FutureTech 2020 Day Four: Looking Forward to Better Automation

As ENR FutureTech 2020 rolled into its fourth and final day, presentations offered a sense of emerging construction technologies and what comes next for developers and users amid a pandemic hit marketplace. Steve Jones, senior director of Dodge Data & Analytics, said that despite a significant decline in office and retail construction, there are bright spots for some non-residential market sectors, including healthcare and warehouses for e-commerce fulfillment. There are also hints of a shift toward renovation over new construction, which he described as a sign the construction economy is slowing. "We are in a cyclical business. This is just what it does," said Jones.