The construction industry isn’t recession-proof. At this year’s International Builders Show in January, the buzz was about low interest rates and a strong economy, promising a bright future for the construction market. That was before the global COVID-19 pandemic took hold. Now, new economic pressures are shaping construction industry trends, and suddenly, a downturn in the economy is looming and the future is much less certain.
Everyone has been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, including the construction industry. Shelter-in-place orders have inevitably created construction delays, and while some contractors can continue working, most non-critical building projects have been placed on hold until the threat to the general population has been contained. As a result, general contractors are going to have to revise their construction schedules, which is going to cost some a lot of money and may drive others out of business.
The novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has created an economic whirlwind affecting multiple industries across the globe. With businesses and their employees taking necessary precautions to battle the spread, each state invoking differing orders of shelter-in-place, mandatory restrictions placed on travel, and non-essential businesses closed, the global economy has been put on pause. With the threat of a global recession on the horizon, experts are predicting negative growth for the United States markets in the first quarter of 2020, and an even more impactful decline in the second quarter. These forecasts are causing urgent, understandable concerns for the construction industry, including those within the data center sector.
An aging infrastructure is dictating construction industry trends. Congress has committed $2 trillion over the next 25 years to fix the nation’s infrastructure, and experts estimate that it will cost $1 trillion alone to fix the nation’s roadways and bridges. But that doesn’t take into account the aging office complexes and data systems. Architects, contractors, and engineers are looking for new ways to approach building projects, in an effort to handle growing demand with reduced budgets and tighter deadlines. That’s why prefabrication and similar strategies are growing in popularity, and becoming construction industry trends.
The success of any data center project depends upon efficiency. Reducing costs and shortening time to completion is essential when you are building a new data center. Once the data center is up and operational, you want it to maximize efficiency and ensure uptime, as any data center failure will cost you money. That’s why more data center owners are adopting vendor-managed inventory (VMI) as a strategy, to ensure they have access to the components they need, when they need them, without having to spend a fortune on stocking and storage.
When building a new structure or data center, the client normally lets the engineer and the contractor choose the components they need for the building infrastructure. After all, the architects, engineers and builders were selected for their expertise. However, there are times when you want to use your own equipment. This process is commonly referred to as owner furnished-contractor installed (OFCI).
Technology continues to have a substantial impact on building techniques and construction trends. Whether it’s digital technology, computers, wireless networking or other critical innovations, the goals are always the same—cut costs, shorten time to completion and increase safety. In addition, technological innovations are helping many companies deal with endemic problems, such as the growing national skilled labor shortage.
