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As cities continue to expand and infrastructure projects grow more ambitious, the construction sector is facing a crippling problem: There arent enough workers.The U.S. alone will need to attract around half a million construction workers in 2025 to meet anticipated demand for construction services, according to the trade association Associated Builders and Contractors. In fact, the construction industry in the United States has faced a significant shortage since the Great Recession of 2008 when it lost 30% of its workforce.In response, several states have launched apprenticeships and beefed up community college programs to attract people to skilled trade occupations. Others have been busy building another kind of workforce: construction robots. Over the past decade, dozens of construction robots have cropped up on the market. Hilti Jaibot can drill on ceilings. Hadrian X can lay bricks. Okibo can plaster and paint walls. These construction robots werent developed to replace humansrather to perform tasks that are considered dangerous or repetitive.[Photo: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia/ IIT]The hurdle to broader adoption so far has been that many of these robots can only perform a limited number of very specific tasks. But that could soon change: Researchers at the Italian Institute of Technology have designed what they claim to be the worlds most modular construction robot, referring to the customizability of its component parts. Dubbed Concert, it can perform a wide array of tasks, including drilling, spraying insulation, sanding, and transporting 400-pound payloads.[Photo: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia/ IIT]Named for its ability to be composed or assembled for different scenarios, Concert consists of a mobile base and a modular arm that looks a bit like a Mars rover. The base is equipped with wheels that can be changed to fit the terrain, while the robotic arm can be outfitted with various tools depending on the task to be performed. Researchers tested Concert in Poland, and hope it will be available to the market within the next two to three years.[Photo: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia/ IIT]Why its so hard to build a construction robotWhen it comes to automation, the construction industry lags behind others. In fact, construction robots specifically only begun to crop up over the past 10 years or so, according to Nikolaos Tsagarakis, a tenured senior scientist and coordinator of the Concert project who has studied robotics for 30 years.One of the biggest challenges is that construction sites are complex, unpredictable, and decentralized. Unlike, say, a manufacturing facility, where operations tend to be fixed, construction sites can vary wildly from one to the next. This makes it much more challenging for the robot, says Tsagarakis, noting that for a robot to be useful and efficient at a construction site, it must be able to adapt and have some degree of autonomy.Another challenge is the array of tasks that are performed at a construction site. When companies develop a robot specifically for one task, they provide efficient and safer alternatives for humans, but these alternatives are not sustainable for construction companies in the long run. The largest construction companies in the world need systems that are multipurpose, says Tsagarakis.[Photo: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia/ IIT]How researchers design a robot that worksTo understand what construction companies really need, the researchers developed Concert in collaboration with Budimex, one of the largest construction companies in Poland. The team also worked with research partners in Austria and Germany.Thanks to a $3 million grant from the EU, the team spent three years developing the robot in a lab. Then, they tested it at a hospital construction site in Krakow, Poland. They performed one test in the winter and one in the summer, with both tests lasting 10 days each. During these field tests, the team validated four use cases: drilling on walls and ceilings of up to 3.5 meters high; spraying insulation (which is highly toxic to humans and must be performed while clad in protective suits); wall sanding (which is a very repetitive job); and assisting people when transporting heavy materials.To operate utonomously, the team equipped Concert with a series of sensors like laser scanners, 3D cameras, and ultrasonic sensors. These allow the robot to perceive its surroundings, avoid obstacles, and interact with humans. It can also respond to basic voice commands like lift or follow me though its reaction time remains slow for now. In the tests, the robot was able to move from the construction sites parking lot to an assigned location on the site completely on its own, where it drilled a hole with an accuracy of 1mm.The team faced a number of challenges during the testing phase of the construction robots, which they have since been working on addressing. Critically, Concert struggled to perform in extreme temperatures (both too cold and too hot). They also had to adjust the user interface they had developed so workers with no technical background could use it more easily. Tsagarakis maintains that these challenges are part of the process and that the robot will be optimized and reliable when it eventually hits the market. (The EU funding has ended, and the team is now busy raising funds and spin off into a startup.)[Photo: Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia/ IIT]Why construction robots might be coworkers, not co-optersTsagarakis acknowledges that theres a fear that robots replace the need for humans and therefore cut jobs, but he believes that humans will remain crucial to the industry. Much like the steam engine, electricity, and even AI, he says that construction robots will simply eliminate some jobs and create others.By bringing robots into the equation, companies could help convince the next generation of workers that construction isnt as tedious or dangerous as it once was. Whether thats enough to rebuild the workforce remains to be seen, but if robots like Concert succeed, the future of construction might not be about choosing between humans and machinesbut about finding new ways for them to build together.
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E-Commerce
As the Los Angeles area stares down the long recovery process from recent wildfires that burned thousands of homes, one architecture firm is trying to help by giving away one of its residential designs. New York-based Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture is donating all the architectural plans, sections, and 3D models of a fire-resistant home, potentially saving homeowners tens of thousands of dollars in design fees. “We were archiving unbuilt projects around the time of the Los Angeles fires, and we came across this idea that we had for a house on a coastal area,” says Enrico Bonetti, the firm’s cofounder. “We loved the floor plans and then we realized that the design, the typology, and the materials would work very well in a fire-prone area.” [Image: Bonetti Kozerski Architecture] Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture is known for its high-end work, including the headquarters of Pace Gallery in New York, the interiors of actress Angelina Jolie’s fashion house Atelier Jolie, as well as several yachts and private homes. Rather than let this home’s unbuilt design languish in its archive, the firm decided they’d offer it up for anyone to use, for free. “We felt that we could make a small contribution to the people who lost their homes by donating this project to them,” Bonetti says. [Image: Bonetti Kozerski Architecture] The free house plan is a simple but modern design, covering 3,700 square feet, with a rectangular floorplan that’s mostly open on the ground floor, with three bedrooms on the second floor. Large windows along the length of the house stretch from the floor to near the roofline, and wide picture windows punctuate one end. The design features several fire-resistant design elements, including metal cladding, masonry walls, and an eave-less roof that eliminates one of the common places falling embers can spread wildfires. This pro bono design is one of many efforts, large and small, being made by the architecture and design community to assist in L.A.’s rebuilding. Airbnb cofounder Joe Gebbia recently announced that his prefabricated housing startup Samara would be donating $15 million worth of homes to fire victims. Ad hoc groups of designers in L.A. are also pooling resources and sharing expertise to accelerate the rebuilding process. [Image: Bonetti Kozerski Architecture] Granted, free plans for a house are not a house, and the cost to build will be high, particularly in the fire-damaged L.A. region. But when architectural plans can account for 10% of a home’s cost or more, Bonetti/Kozerski Architecture’s donation represents tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars a potential client doesn’t have to spend. Interested homeowners in the fire-affected area will be able to download the free house plans from the architects’ website. They would then need to find their own general contractor to take the next steps. The architects say the project is ready to build, but can also be tweaked to fit the needs of different sites or the spatial demands of the end users who might want less than 3,700 square feetor perhaps much more. “This plan could be adaptable but it’s a very space efficient starting point,” Bonetti says.
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E-Commerce
When Connor Hovey began talking to his co-workers at Trader Joes in Louisville about forming a union, he knew it wouldnt be easy. What he didnt expect was that the campaign would transform from a marathon into a race without a finish line. Two years after Hovey and his co-workers won a union election in Louisville, their fight for union representation remains in limbo. The grocery chain with a progressive reputation filed six objections with the National Labor Relations Board after workers voted 48 to 36 to join Trader Joes United, an independent union. Every objection was tossed twicefirst by an NLRB hearing officer and later by a regional director. But last month, the workers path to certification stalled again when President Donald Trump abruptly fired Gwynne Wilcox, a Biden appointee, leaving the board unable to rule on the companys final appeal. The boards paralysis has prevented thousands of workers like Hovey from seeking redress from an agency whose very mission is to enforce worker rights, while providing employers with new opportunities to stall disputes. At the same time, the lack of a functioning arbiter of labor relations has left workers and their advocates wondering if the time has come to employ more confrontational tactics in labor disputes. It became clear the NLRB was already underfunded, understaffed, and overworked, said Hovey. Now [with the freeze] we may not have a decision on our election for several more years. Catherine Creighton is a former National Labor Relations Board attorney now at Cornell Universitys School of Industrial and Labor Relations. Without a functioning board, she said, You can organize, but if the employer doesnt agree to recognize the union or bargain, theres nothing you can do about it. For workers, theres nowhere you can go. Trumps firing of Wilcox, whose term was not due to expire until 2028, represented an extraordinary assertion of executive power over an independent agency; on the same day, Trump fired two commissioners on the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, leaving that agency, too, without a working quorum. (Wilcox has since filed a lawsuit contesting her firing, arguing that it violated some of the very labor laws she previously enforced.) The freeze at the National Labor Relations Board comes while attorneys for Elon Musks SpaceX and Jeff Bezos Amazon, which are both facing labor complaints, argue in federal court that the NLRB is unconstitutional, in part because it impedes executive power. Attorneys for Trader Joes have also asserted, in NLRB proceedings, the unconstitutionality of the NLRB. Spokespersons for the National Labor Relations Board did not respond to queries about the number of cases currently frozen at the board, though last year the board issued 372 decisions. Amazon has at least eight cases pending at the board, including an appeal of a judges decision ordering a new election at a 6,100-employee warehouse in Bessemer, Alabama, due to numerous labor law violations the company committed during a 2022 campaign. In January, the NLRB reported that the board was hearing 62 separate cases in which administrative law judges had determined Starbucks had broken labor laws. Along with contesting the Louisville election, Trader Joes is appealing a judges finding that the company threatened workers and froze wages at two unionized stores. The lack of a functioning board will exacerbate the backlog of cases at the NLRB, said Caren Sencer, a labor lawyer with Weinberg, Roger & Rosenfeld who represents multiple unions whose cases are now stalled at the National Labor Relations Board. It already felt indefinite, she said about the slow pace of NLRB proceedings. Now it actually is. The current NLRB paralysis affects cases that have reached the board, not those at lower levels. But it does provide new motivation for employers to appeal lower-level cases, since they know that without a quorum the case will eventually stall out. The lack of a quorum can also open up new avenues for objections. This happened recently in Philadelphia, where, for the first time, Whole Foods workers voted to unionize on Jan. 27, the same day Trump fired Wilcox. Attorneys for Whole Foods, which is owned by Amazon, filed objections to the results, asserting among their complaints that the election wasnt viable without a quorum at the board. For Creighton, of Cornell University, the lack of a quorum renews an age-old debate among labor: Is it worth trying to organize within the slow-moving NLRB? Why go into enemy territory? she asked. It was the only game in town, but now its nothing. She said that workers and unions, faced with a nonfunctioning or hostile board, may increasingly choose tactics like strikes to get what they want. In her departing statement, former National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo, a staunchly pro-labor figure, hinted as much, writing that if the agency doesnt protect workers rights, she expects workers will take matters into their own hands. Hovey, the Trader Joes worker in Louisville, has come to a similar conclusion after several years of union organizing. Its important to recognize that direct action is the only way to receive the benefits youre looking for. You cant depend on a government agency. Gabriel Thompson, Capital and Main This piece was originally published by Capital & Main, which reports from California on economic, political, and social issues.
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