Signpost “Communication in Construction 5.0”: A Paradigm Shift in Digitalization and AI Toward the Most Sustainable Industry

Abstract

The author’s research on “Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) in Construction” lays the ground for this study examining the associated success factors of contemporary, innovative communication. The practical compass aims to strengthen societal public awareness by reporting on the highly modern and innovative industry fulfilling sustainability goals and environmental, social, and governance toward a paradigm shift. A structured literature review and personal and written expert interviews in companies of all sizes including corporate best practices offer new data from observations on multiple real-life applications and illuminate various perspectives based on expert surveys from multiple specialist fields and corporate departments of responsibility, for example, in the field of corporate management and strategies and human resources. Representatives from societal and political German associations and from research and development focusing on designated research area allowed receiving profound expertise. To investigate normative aspects and assess the database, the hermeneutic approach was used. The assessment of innovative communication scenarios leads to new findings to catalyze wider acceptance of the industry’s modern role. The study’s critical question addresses whether the view that the building branch has fallen behind in terms of innovative technologies is realistic or not—or whether the sector is, in fact, a catalyst for the digital transformation. This research highlights the communication portfolio of the industry’s innovation and social sustainability strategy to provide orientation in the industry’s progress. The results demonstrate that continually aligning communication content and channels with contemporary requirements is thus essential. 

Received: 19 August 2025 | Revised: 20 March 2026 | Accepted: 2 September 2026

Conflicts of Interest 

The author declares that she has no conflicts of interest to this work. 

Data Availability Statement 

The data that support the findings of this study are openly available at https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-43905-7, reference number [22].

Author Contribution Statement

Bianca Weber-Lewerenz: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration.