The construction industry remains one of the most resource- and risk-intensive sectors, operating under a linear “take, make, dispose” model that drives inefficiency and waste. Construction and demolition waste accounts for 40% of total EU waste, with recycling rates averaging 74% despite an 89% recovery rate.

A rapid shift towards digital, circular, and human-centric construction is crucial to meeting EU sustainability and resilience goals, in line with Industry 5.0 principles that prioritise resource efficiency, environmental protection, and workforce wellbeing through technological integration and new production methods.

Under the Digital Construction cluster, we aim to redefine the future of European construction by positioning a flagship initiative that integrates efficiency, sustainability, safety, and skills development into a Toolkit of Technology-Driven Solutions.

Our goal at the Digital Construction Cluster is to assist construction companies by conducting collaborative research on:

• Creating a Centralised Data Space that unifies real-time operational/safety/sustainability data across heterogeneous infrastructures, which has not yet been achieved in the sector.
• Deploying predictive analytics to go beyond reactive monitoring, by proactively reducing rework and delays – integrating existing solutions into the whole system.
• Customising digital solutions to company maturity levels, ensuring that even less advanced firms can adopt innovations and meet EU sustainability goals.
• Embedding continuous feedback loops over the project phases of research, design, deployment and improvement, so that solutions evolve dynamically, rather than remaining as static prototypes.
• Implementation of training programmes for upskilling the workforce and increasing workers’ awareness of health and safety risks such as hazardous materials and on-site accidents.

An example of the Digital Construction cluster work through the ReThink | ReDesign programme is our work with Corballis Technology.

As part of the development of Safety Management System (SMS) software tools, it is necessary to include a Security, Quality and Asset Risk management. Several standards exist (e.g., ISO 9001, ISO 27001 and ISO 55000), and are in use across the potential end users of the software. To maximise the applicability of an SMS software tool, these standards should be incorporated in the solution to attract use by potential customers.

This Project required expert knowledge of management systems and process, as well as knowledge of the required standards.

The ReThink | ReDesign team at IVI along with Dr. Pourzolfaghar together to

• identify the relevant standards in popular use in appropriate industries
• select appropriate standards to provide clear integration between the standards and the existing SMS system process
• expand the standards to relate to common management frameworks

You can see more on our Success Stories page.