New Stratus report finds Data Center work is reshaping competitive advantage among MEP contractors. Survey of fabrication-heavy MEP contractors shows where firms invest as data center demand accelerates, alongside new Stratus platform capabilities. Aug. 28, 2026 Press Contacts Hannah Arceri LARKSPUR, Colo. - Stratus just released its 2026 State of MEP Report: Data Center Edition alongside new features built to help contractors coordinate fabrication at scale. The report is designed to give preconstruction teams, VDC managers, fabrication directors and executives a clear view of where the MEP data center market stands today and what it takes to compete in the years ahead. The findings point to a high-demand market where the ability to scale increasingly depends on fabrication capacity and execution. 82% of data center contractors surveyed expect their revenue share from this work to keep growing over the next two years. With an 88% average prefabrication rate on data center work, and shop space as the top constraint on expanding prefabrication, ahead of even skilled labor, many contractors are already investing in the visibility and technology needed to meet the demand. "Data centers have become one of the fastest-growing and most operationally demanding sectors in construction," said Jake Olsen, CEO of Stratus. "The differentiator is no longer simply who has the most people, it's who has the best system. Contractors who build around manufacturing principles, expand fabrication capacity, and connect production data from the model through the shop and field are better positioned to scale while protecting margin." Key findings from the report include: * Data center work is a growing revenue source: 82% of firms doing data center work expect their revenue share to increase. * Scale and fabrication volume set data center projects apart. Large physical scale is the top differentiator of data center projects compared to other project work. They also carry the highest prefabrication rate of any project type, driven by their sheer scale and repetitive systems, with 88% of data center work now involving fabrication in some form. * Shop capacity is the real bottleneck, but contractors are responding. 68% cite shop space as their top constraint on scaling prefabrication, and 82% have recently or plan to add shop space in the next 2 years. * Winning and delivering require different skills. Track record and GC/owner relationships win the work; prefabrication capability and connected BIM-shop-field workflows are what deliver it. 77% now consider real-time production visibility very important or critical to success. * Technology, not headcount, drives the next efficiency gains. 63% point to technology and automation and 56% to prefab expansion and modular fabrication as the top drivers of efficiency over the next five years. To help contractors keep up with data center demand, Stratus recently introduced two new features to manage fabrication at scale: Modules brings expanded package grouping and multi-model integration capabilities for multi-trade racks, skids, and corridor assemblies to the shop floor, creating a single trackable unit for modular builds in Stratus. 68% of data center contractors already do this kind of modular work today. Enhanced Divisions simplifies cross-shop package routing and assignments for contractors managing multiple shops, increasingly common as data center work goes national. Jason Steele, Senior VDC Manager at Cerris Systems, a national mechanical contracting giant that has completed more than 100 data center projects to date, is seeing that shift firsthand. "Everything is at a rapid speed right now, and we're being challenged by our clients to build faster than we've ever built before," Steele said. "Stratus has allowed us to fabricate at scale. We can track our fabrication from the model through installation and commissioning." The 2026 State of MEP: Data Center Edition provides additional findings on data center revenue growth, fabrication models, capacity constraints, workforce strategies, technology adoption, and the operational capabilities contractors see shaping competitiveness over the next five years.

Stratus, a digital fabrication platform for contractors in piping, plumbing, sheet metal, and electrical trades, has launched Stratus Labs, its AI and innovation division. The announcement was made at Innovate 2026, the company's annual MEP event in Seattle. Stratus Labs released its first experimental tools: agentic spooling capabilities and an MCP server connection. The agentic spooling collection includes Assembly Matcher, Assembly Designer, and Assembly Agent, which automate and predict assembly work across trades. The company also introduced its Big Data MCP Server, allowing customers and partners to build custom workflows using Stratus data. Led by co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer Jonathan Umscheid, Stratus Labs formalises the company's approach of rapid development in partnership with customers. The experimental tools are available to Stratus customers upon request.

Stratus launches Stratus Labs, its AI and innovation arm, debuting new experiments at Innovate 2026. Igniting fast and lasting innovation with AI, partnering directly with customers to build agentic tools on top of Stratus workflow data. Aug. 18, 2026 Press Contacts Hannah Arceri (800) 385-7131 LARKSPUR, Colo. - Stratus, the digital fabrication platform trusted by contractors across piping & plumbing, sheet metal, and electrical trades, today announced Stratus Labs, its new AI and innovation arm, alongside the release of its first set of experiments to customers: agentic spooling capabilities and an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server connection. The announcement was made at Innovate 2026, an annual MEP event hosted by Stratus, held this year in Seattle from August 18-20. Stratus Labs formalizes a way of working the company has followed since its founding: build quickly, in partnership with customers. As AI and agentic tooling have made rapid iteration faster than ever, Stratus is investing in a dedicated team and process to keep building at the pace the technology now allows. The team is led by Jonathan Umscheid, the company's co-founder and Chief Innovation Officer, who has been with Stratus since day one. "AI is changing how fast software can move," said Jake Olsen, CEO of Stratus. "We built Stratus Labs to match that pace, putting real data intelligence and agentic workflows directly into customers' hands. They can test those tools, iterate on them, and keep building with us the same way they always have." Agentic Spooling, the first collection of experimental tools to come out of Stratus Labs, brings together three capabilities that automate spooling and assembly work across trades: * Assembly Matcher - Clones existing modeled assemblies - e.g. matching floors of a high-rise. * Assembly Designer - Applies size/weight constraints; breakpoint edits create new assemblies. * Assembly Agent - AI/ML trained on your models to predict new assemblies. The first two automate steps that previously required manual work. Assembly Agent goes further, predicting new assemblies directly rather than automating a manual step. Alongside Stratus Labs, the company also announced its Big Data MCP Server, an experiment that gives AI tools direct access to Stratus's Big Data, so customers and partners can build their own workflows on top of it. Each capability can be accessed and used by Stratus customers in an experimental environment today, upon request, and attendees at Innovate 2026 will be able to preview results firsthand with their own models and data. "This is our flag in the ground," said Jonathan Umscheid, Chief Innovation Officer and co-founder of Stratus. "We wanted the first thing people see out of Stratus Labs to be real, usable value today - not a roadmap promise. Agentic Spooling and our Big Data MCP Server are exactly that." New Stratus Labs experiments are constantly releasing to customers, with over 10 value-adding new features they can opt into today simply by signing up. Learn more about Stratus Labs at labs.stratus.build. Stratus has always operated by building fast with our customers. Stratus Labs continues that tradition as our formal AI and innovation arm, partnering directly with customers to turn real workflow data into agentic tools. For more information, please visit stratus.build,