BuiltWorlds

We've heard that data centers are the next big opportunity for construction--but what does that actually look like?

In a telling article, The Wall Street Journal revealed that spending for data center builds in the US is projected to surpass what was spent over decades on the interstate highway program, one of the largest public works projects in American history.

"These projects are being investing in at a scale in which we haven't seen in a very long time, if ever," DPR Construction Prefabrication Technology Leader Justin Schwaiger told us in an exclusive interview.

For Justin, after nearly 20 years in the industry spent helping AEC teams build both structures and solutions, this moment of unprecedented AI infrastructure spending spells a real opportunity for proponents of offsite and industrialized construction methods. Prefabrication and modular construction are particularly effective avenues for data center builds. By building offsite, owners are able to repeat the design process with a high level of uniformity across projects and address labor scarcity in places where fiber connectivity and energy are readily available.

"I think that over the next five to 10 years, these data center projects will establish that 'prefab first' mindset into companies like DPR and others that are building and designing data centers," Justin said. "The change in thinking will continue forward after the AI boom (is) done, however many years into the future that is."

We'll have the opportunity to hear more from Justin at next week's Paris Global Summit, where he'll be discussing opportunities and strategies for companies looking to scale industrialized and modular construction alongside Andrew Dewdney, head of modern methods of construction at Kier Group, Pedro Andrade, director of innovation at Grupo Casais, and Emanuel Heisenberg, founder & CEO of ecoworks.

Check out Justin's full interview to read more on building a prefab tech stack, the state of the offsite construction sector, and supply chain trends: https://builtworlds.com/news/scaling-prefabrication-methods-data-center-builds-qa-dpr-construction-prefabrication-technology-leader-justin-schwaiger/

Join us next week to attend the Scaling Industrialized & Modular Construction panel discussion at Les Salons Hoche. Link in comments 👇