Top CRE executives discuss how technology has changed the construction and design process.

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How has technology changed the construction and design world over the last 10 years?

John Gilbert, EVP, COO, CTO, Rudin Management

A lot.

Hussain Ali-Khan, Global Alliance Director, CBRE

Ten years ago we were creating drawings in AutoCAD and there actually were no materially important project management systems. So for example drawings would be created in AutoCAD were printed out and distributed to the construction team. Like if you can believe that today, that's how they were distributed, drawing sets for central printers that would distribute them to the teams.

Tama Huang, Chief Innovation Officer, CohnReznick

The biggest change is speed and risk mitigation as well like what we're able to to try and fail a lot faster than we have in the past.

John Gilbert, EVP, COO, CTO, Rudin Management

And they ultimately then can impact design and immediately measure how that change in design can change solar load, because we can see the data in real time, we can see how temperatures are impacted in real time…

Gabrielle Rubin Deveaux, Global Real Estate & Facilities, Buzzfeed

I think that there's going to be hyper reality and mixed use and all sorts of different ways to approach instead of just receiving a 2D floor plan from an aerial perspective. We will be actually using Oculus and turning around and being able to see the space and before we know it you'll be able to put the goggles on and actually walk through a raw space and see it built out. I can’t imagine it being any other way.

Hussain Ali-Khan, Global Alliance Director, CBRE

So I think the impact of technology on construction which is a surprisingly resistant field to technology. People just love their analog ways of doing things. The impact of technology has been pretty massive and I think it's going to continue to be more and more important as those models can help to educate say VR approaches to facilities management or even to support the development of artificial intelligence and machine learning.

John Gilbert, EVP, COO, CTO, Rudin Management

In addition to that, what we're seeing is the wearables. Wearable sensors are going to have a huge impact in terms of construction, monitoring health, heart rate, respiration, how people pick things up properly or not properly, giving them immediate feedback so that we can cut down on on injuries that occur on the job site.

Hussain Ali-Khan, Global Alliance Director, CBRE

The the development of BIM and the development of three dimensional drafting software allows building teams to address building concepts in real time online, to be able to see clashes, to avoid change orders, to collaborate in ways that may not have been possible in the past.

Tama Huang, Chief Innovation Officer, CohnReznick

So I think what's happening with construction and design is that it is becoming much fuller, much much more connected to all the other aspects of the physical asset and the occupancy of that asset.

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