Leveraging Innovative Technology for Improved Efficiency Concerted Efforts Opens New Horizon

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) has been encouraging the industry to enhance productivity and site safety by applying new technologies such as Building Information Modelling (BIM), the Internet of Things (IoT) and Modular Integrated Construction (MiC), and to this end has provided master classes on relevant subjects to nurture industry executives. Recently, the CIC invited Donal CHOI, Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of ChinaChem Group, to share his views on how technologies such as MiC can improve construction efficiency and benefit society as a whole.

Challenges and Opportunities Faced by the Construction Industry

With multiple large-scale infrastructure projects in the pipeline for the coming decade, Hong Kong’s construction industry is set for a new golden era – one that will bring its own set of challenges.

CHOI remarked, “New infrastructure projects and developments will boost construction volume to HK$30 billion annually for the next decade. However, this expansion comes with multiple challenges for the industry.” First among them is the ageing workforce, exacerbated by the fact that young people do not understand the industry and hence are not interested in joining, which further affects productivity and efficiency. Moreover, number of construction occupational accidents reaches double digits annually. This underlines the necessity of facing up to construction site safety problems in order to attract more new blood to the industry.

The industry is also looking to eliminate the impact of environmental pollution caused by construction processes. According to a survey, building activities account for around 70% of the total carbon emissions in Hong Kong. The waste and noise created by construction processes also affect lives in nearby communities and the natural environment. With the expansion of construction volume, the industry is also facing the issue of quality control, such as craftsmanship defects caused by workers. The industry must ensure construction quality and quantity to meet market requirements and set standards.

In recent years, construction processes have also been disrupted by climate change, driving up the costs. Effective monitoring of project progress and expenditure has thus become an important issue.

Innovative Technologies Pave A New Way

On many of these foreseeable challenges, CIC has already worked closely with the industry to promote new technologies and embrace future opportunities. “Some of these technologies could potentially lessen or even eliminate the difficulties we are facing,” said CHOI.

Primarily, in the age of e-economy, digitalisation has become vitally important for all industries. The construction industry has gradually realised the power of digital transformation with the application of new technologies such as the Common Data Environment (CDE). As for BIM, in the long run, it will not only benefit the construction industry, but also help property owners and management companies to improve operating efficiency and reduce day-to-day operational and maintenance costs.

Furthermore, by leveraging digital tools such BIM and CDE, the industry can apply to government departments for project approvals more conveniently and ensure that applications meet specified criteria, thereby reducing approval time and costs.

The Internet of Things and Blockchain can help the industry to collect real-time data and information on relevant projects, reducing time and manpower spent on such repetitive processes while improving data safety and reliability. In fact, BIM can also be applied to other construction cycle processes such as e-tendering. In the future, BIM could even enhance the efficiency and reduce the cost of sourcing by helping the industry source materials, facilities and services globally. Currently, e-submission and automation are not used extensively in the industry. If the industry can make better use of these technologies, work efficiency, quality, quantity and accuracy can be further improved.

The industry is already using new technology to reduce carbon emissions at the construction stage. For example, some companies have cut carbon emissions by using battery energy storage systems for emergency power generation, as well as big data to enhance real-time monitoring and analysis.

The Many Advantages of MiC

MiC is bringing multiple benefits to the construction industry. Since MiC moves part of the construction process to factories, reduces construction processes on-site. On-site work can be done at the same time while modules are prefabricated in factories allowing construction time 30% faster than traditional methods. Also, on-site demand for labour can be reduced by 70%, on-site noise can be reduced by up to 75%, and construction waste and pollutants can be reduced by around 68%.

MiC enables construction components to be prefabricated and assembled remotely, in a factory with a controlled environment safe from the effects of weather. This alone improves construction site safety and lowers costs.

Affected by various factors including production quantity, the cost of MiC construction could be higher than traditional methods, but in the long run, it can potentially reduce on-site construction time and cost while improving quality. ChinaChem is working with Urban Renewal Authority on the Tokin Street re-development project at Cheungshawan – the first private sector project to adopt MiC. ChinaChem will also utilise MiC for another project at Tung Chung comprising five 46-storey towers with a total of 2,000 residential units.

However, CHOI expressed that some challenges still remain for MiC in Hong Kong. If the government provided policy support to diminish the construction cost of using MiC – such as by increasing the gross floor area exemption and height limits – there could be a greater industry incentive to adopt the technology.

The government has accepted the CIC’s and industry’s suggestion to study the feasibility of reserving land in the Northern Metropolis for MiC modular production and storage, and to promote cooperation within the Greater Bay Area to improve the MiC supply chain. “MiC is an option to improve our housing quality, protect our environment and ensure that we have a competitive city and a high quality of life. However, in the end, innovative technologies can only handle part of the challenges,” CHOI stressed. “Apart from using those technologies on construction processes, a change of mindset is also required to move us forward and make Hong Kong a more liveable city.”

Supporting the Industry to Seize Opportunities

The CIC will continue to promote the industry’s implementation and extensive use of innovative technologies. For instance, the CIC will continue to provide training to on-site workers and management staff to improve their understanding of the operational and management processes of new technologies such as MiC. By helping workers to develop, the industry will be better able to embrace the opportunities created by new tech.

At the same time, CIC will also work with partners in the Greater Bay Area on the application of new technologies and MiC to open up these new opportunities.

As Thomas HO, Chairman of CIC, emphasised: “Construction is an art of collaboration and connection; we cannot build alone, but we do it together with our partners.”