New Technologies in Construction: Trends and Modern Methods

Architects and builders use new technologies in the construction of houses to solve and prevent emerging frequency problems, as well as reduce costs, increase work efficiency, and accelerate the whole process.

Most innovative technologies are aimed at facilitating the design and construction of structures, but a number of them serve for environmental safety, energy conservation, and maintaining the natural balance.

Designers and specialists from all countries are actively introducing new materials into the construction, technologically optimal designs, as well as innovations in the process of laying engineering networks and communications both inside the building and outside. In this article, we will consider options for applying innovations, as well as their varieties. We will also give examples and tips that will help you independently apply the news to build your home.

New Construction Technology Trends

The goals of introducing modern technologies and methods of building a house

In the design process, the following parameters are used that determine the real value of engaging innovative methods:

• Profitability. This indicator is important both in the construction of multi-storey complexes and industrial facilities, and in the planning of a country estate, a country cottage, and any private dwelling. This issue focuses on the choice of building materials. In general, the following building materials can be distinguished:

o             foam blocks;

o             brickwork;

o             tree;

o             aerated concrete;

o             SIP panels;

o             expanded clay concrete;

o             polystyrene blocks.

The most economical materials are considered foam blocks and expanded clay concrete. But they have their drawbacks – good audibility, low durability.

• Environmental friendliness. Resolving this issue is often done by residents of private houses, rather than multi-story buildings. The simplest solution is the construction of solid wood. But such a cottage has a high cost, as well as a critical fire hazard. In this area, construction has been developed in a new trend – the use of house kits from wood panels made at factories. This technology speeds up the time-consuming process, minimizes the possibility of shrinkage at home, and also allows you to significantly save.
• Speed. The pace of life makes you erect a building in the shortest possible time. First of all, Western architects responded to this requirement, who proposed the use of frame structures, on which blocks from various materials are already mounted on top. In Russia, foreign experience has already been taken over; in our territory, they literally “grow” before the eyes of a building with a metal frame base. By the way, earlier the frame was made of wood.
• Strength. Long-term operation and resistance to various climatic influences is a constant concern of the population living in the northern latitudes. For Russians, the construction technique of American “house of cards” is incomprehensible; reliability is important to us. Therefore, many still choose a brick. The same weather conditions, in particular, a large amount of rainfall and spring floods, provoked the emergence of Russian equipment for the construction of the foundation – TISE. The method consists in pouring a particularly solid foundation of the house with the possibility of independent work. This is provided by a removable, lightweight formwork, which moves around the perimeter in connection with the need.
• Ease of design. If you want to build your own housing on your own, then you will need easy-to-use software products. The company “ZVSOFT” offers computer programs that provide computer-aided design from the stage of marking the site to the process of location of engineering systems. All software is very easy to manage, this is facilitated by:

o             Russian-language, intuitive interface;

o             a large set of cliches in the library – you can use the already prepared database of elements, as well as individually replenish it;

o             extensive tools – the basic CAD ZWCAD 2018 Professional already includes a lot of features in both two-dimensional and three-dimensional space, and with specialized add-ons it becomes much more functions.

More information about the types of software for building houses will be discussed below.

Specific goals for applying modern construction techniques

Some needs are more individual. Consider these needs.

Room cooling and moisture protection

For the construction of houses in hot and humid, subtropical or coastal climatic conditions, the technology of 3D printing of porous ceramic bricks was developed. Such a building material has a grid structure, which allows to absorb water, protecting the room inside from increased humidity outside. Block pores filled with drops provide reflection of sunlight – much less heat penetrates into rooms. Conventional brickwork, on the contrary, undergoes natural heating, which is why it is usually warm in a building made of classic brick.

Smog absorption

The functions of biodynamic white concrete, which underlies this innovation, were applied for the first time in large Japanese cities, where they closely monitor the atmosphere. Such structures look rather strange, but they absorb all the impurities from the air, which simply settle on the building material, turning into an inert salt. An example of a building in the photo.

Power supply

Everyone has long known solar panels that are installed on the roofs of houses to provide energy to residents, if not completely, but at least partially. Thus, the heating needs are also realized. Advantages of the new technology:

• Environmental friendliness. In the process of processing UV rays into the resource we need, there is no fuel burning, as in the implementation of coal and gas power, and the risk of an accident is also minimized, like at dangerous nuclear power plants.
• Full energy supply cycle. A fully covered roof with solar panels provides energy to the entire house, subject to favorable weather conditions. The technology is usually applied on those geographical bands where daylight hours significantly exceed night. However, the photocells that are built into the blocks allow the system to function even with high cloud cover.
• Minimal risk of fire. If the wiring is done correctly, then the risk of fire is minimized, since there are no fire hazardous elements, a gas boiler, for example.
• Long operation. Once installed on the roof for a long time will prevent the need for interference in the work of strangers.
• Autonomy. Such a project may allow users to be independent of the city’s central energy supply.

Solar panels have become familiar to builders, but there is a unique development of electricity production, which has not yet taken root among the population. This is electrification with the help of algae living on the facade of the building. Such a biologically active structure was erected in Hamburg. The plants themselves are contained in blocks with liquid and with a constant supply of air – this, as well as the constant exposure to sunlight, especially in the summer, provokes the active growth of algae, and at the same time, the induction of energy. So far, there is only one such example of alternative electricity production, however, Hamburg scientists are already thinking about how to supply the entire city with a resource.

Another alternative to solar panels is glass shingles. Costly to install, but practical to use, it allows the sun’s rays to heat the solar cells, which are interlaced under the main layer of glass. This energy is spent on heating the water, as well as heating the house.

Building reconstruction

For Dutch development, the term from biology is more suitable – regeneration. Scientists from the Netherlands have created concrete with a high level of calcium, as well as with the presence of microorganisms in the porous structure. When a crack appears on the facade, the bacteria generate calcium, turn it into limestone. The gap is gradually filled with material until it becomes almost invisible. The photo shows the process of such an independent recovery.

Originality

Otherwise, it is difficult to determine the purpose of such a development as a mushroom house. It was this natural material, as it turned out, building, that interested developers from Ecovative. They claim that such a building is environmentally friendly, as well as fireproof. No comments have been found on rodent wrecking.

Modern building development – case studies

Now let us dwell in more detail on those technologies that were not touched upon or briefly mentioned, however, they have every prospect to tightly enter the life of the population.

TISE

We have already talked about this innovation in connection with the strength and reliability of the building being built. Of the pluses, you can also highlight:

• minimum number of building materials;
• cost reduction;
• relevance for any type of soil;
• lack of need for electrification of a site;
• the possibility of self-construction of the house.

The abbreviation has the following definition – individual construction technology and ecology. The essence of this technique is drilling wells, installing piles and pouring concrete under the foundation. The most time-consuming process is the design and layout of the site. If at this stage there will be an overlay in the calculations, then the entire concrete base will be done incorrectly, the building will slant. It is most effective to use automated computer systems for these purposes, for example, ZWCAD 2018 Professional . This CAD will help the builder to clearly identify and design the boundaries of the foundation, the depth of drilling, their diameter, as well as make subsequent calculations.

This trend has been actively applied in Russia, where this new technology originated in the construction and design of buildings. This is primarily due to the strength, as well as immunity to groundwater, temperature differences.

Fixed formwork

The main advantage of the method is the speed of construction. You can also note the rather low cost of such housing. Construction technique gives monolithic walls in which forms are fastened together by mounted grooves or additional screeds. The essence of this construction is the filling of formwork with a cement composition. Design and process features:

• Vertical installation of metal fittings is mandatory – without a frame, the building simply can not withstand stress.
• Filling takes place in several stages, so that the solution sets. Typically, sessions are done with an interval of 3-4 days, while filling the wall around the perimeter with a height of 4-5 forms.
• Material for formwork is usually characterized by heat-insulating and sound-proofing properties. Most often, polystyrene foam is used.

Penetrating waterproofing

A technology that has long found its fans in Europe, and in Russia has just begun to spread. Its essence is in impregnating concrete (both foundations and walls) with a special composition. The liquid penetrates into the pores, where it dries and crystallizes. This protection completely blocks the ingress of moisture. This significantly extends the life of the building, and also saves from mold.

Tensile fittings

This method of “hardening” of steel using electricity or mechanical stress is more often used in the construction of apartment buildings or for the construction of industrial buildings with a large load on the walls and floors.

An undoubted advantage of prestressed reinforcement is its high strength. It is achieved by pulling it. After this treatment, metal piles are insensitive to even very large tensile loads.

Design software and 3D technology in construction

Without good software, you cannot make a well-thought-out building project. The more detailed, with the verified nuances, the plan will be, the faster and more accurately the house will be built. The company “ZVSOFT” offers a number of programs that will help at all stages of the construction of the building:

• ZWCAD 2018 CAD in two versions – standard and professional. This is the basic software with which you can perform the construction, starting from laying the foundation, ending with the layout of the rooms. In this software you can make a 3D-layout, as well as a complete visualization of future construction.
• INJKAD is a module with which you can easily lay all engineering systems – sewage, water supply, heating, electricity. Using line tracing, you can trace the intersection of communications, as well as all input points and zones of device connections.

Start construction with new technologies and design programs from ZVSOFT.