Ross Litkenhous

Perhaps you have heard that the commercial real estate industry is finally escaping its hidebound IT legacy. Perhaps you have seen or use some of the apps, IoT or analytics platforms aimed at the space. Perhaps you should speak with Altus Group Vice President Ross Litkenhous about the industry's adoption of construction robots. He estimates the industry will begin to see mainstream adoption of these robots within ten years. “If it was a technology that was going to be rolled out in any other industry but commercial real estate I would say within the next five years,” he tells GlobeSt.com. But because it's CRE I will say ten because we seem to still lag behind everyone else.”

It is not just acceptance that is needed for this technology but also a better understanding of it, Litkenhous says. In a recent survey for the company's Real Estate Development Trends Report some 66% of respondents felt that the next technologies with the potential to make a significant, disruptive impact on development would be construction robotics as well as intelligent building design using artificial intelligence. At the same time, however, 65% of the respondents believed that 3D printing is going have to little to no impact on the development sector. The problem? Those two technologies go hand-in-hand, Litkenhous says. “Some robotics technologies not only use robots but also 3D printing — the robots are actually manipulating the 3D printing to build components that go into the buildings themselves.”

“What that tells me is that there's a lack of understanding and education as to the capabilities of what is on the market now.”