Concrete Jungles to Green Cities: Envisioning Sustainable Construction in 10 Years

Innovative materials and eco-conscious operational changes are at the forefront of modern construction today — and for good reason. Choosing more sustainable materials and techniques lessens the environmental impact, offers many cost savings, minimizes waste and offers several other benefits, like better energy efficiency for completed projects.

Sustainability is also just getting started. We’re building momentum collectively and moving more and more to sustainable operations, but it’s tough to quantify what that will look like a decade from now. What will sustainable construction be in 10 years? Let’s explore a few reasonable predictions.

1. 3D Printing Will Be More Widely Used

There’s a perfect storm for a big push toward 3D printing, commercially and residentially. For starters, the cost of the average home has ballooned — the same is true of commercial property. 3D printed projects are also more manageable, with everything printed and assembled on-site or shipped in pre-fabricated parts to be assembled on-site — requiring less heavy machinery and equipment to do so. While many 3D buildings are already in development, in 10 years, that will be exponentially so.

Also called additive manufacturing, 3D printing is cheaper overall, with home options ranging from $10,000-$400,000. The materials used are often sustainable, with diverse options from wood and cement to resins. They’re usually designed to be more reliable, with longevity in mind and higher efficiencies, like lower energy usage, better insulation or airflow and even smart tech built-in. The large 3D printers can be used virtually anywhere, even in remote, hard-to-reach places. It won’t be surprising to see most of the construction industry leverage 3D printing in one way or another for future builds.

2. Robotics and Automation

It doesn’t take a genius to see that advanced robotics and better automation will be available throughout the industry in the coming years. For example, bricklaying robots already exist and are out in the field building structures. There are also autonomous vehicles, including self-operating heavy machinery, land, air and sea drones and robotic exoskeletons augmenting even humans.

These technologies will vastly improve the speed, efficiency, and quality of the builds in question. Still, they take the onus off human counterparts, making the average job site safer and more secure, at least during development. It should also alleviate some of the labor shortage concerns on the horizon, ensuring that construction operations can continue even in the face of dwindling resources.

3. Smart Buildings, Smart Cities, and IoT

Built from the ground up, smart buildings, cities and the Internet of Things (IoT) are the future we’re moving towards. It stretches beyond asking a voice assistant to turn on lights or unlock a door. It will inherently change the face of modern operations and modern living. 

Think of predictive maintenance solutions that automatically address building or apartment concerns before they grow into even bigger problems. Renewable energy solutions that generate and supply energy during peak hours while cutting down on general power consumption. Intelligent HVAC solutions that use less power to cool indoor spaces but with higher efficiency and better precision, thanks to intelligent monitoring. Here’s one even better — environmental monitoring solutions to keep a handle on urban pollution.

Overall, IoT and data-based technologies will create a more responsive building, enriching our lives at work and home.

4. Sustainable and Thoughtful Construction

Thanks to modern solutions, like Building Information Modeling (BIM), the industry is now vastly capable of designing and building more sustainable structures — and not just through the materials used. Many additional factors play a role, like optimal design, occupant safety, minimal maintenance requirements and beyond.

Incorporating green roofs or walls, enhancing insulation, streamlining ductwork to allow optimal cooling and airflow and using stronger, more reliable doors and windows are just a few things made possible with modern techniques. Even the orientation of a building or home on a property, adjusting for how much sunlight the structure is exposed to, can alter its entire sustainability rating. Homes oriented to the sun’s path consume less energy for heating and cooling, for instance. In 10 years, we’ll be well versed in some of these techniques, having used them for years, and the tools will also be vastly improved for designing more sustainable structures.

5. Augmented Reality and VR

Imagine virtually walking through a finished build like an on-site tour — before even breaking ground. Or consider meeting with design professionals in a virtual space to collaboratively work on the building plans and designs for an upcoming project. These two scenarios will be possible soon, let alone in 10 years when the technology has advanced even more. 

As remote and hybrid work opportunities become more commonplace, these technologies will help bridge the gap between digital and physical experiences. They also allow two parties or professionals separated by vast distances, like across the globe from one another, to meet in person and virtually work right next to each other. It’s a safe bet to expect that virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technologies will become more endemic to the construction industry.

6. Modular Construction Will Find a Home

Prefabricated or modular structures are becoming more common. They involve pre-building or printing the various parts before bringing them to the project site. They’re usually then assembled on-site, similar to how 3D printing works. However, modular and prefabricated homes aren’t necessarily always 3D printed. They require fewer machines, like heavy equipment, and fewer resources overall while being much faster to assemble than traditional construction methods.

In a 2020 McKinsey report, it’s estimated that the permanent modular construction industry’s new project growth in North America increased by 51% between 2015 and 2018. Since modular buildings reduce operational costs and decrease project timelines, that trend will likely continue.

No One Can Predict the Future, But We Can Sure Try

No crystal ball allows us to gaze into the future. However, it’s a safe bet that advanced automation and robotics will help build many structures in the near future. 3D printing and modular construction may also be more prominent, and we’ll be living in smart cities with IoT and data-driven technologies vastly improving our average lifestyle. Outliers like augmented and virtual reality will help improve collaboration and design techniques, bridging the gap between our digital and virtual domains.


These solutions will help improve general sustainability within the construction field. We’ll also be looking at more efficient and better use of existing resources, like renewable energy versus energy supplied by traditional fossil fuels.

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