For many years, the construction industry was slow to adapt to technology. More recently, advancements in user-friendly platforms are rapidly transforming the industry, enabling major improvements in safety and efficiency. TraceAir Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer Maria Khokhlova joined Bill Reiman, vice president of award-winning, luxury home building company R.K. Reiman Construction, Inc., and host of The Real Build podcast, to take an in-depth look at how technology like TraceAir is advancing the construction industry. Here is a summary of the conversation:
Reiman: What is TraceAir and how is it helping the construction industry?
Khokhlova: TraceAir is a turnkey solution for land development, helping measure, verify, and quantify progress. We use drones to create accurate topographic 3D maps that can be used by the entire project team. Historically, only a few people on the project had access to tools to make data-based decisions. TraceAir gives this data to everyone in an easy-to-use platform accessible from anywhere, so everyone is on the same page and can make decisions using data.
The reason TraceAir exists is that we truly care and want to make the construction process better for everyone. For that to happen, we must understand the problems facing our customers and find ways to solve them. We are an extremely customer-oriented company, our red carpet and white glove service set us apart.
Reiman: How does the process work?
Khokhlova: The client will provide us with project documents and parameters. Then, we work with drone pilots local to your project to come out and conduct a flyover. Using a process called photogrammetry, our software stitches all the images from the flyover together, creating detailed 3D topographic maps. We have a very fast turnaround, the scans are ready the day after the flyover. From there, clients can provide access to anyone they’d like at no extra cost.
Reiman: Who benefits from using TraceAir?
Khokhlova: Everyone. TraceAir puts data in the hands of the people who actually need it, drastically reducing delays and empowering people to make decisions using data. Providing everyone with access to TraceAir creates radical transparency. Projects can be completed faster, and people can do what they actually like to do, rather than spend countless hours commuting to job sites, searching for information, or dealing with time-consuming setbacks like rework and disputes.
With two clicks in TraceAir, a grading contractor can understand the site balance. They do not have to rely on engineers or surveyors. All they need is a device with internet access to pull up TraceAir. Our platform compares the actual topo with the design surface, providing the contractor with this information in seconds rather than days or weeks.
Users can conduct pre-checks prior to having the survey crew come, to avoid needing to have their site surveyed multiple times. TraceAir is also beneficial for collaboration in meetings and providing real progress updates to stakeholders and clients. The benefits and use cases are endless.
To learn more about how technology is improving the construction industry, listen to the full podcast episode.