This audio is automatically generated. Please let us know if you have any comments.
Dive brief:
- The combined application of six AI-enabled levers can reduce project costs by 17% to 20%, while cutting schedules by 22% to 25%. according to an analysis of a sample 180,000-square-foot multifamily project by Suffolk Construction and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Suffolk and MIT published a white paper that labels six interrelated construction processes where AI can spur productivity gains.
- The study’s authors cite improvements in AI models, technology’s ability to sift through reams of construction data, and economic pressures to adopt AI as driving forces behind the industry’s growing focus on AI.
Diving knowledge:
The document, entitled “Building in the age of AI”, defines the six key levers as:
- Design automation
- Off site manufacturing
- to allow
- Programming
- Skilled labor and outsourcing
- Supply chain and procurement
The report notes that gains among these categories can lead to additional advances in other areas, said Jit Kee Chin, Suffolk’s chief technology officer.
“That’s where I find the real color of the paper, which is that this is not like a math exercise for 1 + 1 + 1 equals 3. It’s 1 + 1 + 1 equals, potentially, 6,” Chin told Construction Dive.
In particular, the research paper listed design automation as the “clearest driver of improvements in the other five categories.” The report’s authors note that design automation acted as a database for permit compliance verification, procurement automation, schedule generation, and subcontractor coordination.
The research also points to connections between supply chains, off-site manufacturing and schedule optimization. The prefabricated components must arrive at the job sites when the installation crews are ready, demonstrating the need for coordination between these three components.
The paper’s multifamily case study used a $180 million construction project in San Francisco that was completed in 2024 to retroactively analyze areas ripe for potential productivity, schedule, and cost improvements.
While advances in capabilities are a part of the rise of AI, the rise of technology is also closely tied to the rapid growth of data center construction around the US Between March and August, the number of projects that were planned or underway nearly tripled, according to an analysis of data from market intelligence firm Cleanview.
The researchers collected data through a panel discussion, a review of the published literature, and expert interviews. While the results weren’t causal, Chin pointed to a roadmap outlining next steps, including more studies and better data standards for construction.
“There is now enough evidence that this vision is possible,” Chin said. “The question is: What do we all make of it?”
