Demolition Industry

Have you ever seen Disney’s animated film Lilo & Stitch? It tells the story of an abnormal creature, Stitch, that was designed to destroy whatever stands in his way. Due to his destructive and temperamental nature, Stitch causes troubles not only for himself but also, for his guardian, a little girl named Lilo.

Why do we mention it? In this article, we will be focusing on Stitch’s main area of interest, namely demolition and its upcoming trends for years to come. So, if you would like to discover the latest news concerning this industry, make yourself a nice cup of tea and dive into our article!

Demolition in a few words

Demolition covers firms that demolish and dismantle buildings and structures. Although demolition plays a significant role in the life of our neighbourhoods and cities, most of us have no idea how demolition works.

Most people believe that all demolition contractors do is destroy historic buildings, which should be preserved. In reality, they help in the preservation and restoration of these types of buildings by removing harmful materials and making way for energy efficiency upgrades.

The Demolition Process is the practice that makes up the demolition, dismantlement, deconstruction, removal, recycling, salvage, reuse, transfer or disposal of buildings, structures and their components. It is used as the first step in preparing a building or structure for its redevelopment or reuse.

Myths & Facts about Demolition

Let’s just pretend you are a newbie to demolition who, for now, can only second guess the industry’s methods and processes. There’s nothing wrong in having preconceived ideas and expectations, however, when it comes to the demolition industry, these assumptions represent very often the misconceptions of this industry.

This is why we came up with the list of the most common myths about the demolition industry, supported by the facts behind them, so that you can have a clear idea of what demolition is and what it isn’t. Take a look:

• Blowing up buildings - probably the most common misconception is that demolition is all about blowing everything up. Yet, it is important to emphasize that implosions account for less than 1% of all work within the demolition industry.

• Bad for the environment - another typical example of a misconception about demolition; in fact, the industry removes toxins from old buildings and cleans dangerous brownfields.

• Landfill sites overcrowded with debris - the truth is that the demolition industry was salvaging building materials from the beginning, long before this trend rose to fame.

• Archaic methods - the notion that the methods of demolition do not change at all is a fallacy; demolition practices constantly evolve with new specialised equipment and techniques while the staff consists of highly trained professionals.

• Dangerous business - to be honest, if we want to assess every construction business based on the degree of danger, there would be no safe company; besides, the danger is always under control in the hands of professionals.

• Expensiveness - last but not least, we often hear that demolition is expensive but to tell you the truth, commercial demolition generally costs less than 2% of the replacement cost of the building.

Trends on the Market

Now that we have already determined the actual facts regarding the demolition industry, we can proceed to the upcoming trends on the market. Here’s why you should be on the lookout for the newest trends in demolition:

• 01

  Remote-controlled machines - when talking about the future it is safe to say that the Robot Invasion is coming. As contractors look for the best possible ways to tackle the challenges in the industry, robotic demolition of stacks is the safest approach. The use of these kinds of machines will certainly reduce the risk of injury on-site, increase productivity and make the construction work more appealing to young potential workers.

• 02

  Recycling and sustainability - the sector is at the forefront of environmental changes with 90 to 97% of all materials being recycled. However, the focus is now on increasing this number up to 98% of recycling all the materials across all the projects! Fingers crossed!

• 03

  Screening technology - the use of vibratory screening and density separation makes processing construction and demolition material more feasible if the volume is there. The efficiency gained during the sorting process, allows an operator to process much more material at a much higher recovery rate.

• 04

  Evolution of workforce - in order to stay in the competition and progress, many companies offer innovative training programmes for their employees. These training schemes will help the workers develop their skills and the company create a culture of evolution and progression, as well as a good reputation.

And there you have it: the myths, facts and trends of the demolition industry. Demolition, just like every other industry, is currently recovering from Covid-19. Yet, we can already notice some tendencies on the market that will be marking the industry’s future processes, such as: the use of robotics and new technologies, strong workforce and sustainable solutions. At Archdesk, we love supporting your company in its constant growth - do you want to know how?

Contact us here to talk to our specialists who will explain everything!