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The American Institute of Architects has just released its Architecture Billings Index for the month of July, highlighting further stability in the demand for design services for the third month in a row. The index score was recorded at 50.0, indicating a flat figure (anything above 50.0 is... View full entry
Construction starts rose a total of 17% for July to a seasonally-adjusted rate of $1.2 trillion, according to the just-released report from Dodge Construction Network. The latest data also indicated a 7% year-to-date drop in total construction starts when compared to the July 2022 totals... View full entry
The latest Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data indicates that increasingly stable construction materials prices and recent supply chain improvements over the past few months may signal "positive... View full entry
Dodge Construction Network’s Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) fell by 0.9% in July to 193.4 from the revised June reading of 195.1. Last month, the commercial component remained relatively flat, declining only by 0.2%, and the institutional component fell 1.9%. Planning in all commercial sectors... View full entry
The report that we just released is showing spending for the year up 20%. So, we’ve obviously seen a much stronger first half of the year than was anticipated. And that’s reflected in the current projection for 2023 as a whole.
Since we’ve seen such a strong first half, the consensus is not for more acceleration in the second half. The consensus seems to be that strength is behind us and we’ll begin to moderate as we move into the second half of the year.
— Construction Dive
Baker predicts institutional construction will remain strong for the rest of this year, bolstered mainly by healthcare. Other sectors he expects to see a rebound include hospitality, K-12, and warehouses, albeit at a dampened pace for the third. He also mentions the new AIA Consensus Construction... View full entry
The Biden Administration has recently announced a new $90 million commitment in the form of competitive awards meant to help states and cities in their myriad attempts at mustering updated building codes into the country's patchwork response to climate change. The funds are being taken from the... View full entry
Total construction starts continue to fluctuate, with a 9% dip in June resulting in a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1 trillion, according to the latest Dodge Construction Network report. Nonresidential starts led the decline, falling 14%. Nonbuilding starts fell 9%, and residential starts... View full entry
With record-high temperatures impacting millions around the world, a spotlight has been cast on the workplace conditions of construction workers, who currently aren’t protected by any strict standard regarding extreme heat. According to a heat tracker by The New York Times, approximately 27% of... View full entry
Spending on nonresidential building construction is expected to grow in late 2023 and beyond, according to the AIA’s latest Consensus Construction Forecast. The analysis projects that spending on nonresidential buildings will increase by almost 20% this year, a pace not seen since before the... View full entry
The latest billings data from the American Institute of Architects has found there to be a stable demand for design services across June 2023. The latest figures represent the first time since Fall 2022 that billings remained in positive growth for two consecutive months, indicating that... View full entry
A new Whole Life Carbon Accounting service from Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM) was unveiled last month in an effort to help building owners and developers make accurate decisions about building performance at all stages of the design phase while pushing the industry further toward a much-needed... View full entry
The Dodge Momentum Index (DMI) continued its decline in June with a 2.5% decrease resulting in a reading of 197.3 from a revised May reading of 202.4. Over the course of last month, the commercial component rose 3.1%, while the institutional component dipped 10.5%. According to the Dodge... View full entry
Eleven men perch precariously on a metal beam, eating lunch, lighting cigarettes or drinking from glass bottles. Wearing only cloth caps as head protection, the men dwarf the hazy background of 1930s New York City and Central Park. Much has changed since workers building the 66-story, 850-foot-tall Rockefeller Center in midtown Manhattan posed for “Lunch Atop a Skyscraper” in 1932, but it remains construction’s most iconic photograph. — Construction Dive
The photograph, which was originally displayed in the New York Herald Tribune on October 2, 1932, was and continues to be a positive and widely admired American symbol. However, when examining what’s being depicted, it is undeniable that there is an array of problematic safety violations... View full entry
Florida-based 3D printing construction startup Printed Farms has announced the completion of a structure it claims is the world’s largest 3D printed building — a "luxury horse barn." The company is known for completing Florida’s first permitted 3D printed house in Tallahassee. It... View full entry
Data centers will increasingly be built farther from some of the traditional locations and will move closer to the clients they serve, according to research by Gartner, an I.T. consultancy. But the search for land is not always easy. [...]
And as major players in the data industry strive to become greener in the next decade, the pressure is on.
— The New York Times
The crunch for new data infrastructure is straining local utility companies in areas such as Northern Virginia owing to a requirement for "inhaling massive amounts of energy," a reality that leads to concerns that local residents will be asked to foot the bill in the end. Water use is also... View full entry