Construction automation is gaining attention as the housing industry looks for ways to address labour shortages, rising building costs and demand for affordable homes. Purdue University Northwest (PNW) will contribute independent research to a federally funded initiative examining how robotics and artificial intelligence could improve residential construction.
PNW's College of Technology will receive approximately $718,000 from a $3.19 million grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to support the Scalable Construction Automation for Labor-Efficient and Affordable Housing Expansion (SCALE-HOME) project.
The three-year initiative brings together academic researchers, housing developers and regional stakeholders to evaluate construction automation technologies in active residential developments.
PNW researchers will independently assess technologies developed by Illinois-based Lightspeed Build Technologies. The evaluation will examine whether robotics and AI can improve construction speed, efficiency and affordability while maintaining quality and safety standards.
Afshin Zahraee, chair of the Department of Construction Science and Organizational Leadership and associate professor of Construction Management Engineering Technology, will serve as principal investigator and evaluation director.
His responsibilities include developing the research framework, overseeing data collection and analysis, and coordinating project reporting. Suryeon Kim, assistant professor of Construction Management Engineering Technology, will serve as co-principal investigator, focusing on Lean Construction principles, productivity improvements and AI-enabled construction processes.
The research will assess labour requirements, project costs, schedule performance, quality outcomes, material efficiency and the potential to scale automation across housing developments.
Unlike a laboratory-only study, SCALE-HOME will evaluate technologies deployed at active housing projects where homes are being built for residents and communities. This approach is intended to provide practical evidence about how automation performs under real construction conditions.
The initiative will also involve graduate research assistants and other PNW students. Participants are expected to gain experience in applied research, emerging construction technologies, data analysis and multidisciplinary project coordination.
The project aims to produce evidence that housing developers and construction industry stakeholders can use when evaluating automation investments and their potential contribution to residential construction productivity.
For homebuilders and residential developers, the findings could help clarify whether robotics and AI can reduce labour demands, improve project predictability and support more efficient use of materials. Independent performance data may also help construction businesses assess the costs and practical requirements of adopting automation.
The three-year SCALE-HOME project will examine these opportunities in real housing developments, connecting academic research with the industry's need for more efficient and affordable construction methods.
