Innovation in modular construction: Leading companies in precast concrete sandwich panels

The construction industry continues to be a hotbed of innovation, with activity driven by an increased focus on environmental sustainability, modular construction and workplace safety, and the growing importance of technologies such as the Internet-of-Things (IoT) and robotics as well as higher quality construction products and materials. In the last three years alone, there have been over 248,000 patents filed and granted in the construction industry, according to GlobalData’s report on Modular construction in Construction: Precast concrete sandwich panels.

According to GlobalData’s Technology Foresights, which uses over 179,000 patents to analyse innovation intensity for the construction industry, there are 80+ innovation areas that will shape the future of the industry.

Precast concrete sandwich panels are a key innovation area in modular construction

Precast concrete sandwich panels are a type of precast cladding, consisting of an insulating inner layer sandwiched between an outer leaf of precast concrete and an inner layer of load-bearing plain grey concrete, typically with a power float finish.

GlobalData’s analysis also uncovers the companies at the forefront of each innovation area and assesses the potential reach and impact of their patenting activity across different applications and geographies.  According to GlobalData, there are 10+ companies, spanning technology vendors, established construction companies, and up-and-coming start-ups engaged in the development and application of precast concrete sandwich panels.

Key players in precast concrete sandwich panels – a disruptive innovation in the construction industry

‘Application diversity’ measures the number of different applications identified for each relevant patent and broadly splits companies into either ‘niche’ or ‘diversified’ innovators.

‘Geographic reach’ refers to the number of different countries each relevant patent is registered in and reflects the breadth of geographic application intended, ranging from ‘global’ to ‘local’.

Patent volumes related to precast concrete sandwich panels

Leading innovators in precast concrete sandwich panels include Compagnie de Saint-Gobain, a manufacturer of construction and building products. Key patents of Compagnie de Saint-Gobain include a method of making a sandwich concrete panel, in which said panel comprises a body-forming concrete internal leaf, a mineral wool insulation layer laid thereon, and an outer fibreplastic-reinforced concrete leaf present on top of the insulation layer. The outer and inner concrete layers are secured to each other using push-through trusses through the insulation layer.

In terms of geographic reach, leading companies in the development of precast concrete sandwich panels include Peikko Group, a provider of composite structures and concrete connections, and Fritz Egger, a manufacturer of building products. NOBLE Environmental Technologies, James Hardie Industries, and Samsung Electro-Mechanics are the leading companies in terms of application diversity.

To further understand the key themes and technologies disrupting the construction industry, access GlobalData’s latest thematic research report on Construction.

 

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GlobalData, the leading provider of industry intelligence, provided the underlying data, research, and analysis used to produce this article.

GlobalData’s Patent Analytics tracks patent filings and grants from official offices around the world. Textual analysis and official patent classifications are used to group patents into key thematic areas and link them to specific companies across the world’s largest industries.

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