It's been an excellent year for equities, and one of the standout investment themes was the construction and infrastructure sector. In particular, companies that use emerging technologies to add value to their solutions for their customers have outperformed.Here's why positioning and workflow technology company Trimble (TRMB 0.88%), heating, ventilation, and air- conditioning (HVAC) building-controls business Johnson Controls (JCI 1.68%), and automation company Emerson Electric (EMR -0.01%) can crush the ma ...