Market trends and business perspectives
Building a new structure from the ground up can be a huge undertaking. But prefab steel buildings are rising in popularity, and for good reasons.
More people are turning to steel prefabs to create structures for various purposes. Read on if you want to know more about prefab steel buildings and their advantages. [Read more…] about Top 5 Benefits of Prefab Steel Buildings
With pressure mounting for cities to address affordable housing needs, decarbonize buildings, and meet sustainability goals, housing technology company Intelligent City raised CAD 22 million ($17 million), bringing the total capital invested in the company to CAD 30 million ($23 million).
As one of the first companies in North America to apply automation and robotics to the design and manufacturing of prefabricated mass timber buildings, Intelligent City will use the funding to scale operations, commercialize its Platforms for Life (P4L) building solution, grow factory automation, and expand its footprint across and beyond Canada.
Earlier this year, the company completed testing of its building systems and is now verified to work within the new mass timber high-rise building codes in Canada and the US. [Read more…] about Intelligent City raises $30 million to bring robotics and automation to prefabricated construction sector
Skyline Robotics has unveiled “the future of window cleaning” with Ozmo, describing it as the “world’s first high-rise window-cleaning robot”, and investors are taking notice. (See video below.)
The company has closed a successful pre-Series A funding round led by Standard Industries with contributions from Karcher New Venture and Gefen Capital.
Skyline will use the funding across a variety of business operations including expanding its New York City team, as well as continued product development and new capabilities to own the facade operations of the future. [Read more…] about Skyline Robotics unveils ‘world’s first high-rise window-cleaning robot’ Ozmo
BMW i Ventures took a lead investment in HeyCharge, the German start-up providing electric vehicle charging stations in apartment complexes, office buildings and other infrastructure locations.
HeyCharge was in Y Combinator’s Summer 2021 batch of start-ups.
Kasper Sage, managing partner, BMW i Ventures, says: “The rapid growth of the electric vehicle market in coming years will necessitate greater infrastructure build-out of charging solutions around the globe. [Read more…] about BMW invests in HeyCharge to increase electric vehicle charging points at residential locations
Industrial automation giant Kuka is to build a smart factory for digital construction company Admares.
The two companies say the project will “revolutionize the construction of buildings”.
Admares is said to be “the world’s leading provider of alternative real estate and pioneering construction methods”. And the company is pursuing the vision of future-oriented smart factories. [Read more…] about Kuka to build smart factory for digital construction company Admares
BrainBox AI, specialising in autonomous building technology, has raised $24 million to implement its technology in the built environment and develop its next phase of innovation.
The first close of its Series A round includes new lead investor, ABB, and investments by Esplanade Ventures and Desjardins Capital.
BrainBox AI offers predictive and self-adaptive artificial intelligence to optimize buildings’ energy usage, carbon footprint, and operational efficiency. [Read more…] about BrainBox AI raises $24 million to expand into building automation
BVN Architecture and the University of Technology Sydney have teamed up to design what they say is “the world’s first robotically 3D-printed air-diffusion system”, called “Systems Reef 2”, or SR2.
SR2 reinvents air distribution: replacing steel with recycled plastic, square corners with aerodynamic curves, and large vents with fine pores.
The building sector is responsible for nearly 40 percent of annual global greenhouse gas emissions and SR2 tackles this problem head on. [Read more…] about BVN and UTS invent robotic 3D-printed air cooling system
Mighty Buildings, a startup providing automated solutions for modern home building, has launched out of stealth after graduating from Y Combinator in winter 2018 and raising a total of $30 million from Khosla Ventures, Y Combinator, SV Angel, CoreVC, and others.
The company says it uses a combination of 3D printing and prefabrication techniques to create a production-as-a-service platform that will “automate up to 80 percent of the building process”.
Mighty Buildings says it has a unique approach that is both project- and design-agnostic, and can create “everything from small complex components to panels to full-size volumetric modules”. [Read more…] about Mighty Buildings aims to automate 80 percent of construction process
Mitsubishi Electric has agreed to acquire buildings and land from Sharp Fukuyama Semiconductor, a wholly owned subsidiary of Sharp Corporation located in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.
The acquired properties will serve as a new site where Mitsubishi Electric’s Power Device Works will process wafers for the manufacture of power semiconductors.
New production facilities scheduled to start up in November of next year will enable Mitsubishi Electric to expand its power device business. [Read more…] about Mitsubishi Electric to acquire Sharp factory to expand power device business
Volkswagen is to construct buildings and infrastructure for the battery cell factory it has agreed to build with Northvolt. The automotive giant has made initial investment of some €450 million.
The joint venture between Volkswagen Group and the Swedish battery producer Northvolt is gaining further momentum.
It has been decided that Volkswagen itself will erect the buildings and infrastructure for the joint venture’s “Northvolt Zwei” factory that is to produce lithium-ion battery cells, in order to leverage synergies at the Salzgitter site – based on the existing Center of Excellence for Battery Cells. [Read more…] about Volkswagen invests €450 million in battery manufacturing joint venture with Northvolt
