Overcoming Skilled Labor Shortages with Smarter Materials

Skilled labor shortages are challenging leaders responsible for developing energy infrastructure projects ranging from renewables to transmission lines to even small-scale installations like EV chargers and substation upgrades. With rising energy demand and the energy transition giving rise to a wave of electric grid investment, the industry requires energy infrastructure innovation and grid modernization innovation to help it overcome the labor challenge.

Oldcastle Infrastructure Energy Market Product Manager Michael Brown believes lightweight building materials, such as advanced composite materials, help developers overcome labor shortages by reducing installation times and crew sizes needed to complete jobs. In this Ask the Expert with Brown, you'll learn:

• How skilled labor shortages impact efforts to build critical energy infrastructure and how efficient installation products can be part of the solution.
• The science behind advanced materials manufacturing and why these materials lead to smaller crews, fewer labor hours, and less time to install.
• Real-world use cases in which innovative materials helped overcome labor challenges, with multi-project data detailing exactly how much time was saved, on average, compared to using conventional construction materials.