In August, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 was signed. The act targets climate change and inflation, and is projected to supply $370 billion for sustainability and energy initiatives over the next 10 years. As it relates to construction, a portion of these funds will go towards enhancing standardization for low-embodied carbon construction materials, updating energy codes and improving arterial roadways—just to name a few.
It comes as no surprise that the increase in federal funding for infrastructure-related projects has owners taking a more aggressive look at the digital transformation of their project data. Digital transformation can help owners to ensure compliance with stricter reporting standards imposed by funding agencies, as well as, improve efficiency in their asset lifecycle management. A prime example paving the way is the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), see here.
In related news, although Microsoft opened a new Azure cloud region in Sweden, late 2021, the company is already looking for another site to meet market needs. A rapidly increasing demand for secure data storage and cloud services globally places pressure on existing data centers. However, many owners have yet to reap the benefits of their data stored in the cloud or more specifically, in data warehouses. Learn the top 8 benefits of a data warehouse.
New Federal Funding for Construction Owners
With the introduction of a new federal funding stream through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, an additional $1 billion is allocated to jurisdictions through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to update energy codes.
According to a recent article in American City & County, “The bill makes further historic investments in sustainable construction, including $250 million through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for work toward enhanced standardization for low-embodied carbon construction materials through environmental product declarations.”
Additionally, $3 billion in funding has been set aside to improve arterial roadways for enhanced safety and resilience.
KEY TAKEAWAY: Owners should revisit planned CIP projects to determine federal funding applications for improving our nation’s infrastructure.
Trimble’s AgileAssets offers asset management solutions for transportation networks of all sizes—from sidewalks, to roadways, or other pavement assets—balancing the performance of the network against the cost to maintain it is paramount to your program’s continued success. Learn more.
Related Resource
On-Demand Webinar: Infrastructure Summit Breakout: Roads and Bridges
The State of Digital Transformation
Related Resource
On-Demand Webinar: The State of Digital Transformation (EDC 6 and EDC 7)
With the influx of federal funding, owner organizations and construction companies are re-considering the path forward, starting with—how to digitize their operations and break down data silos in order to access the information needed to drive improved productivity and better infrastructure projects.
Whereas owners who have been in the cloud for some time have now moved on to Phase 2, where they’re looking beyond the walls of their own organizations to find opportunities to transform external workflows in the supply chain—all the way to asset lifecycle management.
Two recent examples of successful digital transformation projects include:
- Norwegian Road Authority - realized a 20% cost savings and schedule benefits; with change orders between projects being reduced from 18.9% to 9.8% of the overall budget.
- Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) - documented a savings of $15 million on a project with a $130 million guaranteed maximum price and a 30% cost savings utilizing asset data for design.
KEY TAKEAWAY: Wherever you are on the spectrum of digital transformation, there’s no better time to begin, or to expand your efforts, than right now. Learn more about digital transformation in construction.
How Do Data Warehouses Benefit a Business?
While data to aid the construction process is generally available, it's usually siloed in separate PMIS, ERP, and CRM systems. Additionally, static data on spreadsheets is not fluid enough, especially when projects are under a variety of pressures—like labor force shortages or supply chain delays.
That's where a data warehouse comes in handy.
A data warehouse solves these challenges for the construction owner. It is the driver for data-based decisions, inputting all relevant data in the right context and delivering easily visualized business analytics, without slowing down current systems that are needed to manage on-going construction projects.
And with the era of digital transformation underway, working with data-driven insights, like digital twins for example, is key. In fact, "the use case for digital twins in construction is ever-expanding and the market is expected to grow from $6.9 billion in 2022 to more than $73 billion by 2027," according to one researcher.
Related, Microsoft just announced their need to locate another Azure cloud site to meet rapidly increasing demand for secure data storage and cloud services. "There’s even now talk about expanding this into markets that have historically relied heavily on antiquated documentation to improve construction communication and processes."
KEY TAKEAWAY: Behind great construction industry leaders and capital project owners, are great tools, such as data warehouses, to aid in their decision making processes. Learn more.
Connected Construction: The Owners’ Perspective SmartMarket Brief
By partnering with Dodge Construction Network, we’ve been able to provide an authoritative state of digital transformation for owners in the construction market. In doing so, we hope to ground you in your current state and shine a light on your future direction. For more details, download the Connected Construction: The Owners’ Perspective SmartMarket Brief report.
