Construmat lays the foundations for building more affordable, sustainable, and efficient homes

Housing is already the main concern for Spaniards. To solve this social problem, the construction sector aims to build more affordable residences in the coming years. Construmat, the leading trade fair for the sector in Southern Europe, has landed at Fira de Barcelona's Gran Via venue, until May 22, to become the largest and most transversal showcase for the industry, with innovative materials and construction solutions that serve to lay the foundations and advance towards this goal.

From homes built with straw or cork, to scaffolding or specialized machinery, passing through pavements, facades or urban planning, are the protagonists of the 24th edition of the fair. A showcase of novel construction solutions that pursue the purpose not only of building more but also better, ensuring that homes are sustainable, healthy and efficient without increasing their final price.

In an edition that grows 15% in exhibition area, exceeding 12,000 net square meters, the new applications of traditional materials, such as wood or concrete, coexist with disruptive components, such as those reused from plastic waste. For three days, 350 exhibitors from some twenty countries will take advantage of the fair to present some of their most outstanding novelties, such as the company Molins which, during the fair, presents its new Susterra Range, with cements and concretes with a lower carbon footprint.

To advance towards sustainability, companies like World Wood Future are committed to building with materials such as wood or straw, which not only represent environmental advantages, but also speed up installation, according to the company's CEO, Salvador Ordóñez. Wood is also the protagonist of the structure of the La Plaza hall, which, in addition to being a meeting space for visitors, is also a sample of innovation and young talent. Designed by the founders of Blue Containers Company, who won the Ideas Competition for the design of this space aimed at university students and training cycles related to architecture and construction, the structure is built with local wood, as well as straw and rice husks.

But the salon not only seeks to serve as an exhibitor of the latest materials in the construction industry but, above all, wants to be a showcase of the sector's innovations in all areas. From the first stone of a building or scaffolding, through facades, kitchens, bathrooms, and even swimming pools, and without forgetting the multiple applications of artificial intelligence in the sector.

In this necessary innovation of the sector, startups also play a prominent role, doubling their presence at the event this year, going from 20 companies in its previous edition to 40 this year. These companies are clearly led by artificial intelligence, but they also include drones with Dronica or intelligent systems, such as the bracelets that prevent heat strokes among construction workers presented by AT Protección.

Generating budgets automatically or planning tasks are some of the applications of artificial intelligence offered by the Madrid-based company BrickControl, according to Patricia Garayalde, business development manager. But artificial intelligence goes further and does not want to stay only in offices, but also reach the construction site. "The digitalization of construction entails an effort, so we must ensure that the process is as intuitive as possible for workers," defends Trowel's commercial director, José Fernando.

Trowel allows digital management of budgets or plans, but also helps employees to deliver work reports, through a simple application with voice recognition. Benetics works with the same purpose, a mobile application that incorporates artificial intelligence to streamline communication between the office and workers on site, who can send photos or mark completed tasks from their mobile. With a presence in Germany, Switzerland, and France, the company now wants to land in Spain through its participation in the salon, according to its commercial director, Antonio Thurnher.

The fair not only wants to be an exhibition space, but also an epicenter of debate and collective reflection on the present and future of the sector

Overall, some 350 companies participate in the exhibition, 120 of which come from outside Spain, a figure that represents a 140% increase in international representation. In total, 22 countries gather at the exhibition, with companies mainly from the European Union, but also from more distant countries such as Japan or Turkey, which is this year's guest country. These companies pursue the same objective: to advance towards the homes of the future. This objective also coincides with the wishes that attendees have hung on the wish tree planted by Construmat, who long for sustainability and social housing to stop being a slogan and become a widespread practice in the sector.

For this reason, the fair not only wants to be an exhibition space, but also an epicenter for debate and collective reflection on the present and future of the sector. Within the framework of the Sustainable Building Congress program, some 60 national and international speakers address and debate the challenges of the sector, providing solutions to advance towards more affordable housing, the bio-habitability of buildings, and the application of artificial intelligence in the industry.

Affordable housing is one of the major themes addressed by the exhibition, presenting solutions for building more economically by applying industrialization and digitalization of certain processes, but also demanding measures from administrations. Thus, the congress will be the setting for the presentation of the report A constructive look. Decalogue to address housing scarcity in Spain, with solutions to advance in the resolution of this social problem, such as the elaboration of a State Pact or the streamlining of licenses. For Montse Pujol, CEO of Grupo PMP, the construction of affordable housing not only involves the industrialization of construction, a methodology by which homes are built within the factory and transported quickly, but also the incorporation of labor.

"The sector faces challenges such as the lack of developable land, high costs, and the lack of labor for construction," laments Pujol. For this reason, another purpose of the exhibition is to attract talent and present construction as an attractive and viable professional option, with salaries above the average. During the third day, the fair will open to students and young people interested in working in the industry, as generational replacement is increasingly urgent, considering that in approximately a decade, 40% of current construction workers will be of retirement age. During its third day, Construmat will open to young people with a marketplace where companies such as Constructora d'ARO or Roma Infraestructuras will interview potential candidates.

These activities are also complemented by workshops and seminars, in addition to the already classic Construmat awards for sustainable and healthy architecture. Curated by the Mies van der Rohe Foundation, this year they have awarded the Swiss firm Herzog & de Meuron, for the Kinderspital university hospital in Zurich, and the local studio Peris+Toral, for the social housing Cases de terra en Ibiza. The awards, created in 1985, have also given the public award to the five-star hotel Torre del Marqués de Monroyo, by the Edra Arquitectura km0 studio.

Through its 350 exhibitors and its extensive program of activities, the objective of this edition is to exceed 22,000 visitors, 1,000 more attendees than in its previous edition. In recent years, since the show decided to rethink its model and boost the event after the pandemic, it has grown both in exhibition area, as well as in participating companies and international representation. A growth that has meant that the organization of Construmat has decided that the fair will become biennial, being organized again from May 18 to 20, 2027.