Up to £12.5 million is being offered to help transform the construction of new buildings in the UK by increasing efficiency, productivity, performance and quality.
Funding is being provided by UK Research and Innovation and delivered through Innovate UK.
It says there is a shortage of “high quality” housing and more affordable, energy efficient and healthier places to live and work – and the construction sector currently lags behind other industries for productivity and it hasn’t changed much in more than 40 years.
The competition is part of the Construction Sector Deal, which sets out its vision for a future-proofed sector that can provide affordable, energy efficient homes in days or weeks, rather than months and at a third of the cost.
Projects should focus on how to design and manage buildings, such as using digitally-enabled performance management systems, construct high quality buildings “taking a manufacturing approach” and power the buildings through the use of active energy components.
They should deliver new built assets 50% faster and 33% cheaper, halve the lifetime carbon emissions and improve whole-life performance.
A UK business must lead the project, working with other firms, research, public sector or third sector organisations and at least one SME must be involved.
The deadline for applications is 19th September and projects must start by December 2018.
