SK Ecoplant, winner of the top award in the smart construction category, is strengthening its competitiveness in semiconductor plants and artificial intelligence data centers as it seeks to become a provider of AI infrastructure solutions.
The company is expanding its smart construction capabilities by applying AI and digital technologies across the entire construction process. It is bringing innovation to the industry by using building information modeling (BIM), digital twins, AI-based analysis and forecasting, work automation, off-site construction (OSC) and the internet of things (IoT) in design, construction and site management to improve productivity and safety.
In high-tech construction in particular, the company is expanding its use of OSC methods and building a pre-construction review process based on virtual design and construction (VDC) to minimize risks before work begins. It is also raising construction quality and management efficiency through a site monitoring system built on IoT and digital platforms. On the high-tech design side, SK Ecoplant is driving engineering innovation by establishing an engineering data management system based on BIM and a common data environment (CDE), and by automating design work with AI.
Smart construction technology is also spreading across the company's building and infrastructure businesses. In building projects, it uses BIM, extended reality (XR) and AI in design and construction, while in infrastructure projects it applies drones, IoT and cloud-based construction management technology on site.
SK Ecoplant is also working to convert the engineering data and site operation information accumulated through its construction projects into a knowledge database and digital assets. It plans to use these for AI-based design support and more advanced project management, improving efficiency across projects and steadily widening the scope of its smart construction technology.
That technological edge is also on display in AI data centers, which rank among the most demanding infrastructure projects. From the earliest stages of a project, SK Ecoplant reviews feasibility, customer demand, power and cooling design and constructability to determine the optimal construction method, while pre-emptively reducing risks such as delays and cost increases caused by design changes.
Drawing on the experience and technology accumulated through building semiconductor fabrication plants (FABs) and data centers, SK Ecoplant is expanding into the entire AI infrastructure value chain. It has already completed data centers in Pangyo, Gasan and the first phase in Bupyeong, and is now expanding to Guro, the second phase in Bupyeong and SK AI DC Ulsan.
"We will continue to strengthen our competitiveness in AI- and digital-based smart construction technology to demonstrate differentiated capabilities in the market for highly complex infrastructure," an SK Ecoplant official said. "Based on that, we plan to further solidify our position as a leading AI infrastructure company."
