The digital revolution of commercial construction
Commercial construction is at a crossroads, with healthy growth forecast in 2025 and 2026 after a challenging 2024. Yet while project managers continue to face challenges to keep sites running all year round and meet tight completion deadlines, site emissions targets are adding further pressure to already stretched site stakeholders. Tom Adlington, Sector Sales Manager for Building Services & Construction UK & Ireland at Aggreko, explains how data monitoring can aid the decarbonisation process in commercial construction.
According to S&P Global, 2024 brought a significant upturn in overall construction output, with commercial activity firmly among the sector’s fastest growing areas. Alongside this, other market forecasts paint a positive picture, with project work set to rise in healthcare, office and retail construction subsectors over this year and 2026.
While the sector’s future is undeniably promising, there are still significant and immediate pressures that must first be tackled. Rising material costs and labour shortages are delaying projects and hindering future investments. What’s more, the energy-intensive nature of commercial projects remains a major concern.
Workloads and weather
Given that an established grid connection is rarely possible for most commercial constructionsites, generators have long been an essential tool for construction managers. However, the over-, or underspecification, of on-site power solutions such as these can lead to inefficiencies, tightening project budgets even further. These concerns were voiced in Aggreko’s latest whitepaper report for the sector, ‘A Perfect Storm for European Construction?’, in which more than one in three UK construction managers surveyed claimed they had experienced trouble with sizing equipment in 2024.
Growing pressure to adopt greener practice only adds to an already complex situation, as environmental legislation such as low emission zones continues to influence equipment specification. As the consequent demand for sustainable solutions grows, commercial construction project managers must remain updated on the latest technologies, such as Stage V generators and battery energy storage systems (BESS).
Yet, as workloads increase, time-constrained stakeholders may lack the time or resources to discover the most suitable solutions on hand to reduce on-site emissions. As a result, site decision-makers may turn to the supply chain for guidance as these potential knowledge or awareness gaps arise.
These technologies are flexible and modular when used on a hire basis, allowing for scalability based on site needs. With well informed specification advice, site managers can benefit from a host of efficiency and emission reduction benefits on similarly rising scales, especially on more energy-intensive commercial construction projects.
With extreme weather events becoming more frequent, swift access to these solutions has never been more important. In the second part of Aggreko’s latest whitepaper, ‘Building in Resilience: Weather-proofing European Construction in a Changing Climate’, 70% of UK construction managers surveyed said that they had experienced major weather-related delays to projects in the past year. Given the threat these events pose to the industry, a fast delivery of efficient utility provision solutions is simply non-negotiable.
Real-time insights
In addition to incorporating sustainable energy solutions into on-site energy mixes, digitalisation, such as adopting remote monitoring technologies, is another path to reducing carbon footprints.
Surprisingly, the wider supply chain has been slow to adopt these data-driven practices, with National Building Specification’s Biennial Sustainable Futures Report revealing that while 70% of construction projects now include sustainability targets, a lack of data could restrict progress towards Net Zero.
By implementing a 24/7 remote monitoring system, site stakeholders have the chance to gain greater levels of control over utility provision, improving efficiency and reducing emissions and fuel costs in the process. The Aggreko Remote Monitoring (ARM) service, for instance, which can be accessed through the Aggreko Connect hub, offers real-time insights.
By tracking the health of BESS and other assets remotely, these services can also quickly identify potential performance issues before they incur costly and unplanned downtime. Similarly, as site stakeholders can access all equipment monitoring data, they are in a strong position to manage evolving project logistics in a responsive fashion.
Perhaps more importantly, site managers can gain access to emissions reporting data on nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM) and hydrocarbons (HC), simplifying the task of compiling sustainability reports for regulatory bodies.
Proactive preparation
When it comes to driving the British construction sector’s recovery, commercial projects are a major piece of the puzzle, despite the short-term issue of grappling with financial pressures. Project managers that remain updated on the latest sustainable technologies and processes will be best placed to tackle the impact of rising costs.
To maximise efficiency gains and emissions reductions from new equipment, such as BESS and Stage V generators, digitalisation and remote monitoring technologies are crucial. By taking this two-pronged approach, the commercial construction sector can continue to thrive while adhering to decarbonisation timelines.
