(Yicai) Nov. 4 -- The construction industry, a key area of carbon emissions and energy consumption, faces green and energy-saving upgrades, improved safety management, and continuous advances in living quality as its core sustainable development issues, according to the chairman of leading Chinese construction software provider Glodon.
Glodon was established to build a company with a sense of responsibility and ambition for the construction industry, relying on digitalization and artificial intelligence to create high-quality sustainable living and industrial environments, Yuan Zhenggang said in a recent interview with Yicai.
In Glodon’s value logic, the firm can achieve long-term growth only when society, industries, and customers develop in a virtuous cycle. This philosophy was its core motivation for joining the United Nations Global Compact last year.
Glodon has put forward its vision of “enabling construction workers to work like white-collar employees” and is committed to using digital technologies to improve the working environment for frontline workers and strengthen the social dimension of sustainable development, Yuan said.
For example, traditional tower crane operators face high risks and a poor experience when working at heights, so Glodon’s remote intelligent tower crane solution uses cameras, sensors, lidar, and other hardware combined with a digital simulation system to enable them to “operate cranes from an office,” he pointed out.
In addition, because digital technologies capture information more completely, promptly, and accurately than the human eye, they can provide real-time warnings of safety hazards, including collisions, thereby improving operational efficiency and safety, Yuan noted. Tech application is meant to empower frontline workers and improve the labor ecosystem, he said, adding that the goal is to free people from repetitive work, “so they can do more valuable things, improve productivity, enhance building quality, and build ‘good houses.’”
To achieve low-carbon transformation across the entire life cycle of buildings, Glodon has introduced the new technological paradigm “AI × BIM 2.0,” Yuan said. The system connects the full process of building design, construction, and operation, integrating energy consumption, daylighting, sound insulation, carbon emissions from building materials, construction costs, and other indicators, turning building carbon reduction from an abstract standard into a quantifiable and actionable solution, he added.
For example, the digital model can simulate the operating conditions of air conditioning, lighting, and ventilation during the building design stage to help select the optimal solution; it can accurately calculate the amount of building materials needed and reduce waste and loss of steel bars and bricks during construction; and it can enable full-chain carbon footprint tracing for building materials, providing data support for green material selection and comparisons of low-carbon solutions.
Yuan stressed that sustainable development is a core strategy for companies to navigate economic cycles, not a short-term business tool. “Balanced environmental, social, and governance development is also the value of Glodon’s existence. We must create this kind of social value for the company’s value to continue. Only by creating greater value for society can our value be greater.”
In 2024, which marked the 20th anniversary of the ESG concept, the United Nations Global Compact, the Center for Asia-Pacific at China International Communications Group, and Yicai jointly launched the ESG+20 Sustainable Development Leadership Interview Series. Through dialogues with 20 entrepreneurs and on-site visits, the series explores the insights and achievements of Chinese companies in sustainable development and corporate social responsibility.
Editors: Tang Shihua, Martin Kadiev
