Construction - October 2021 by Construction Global

October 2021 | constructionglobal.com

Smart Cities: Building New and Upgrading Old Tallest Buildings

Technology: Hard Hats Become Visionary AI Tools

LOSBERGER

DE BOER BROADENS HORIZONS

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Losberger De Boer targets military, medical and industrial sectors in the pandemic

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The Construction Team EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

DOMINIC ELLIS EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

SCOTT BIRCH

PRODUCTION DIRECTORS

GEORGIA ALLEN DANIELA KIANIČKOVÁ PRODUCTION MANAGERS

CREATIVE TEAM

OSCAR HATHAWAY SOPHIE-ANN PINNELL HECTOR PENROSE SAM HUBBARD MIMI GUNN JUSTIN SMITH REBEKAH BIRLESON DUKE WETHERILL JORDAN WOOD

OWEN MARTIN PHILLINE VICENTE JACK THOMPSON

VIDEO PRODUCTION MANAGER

PRODUCTION EDITOR

MOTION DESIGNER

JANET BRICE

KIERAN WAITE

TYLER LIVINGSTONE

DIGITAL VIDEO PRODUCERS

KRIS PALMER TOM VENTURO

SAM KEMP EVELYN HUANG HABBIE AMOS JACK NICHOLLS MARTA EUGENIO ERNEST DE NEVE

JORDAN HUBBARD

MARKETING MANAGER

MEDIA SALES DIRECTORS

GRETA ANDREJEVAITE MARKETING DIRECTOR

ROSS GARRIGAN

PROJECT DIRECTORS

BEN MALTBY MIKE SADR

MANAGING DIRECTOR

LEWIS VAUGHAN

EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT

JASON WESTGATE MARK CAWSTON

CHIEF OPERATIONS OFFICER

STACY NORMAN PRESIDENT & CEO

GLEN WHITE

FOREWORD

AI comes into view as valuable on site tool THE PHYSICAL AND VIRTUAL WORLDS ARE INTEGRATING AT AN ACCELERATING PACE AND EVERY COMPANY MUST ENSURE IT IS NOT LEFT BEHIND

“How the real and digital worlds are integrating is illustrated by Buildots’ hard-hat mounted cameras, allowing project managers to make decisions that speed up construction and reduce costs”

Construction hasn’t been the quickest to embrace new technologies but it is starting to change its ways. How the real and digital worlds are integrating is illustrated by Buildots’ hard-hat mounted cameras, allowing project managers to make decisions that speed up construction and reduce costs. Read all the latest changes in our AI feature. We must hope the virtual can address one of the physically stubborn issues – site safety – with construction recently deemed to be the riskiest job in the UK; that unwanted title may also explain its poor mental health record too. Through digital transformation, construction will not only be safer but more appealing to graduates entering tomorrow’s workforce. Given the huge investments in infrastructure, energy, housing and industry, there will be plenty of work to go around, so the need for productive and efficient workplaces will be paramount.

DOMINIC ELLIS CONSTRUCTION MAGAZINE IS PUBLISHED BY

dominic.ellis@bizclikmedia.com

constructionglobal.com

CONTENTS

Our Regular Upfront Section: 08 Big Picture 10 The Brief 12 Timeline: HS2 Completes First Construction Year 14 Trailblazer: Vimal Kapur 18 Five Minutes With: Helen Arvanitakis

Smart Cities

Building New and Upgrading Old

Losberger De Boer Broadens Horizons in Pandemic

Industrial Cybersecurity: More Critical than Data Security?

Losberger De Boer

Claroty

Digital Manufacturing

DMC: Innovators Urged to Push Digital Boundaries

Connectivity

More Tie-Ups Enable Connected Buildings at Scale

Technology

Hard Hats Become Visionary AI Tools

Top 10

Tallest Buildings

BIG PICTURE

October 2021

Allegiant Stadium Las Vegas, US

Allegiant Stadium – which recently held its official opening – took three years and nine months to build and can host 65,000 NFL fans. It took 28,000 tons of steel to build, making it heavier than the Statue of Liberty, and 12 miles of concrete driller shaft support the stadium.

constructionglobal.com

THE BRIEF “CONSTRUCTING NET ZERO SMART BUILDINGS FROM THE GROUND UP IS ONE PIECE OF THE PUZZLE. BUT IT IS ALSO IMPORTANT TO DEAL WITH THE EXISTING BUILDING STOCK CONTRIBUTING TO CARBON EMISSIONS” Michael Kwok, East Asia Chairman Arup READ MORE

“The focus will be on connectivity and ‘the end goal’ of integrating ML and AI into the process chain” Kieron Salter,

CEO The Digital Manufacturing Centre READ MORE

“When it comes to digital transformation, construction has been a sleeping giant and Covid19 served as an accelerator for the industry” Roy Danon,

Co-founder and CEO , Buildots READ MORE

October 2021

BY THE NUMBERS Construction is ‘riskiest job’ in UK

Fatalities:

133 deaths over

Construction deaths percentage among industries:

5 years (2015-20)

16.34%

Deaths from falling from height:

Deaths from falls:

19.29% Scotland tops danger ranking:

17.40%

14.62% Men are over 5 times more likely to die in the workplace than women

EDITOR'S CHOICE ISG STARTS ENABLING WORKS AT LANDMARK UK GIGAPLANT SITE Britishvolt has instructed ISG to start work on the Gigaplant site. Britishvolt will manufacture some of the world’s most sustainable, low carbon battery cells. READ MORE

LENDLEASE LAUNCHES GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP WITH GOOGLE CLOUD Lendlease and Google Cloud have struck a new global partnership designed to transform the construction and operation of buildings and cities through new technologies. READ MORE

WINVIC AND IM LAUNCH FUTURE OF CONSTRUCTION TRAINING CENTRE Winvic Construction and its longstanding client, IM Properties, have welcomed the first learners inside its new ‘Future of Construction’ Training Centre at Mercia Park in Leicestershire, UK.. READ MORE

 GRAFTON GROUP

Buildots announces $30 million Series B round as it continues expansion

Grafton Group reported a record operating profit of £142.4 million in the six months to June 30, more than £18 million ahead of consensus.

 ATKINS (SNCLAVALIN GROUP)

What is Buildots? An AI construction tech company which has announced a US$30 million Series B round led by Lightspeed Ventures, with the participation of Buildots’ previous investors, TLV Partners, Future Energy Ventures, Tidhar Construction Group, and Maor Investments.

Atkins has won an engineering contract for a 300MW NET Power station at Wilton International, Teesside – billed as the UK's first Net Zero emissions power station.

What are its plans? The investment will be used to double the size of the Buildots global team, with a focus on developing the sales and R&D departments.

 UK ECONOMY SLOWS AS DEMAND REBOUND FADES AND SUPPLY CONSTRAINTS BITE

Why is there such a focus on AI in construction at the moment? Although construction currently accounts for 13% of the world’s GDP, and the employment of hundreds of millions, it still lags behind in productivity compared with other traditional industries.

A weighted average of the PMI output index covering manufacturing, services and construction, fell for a third straight month in August, dropping to its lowest since February, according to IHS Markit.

According to the European Commission, productivity in the construction sector has remained almost stagnant, having increased by just 1% over the last two decades. “Construction is a massive market with real GDP impact, but it is still underserved by technology. We believe Buildots is the company that will change that reality,” said Tal Morgenstern, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners

 KENYA DEVELOPERS COME UNDER SCRUTINY The collapse of two buildings in Kiambu County, Kenya, over the last two weeks has once again cast the spotlight on control of the country’s mushrooming real estate industry.

W A Y U P OCT 21

W A Y D O W N

constructionglobal.com

TIMELINE HS2 COMPLETES FIRST CONSTRUCTION YEAR HS2 recently announced that over 20,000 people are now working on the high-speed rail project, one year on from the Prime Minister announcing the formal start of construction on Phase One from London to the West Midlands. Here are selected highlights from the first year:

OCT 2020

Two huge modular bridges were moved into place at our Interchange station site in Solihull. One 2,750-tonne, 65-metre bridge structure, was installed in just two days. A second, 45 metre, 914 tonne modular bridge over the A446 in Solihull, was moved into place in only 45 minutes.

MAR 2021

Work began on the UK’s longest railway bridge, with an expert team of ground engineers sinking the first of almost 300 piles that will form the foundations for the Colne Valley Viaduct.

FEB

Parliament gave approval to extend the route north to Crewe.

JAN

Permanent construction of the huge Victoria Road Crossover Box in West London started.

2021

NOV 2020

HS2 invited businesses to tender for £12bn of supply chain contracts to be let over the next 18 months.

2021

DEC 2020

October 2021

HS2 outlined progress at the Euston station site.

APR 2021

HS2 revealed the innovative treatment technology behind the ambitious Colne Valley ‘rewilding’ project to create 127 hectares of new grassland and woodland around HS2’s Chilterns tunnel.

SEP MAY 2021

JUN 2021

Launched ‘Florence’ – the first of ten Tunnel Boring Machines (TBMs) that will dig 64 miles of tunnel on Phase One.

The Transport Secretary gave the go-ahead for the start of permanent works on HS2’s west London ‘super-hub’ station, Old Oak Common.

2021

Started work restoring one of the world’s oldest railway buildings to incorporate it into HS2’s new Birmingham Curzon Street station. A decision on the eastern leg (MidlandsLeeds) is imminent, according to reports.

JUL 2021

Excavation began for the first of five shafts that will provide ventilation and emergency access to the 10-mile long tunnels being dug under the Chiltern hills.

AUG 2021

Opened a new railhead near the village of Calvert which will help the project continue to deliver construction material by rail to its biggest Buckinghamshire site without putting extra lorries on local roads.

constructionglobal.com

TRAILBLAZER

Honeywell rings the management changes Company: Name: Vimal Kapur Job Title: President and CEO

oneywell has announced new leaders of its Performance Materials and Technologies (PMT) and Honeywell Building Technologies (HBT) segments, and a new Chief Operating Officer of Global High Growth Regions. Vimal Kapur has been named President and Chief Executive Officer of PMT, based in Houston. Kapur is a 32-year veteran of Honeywell who most recently led the HBT segment and previously led the Process Solutions business within PMT. Since 2018, Kapur has led HBT, where he guided the business through a period of significant change and instilled an intense operational and customer focus. He drove a growth mindset in HBT, focusing on new products, outcome-based offerings like Healthy Buildings, and Connected solutions. Today's announcement marks Kapur's return to PMT. Previously, Kapur led PMT's Honeywell Process Solutions business, where he generated significant margin expansion while substantially outperforming HPS's peer group. He led HPS through a deep oil and gas downturn in 2015, and the business emerged as an even stronger competitor with a pipeline of innovative new offerings. He has held several other key leadership positions at Honeywell, including Vice President and General Manager of the Advanced Solutions line of business for HPS and Managing Director for Honeywell Automation India Limited (HAIL).

October 2021

“ Throughout Vimal's more than three decades with Honeywell, he has proven his outstanding leadership capabilities and deep knowledge of our end markets” DARIUS ADAMCZYK

CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, HONEYWELL constructionglobal.com

TRAILBLAZER

Kapur graduated from Thapar Institute of Engineering in Patiala, India, as an electronics engineer with a specialisation in instrumentation. He succeeds Rajeev Gautam, who retired in August after a 43-year career with Honeywell. Following his retirement and through to the end of January, he will work closely on the transition with Kapur and will serve as President Emeritus, Honeywell PMT, with responsibility for ensuring smooth customer transitions and helping enable growth within Honeywell UOP, where he spent several decades in leadership positions. Succeeding Kapur is Doug Wright, who has been named President and CEO of Honeywell Building Technologies, based in Atlanta. Wright joined Honeywell in mid-2020 as the leader of HBT's Fire and Security business. Both Kapur and Wright will serve as company officers and report to Chairman and CEO Darius Adamczyk. The changes are effective immediately. In addition, Ben Driggs has been named Chief Operating Officer of Global High Growth Regions, a transition role that will lead him to become President of Global High Growth Regions on January 1, 2022. Driggs will succeed Shane Tedjarati, who has decided to retire at the end of 2021 after a 17-year career at Honeywell leading the company's growth efforts in emerging regions. Tedjarati will remain in an advisory capacity to Honeywell over the next three years. Driggs will be based in Shanghai. "Today's announcement is a demonstration of both the outstanding quality of our leadership and our ability to develop capable and ready-now successors for executive-level roles," said Darius Adamczyk, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Honeywell. "Throughout Vimal's more than three decades with Honeywell, he has proven 16

October 2021

his outstanding leadership capabilities and deep knowledge of our end markets. Doug's extensive experience in the controls industry has enabled him to drive better customer and market alignment in the fire and security business. Ben brings exceptional customer focus and extensive global experience to our Global High Growth Regions organization. Honeywell will continue to be well positioned for global growth under leaders such as Vimal, Doug, and Ben, not to mention the rest of our management team." Wright joined Honeywell in July 2020 as the President of HBT's Fire and Security business and quickly made a significant

impact, driving better alignment with our customers and markets to enable breakthrough growth. Wright was the President and CEO of Source Photonics, a global provider of optical communication products used in telecommunication systems and data communication networks. Previously, he spent six years at United Technologies, where he served as President of Asia for the company's Fire and Security group, based in Shanghai, and President of the company's $2.5 billion Automation and Controls Solutions business. Prior to United Technologies, he worked for 15 years at

Honeywell is a Fortune 100 technology company that delivers industry-specific solutions that include aerospace products and services; control technologies for buildings and industry; and performance materials globally. Its technologies help aircraft, buildings, manufacturing plants, supply chains, and workers become more connected to make our world smarter, safer, and more sustainable.

Ingersoll Rand, where he served in a variety of leadership roles. Wright earned his M.B.A. in international business from the University of North Carolina and his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Virginia Tech. constructionglobal.com

FIVE MINUTES WITH...

HELEN ARVANITAKIS HELEN ARVANITAKIS, DIRECTOR OF DESIGN DISTRICT, REFLECTS ON THE HUGE IMPACT THE PANDEMIC HAS HAD ON THE CREATIVE SECTOR AND HOW ITS NEW DEVELOPMENT IN LONDON PROVIDES A BEACON OF HOPE.

Q. TELL US ABOUT THE JOURNEY YOU’VE BEEN ON TO LAUNCH THE DESIGN DISTRICT?

» On Greenwich Peninsula, we’ve

been building the Design District in a period of flux and reckoning for UK creativity. Before COVID-19, our goal was simply to create a dedicated district for the creative industries that would provide workspace to businesses and individuals at all stages of growth, but as the pandemic has continued, we’ve realised that the survival of the sector we’re investing in needs us to do more than that. The way work was changing, both positive and negative, led to the development of Bureau – a new members’ club and flexible workspace for freelancers and small studios – and encouraged us to formulate new part-time tenancy models and flexible contracts (what we call the ‘On/Off Office’).

Q. WHAT ARE THE PROSPECTS MOVING FORWARD?

» When it came to financial bailouts,

freelancers and the self-employed (which make up around 47% of the creative industries) turned out to be at the back of the queue. As the clouds lift and something resembling normality is restored, it’s likely that our creative sector will be a shadow of its former self. Already eroded from within by being forced to operate within an infrastructure that did not adequately support them, the creative industries are on track to be hit harder by the pandemic than many other sectors – bearing the brunt of a £29bn GVA shortfall in 2020 18

October 2021

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FIVE MINUTES WITH...

compared to 2019 – over half of which is concentrated on London. But there is reason for hope. The challenges that creative businesses faced – both before and during the pandemic – allow us to formulate a clear and actionable wish list for a better future, to imagine a world in which the contribution of creatives is recognised, supported, and actively designed for. A real chance to build back better.

Q. HOW DO YOU SEE WORKPLACE RELATIONSHIPS CHANGING?

» I believe there is both an

opportunity and a need for synergy and partnership between workspace providers and creatives. As landlords, we can drop the ‘like it or lump it’ approach, and adapt our offering to suit the best interests of everyone. We don’t need to make businesses pay full-time rents to cover parttime needs. We don’t need to commit them to overheads that drain cash that could be spent on growth. We can offer flexible workspace tenancies that give companies and individuals the best chance to rebuild and expand, without frightening them off with intimidating financial commitments.

Q. HOW CAN THE SECTOR BOUNCE BACK AFTER THE PANDEMIC?

» If we’re to get our creative industries back on track, we need to make sure businesses are able to invest in staff, development, systems, marketing – all the elements that enable growth. To do that, rents have to come down to give creatives time to get back on their feet – and remain affordable afterwards. The economic challenges the industry is facing meant we had to find viable ways of reducing rents so our tenant businesses could invest in sustaining themselves. And that’s not selflessness; it’s basic business sense – as workplace providers, if the sector we’re set up to serve doesn’t survive, then nor do we. I’m not for a moment suggesting that landlords 20

October 2021

and workspace providers like us can single-handedly restore London’s creative economy. That’s a far bigger issue. But I do believe that we’re in a position to build the best possible framework for our city’s creative community to regroup and thrive.

and chance conversations. You just can’t do all that over Zoom; we need a new, blended model that combines the freedom of remote working while facilitating the need for human connection that all industries, but the creative sector in particular, depend on.

Q. WILL THE NEW DISTRICT SPUR INNOVATION?

Helen Arvanitakis is Director of Design District, a new workplace designed specifically for the creative sector on Greenwich Peninsula, which officially opened in September.

» Ideas don’t happen in isolation and

innovation doesn’t occur in a vacuum. Creative thinking is a product of mixing and mingling, of happy accidents

constructionglobal.com

Meet the Top 100 Leaders in SupplyChain

OUT NOW A BizClik Media Group Brand

supplyc

haind

igital.c om

TOP LEAD ERS 2021

NOMINATE

CELEBRATE

Creating Digital Communities

LOSBERGER DE BOER

October 2021

LOSBERGER DE BOER

LOSBERGER DE BOER BROADENS HORIZONS IN PANDEMIC

WRITTEN BY: DOMINIC ELLIS PRODUCED BY: TOM LIVERMORE

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LOSBERGER DE BOER

1919

Year Founded

Events Industry

1,0005,000 Number of Employees

212mn Revenue in Euros (2019)

October 2021

LOSBERGER DE BOER

While Losberger De Boer remains focused on events, it has been busy targeting military, medical and industrial sectors in the pandemic

’ve been taken on a virtual round-theworld trip by Oscar Gersjes, Group Procurement Director at Losberger De Boer, as we hop from emergency shelters in Haiti and military camps in Mali, to the most well-known motorsports event in the world, a number of highly customized storage facilities and even find time in our one-hour Zoom meeting to discuss European cultural nuances. The breadth of work underlines two key messages: the company’s global presence and ability to pivot in the pandemic, broadening its business alongside its core events expertise. Rapid Deployment Solutions (RDS), Commercial and Event buildings are its key sectors, with rental space and special projects accounting for the largest slice of turnover. Perhaps surprisingly, given its events exposure during the teeth of the crisis, 2020 came in above budget although 2021 projections are currently a little below forecasts – although he is confident it will close the year hitting targets. Major upcoming projects include large scale racing and golf events. “Every change provides plenty of opportunities. At the moment there haven’t been many events but we’ve built a lot of commercial buildings in Europe, sport centres in France, and a wide range of medical facilities to help fight the pandemic all over the world, from temporary hospitals and triage centres to test and vaccination centres,” he said. constructionglobal.com

LOSBERGER DE BOER

“ We try and change materials to more composites, they tend to be cheaper, lighter and environmentally friendly. The importance of weight reduction is getting more and more important” OSCAR GERSJES

GROUP PROCUREMENT DIRECTOR, LOSBERGER DE BOER

October 2021

The global events supplier – whose long client list includes the Mobile World Congress, G7 and G8 meetings, NATO summits, Wimbledon, Tour de France, and the Farnborough Air Show – has chosen to invest in product innovation during the pandemic, in order to expand its role as industry leader in the events sector when events are completely back, as well as re-inventing its product portfolio to not only keep up, but stay ahead of the changing times. Throughout 2020, the company has adapted its products to help the healthcare sector in dealing with the pandemic. Alongside healthcare professionals, a blueprint for an optimized temporary mass vaccination centre was developed, to allow large numbers of people to be vaccinated efficiently and safely. Structures that are normally used for events were transformed

LOSBERGER DE BOER

into triage centres or facilities that help businesses and institutions adapt to social distancing requirements, like temporary auditoria and canteens. The company used this knowledge for the events sector as well, creating blueprints for ‘covid-proof’ events. For German kitchen giant Nobilia, Losberger De Boer helped create a venue that could safely hold large numbers of people whilst complying with strict German covid-regulations. Tennis events like the Barcelona and Hamburg open were able to come back, partly because Losberger De Boer was able to adapt its facilities to meet the constantly changing restrictions. In case of the Porsche European Open in Hamburg, the entire venue was redesigned two weeks before the start of the tournament. In terms of product development, the company has invested in innovation. Last

Oscar Gersjes TITLE: G ROUP PROCUREMENT DIRECTOR LOCATION: NETHERLANDS

EXECUTIVE BIO

INDUSTRY: CONSTRUCTION Working for (Losberger) De Boer (LDB) over the last 15 years has been an excellent experience. New challenges “on the way” made this journey more than interesting and a reason to stay such a long period. With my passionate way of working, I created a strong preference for project orientated management. The dynamic environment of project orientated business and -management is completely different compared to process operated business as I experienced at SigmaKalon (PPG). Being in the position of Procurement Responsible of De Boer Structures B.V. I visited all main competitors and suppliers. Based on this knowledge an increase of efficiency and creativity are key to be seen as the leader in the markets. Getting processes improved combined with smart and functional products was always my passion.

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UK HEATING AND COOLING RENTAL SPECIALISTS Cross Rental Services specialise in heating and cooling hire solutions. With a comprehensive range of boilers, chillers, heaters, air conditioners and purifiers; our customers receive fast and effective service from a nationwide team of experts.

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LOSBERGER DE BOER

year, it launched a structure that complies to the Eurocode, just like traditional buildings do, and that is still fully modular and adaptable, as well as quick to build. A new, lighter and highly sustainable flooring system was devised, as well as an innovative system that sets a new standard in terms of acoustics and insulation for events. In the final quarter of this year and throughout 2022, Losberger De Boer will introduce several new products as well as optimised parts for its existing structures. We speed onto Baku, where Losberger De Boer handled a challenging assignment for one of the largest racing events in the world. “We had to strengthen the roof of the parking garage, and build on top of the columns, and they weren’t equally spaced. This was specifically for the race cars,” he said.

“ Whether it’s discussing technical options, or negotiating big deals with customers – you have to go there and be on the same table” OSCAR GERSJES

GROUP PROCUREMENT DIRECTOR, LOSBERGER DE BOER constructionglobal.com

LOSBERGER DE BOER

Losberger De Boer broadens horizons in pandemic

“There were supply issues too, with steel coming from Turkey, and wood from Latvia. We had major problems on the border – it was stressful as it was stuck for six days. It’s getting worse to source supplies. We try and change materials to more composites, they tend to be cheaper, lighter and environmentally friendly. The importance of weight reduction is getting more and more important.” While much of its work is on site, it is adopting the hybrid model for office-based staff. “The pandemic made us realise you can create a lot of efficiencies and also understand the limitations of zoom and teams. Whether it’s discussing technical options, or negotiating big deals with customers – you have to go there and be on the same table.” Today Losberger De Boer focuses strongly on Europe, Middle East and US, the latter presenting openings in the military sector. Sustainability is also providing untapped opportunities. 32

October 2021

LOSBERGER DE BOER

“ Everything starts with having good data, particularly when you’re working in different markets”

IMPORTANCE OF GOOD DATA Everything starts with having good data, particularly when you’re working in different markets.

OSCAR GERSJES

DID YOU KNOW...

GROUP PROCUREMENT DIRECTOR, LOSBERGER DE BOER

“If you want to have a clear, aligned strategy, you need a lot of data. We invested in a system called VendorLink, which we use for spend analysis, supplier contracting, certifications and e-signing, and we are also looking to extend it to include vendor rating. VendorLink has been invaluable to us for our procurement. “We have looked for a single system for a long time, but have yet to find an ERP system that covers all these functionalities, at least how I like it. That was another issue with the merger, as companies had different systems, and we are going to work with SAP on integrating – it’s very easy to link with Vendorlink.” “There are lot of interesting things with digital solutions. It’s important to make the right choice – you have to look at what will most add value. Big companies like Boeing and mobile operators want to see up front the result later on.” In future, a Vendor Rating is cited as a priority, and new technologies will be embraced when needed. “We are only in projects, so it’s essential we can rate quality. If the quality fails, costs go up considerably, and so that’s a key focus in the coming years.”

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WE LOVE A GOOD CLIMATE! As an innovation leader in the fields of temporary heating, cooling and power supply, Helot has been a first classpartner for optimal air-conditioning supply -for every occasion and every temperature since 1949. In setting itself the goal of reducing CO2 and NOx emissions to a minimum, Helot offers the most efficient supply concepts with the lowest possible energy and resource consumption, among other things through the careful handling of fuels and the use of alternative fuels such as HVO and GTL. In addition, Helot makes an important contribution to permanently sustainable air conditioning concepts by constantly investing in the development of future-proof, climate-friendly technologies.

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LOSBERGER DE BOER

New energy sector opportunities Companies such as TATA Steel are having big problems with external coal storage, and there is a good chance it will be forbidden – so you need huge structures to cover it, he adds. “That’s a new area of business. We have done it in Asia, we have good partners in Spain and US. “There are a lot of areas where you can make a difference – we’re changing more from truck to train, looking to source lighter, and negotiating with companies to have environmentally friendly trucks. We have events equipped with solar panels, and at our military sites, we built a big camp in Mali, which will operate for two-to-three years. It can provide half of the camp’s total energy consumption.

“ Last year the results were above forecasts. We see a lot of opportunities on the military side and think we’ll come in close to budget this year” OSCAR GERSJES

GROUP PROCUREMENT DIRECTOR, LOSBERGER DE BOER

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LOSBERGER DE BOER

October 2021

LOSBERGER DE BOER

The panels are getting better, ultimately we hope to provide camps with all their electricity through solar so there isn’t a need for external electricity anymore. That’s probably around two or three years away.” He adds it is also working with big aluminium companies, and looking more to suppliers which can secure their own raw materials and have their own melting facilities, collaborating with a Turkish company and two Spanish suppliers. Cross Rental Services is key service provider, which pick up smaller projects – Losberger De Boer delivers the materials and they build it – and Helop is one of its climate solutions companies, which is strong in Germany. Other leading supplier partners include NEDAL Aluminium, Richter Aluminium and Top Events Exhibition (Furniture/Rental). Another big focus is modular structures, to extend its container business in Germany to markets such as the UK and Benelux, where housing shortages have led to high demand “We deliver home offices in Belgium and the Netherlands, which has also seen a spur in demand with the pandemic. The units are separate to your house with high insulation systems, and we combine it in a lease strategy – people can lease a small electric car and combine it with a home office.” Four years on from the merger, Gersjes, who joined De Boer as Procurement Director in 2006, describes the company as still “in transition”, which reflects the scale of the operation and challenges integrating its disparate entities. He concedes the merger “wasn’t smooth” but today, technology is helping improve efficiencies.

constructionglobal.com

New reduced carbon developments and climatefriendly upgrade projects both require deep tech solutions if future Smart Cities are to deliver on net-zero targets WRITTEN BY: DOMINIC ELLIS

he construction industry has some major challenges to solve – not least in building smart cities in a climatefriendly manner that supports economic and population growth. In China alone, more than 230 million people will move into city mega-clusters and new suburbs in the next 20 years. With about 80% of the Chinese population projected to live in cities by 2040, the need to tackle city challenges is acute. Cities that don't address liveability, sustainability and productivity issues using Smart Citytech will see a great strain on existing infrastructure, systems and processes, and ultimately on the wellbeing of their people. Moreover, Smart Citytech will affect everyone around the globe: cities contribute to 70% of global carbon dioxide emissions and when we lower this, the whole world benefits. GHG emissions from the construction ecosystem are mainly driven by two components: raw-material processing for buildings and infrastructure (about 30% of total construction emissions per year, largely

October 2021

SMART CITIES

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Sustainable power solutions. With the power to sustain your operation.

In the digital economy, sustainable energy and business resiliency are at the forefront of any decision-maker’s strategy. These needs represent serious business and technological challenges that make choosing an energy partner a critical decision. At Direct Energy Renewable Services, we are entrusted by some of the top companies in the world to not only deliver industry-leading renewable supply solutions, but to protect their critical infrastructure with next generation solutions for resiliency. Talk to us about what we can do for yours. Dave Grupp Head of Renewable Energy Services david.grupp@directenergy.com

Renewable Services

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SMART CITIES

“ Constructing net-zero Smart Buildings from the ground up is one piece of the puzzle. But it is also important to deal with the existing building stock contributing to carbon emissions” MICHAEL KWOK

EAST ASIA CHAIRMAN, ARUP

cement and steel) and buildings operations (about 70%), according to McKinsey research. Given typical asset lifetimes of 30 to 130 years, we cannot wait to replace products at the end of their life cycle if we are to meet climate-change mitigation targets by 2050. With roughly 80% of the predicted building stock for 2050 already in existence today, there is a huge need – and opportunity – to retrofit existing assets.

In Europe, the majority of existing buildings are not well insulated: out of 245 million dwellings, around 135 million have a low level of insulation, and 85 million of these are heated with fossil fuels. The EU estimates that 97% of buildings built before 2010 need renovation to comply with long-term strategic ambitions. McKinsey calculations indicate that, to achieve these ambitions by 2050, current renovation rates need to more than double – up from today’s approximately 1% to about 2.5%. Michael Kwok, the East Asia Chairman of Arup, the built environment specialist behind iconic structures such as the Sydney Opera house and the Bird's Nest in Beijing, said: “Constructing net-zero Smart Buildings from the ground up is one piece of the puzzle. But it is also important to deal with the existing building stock contributing to constructionglobal.com

SMART CITIES

carbon emissions. We can’t solve these problems if we cannot measure what needs to be fixed. This is where Deep Tech solutions are necessary to collect and analyse data and get insights to create solutions.” John Peng, Executive Vice President and Head of Business Strategy and Innovation Institute at iSoftStone, a leading Chinese Digital Transformation services company, agrees. “With Deep Tech such as Digital Twins, we can put nerves and brains into old, beautiful buildings. And it is absolutely possible to re-engineer 'old cities' to become Smart Cities,” he said. “For Smart Citytech to work, we must look at it holistically, as a system. Using real-time integrated digital control rooms for monitoring, predicting, analysing and detecting both opportunities and issues is one way. For example, with natural disasters happening more often, you need systems like these to carry out ongoing preventive work and respond quickly to save lives.” Powerbridge Technologies is one of many companies focusing on AI, loT, Blockchain, and financial technologies, as well as SaaS solutions and operational services in various fields such as cross-border trade, smart cities and government services. Its Blockchain-enabled Supply Chain Management SaaS Platform will serve to connect suppliers, logistics service providers, distributors, retailers and end-users into an integrated feature network, implementing real-time information sharing for all participants while ensuring the efficiency of information transmission and the credibility of the information. Stewart Lor, President and Chief Financial Officer of Powerbridge, said: “We hope that through our Blockchain management 42

October 2021

platform, Blockchain technology can be applied into more practical scenarios and deeply integrated with businesses.” Amid the breadth of construction, risks lie hidden, yet growing, of cyber threats. In response to recent cyberattacks on critical infrastructure, businesses, and first responders, global cybersecurity leader Onclave Networks, Inc. warns that

Simplicity fights back against fake news Simplicity, a smart communication platform for municipalities and its residents, announced the closing of an additional $8.5 million investment round in the fight against misinformation and hoaxes in support of local government. The company's further expansion to the US is backed by Venture to Future fund, Zero Gravity Capital, and Angel investors syndicate, who trust the platform to simplify the communication between cities and residents. Co-founder Juraj Gago said: "Residents need one source delivering relevant, local updates from trusted sources in real-time. Simplicity is that source–all in one place. No ads. No fake information. No privacy issues. Delivered in real-time. Always accessible on your smartphone."

the convergence of digital and physical infrastructures common in smart city ecosystems has expanded the security risks and that state and local governments need to prioritise adoption of Zero Trust Architecture in cybersecurity. “City and state leaders must adopt a 'network of everything' security mindset,” said Onclave's CEO, Don Stroberg. “Systems

Statistics show that more than eightin-ten Americans get information from digital devices rather than traditional media, which contributes to a faster spread of unreliable and fake news. The platform battles this by directly connecting residents with their city and giving them a reliable news source to turn to.

constructionglobal.com

News in brief • GSIL will supply a smart safety management platform to Korea Land and Housing Corporation’s construction sites. • Irish smart scooter company Luna is partnering with US-based JUMPWatts with the aim of combining teleoperation and computer vision technology to improve scooters’ safety and efficiency. The companies plan to work on a pilot project in the Smart DCU Campus in Dublin. • The winners of the Smart City Startup Challenge 2021, chosen from 150-plus startups, are Vacus Tech, which has US patented technology to make cities/ data centres improve their sustainability; and MinionLabs India, which is a hand-sized energy auditing device that can sense ‘each and every appliance’.

and devices are all interconnected, which means we cannot focus on just any one part in an enterprise network. We need to protect all endpoints and continuously reassess trust to ensure the network is most secured.” Savio Kwan, Former COO of Alibaba Group, said the old mindset of how things should be done needs to give way to a new way of thinking.

• Helsinki will be Guest City at the Beijing Design Week (September 18-October 7). JKMM Architects, Marimekko and Wood for Finland will showcase smart solutions for learning and urban planning.

Quantela buys CIMCON Lighting Quantela recently bought CIMCON Lighting, which specialises in smart lighting and smart city technologies. This acquisition will provide Quantela with full coverage and access to the ubiquitous streetlight

October 2021

SMART CITIES

“ Residents need one source delivering relevant, local updates from trusted sources in real-time” JURAJ GAGO CO-FOUNDER, SIMPLICITY

pole infrastructure to deploy innovative technologies and improve societal and economic outcomes. “Acquiring CIMCON gives Quantela the opportunity to access the streetlight pole infrastructure used to deploy CIMCON controllers,” said Sridhar Gadhi, Quantela’s Founder and Executive Chairman. “More importantly, the cost savings realised through the deployment of these controllers improves the commercial viability of the digitisation business case, and therefore, improves Quantela’s ability to deliver better outcomes to customers. The acquisition will provide existing and future customers with the security of a larger

company, with more economies of scale, larger and more diversified talent, plus even more valuable outcomes.” Amr Salem, Quantela’s CEO, said these outcomes are realised in the form of incremental revenue or cost savings. “Outcomes are powered by real-time data and predictive analytics from applications like digital advertising, traffic management, smart parking, public wi-fi and waste management to help communities achieve their goals. The addition of CIMCON’s smart lighting capabilities will enable communities to immediately reduce streetlight energy consumption and maintenance costs,” he added. constructionglobal.com

INDUSTRIAL

CYBERSECURITY:

MORE CRITICAL THAN DATA SECURITY ? WRITTEN BY: LAURA BERRILL PRODUCED BY: GLEN WHITE

October 2021

CLAROTY

constructionglobal.com

Simon Chassar. CRO, Claroty

October 2021

CLAROTY

Strengthening the cybersecurity of industrial supply chains is arguably more critical than protecting against data breaches

urrently, Claroty is experiencing data — they can also disrupt the physical a period of what Chassar calls industrial processes that underpin global ‘hyper growth’ which, he says, supply chains. Recent incidents have shown means the company is rapidly that with the expanding attack surface, gaining momentum as the certain types of breaches can shut down levels of connectivity operations. When in industrial this happens, the “MALICIOUS HACKERS systems increase. resulting impact ARE INCREASINGLY This increase in on organisations is UNDERSTANDING THAT connectivity has typically far worse resulted in the THEY CAN DO MORE THAN than that of a data creation of a wider breach. This is not COMPROMISE DATA — attack surface that only in terms of lost THEY CAN ALSO DISRUPT cybercriminals and revenue, people’s THE PHYSICAL INDUSTRIAL wages, and income other adversaries can exploit. PROCESSES THAT UNDERPIN — but it is also in “Malicious hackers terms of physical GLOBAL SUPPLY CHAINS” are increasingly safety. This is one of understanding that the primary drivers SIMON CHASSAR they can do more of the market’s CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, than compromise momentum. At CLAROTY constructionglobal.com

CLAROTY

Industrial cybersecurity: more critical than data security?

“ ON THE INDUSTRIAL SIDE YOU ARE OFTEN LOOKING AT TECHNOLOGY AND SYSTEMS IN PLACE WHICH ARE SOMETIMES DECADES OLD AND THEREFORE DIFFICULT, IF NOT IMPOSSIBLE, TO UPDATE AND PATCH” SIMON CHASSAR

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, CLAROTY

October 2021

the same time, there is a growing need to address the problem, which is our mission.” Chassar said that this accelerating demand is driving 100% growth on a quarterly basis for Claroty, and the team is scaling the business accordingly. He noted that half of all Claroty employees were hired in just the last nine months, and that a strong company culture has allowed Claroty to address the challenges that inevitably come along with such rapid growth. So apart from the expanding attack surface, what else is impacting Claroty and its services? Chassar says there is also something referred to as the Purdue Model. He explains that this is a network segmentationbased reference architecture for industrial

CLAROTY

control systems (ICS) that was created by Theodore Williams in the ‘90s. He said this model is now starting to collapse because of the increased levels of connected technology, including IoT and 5G. This, along with the aforementioned attack surface, means much bigger perimeters that stretch beyond just one building that CSOs and CIOs need to protect. He uses car production as an analogy. “Take for example a brake manufacturing plant in the Czech Republic. The car manufacturer may use a headlight manufacturer in Poland and a computer component manufacturer in China. All of these places reflect the expanding attack surface, so you are now trying to protect this massive perimeter and at the same time you have to be aware of the greater potential for

lateral movement across connected supply chains. This could be someone gaining access through a back door and then moving across the network. This is one of the biggest challenges we face and is critical when it comes to securing industrial environments.”

Cybersecurity for Industrial Environments = Digital Safety + Process Integrity Velta Technology encompasses decades of experience as practitioners in OT and IT across all industrial verticals. Our team consists of executives, engineers, and technology professionals. Our solutions are best in class, scalable from regional to global.

You can’t protect what you can’t see. Velta Technology Get Safer Sooner.

Velta Technology: Industry visibility to stop cyber attacks Gain visibility into your industrial space and bridge the gap between OT and IT with Velta Technology - Claroty Partner of the Year in North America Industry visibility to stop cyber attacks is the focus of Velta Technology. “We help industrial environments protect themselves from security breaches by providing full visibility into their industrial networks,” said Dino Busalachi, Chief Technology Officer. “The doors are open and the hackers are finding their way in! If you cannot see into your Industrial Control Systems (ICS) environment from the ICS application down through the stack into the network, then you are blind!” said Busalachi. Founded in 2018, Velta Technology understands industrial assets and infrastructure, and bridges the gap between operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT). “We expand the footprint of the OT platform. We move it all the way from awareness to integration and optimization, which sets us apart from our competitors,” Busalachi. Velta Technology was named Claroty Partner of the Year in North America. “Since we formed a partnership four years ago we haven’t looked back since.” By providing Digital Safety as a Service (DSaaS), Velta Technology focus on protecting four primary areas of vulnerability: • • • •

TWITTER

Process integrity IP protection Human safety Remote access

YOUTUBE

Busalachi stressed that with the rapid growth of IoT and continued expansion of 5G is increasing the risk of cyber attacks. Visibility study identifies key vulnerabilities Velta Technology provides a three-week visibility study which delivers the first phase of a digital safety program and pledge that within 30 days any industrial environment will be safer. DSaaS solutions Velta Technology brings their DSaaS solutions to industrial platforms and mimics what IT has done within the end visibility on the control system side. We create a database of any vulnerabilities and assign an index which is recognized by regulatory bodies such as NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology).” By implementing NIST framework helps the industrial environment to: • • • • •

Detect Identify Respond Protect Recover

Learn more

It’s not the usual “However, on the “RECENT INCIDENTS case of personal and industrial side you are often HAVE SHOWN company data theft looking at technology and THAT WITH THE Industrial cyber attacks systems in place which are differ from other EXPANDING ATTACK sometimes decades old kinds of well-known and therefore difficult, if not SURFACE, CERTAIN cybercriminal activity, impossible, to update and TYPES OF BREACHES such as personal and patch. And when there is corporate data breaches any kind of attack, processes CAN SHUT DOWN and loss, which can lead can grind to a halt. Imagine OPERATIONS” to reputational damage a major car manufacturer and fines. Chassar that produces a vehicle SIMON CHASSAR said the difference is every 50 seconds. If that CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, that with the latter, is stopped for five hours, CLAROTY there are mitigations how many cars are then not in place. “When personal data is breached produced? On top of that, the next question and extracted there are mechanisms such to then ask is, how many people cannot earn as insurance, backup, encryption, multimoney because they can’t work on making the factor authentication, and others that cars? In this respect, industrial cyber attacks are widely implemented to help further can have a much more tangible impact than protect that particular data,” he says. data breaches.” 54

October 2021

CLAROTY

“WE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN A TECHNOLOGY COMPANY RATHER THAN A SERVICES-BASED ONE. BECAUSE OF THAT WE HAVE BUILT VERY STRONG TECHNICAL INTEGRATIONS WITH OUR IT SECURITY PARTNERS” SIMON CHASSAR

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, CLAROTY

Simon Chassar TITLE: CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER COMPANY: CLAROTY INDUSTRY: INDUSTRIAL CYBERSECURITY

EXECUTIVE BIO

LOCATION: SURREY, UNITED KINGDOM Simon Chassar is Chief Revenue Officer at Claroty, where he leads the global sales organization including territories, partnerships, sales engineers, sales development, and revenue operations. He brings more than 20 years of IT industry experience across the go-to-market on hardware, software, and services at multinational organizations such as NTT, Cisco, Avaya, VMware, and Actifio. Prior to joining Claroty, he served as CRO of the security division of NTT, where he ran a sales, channel, and marketing organization of more than 300 people, delivering $1.5 billion in revenue across products and services. Chassar is part of the World Economic Forum for Oil & Gas Security.

The critical benefits of industrial cybersecurity protection The first important thing to establish with Claroty’s customers, Chassar says, is identifying the assets they have operating within their industrial environment. This is because, he adds, customers aren’t always aware that, say, their heating controls are connected to this environment. The same goes for engineering workstations, controllers, sensors, and other devices. Chassar advises they need to start with finding out which parts of their operation are connected to their industrial environment, because you cannot protect what you cannot see. “This is how Claroty helps at the start of the journey — by identifying the devices and connections and which ones pose inherent 56

October 2021

risks, such as a control system that hasn’t been updated in ten years. Once you understand what and where those inherent risks are, the next step is prioritization. Our threat detection capabilities enable customers to know when they are being attacked and exactly what the residual risks are. We apply our standard cybersecurity procedures to the perimeter and everywhere within their environment.” Chassar says the firm also takes the approach of looking at vulnerabilities from the hackers’ point of view with risk scoring, so organisations can more easily prioritise and then make the changes and also keep them up to date with regulatory requirements. He adds that the company is backed and adopted by the top three industrial automation vendors globally: Siemens,

CLAROTY

“ THESE ARE THE SAME COMPANIES THAT HAVE CONTROL OF THE FIREWALLS, SIEMS AND OTHER TECHNOLOGIES THAT OUR CUSTOMERS ALREADY RELY ON. WE CAN PLUG AND PLAY DIRECTLY INTO THESE ENVIRONMENTS. THAT CREATES OPPORTUNITIES FOR OUR CUSTOMERS TO EASILY INTEGRATE OUR PLATFORM WITH THEIR EXISTING TECH STACK” SIMON CHASSAR

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, CLAROTY

Schneider Electric, and Rockwell Automation. Claroty’s strategic partnerships with all three have allowed the company to build a solid understanding and awareness around all their protocols, capabilities, and vulnerabilities. He explains, “This in turn has also enabled Claroty, via our Team82 research team, to know where the threats are coming from, the constant changes within the threat landscape, and the reality of the dark world.”

How partnerships matter Off the back of the investment, Chassar says the company has been able to grow its coverage of what has long been the sector’s most extensive library of industrial protocols. He said this means Claroty’s

constructionglobal.com

“ WHEN THERE IS ANY KIND OF ATTACK, PROCESSES CAN GRIND TO A HALT. IN THIS RESPECT, INDUSTRIAL SECURITY IS CRITICAL” SIMON CHASSAR

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, CLAROTY

platform is fully compatible with both greenfield IoT and IIoT environments and traditional brownfield OT environments. Developing and expanding support for the various protocols utilized within these environments requires close collaboration and a strong relationship with the industrial vendors — including those that are Claroty investors and partners. “We have always been a technology company rather than a services-based one. Because of that we have also built very strong technical integrations with our IT security partners. These are the same companies that have control of the firewalls and other technologies that our customers already rely on. Not only does this enable us to work in harmony, we can also plug and play directly into these environments. That creates opportunities for our customers to easily integrate our platform with their existing tech stack,” he states. Chassar says the company has three partner categories which have different values but are equally important. The first, he says, is the service partners that are driving enterprise transformation and include the likes of Deloitte, KPMG, NTT, and Kudelski Security. The second is ICS/automation vendors including Siemens, Schneider Electric, Yokogawa, and Rockwell. And then there are strategic 58

October 2021

CLAROTY

FUTURE PROJECTIONS The number of internetconnected devices is expected to increase from 31 billion in 2020 to 35 billion in 2021 and 75 billion in 2025 Security Today’s The IoT Rundown for 2020

constructionglobal.com

integrations with CrowdStrike, Check Point Software Technologies, and Tripwire. “We consciously focus on the industries that have absolute excellence in what they do and have a very large customer base. We are strongly committed to taking a ‘partner first’ approach. There is a real skills shortage in OT and specifically in OT security, so we are enabling our partners to develop these skills and giving them the economies of scale needed to address the shortage.” 60

October 2021

The future of these partnerships These relationships are going to become tighter, Chassar says. “Just in the last six months we have increased our focus on driving up our partners’ certifications and their capabilities within OT cybersecurity. At Claroty we have taken our core central knowledge and skills and shared these

CLAROTY

“THE BOTTOM LINE IS EVERYONE, NO MATTER WHICH FIELD OR SECTOR THEY ARE IN, SHOULD BE AWARE OF INDUSTRIAL CYBER SECURITY AND HOW VITAL IT IS TO PROTECT THE WORLD’S INCREASINGLY CONNECTED INDUSTRIAL PLANTS AND PRODUCTION FACILITIES” SIMON CHASSAR

CHIEF REVENUE OFFICER, CLAROTY

openly with them, which has driven up He offers the example of developing the volume of skills and capabilities so technology for a car production line they can take advantage of our hyper whereby a breach would halt the supply growth that I mentioned at the start. of vehicles. “On the industrial side it is This tightening of partner relationships more about business continuity than is the future right now.” reputational damage and Chassar said this was fines. Look at the Colonial significant because it was Pipeline incident, in which FUTURE vitally important for those operations halted after PROJECTIONS in industrial cybersecurity the breach, as well as JBS to be aware of the foods. Stopping production criticality of protecting Gartner projected that of things consumers need these environments. businesses would spend leads to lost revenue and an This stems from the more than $123 billion impact on stock markets, momentum caused by the on security in 2020 and which is very difficult to convergence of OT and IT. projects that figure to grow repair. It can mean people He cites everything from to $170.4 billion by 2022 can’t go to work anymore vaccinations and pharma because the tins of beans companies to automotive and cars aren’t being made.” production, all the way through to food and Chassar concludes: “The bottom line is drink manufacturing. everyone, no matter which field or sector “Our mission is to be the industrial they are in, should be aware of industrial cybersecurity company and to protect cybersecurity and how vital it is to protect everything within the four walls of an the world’s increasingly connected industrial site — and ultimately keep industrial plants and production facilities. enterprises going. We’re not focused on This issue has huge significance to us as preventing the extraction of personal individual consumers and the economy information or, for instance, credit card at large.” numbers. Our goal is to help companies maintain their production and overall business operations.” constructionglobal.com

INNOVATORS URGED TO PUSH

DIGITAL BOUNDARIES The UK is starting to flex its digital manufacturing muscle, and the ‘end goal’ is integrating ML and AI into the process chaintur WRITTEN BY: DOMINIC ELLIS

he global digital manufacturing market is expected to reach US$1,370.3bn by 2030, from US$276.5bn in 2020, registering a CAGR of 16.5% from 2021 to 2030, according to Allied Market Research. New facilities embracing the latest technologies are springing up all over the world – and the UK is stepping up its investment. The Digital Manufacturing Centre (DMC) aims to herald a new era of UK manufacturing with the launch of its all-new advanced engineering and production facility at Silverstone Park. Built to solve complex engineering challenges, the DMC utilises state-of-theart additive manufacturing (AM) processes, connectivity and pioneering engineering to enable companies operating at the forefront of their sectors. Having overcome the challenges of building a leading facility during the 62

October 2021

DIGITAL MANUFACTURING

Kieron Salter, CEO, The Digital Manufacturing Centre constructionglobal.com

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DIGITAL MANUFACTURING

First look at the Digital Manufacturing Centre (DMC) in the UK

“ We offer a truly end-to-end solution that will enable innovators in the UK and abroad to really push the boundary, whether that be launching satellites or beating lap records” KIERON SALTER

CEO, THE DIGITAL MANUFACTURING CENTRE

pandemic, the 2000sqm facility is now fully operational. With an engineering-led philosophy, the DMC works in partnership with customers to understand their specific requirements, designing for application as well as manufacture. Kieron Salter, CEO of the DMC, said: “Undertaking construction and fit-out in the middle of a global pandemic has not been without its challenges, but thanks to the support of our partners and SEMLEP, the DMC team’s efforts speak for themselves.

While we have been operating at a limited capacity on a select few customer projects, we are now opening the doors and offering these unprecedented capabilities to the wider industry. When it first looked around at the existing AM market, there was a clear lack of engineering collaboration, focus and support. Parts were being made, but suppliers had little practical engineering input or capability. “We set out to bridge that gap by focussing on engineering for application and the production of end-use ready parts,” added Salter. “Now, we offer a truly endto-end solution that will enable innovators in the UK and abroad to really push the boundary, whether that be launching satellites or beating lap records.” The focus will be on connectivity and “the end goal” of integrating ML and AI into the process chain, realising Industry 4.0 and aligning with the Government’s Industrial constructionglobal.com

“ This will provide a step-change in efficiency and part quality, distinguishing us from other suppliers and helping to ‘level up’ UK manufacturing and the national supply chain” KIERON SALTER

CEO, THE DIGITAL MANUFACTURING CENTRE

Strategy. “This will provide a step-change in efficiency and part quality, distinguishing us from other suppliers and helping to ‘level up’ UK manufacturing and the national supply chain,” he said. With many sectors navigating significant shifts in technology, product development, increased competition and rising demand for advanced, low-carbon solutions, the DMC is set to play a key role in enabling innovators across the space, aerospace, motorsport, automotive, medical, industrial, oil & gas and marine industries. The DMC’s extensive in-house engineering capabilities are focused on solving customer challenges with clever designs that maximise the advantages of the advanced processes 66

October 2021

at their disposal. As an end-to-end solutions provider, the facility brings together metal, polymer and silicone AM processes with complementary machining, finishing and inspection services for a fully connected process chain. Embracing Industry 4.0 practices and principles, in line with the Industrial Strategy, the DMC’s data-driven approach will allow its engineers to further refine part design and processes by effectively implementing capabilities including predictive analytics and AI. Collaboration has been a vital aspect of the DMC’s creation. The business works alongside a number of significant industry and technology partners, including Renishaw,

DIGITAL MANUFACTURING

Lockheed Martin factory leverages IoT

Beckhoff, Spectroplast, DyeMansion, DMG Mori, Enable Manufacturing and the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC). In April, DMC announced it would be the first business to officially adopt Renishaw’s revolutionary new manufacturing connectivity and data platform, Renishaw Central, across its complete additive and subtractive manufacturing operations. Jonathan Archer, General Manager at Renishaw, said: “Most manufacturers already have access to a wealth of metrology data, but how often is it fully utilised? Renishaw Central helps to employ this data in a meaningful way, providing the right data at the right time to better understand production and facilitate improvements.

Over in the US, Lockheed Martin recently completed the construction of an advanced manufacturing facility at the Skunk Works campus in Palmdale, California, US. The 215,000sq ft ‘intelligent, flexible’ factory – one of four transformational manufacturing facilities the company is opening in the US this year – was built to incorporate smart manufacturing components and leverage IoT to deliver new solutions for the US and its allies.Lockheed Martin noted that the facility features an intelligent factory framework, a technologyenabled advanced manufacturing environment, and a flexible construct to accommodate customer priorities. It includes office and break spaces for more than 450 employees.The Palmdale factory is one of the four facilities in the US that Lockheed Martin is opening this year. Lockheed Martin Skunk Works vice-president and general manager Jeff Babione said: “The technology in our new Palmdale facility lets us go beyond manufacturing optimisation to the next digital revolution, driving innovation and preserving California’s leadership in the aerospace industry.”

constructionglobal.com

DIGITAL MANUFACTURING

First IMMUNE-Resilient Office Building in the World - Building H3, West Gate, Bucharest

Building Standard provides post-COVID blueprint Most companies are fresh out of the starting blocks when it comes to implementing postCOVID designs and standards. Building H3 by Ericsson provides a glimpse of just how contactless and tech-oriented workplaces may become – it has been awarded a ‘Resilient’ Immune Building Standard rating, the equivalent of five stars.

It features digital twin screens in receptions displaying immunity-boosting indicators, covering indoor and outside air quality; built-in technologies to enhance the sanitisation of indoor spaces to prevent bacteria, viruses, and toxins spreading; contactless technology for entry and exit; and self-cleaning elevator buttons.

“The facility’s ambition is the practical implementation of connected technologies, AI and the realisation of Industry 4.0 – these rely on the collection and application of data, for which Renishaw Central will play a critical role.” Rt. Hon. Dame Andrea Leadsom, DBE MP, said the facility is a shining example of British innovation and ingenuity, providing futureready manufacturing capability and jobs to the UK. “Investment in leading technologies and processes is at the heart of ‘levelling up’

the country and the Industrial Strategy. Not only does it add to domestic capability, but businesses like this are also an inspiration and valuable educational tool for young professionals and STEM students – a fantastic way to prepare for, and embrace, the future of skilled employment.”

October 2021

UK to fund five digital manufacturing research centres Five new digital manufacturing research centres and projects to help supply chains

DIGITAL MANUFACTURING

become more productive are among recipients of £53mn of new UK government funding to drive the development of the latest digital manufacturing technologies. The funding has been awarded through the national Made Smarter programme, a collaboration between the UK government and industry designed to support the development and increase the use of these emerging technologies. Adopting the latest data-driven innovations, such as the use of AI and blockchain in

supply chains or advanced robotics and smart machines in manufacturing, will help manufacturers increase productivity, become more sustainable and build back better from the pandemic. Nearly £25mn will be invested in five new industry-sponsored research centres set up around the UK, including at the University of Strathclyde and University of Nottingham, to accelerate the development of cuttingedge digital solutions that can transform manufacturing businesses across many sectors.

constructionglobal.com

DIGITAL MANUFACTURING

“ Not only does it add to domestic capability, but businesses like this are also an inspiration and valuable educational tool for young professionals and STEM students” RT. HON. DAME ANDREA LEADSOM, DBE, MP

October 2021

DIGITAL MANUFACTURING

Each centre will focus on a different area of manufacturing and include: • Digital Medicines Manufacturing Research Centre, based in Strathclyde, Cambridge and Loughborough Universities, aims to create digital supply chains that enable medicines to be supplied on demand and enable clinical trials to operate more flexibly • Research Centre for Smart, Collaborative Industrial Robotics, based in Loughborough, Strathclyde, Cranfield, Bristol and Warwick Universities, will look to eliminate barriers to adopting robotics and accelerate their widespread use in manufacturing • Research Centre for Connected Factories, based in Nottingham, Cambridge and Sheffield Universities, will work to create a ‘Morphing Factory’ where production can be easily repurposed in response to changing market demand, for example, during the pandemic when drinks manufacturers have transformed their production lines to make hand sanitiser • Materials Made Smarter Research Centre, based in Sheffield, Cambridge and Loughborough Universities, will work on overcoming technological challenges preventing adoption of new materials and manufacturing processes needed to become more sustainable and help achieve net-zero emissions • People-Led Digitalisation, based in Bath, Nottingham and Loughborough Universities, aims to achieve the highest level of manufacturing productivity by increasing the digital knowledge and awareness of manufacturers. constructionglobal.com

HARD

HATS

BECOME VISIONARY

AI TOOLS Established firms and startups are providing construction firms with innovative tools to raise productivity WRITTEN BY: DOMINIC ELLIS

or years hard hats have provided construction workers with physical protection – now they are virtual conduits for AI-powered efficiency. Buildots recently announced a $30 million Series B round. Its proposition is remarkably simple: algorithms automatically validate images captured by hardhat-mounted 360° cameras, detecting any gaps between the original design, scheduling and the reality on the construction site. The easy-to-set-up

October 2021

platform acts as a mobile control room for project managers, allowing them to make decisions that dramatically speed up construction and ultimately reduce costs. The Tel Aviv and London-based startup is leveraging the power of AI and Computer Vision to modernise the construction management industry. “When it comes to digital transformation, construction has been a sleeping giant, and Covid-19 served as an accelerator for

TECHNOLOGY

the industry,” said Roy Danon, co-founder and CEO of Buildots. "We are now working with construction companies in over a dozen countries, and what we're seeing is that the challenges Buildots is addressing are ubiquitous around the world. A global expansion at the rate we've experienced would have ordinarily been impossible in an industry like construction that has its roots in handshake deals and in-person relationships without

the new covid reality of remote meetings and even deal signings." Buildots recently announced that their technology is being used to reduce costs and enhance output on a slew of major construction projects being led by top building companies around the world. These include Build Group in California & Washington state, MBN in Germany, Gammon in Hong Kong, Wates in the UK and further announcements are expected in the coming months. constructionglobal.com

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TECHNOLOGY

Buildots

“When it comes to digital transformation, construction has been a sleeping giant, and Covid-19 served as an accelerator for the industry” ROY DANON

CO-FOUNDER AND CEO, BUILDOTS

"Construction is a massive market with real GDP impact, but it is still underserved by technology. We believe Buildots is the company that will change that reality," said Tal Morgenstern, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. "They have created a truly unique technology, productised in a way that generates measurable ROI while still being simple enough for end-users to navigate seamlessly. The rapid adoption Buildots has seen to date is driven exclusively by word of mouth. Following that success, this financing

round will support an aggressive growth plan going forward". Buildots took on a mission that seemed impossible; to change the construction industry with AI, said Shahar Tzafrir, Managing Partner at TLV Partners. “The construction industry is known for its low-profit margins and unfortunate delays. Buildots is changing that. Buildots’ success is demonstrated through its rapid growth with the world's largest and most sophisticated construction companies. Their clients have achieved a significant increase in their profit constructionglobal.com

TECHNOLOGY

margins and a dramatic decrease in project delays. We believe that every construction company who needs to remain competitive will choose to use Buildots.” By no means is it the only firm targeting AI’s burgeoning potential. Augmentir, Inc. recently unveiled its latest product innovations designed to improve safety, quality, and productivity, expanding its in-app AI insights that deliver performance optimisation 76

October 2021

opportunities to any industrial company with frontline workers. IBM and Black & Veatch have collaborated to jointly market Asset Performance Management (APM) solutions, including remote monitoring technologies that combine near real-time data analytics with AI to help customers keep equipment and assets running at peak performance and reliability. OpenSpace Basic – a limited version of OpenSpace's signature product – is billed as

TECHNOLOGY

the industry’s first completely free 360° video capture solution for construction. It is designed for small jobs up to 10,000sq ft and targets firms who want to try out 360˚ documentation software before fully integrating it into their workflow. OpenSpace Basic provides a complete, interactive digital replica of a job site, enabling more collaboration between the field and office, assistance with remote site management, and reduce costly rework. “Over the past year, we've heard from builders that they wanted to have more access to the automated convenience of our standard video site capture product, which inspired us to create OpenSpace Basic,” said Jeevan Kalanithi, CEO and co-founder of OpenSpace. A small 360° camera can be attached to hardhats, indicating their starting location on the floor plan in the OpenSpace app, and workers can walk the site as normal.

Computer vision technology stitches images together and pins them to the correct location on the floor plan, creating a digital twin of the job site, and Splitscreen allows two captures to be compared at different times (pictured). For Dante DeFazio, Renovations Project Manager at Virginia Tech Facilities, the benefit of having video capture is clear. "With OpenSpace, I capture everything that I need - plus everything that I didn't know I needed, and it takes much less time." DeFazio recently changed jobs and was able to use the free version of OpenSpace on a trial basis to speed up adoption with the rest of the team. "I was able to educate my coworkers about it so they could see the benefits of using it before committing to a paid contract. I'm excited that the free version will now have video capture." OpenSpace Basic customers will also have access to unlimited Field Notes, allowing

OpenSpace Software constructionglobal.com

TECHNOLOGY

AI draws on vast data pools AI systems are exposed to an endless amount of data to learn from and improve every day, and every job site becomes a potential data source. Data generated from images captured from mobile devices, drone videos, security sensors, BIM and others have become a pool of information. This presents an opportunity for construction industry professionals and customers to analyse and benefit from the insights generated from the data with the help of AI and machine learning systems. Despite the predictions of massive job losses, AI is unlikely to replace the human workforce. Instead, it will alter business models in the construction industry, reduce expensive errors, reduce worksite injuries, and make building operations more efficient, according to Trimble.“Leaders at construction companies should prioritise investment based on areas where AI can have the most impact on their company’s unique needs. Early movers will set the direction of the industry and benefit in the short and long term,” it states. 78

October 2021

builders to snap images of punch list items or RFIs, add in relevant notes, and then automatically attach the information to the correct position in the digital replica and floor plan. BrainBox AI, a pioneer in predictive and self-adaptive commercial building technology, is activating Network Operations Centres (NOC), which enable it to provide 24/7 support to its community of global customers. It was recognised by TIME as one of the Top 100 best inventions and by CB Insights as one of the Top 100 AI startups redefining industries in 2021. The company is also a member of the MaRS Discovery

BrainBox AI

District, the largest urban innovation hub in North America. Having launched in 2019, BrainBox AI's cleantech solution is now installed in commercial spaces in 17 countries. The company has responded to this growth by developing a 'follow the sun' model, opening monitoring centres in Canada, Ireland and Australia. These centres provide real-time analysis of the HVAC systems in buildings, no matter where they are located. The commercial real estate industry currently faces multiple challenges, from optimising tenant comfort to enhancing the sustainable investment case for its

portfolios, all while aiming to reduce energy use. The International Energy Agency states that, globally, buildings represent 30% of final energy consumption and almost 55% of total electricity consumption. With greater demand for electricity, the world needs to embrace sustainable energy management technology to achieve net-zero carbon emissions for buildings. BrainBox AI's deep learning and cloudbased computing algorithms communicate directly with a Building Management System (BMS) and optimise the building in real-time. This produces a saving in total energy costs constructionglobal.com

TECHNOLOGY

“ This milestone enables us to introduce 24/7 observation, as we seek to significantly reduce energy use and the carbon footprint of commercial real estate space” JEAN-SIMON VENNE

CO-FOUNDER AND CTO, BRAINBOX AI

October 2021

TECHNOLOGY

of up to 25%, a 20-40% reduction in carbon footprint and a 60% increase in occupant comfort. Building operators can also see up to 50% extension in the service life of the HVAC equipment. “This milestone enables us to introduce 24/7 observation, as we seek to significantly reduce energy use and the carbon footprint of commercial real estate space,” says JeanSimon Venne, co-founder and CTO of BrainBox AI. “Buildings produce close to onefifth of the world's total carbon emissions. Our easy-to-install technology helps buildings become greener by adding a seamless layer of autonomous artificial intelligence.” Construction today accounts for a full 13% of the world's GDP and employs hundreds of millions of people. But while other traditional industries, like manufacturing, have increased productivity over the years, productivity has remained almost stagnant in the building sector. According to the European Commission, construction productivity has only increased by 1% in the past two decades. And with operational profitability often being only 5%, there is little room for error. McKinsey expects that the continuing COVID-19 pandemic will drive a net acceleration in the use of technology, and the construction industry will continue its transformation from a highly complex, fragmented, and project-based industry to a more standardised, consolidated, and integrated one. Construction technology is still a rapidly growing, highly dynamic space. Further efficiencies will be unlocked with deeper integration of technology solutions directly on the job site and with predictive analytics leveraging data from connected teams and equipment. constructionglobal.com

MORE TIEUPS ENABLE CONNECTED BUILDINGS AT SCALE

October 2021

CONNECTIVITY

Developments in the cloud, IoT and digitisation sphere are starting to accelerate

WRITTEN BY: DOMINIC ELLIS

“ Availability and secure access to reliable behavioural data is a key prerequisite for our customers in their digitisation, automation and sustainability initiatives”” PIERRE GUELEN

CEO, PLANON SOFTWARE

t’s worth reminding ourselves, amid the rapid technological developments of the last 18 months, that we are only at the start of the digital transformation journey. Digital’s growth in smart enterprises is expected to be exponential in the coming years. Rarely a day goes by without an acquisition or partnership as companies scramble to capitalise on abundant nascent opportunities. With the acquisition of Axonize, the five-yearold, Israel-based developer of a cloud-based IoT platform, Planon is taking a further step in realising its ambition of enabling connected buildings at scale. Additionally, the acquisition will help Planon to further strengthen its position in smart building systems. The combined services from Planon and Axonize will enable the provision of digital twins, enhancing insight into asset & building performance and operations. Planon also completes its suite of data services to include high-velocity IoT databases together with the associated data-based analytics. Axonize’s Internet of Things (IoT) Platform will play a critical role in Planon’s 360-degree building digitisation strategy. Axonize complements Planon’s ‘Open Platform’ approach by providing out-of-the-box connections with smart devices and data sources across a plethora of vendors. Moreover, the acquisition supports Planon’s strategic partnership with Schneider Electric and other strategic technology partners. Pierre Guelen, CEO of Planon Software, said: “Availability and secure access to reliable behavioural data is a key prerequisite for our customers in their digitisation, automation and sustainability initiatives. With this acquisition, Planon has completed its software capabilities to fully serve customers in their digitisation endeavours at the building portfolio level. Planon serves all aspects of their business, providing sustainable, healthy, user-centric, efficient workplaces and buildings.” constructionglobal.com

Modular Design for a Diverse World eStruxture Delivers Flexibility Vertiv solutions, including the Vertiv™ Liebert® DSE economization system, allow eStruxture to bring equipment online faster and support the unique service level requirements of its customers. Read the Case Study

CONNECTIVITY

“ I'm confident that together, we can successfully grow the entire notion of smart buildings, as well as smart businesses across the globe” JANIV RATSON CEO, AXONIZE

Janiv Ratson, CEO of Axonize, anticipates its collaboration will provide “unmatched speed, simplicity, and scalability” and make any building, entity, or infrastructure smart and more efficient. “I'm confident that together, we can successfully grow the entire notion of smart buildings, as well as smart businesses across the globe.” Orbital ties up with Charter Communications Orbital Energy Group subsidiary, Gibson Technical Services, has been awarded a project from Charter Communications for approximately 8,600-miles of "full-

service construction" across three US states: Louisiana, Alabama, and North Carolina. The Project is part of the Federal Government's Rural Digital Opportunity Fund for rural fibre buildouts. The RDOF extends the Federal Communication Commission's ("FCC") Connect America Fund ("CAF") and will provide US$20.4bn in funding over a ten-year period to support broadband networks in rural communities across the country. The Project is scheduled to begin immediately and extend over the next 5-6 years. Charter is a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator serving more than 31 million customers in 41 states through its Spectrum brand. Over an advanced communications network, the company offers a full range of constructionglobal.com

“ The telco industry must realise that the value proposition for enterprise 5G does not lie in the technology as such, but in the applications it enables” LEO GERGS

SENIOR ANALYST FOR PRIVATE NETWORKS AND ENTERPRISE CONNECTIVITY, ABI RESEARCH

Connectivity updates • Ligado Networks is advancing its plan • Cambium Networks has become a founding to deploy the first 5G mobile satellite member of the Future Technologies Venture network for IoT, partnering with Mavenir LLC Innovation Center in Atlanta. Cambium to develop base stations for advanced Networks helped define the mission for the connectivity services that enable businesscentre, which includes a lab where enterprise, critical operations anywhere in the US. automation and industry 4.0 IT teams can trial broadband and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity solutions • Lumen Technologies has introduced in a real-world environment. Lumen Edge Private Cloud, providing prebuilt infrastructure for high-performance • Laird Connectivity has announced its private computing connected to a global partnership with cloud-based connected fibre network. Lumen Edge Private Cloud device observability specialist, Memfault, to is fully managed by Lumen and helps give developers using the Pinnacle 100 lowbusinesses go to market quickly with the power cellular socket modem and Sentrius capacity needed for interaction-intensive MG100 LTE-M/NB-IoT/Bluetooth gateway applications. integrated access to the Memfault remote debugging, continuous monitoring, and • Frost & Sullivan has recognised Finlandfirmware update platform. based Wirepas with the 2021 Global New Product Innovation Award for its • London property development and Wirepas Private 5G solution. Operating investment company, Almacantar has on a dedicated global spectrum, it will appointed digital transformation specialist be the world's first non-cellular 5G Nexer to oversee the total replacement of its connectivity product. CRM system. 86

October 2021

CONNECTIVITY

state-of-the-art residential and business services, including Spectrum Internet, TV, Mobile and Voice. Charter's RDOF buildout represents a US$5bn investment, offset by US$1.2bn in support won in the RDOF auction, which will deliver gigabit broadband access to an FCC-estimated more than 1 million customer locations. Mike McCracken, GTS's chief executive officer, said it is committed to helping its customers improve their delivery infrastructures, and these broadband services will provide a reliable, cost-effective expansion to Charter’s extensive network. Elsewhere in the US, Vexus Fiber, a leading fibre internet service provider in Texas, is bringing its 100% fibre-to-thehome network to the city of San Angelo.

Vexus will fully fund the network connecting over 35,000 homes and businesses in the area to Vexus' 100% pure fibre network. "We are excited to expand our network into San Angelo," said Jim Gleason, CEO of Vexus. "Gigabit speeds are becoming additionally important as more people work remotely or need access to education and other online applications. Vexus’ fibre network will provide homes and businesses with a new, competitive choice for internet and entertainment. We are building the network of the future to help foster additional growth and economic development for the area. Given that we are a Texas-based company, we plan to bring our Texas hospitality and customer service to go along with our robust network." constructionglobal.com

CONNECTIVITY

Vexus Fiber plans to begin construction this fall with availability to some neighborhoods and businesses before the end of 2021. Full completion of the network throughout most of San Angelo will take approximately two years. "We're very excited about being a Gigacity with Vexus expanding its fibre services into our community," said Guy Andrews, Director, City of San Angelo Economic Development. "This positions San Angelo as a competitive option for businesses, an attractive location to future residents and provides a muchneeded service to current residents." This network extension is part of an ongoing construction plan financed by existing investors, Pamlico Capital and Oak Hill Capital. They have agreed to invest additional equity

Behr Paint Company partners with HomeSphere Behr Paint Company has teamed up with HomeSphere, enabling home builders in HomeSphere’s network to access significant rebates on all BEHR and KILZ Products, including the entire line of Behr Paints, Stains and Primers. The partnership increases builder savings without valuable time wasted on additional paperwork or calculations – HomeSphere’s platform calculates rebates automatically, and payments are made directly. “With material costs on the rise, HomeSphere is working to lighten the burden by partnering with high-quality brands like Behr,” said HomeSphere President Greg Schwarzer. “More savings for homebuilders means we can help keep production going and help boost an industry still feeling the effects of the pandemic.”

October 2021

toward the expansion in San Angelo. "The opportunity to grow with Vexus and new communities in Texas is very rewarding. We are extremely pleased with the progress the team at Vexus Fiber is delivering by building a quality fibre network at a fast pace to residents and businesses that need this network of the future," added Art Roselle of Pamlico Capital. Enterprises 'becoming impatient' waiting for 5G Enterprises are becoming increasingly impatient and starting to look at technology

CONNECTIVITY

Inmarsat has launched its first global UAV (drones) connectivity solution, Velaris, which allows workers to effectively monitor construction and engineering sites. Velaris will provide secure communications for commercial drones to fly beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) and seamlessly integrate with aircraft in commercial airspace.

alternatives to solve their connectivity pain points, according to ABI Research. The slow growth of private networks shows there is critical need to act now, as the window of opportunity for enterprise 5G is closing. Enterprises are eagerly waiting for the 5G capabilities that they have been promised for more than three years. “As these enterprises realise that full support for URLLc and time-sensitive networking will still take years to mature,

they are becoming growingly impatient and starting to look at technology alternatives,” said Leo Gergs, Senior Analyst for Private Networks and Enterprise Connectivity at ABI Research. “The telco industry must realise that the value proposition for enterprise 5G does not lie in the technology as such, but in the applications it enables. After all, no enterprise cares about whether they deploy 4G or 5G on their premises, as long as the technology solves their pain points.” constructionglobal.com

TOP 10

October 2021

TOP 10

From the Burj Khalifa in Dubai to the Shanghai Tower, we take a look at the top 10 tallest buildings WRITTEN BY: SAM STEERS

s far as feats of engineering go, there is little more impressive than the highest buildings to have ever been constructed. Not only are they visually spectacular, but in terms of building them, they are some of the most complex and challenging projects the industry has ever completed. Such examples of these mammoth tasks include the Burj Khalifa in Dubai and the Shanghai Tower. Let’s take a closer look at these two as well as some others.

constructionglobal.com

TOP 10

TAIPEI 101 Taipei

The TAIPEI 101 may be the final entry in this list, but that doesn’t mean it’s small. It stands at a maximum height of 508m and has 106 floors, five of which are below ground. It functions as an office and is constructed out of a composite of steel and concrete. Designed by CY. Lee Partners, it was proposed in 1997 and completed in 2004, with total construction costs reaching US$1.8bn.

CITIC Tower Beijing

Owned by CITIC HEYE Investment Co Ltd, the CITIC Tower in Beijing cost around US$3.8bn to construct. It is the fifth tallest building in China and has 117 floors: 109 above ground and eight below. The top floor is situated 527m above ground level. The project was proposed in 2012, with construction beginning in 2013. It was finished five years later, in 2018. 92

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“Construction began in 2013 after its proposal was approved in 2011. The building was finalised and operational in 2019”

CTF Finance Centre Guangzhou

Developed by Guangzhou Xinyu Real Estate Development Co Ltd, the Guangzhou CTF Finance Centre is the third tallest building in China and the fourth in Asia, standing at 530m in height. It has a total of 116 floors, five of which are underground, and was proposed in 2009. Construction began in 2010 and was completed in 2016. The building project cost a total of US$1.5bn to build.

CTF Finance Centre Tianjin

At the height of 530m, the Tianjin CTF Finance Centre is the third tallest building in China and the seventh-tallest in the world. It has 97 floors in total. Construction began in 2013 after its proposal was approved in 2011. The building was finalised and operational in 2019. The main materials used in its construction are reinforced concrete and reinforced encased steel. constructionglobal.com

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TOP 10

Lotte World Tower

One World Trade Center New York

Construction of the One World Trade Center in New York began in 2006 and was completed in 2014. The result was a 541 metrehigh office structure made out of reinforced concrete and steel. The building was designed by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, and has 99 floors: 5 below ground and 94 above. The project cost US$3.9bn to complete.

Seoul

Also designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates is the Lotte World Tower in Seoul, which is 554m high. The design of the building takes inspiration from traditional Korean art forms. It has 129 floors, six of which are below ground, and was constructed using reinforced concrete and steel. It took six years to complete, with construction coming to an end in 2017 and building costs amassing US$2.5bn. It is 554.5m in height.

constructionglobal.com

TOP 10

Ping An Finance Center Shenzhen

Completed in 2017, the Ping An Finance Center is the second tallest building in China and fourth tallest in the world, standing proud at 599.1m. The shape of the tower is created using a taught steel cable while its form is enhanced by eight composite super columns. Thought up in 2008, the building was completed in 2017 and was designed by Kohn Pedersen Fox Associates.

“ The shape of the tower is created using a taught steel cable while its form is enhanced by eight composite super columns” 96

October 2021

Makkah Royal Clock Tower Mecca

Boasting a height of 601m, the Makkah Royal Clock Tower in Mecca is the third tallest building worldwide. The idea for it was conceived in 2002, and it took ten years to become a reality. The clock tower stands in the centre of a high-rise complex called Abraj Al-Bait. Six smaller high-rises surround it at varying heights and accommodate both residential and hotel uses. It has four clocks which are mounted near the top.

TOP 10

Shanghai Tower Shanghai

Completed in 2015, the Shanghai Tower is the tallest building in China and the second tallest globally, standing at 632m in height. It has a total of 128 floors and was constructed from a composition of reinforced concrete and steel. It functions as a hotel and office and is owned by Shanghai Tower Construction and Development. The building was first proposed in 2008, with construction beginning in 2009. It is the third in a trio of signature skyscrapers at the heart of Shanghai's new Lujiazui Finance and Trade Zone.

“ It has a total of 128 floors and was constructed from a composition of reinforced concrete and steel” constructionglobal.com

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TOP 10

BURJ KHALIFA, world's tallest tower Tour & view from the top (Dubai)

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October 2021

TOP 10

“ Proposed as an idea in 2003 and owned by Emaar Properties, the Burj Khalifa takes the crown for the tallest building in the world.”

Burj Khalifa

Dubai, United Arab Emirates Proposed as an idea in 2003 and owned by Emaar Properties, the Burj Khalifa takes the crown for the tallest building in the world. Construction began on the project a year later in 2004 and was originally named Burj Dubai. However, following financial difficulties, Sheik Khalifa, ruler of Abu Dhabi, provided extra funding to complete the building, and its name was later changed to the Burj Khalifa in his honour. The project took six years to complete, with construction ending in 2010. As the tallest building in the world, it stands at 828m or a staggering half a mile high and has 163 floors. It cost US$1.5bn to construct.

constructionglobal.com

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