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Through my research on elevators, I got a glimpse into why so little new housing is built in America and why what is built is often of such low quality and at high cost. The problem with elevators is a microcosm of the challenges of the broader construction industry — from labor to building codes to a sheer lack of political will. [...]
It’s become hard to shake the feeling that America has simply lost the capacity to build things in the real world, outside of an app.
— The New York Times
Stephen Smith, through the New York nonprofit Center for Building in North America, has been exposing variables that undermine the housing market's intricate calculus in the form of building codes, cost of labor, zoning regulations, and the construction industry. He says: "Elevators in North... View full entry
Spending on nonresidential construction nationwide fell 0.1% in May, according to a newly released Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data on the industry. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending now totals $1.21 trillion. Spending... View full entry
The latest economic data revealed by the new AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index for May has indicated a sharp decline to a score of 42.4, representing a new low point for the index after a year and a half of weak performances. "The decline in the May ABI score continues a year and a half of... View full entry
The total number of construction starts increased by 10% in May, according to data in Dodge Construction Network’s latest Construction Starts Index. Nonbuilding starts increased by 49%, while residential starts fell 7% and nonresidential building starts went down 2%. On a year-to-date basis... View full entry
New analytic reporting on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data for May from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has documented an overall 0.9% decrease in construction input prices. For the month, nonresidential construction input prices fell by 0.8%. Overall... View full entry
In a new analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data by the Associated Builders and Contractors, national nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.3% in April to a seasonally adjusted total of $1.20 trillion. It follows March's slight increase of 0.2%. Spending fell on a monthly basis in 10 of the... View full entry
The total number of construction starts in America rose 6% to a seasonally adjusted rate of $1.13 trillion for April, according to the latest data in Dodge Construction Network’s monthly reporting. For the month, nonresidential building starts gained 17%. The number of nonbuilding starts was 4%... View full entry
Overall, across Europe and the US, stuff is still built in a pretty manual fashion - not very different to the way it would have been built 100 years ago [...] Construction is a bit of a digital laggard compared with many other industries. It's been slow to adopt digital in the widest sense — BBC
Consultant Sam O’Gorman and other experts speak to the BBC about the confounding gap between digital technology and the analog process for delivering residential architecture. Interesting projects mentioned are the University of Maine Advanced Structures and Composites Center’s attempts to... View full entry
One major consequence of this difference in design is that the North American double-loaded corridor buildings are much worse at providing family-sized units. To illustrate the point, we’ll go through the different sized apartments one by one, and compare the floor area and design. You’ll notice that the American plans have significantly more floor area for the same number of bedrooms, and have much more lightless interior space up against the common corridor to fill. — Center for Building in North America
Stephen Smith is a former journalist and the Executive Director of the Brooklyn-based Center for Building in North America. His analysis of spatial challenges created by multifamily apartments and zoning conditions was featured recently in Bloomberg's Odd Lots podcast. This is an adroit relaying... View full entry
The new AIA/Deltek Architecture Billings Index (ABI) for April has reported a new score of 48.3, indicating a continued decrease in economic activity while posting an improvement over March’s previously reported total of 43.6. For the month, inquiries into new projects continued to increase... View full entry
The latest analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data for April from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) shows a 0.5% increase in construction input prices. For the month, nonresidential construction input prices increased by 0.6%. Overall construction and... View full entry
Project abandonments remain on an upswing across the country, according to an analysis of construction project data in the latest ConstructConnect Project Stress Index for the week ending April 27th. Over the past month, Delayed Bid, On Hold, and Abandoned activity have increased by 4%, 7%... View full entry
The latest Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) has shown an increase of 6.1% for April to a new score of 173.9. For the month, commercial planning improved by 12.6%, while institutional planning dropped by 6.3%. Year-over-year, the DMI is now 1% lower than it was in April of 2023. Planning in the... View full entry
New York City construction worker fatalities have declined to record lows, according to a new report released by the NYC Department of Buildings. Construction-related deaths are now at their lowest point in the past decade despite an increase in injuries at job sites for the third consecutive... View full entry
An analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has shown nonresidential construction spending to have increased moderately by 0.2% in March. It follows February's decline of 1.0%. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending now... View full entry
