OpenSpace survey: Builders looking to improve efficiency as 74% worry about potential economic downturn

In a community survey, 54% of respondents said they would use technology to improve operations in preparation

SAN FRANCISCO, July 12, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- In a new survey of its customers and community, OpenSpace, the global leader in 360° jobsite capture and AI-powered analytics, found that 74% of respondents are concerned about a potential economic downturn affecting the construction industry. To prepare, 60% said they wanted to improve project efficiency. Few are looking to freeze or cut jobs (16%) to adapt, while more than half (54%) said that they'd look to technology to optimize operations in order to weather any slowdowns.

In fact, 74% of survey respondents said they thought technology would help their company by improving efficiency, thereby saving time and money. Other popular responses included technology helping to decrease errors or mistakes (62%) and reducing the time spent coordinating among stakeholders or traveling to the site (59%).

One example of technology saving builders time and money today is OpenSpace Capture. According to the survey, 67% of customers reported saving thousands of dollars on average on project costs thanks to OpenSpace, while 74% saved multiple hours per week. These savings are a result of OpenSpace Capture's ability to increase site coordination, reduce rework costs, and provide a trusted, complete record of site status. Customers like RG Construction, a specialty drywall contractor based in Chicago, have seen the benefits of OpenSpace for more efficient construction.

"OpenSpace is the single best tool we've had in terms of jobsite information," RG Construction Principal Brian Garcea said. "Having real-time insight into our progress that lets us quickly adjust how we're working in the field is what lean is all about. It's an invaluable tool for our company."

With OpenSpace Capture, builders attach an off-the-shelf, consumer 360° camera to their hardhat and walk the site as they normally would. Once the video from the walk is uploaded to the cloud, OpenSpace's computer vision technology stitches images together and pins all the images to the floor plan, creating a trusted visual record of site status. Powered by the company's Vision Engine, the site image map is typically ready to view about 15 minutes after upload. The resulting 360° visual document of the construction site aids in coordination among stakeholders—making change orders easier, catching errors before they spiral into huge losses, and reducing the need for project managers to travel to the site, among other benefits.

"Throughout the pandemic, we've seen firsthand how technology can advance projects and reduce delays or errors, even when site access is limited," said OpenSpace CEO and co-founder Jeevan Kalanithi. "As the industry continues to evolve, we're focused on finding ways to empower builders with technology to keep projects on time and costs low, in order to help builders adapt amid any larger market shifts."

To learn more about how OpenSpace Capture can help create more efficient projects and decrease costs, visit https://www.openspace.ai/products/capture/.

Founded in 2017, OpenSpace is an AI technology company on a mission to bring new levels of transparency and efficiency to construction and real estate. With our platform, builders automatically capture a complete visual record of the jobsite, providing a single source of truth that increases coordination, drives accountability, and simplifies dispute resolution. To date, our customers have used OpenSpace to capture more than eight billion square feet of imagery from active construction projects across thousands of sites in over seventy-five countries.  

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SOURCE OpenSpace