FEATURE | Canadian Construction Innovations
Pierre Boucher, president of Canadian Construction Innovations (CCI). CCI is an organization designed to enable and promote new innovative products, processes, and tools within the construction industry.
CCI was created to give the industry the tools and opportunities to realize its full potential. CCI’s objectives are to help transform the construction industry by promoting collaboration, improving processes, and making new technological advances. Some keys issues involve developing new procurement models that enable innovative solutions to be commercialized, demonstration projects needed for new construction methods to be put to market, and innovative ways to address risk management. “We are a slow adopter of technology in Canada,” says Boucher. “We are ranked 27 in the world, and as a G7 country that it is not just acceptable.“ One of the keys to progress is collaboration. The organization believes that companies working alone with limited funds and resources are not the answer. Innovation can only be achieved through a collective approach. Protectionism is also something of the past. Other industry sectors, such as auto manufacturing, aerospace, and IT invest into new technologies and processes jointly, and then reap the benefits in the very competitive markets in which they operate. “Canadian Construction Innovations works to engage owners, engineers, architects, contractors, and suppliers, as well as representatives from allied industries such as insurance, surety, and financiers, to encourage collaboration,” says Boucher. “It’s important to engage
the whole value chain to succeed. One segment of the industry cannot do it alone.” Through workshops co-hosted with academia, CCI has already begun the process of addressing how research is being conducted, how to make it more relevant to the industry, and how to ensure the outcomes consist of solutions that can be put to market. Some topics recently discussed include energy conservation for the heavy civil sector, fire suppression during construction, fire suppression in the built environment, modular construction, digitizing industry through BIM and other IT solutions, and curing concrete in cold climates. Another valuable resource on CCI’s website is the Clearinghouse where users can search for innovative solutions already available in the market place. There will soon be chatrooms where users can submit their own ideas for research and innovation, and share their viewpoints on current practices and the need for change. CCI will also use the Clearinghouse to source ideas for new
projects. “It creates an opportunity for those who want to develop an innovative solution to get input and feedback,” says Boucher Recently, The Canadian Society of Civil Engineering had a call for submissions for its national annual awards program. Boucher says they sourced a few solutions posted in the Clearinghouse and invited those people to submit, once of which was the winning solution. CCI has met with government officials over the last several months in an effort to become a key stakeholder of the federal government in the implementation of its own agenda on innovation. CCI has just tendered its first submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance so construction innovation can form part of the 2017 federal budget. CCI is also in the beginning stages of planning its first conference and trade show in April 2017, and will make an announcement in fall 2016. For more information about Canadian Construction Innovations, please visit ccinnovations.ca. n
HEAD OFFICE
Red Deer (403) 347-9770 7018 Johnstone Drive Red Deer, AB T4P 3Y6 Fax: (403) 343-7922
BRANCH OFFICES
Calgary (403) 263-7207
Leduc (780) 980-9294
#50, 5200-64 Ave, S.E. Cazlgary, AB T2C 4V3 Fax: (403) 463-7206
3813-82 Avenue Leduc, AB T6E 0K2 Fax: (780) 990-9204
Edmonton (780) 430-9359
Burnaby (604) 434-2188
6707-75 Street NW Edmonton, AB T6B 3E3 Fax: (780) 437-0550
Langley, BC Fax: (604) 434-2198
Grande Prairie (780) 539-9939 11307-98 Avenue Grande Prairie, AB T8V 5A5 Fax: (780) 539-9907
Pump & Compressor Division • Pressure Washers • Steam Cleaners • Air Compressors • Chemical Pumps • Wastewater Treatment
Brandon (204) 728-9303 622 Richmond Ave. East Brandon, MB R7A 7G8 Fax: (204) 728-9305
Saskatoon (306) 242-6622 Fax: (306) 934-8204
• Commercial Vehicle Wash Equipment • Steam Truck Fabrication • Waste Oil Furnaces & Boilers
• Well Pumps • Sewage Pumps • Air Dryers • Parts Washers • Lubrication Equipment
Toll Free: 1-888-430-9359 www.pumpsandpressure.com
The CONSTRUCTOR 2017
233