The latest preventative and maintenance solutions can identify issues before they become serious problems, and help determine priorities for investment, writes Screening Eagle Technologies’ Peter Stenov.

As 2021 draws to a close, there are numerous signs that we are approaching a ‘perfect storm’ in the built environment. Not only are many countries facing the need to renew their residential housing stock, it is also becoming clear that many commercial buildings are no longer ‘fit for purpose’ because of their poor energy efficiency. This is no small matter when you consider that between 30 and 50% of global CO2 emissions can be attributed to the construction and operations of the built environment.

At the same time, there have been some very urgent reminders about the need to monitor public structures in a more methodical way. The collapse of a condominium in Miami in June, which resulted in 98 deaths, was the latest in a series of catastrophic failures to have raised serious questions about how buildings are being maintained – and whether enough is being done when problems are identified.

Factor in the uncertain economic climate and the huge potential impact of hybrid working, and it’s evident that owners and operators of buildings and other types of structural assets have reason to be worried about the long-term value of their assets. More than ever before, it’s a situation that calls for a switch of emphasis from responsive to preventative measures. Far better, surely, to identify problems and take action now before they can develop to the point where they have a huge negative impact on your business?

Fortunately, a new generation of preventative and maintenance solutions – spearheaded by Screening Eagle – is now available to address precisely these needs.

‘Technology-driven preventative methods’

Speaking in a recent video to launch the company’s latest products, our CEO and co-founder Marcel Poser did not underestimate the scale of the “deep global built environment crisis” we are now confronting. “Many structures are decaying at unprecedented rates; many have been poorly constructed or poorly maintained over the years, and become inefficient,” he said. “Structures are crumbling and that means not only unprofitable assets, but also massive inefficiencies and safety risks.”

Hence the more responsive approach to fault-finding has to be retired. We need to shift, said Marcel, “from sporadic analogue snagging every few years towards technology-driven preventative methods.” As well as making buildings and structures – such as roads, bridges and tunnels - safer and more efficient, this approach can also “flatten the curves” of assets’ lifetime degradation.

Pursuing this philosophy has already led to several landmark products from Screening Eagle. For instance, our flagship Inspect software makes it possible to have all visual inspection workflows digitalised in one tool. It also avoids the pitfalls of fragmented data by moving everything to a single ‘source of truth’ data platform and places all defects-related data on 2D/3D views or on maps. The latest AI technology is used to analyse all defects during an inspection, whilst a collaborative emphasis makes it possible to bring in siloed individuals and external teams in a seamless way.

The result is that any asset owners or operators using INSPECT - the intelligent inspection software with Capture automated photo documentation – have the chance to make more deeply informed decisions about maintenance. Not only does this make it easier to protect the long-term value of an asset, it also means that the entire decision-making process can be streamlined and accelerated.

It has been clear for some time that ‘demolition and construction’ cannot be the main answer to the built environment crisis. With solutions such as those developed by Screening Eagle, it will be much easier to avoid that route and instead substantially improve the standard of our existing buildings.

If you’re the owner or operator of a structural asset or a building and want to learn more about the ways in which our Inspect Technology can add long-term value to your operations, we’d love to give you a no-obligation demo. Click here to register.