Integration strategies for advanced construction technologies in the US AECO industry

Abstract

Advanced Construction Technologies (ACTs) have fundamentally altered the way the US Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Operations (AECO) industry operates. Over the past few decades, the US AECO industry has undergone a technological awakening, which promises to improve project quality and efficiency in a multitude of ways. The shift towards technology adoption began with Building Information Modeling (BIM), which for many years struggled to gain acceptance due to a largely ad-hoc integration strategy for organizations. As technologies continue to emerge and develop beyond, and in parallel with BIM, there are no tools available to help evaluate, plan and integrate such advancements in US AECO workflows. A series of semi-structured interviews were conducted with US AECO industry technology experts to establish a cursory list of the factors which impede or promote the successful integration of ACTs. These factors were evaluated, ranked and rated through a Delphi study, conducted with a panel of industry experts who at the time specialized or leveraged ACTs. A novel continuously iterative Delphi platform was deployed to gain the requisite expert input for the importance rating and impact ranking for each of the factors cited as influential in technology integration. The collected data was used to help bridge the identified gap between ACT development and successful integration of ACTs into US AECO industry workflows. Within the context of existing technology integration theories, this study identifies and evaluates factors which influence technological integration success within the US AECO industry. This study begins the process of establishing a foundation of understanding as it relates to meaningful ACT integration.