New Delhi, July 23 -- Novartis started construction this year on a 700,000 square foot manufacturing hub in North Carolina as part of the Swiss drugmaker's $23 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing and research and development.

South Korea's Hanwha Group is expanding the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard with a $5 billion investment to help rebuild U.S. shipbuilding. In India's Kutch desert, wind turbines, solar arrays, and high-voltage transmission are being installed, creating the world's largest renewable-energy park as the country looks to reduce its reliance on foreign oil.

As data centers and artificial intelligence dominate the headlines, a less-noticed building boom is under way, stretching across the globe as nations attemp...