“Transformative Technology in the Built Environment” — Roger Wahl, Innovo CTO

The built environment often trails behind other industries in technological advancement due to its risk-averse nature, slim profit margins, and highly specialised projects. Compounding these challenges are the pressures of rapid urbanisation and the urgent need to reduce our carbon footprint, with the built lifecycle contributing over 40%+ of global carbon emissions. Despite these hurdles, I envision a transformative future for our industry, driven by the imperative to innovate and build cities more efficiently and sustainably.

Catalysing Progress Through Innovation

Companies need to step forward to take on the challenge. Innovo is investing in capabilities across analytics, AI, machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics to create safer, more sustainable, and productive projects – and the positive impact is clear. We have implemented transformative technologies such as Digital Twin and Smart Systems to improve the execution of our projects, mitigate risks, and increase efficiency. We are also reducing our CO2 emissions through advanced calculators that track emissions on-site and work to bring them down.

Tech-led Building Efficiencies

I am passionate about empowering our teams to achieve their best work and leveraging Digital Twin Technology with Building Information Modeling (BIM) has significantly boosted our efficiency. We are also collaborating with a 4D AI analytics platform which has been transformative, eliminating on average, over 10% of rework, reducing our carbon footprint, and unlocking substantial cost and time savings while enhancing project safety. We have already seen impressive results in one of our Dubai projects—a carbon-neutral headquarters—and are currently applying these innovations to three other major projects across the UAE.

Tech-supported Health and Safety

We are also using technology to improve health and safety on site including robotic dogs with LiDAR scanners, computer vision to assess and respond to unsafe conditions, and RFID tracking of staff throughout projects. These technologies allow us to create safer work environments for our staff and contractors.

Through visiting our sites and speaking with members of our team, I have seen the impact this transformative technology has and am thrilled to see their continued rollout across Innovo.

Tech-powered Sustainability Outcomes

Improving the sustainable outcomes is another priority for me, and Innovo is using innovative technologies to achieve this. One example is iEnergy, a technology that uses IoT and analytics to deliver real-time and historical data on electricity, water, and diesel usage on our sites. This data enables us to identify inefficiencies, offering the opportunity to optimise energy consumption. The technology also proactively alerts teams when they are using resources inefficiently, allowing for immediate corrections.

A Framework for the Future

By harnessing transformative technology and establishing a comprehensive data lake to capture, analyze, and utilize real-time data, we can create a robust framework for the development, construction, and maintenance of tomorrow's cities. The technologies we are utilising today are just the beginning of the journey and Innovo will continue to play its part in redefining construction and real estate development with technological solutions that help to reshape the built environment.