Exploring Sources Of Innovation In Construction Industry Essay.

Importance of Augmented Reality

Incremental innovation can be defined as the process of small and essential improvements that are done within the existing products and services. The purpose of the improvement is to bring out efficiency within the user experience. The private business organizations attempt to implement this innovation with better quality and cost effective products and services. The aim of the current study is to discuss about eureka moments and its importance in the context of implementing innovation techniques. The innovation techniques will be discussed in the context of the construction industry focusing upon the Vinci Construction UK. Hence, the study will highlight upon the innovation techniques that will be implemented by the given organization to bring about improvement in the construction industry.

With the demand within the construction industry going up, application of the latest innovation can help the construction companies to gain significant competitive advantage. The Vinci Construction of UK is famous for their innovation and creativity within the technological terms and process. The company has currently 9,000 employees and is famous the skill development programs. This has helped them to gain make use of the modern technology and bring about the process of innovation within the construction industry (Vinciconstruction.co.uk, 2018)

The current and the latest innovation process are dependent upon improvement within the supply chain process. This is essential in the context of dealing with the issues within the construction industry. It is therefore possible to deal with the issues of sustainability within the construction industry (Bygballe and Ingemansson 2014). The modern day construction industry is believed to have the potential to improve with the application of the augmented reality technology. With the help of the augmented reality technology, it is possible to get the real picture of the practical world scenario. 3D images and models of the construction projects are generated with the help of the augmented reality program. The programming software helps in setting up the coordination in the augmented reality units that are synced up with the real world coordination. 3D models are used in the given case, which are needed to improve the overall design of the building for better levels of sustainability (Reiman et al. 2015). The Vinci Construction has implemented the technology of smart reality that is considered to be a part of making use of the real 3D images.

The design of the construction projects with the help of the augmented reality can also help to deal with better quality of construction that are needed as part of the earthquakes. The overall design analysis of the building is done with 3D images of the augmented reality.

Building Information Modeling (BIM)

Murphy et al.(2015), have mentioned about the importance of Building Information modeling (BIM) that are used in the digital representation of the models within the construction works. The BIM uses the existing resources within the industry to share important information related to advanced levels of construction. Similar to the augmented reality, BIM technology can also help to provide the detailed information through 3D picture representation. The technology uses the functional characteristics of a facility. This helps them within the process of sharing essential information related to the resources with the construction projects. The construction industry is making use of BIM to detect the loopholes that can cause future damage within the constructional works. With the help of details data that are obtained from the virtual image of BIM, it is possible to get the details of the final construction work along with that of the architectural design (Volk et al. 2014).

The innovative technique of BIM has helped to Vinci Construction of UK to make use of high levels of architectural designs. This is necessary for all advanced styles of international buildings. The company has made concerted efforts to make use of the digital design, in order to make use of the BIM technology. The firm also promotes the usages of BIM technology that can help to deal with the environmental issues caused due to the construction works. The advanced forms of data are believed to be the key for the information modelling projects. The stakeholders within the construction work can help to deal with the issues that are related to that of the documentation process. The advanced levels of data related to that of the project teams can be stored effectively to for future advancement.

Graphisoft is considered to be the first BIM development firm that has established the 3D virtual software. This software helped in the process of implementing the models that are relevant to the high collecting levels of data related to that of the 3D modelling. According to Lindgren et al.(2018), procurement of advanced levels of resources is considered to be one of the biggest advantages of BIM. This is mainly possible due to advanced level of technological information that is available with the application of BIM. 75% of the construction companies in the UK are dependent upon the usage of BIM for better and faster construction works. It is also possible to optimize the available resources (Alwan et al. 2017).

Self-healing Concrete

Han et al. (2017), have mentioned about the importance of self-healing concrete that is also considered as one of the significant innovation within the construction industry. Crack in the construction work is one of the major issues, which is caused due to exposure to water and Chemicals. The self-healing concrete is prepared with the help of bacterial microcapsules that has the ability to germinate water, entering the concrete. Limestone is produced in the process that can help in plugging the crack, thereby preventing the negative effects of water and oxygen.

With the help of self-healing concrete it is now possible to significantly reduce the total number of cases that are caused due to crack. The durability of particular concrete can also increase that can provide easy transportation of construction materials.

The bacteria that are selected for the self-healing concrete have the ability to produce calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate precipitate can help the concrete to be more sustainable and deal with rough environmental situations (Wang et al. 2014).

With the application of the self-healing concrete, Vinci Construction of UK has been able to deal with the issues of financial loss that are caused due to the cracks in all types of construction works. Hence, the healing concrete can be considered as one of the major leaps in the construction project works that has helped in proper utilization of all types of resources.

Effective insulating material are one of the popular innovative techniques used in construction firms. Heat are transferred directly through the building envelope to the dimensional block in order to improve the strength of the overall building construction. In this type of situation, the building is in direct contact with inside and outside elements that are evolved as major constructional innovation in order to insulate the layers of building. In a modern day construction, thermal bridging can act as major advantage for dealing with the challenges related to insulation of buildings.

The major advantage of thermal bridging is the fact that it does not allow it to directly pass from outside of the building to inside. Hence, it is possible to control the temperature of inside building. This type of innovative techniques is most important in cold regions, wherein the houses need to be insulated in order to prevent loss of heat from inside.

Nevertheless, there has to be a strict regulation that needs to be maintained by the construction firms. Improper thermal bridging can result in loopholes in the construction work thereby damaging the materials that are used in the building process.Thermal bridging can be categorised as repeating, where the wall ties regularly Bridge between the cavities of the building walls. There is also non-repeating, where the wall junction consists of different materials consisting of diverse items that can help in the process of insulation. The non-repeating time is more effective due to the fact that it can enhance the process of insulation and long lasting capability of the building. It is also possible to deal with the gaps that are generated within the construction walls thereby improving the overall structure.

Thermal Bridging

In the modern day global society one of the major issues that are encountered in most of buildings is due to shortage of energy supply. In the given context building integrated photovoltaic glazing are aimed at the building to generate their electricity with the help of solar panel. As the whole building is converted into solar panel chamber, it is possible to trap the energy from the sun that is letter used to generate electricity. The Vinci Construction has set up business partnership with solar panel producing firms to get the materials that are used in photovoltaic glazing. Transparent glasses are used in walls and Windows of the building that act as solar energy trapping materials. This is also considered to be one of the effective ways to control the temperature of the building as the solar energy is able to protect the heat from inside building (Yang and Athienitis 2014).

This innovation technique has helped to save the overall cost of energy consumption of the building. The photovoltaic glazing is mainly used in commercial buildings, where the demand for energy is generally huge.

The modular Construction Techniques are also becoming one of the most popularly used processes. This technique is mainly used as a Pre Engineering concept that is used in construction sites to properly deliver all type of materials. The main purpose of this innovative technique is to minimise the environmental damage that is caused in every construction projects. Proper Logistic exercise is also implemented, which makes it possible to easily deliver all type of materials used in the construction work. The sustainability of building materials is considered to be the major advantage of modular construction (Lawson et al. 2014). The Vinci Construction has used this technique in order to complete large-scale projects in UK construction industry. The use of Sustainable materials has helped to reduce the cost of building maintenance. It is also possible to protect the harmful effects of environmental degradation that are generally caused by constructional waste disposals.

The technique of asset mapping has also been implemented in the recent time, where advanced level of operational equipment is used to enhance the security system in construction works. Essential data are collected as a part of asset mapping technique that is used in security protocols. With detailed information it is possible for the constructional engineers to locate the place of installing equipment thereby helping to improve the process of building security. This innovative process can help in installing advanced level of database which can act as proactive maintenance component of the building (Green and Haines 2015).

Building Integrated Photovoltaic Glazing (BIPV)

The process of BIM can be regarded as one of the major incremental innovation for the construction industry that is also considered as one of the major radial innovation. This is evident from the business expansion that are done by the Vinci Construction. The techniques of modular Construction Techniques has helped the company to expand the market at the global platform. This can therefore can be regarded as a part of the disruptive innovation that has rapidly created new marketing opportunity for the respective industry. Overall the overall innovation process and techniques has been able to bring about revolution in the construction industry in the UK market. 

These innovative techniques that are mentioned in the above section as help to improve upon the constructional process used by the respective industry. The Vinci Construction has been able to popularize and use the same at a commercial scale. With the application of the techniques like the augmented reality, it is possible to make use of large scale of changes within the respective industry.  There are also the elements of BIM that can help in implementing the innovation techniques for advanced levels of information needed for the construction works and improve upon the building materials. The advanced levels of utility software that are used within the management of the Vinci Construction have helped them to take advanced levels of project for the international market. With the introduction of the materials like that of the self-healing concrete, it is possible to save the expenses that are caused due to constructional damages. There is also the technique of thermal bridging and building integrated photovoltaic glazing that can help in the process of conservation energy. These innovative techniques can help to improve the efficiency of the construction industry.  This can be regarded as the series of incremental innovation that has mainly focused on the sustainability of the industry. The existing techniques have been improved effectively to make optimized use of the available resources. The Vinci Construction has been able to gain significant competitive advantage in the respective industry as they have been able to implement the process of incremental innovation.

Reference

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Han, B., Zhang, L. and Ou, J., 2017. Self-Healing Concrete. In Smart and Multifunctional Concrete Toward Sustainable Infrastructures (pp. 117-155). Springer, Singapore.

Lawson, M., Ogden, R. and Goodier, C., 2014. Design in modular construction. CRC Press.

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