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According to a new Dodge Construction Network report, the value of commercial and multifamily construction starts in the top 20 metropolitan areas of the United States has increased 18% from 2020 to 2021. Nationally, commercial and multifamily construction starts increased 16% in 2021. The... View full entry
Although the prices of some raw materials fell in December, costs are still sky high for contractors looking to purchase them, according to a new analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Overall, the price of construction materials jumped nearly 20% in 2021, the group said Thursday. — Construction Dive
In addition, according to the Associated General Contractors of America’s (AGC) 2022 Construction Hiring and Business Outlook Survey, material costs were listed as a top concern for contractors this year. Though prices moderated for some construction materials in December, they still... View full entry
National consulting group Appleseed Strategy has released the results of their 2021 Financial & Economic Survey, a U.S. business study of AEC firms to gauge the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the sector. 43 individuals and 39 companies in architecture, engineering, landscape... View full entry
While experts say the technology and design standards exist to better protect people and buildings from tornadoes, attempts to incorporate those designs into building codes have repeatedly been blocked or curtailed by the building industry, according to public documents and people involved in efforts to tighten the model codes. — The New York Times
Resilient infrastructure in states like Kentucky and Tennessee that are increasingly falling into the crosshairs of deadly tornadoes as a likely result of climate change-produced atmospheric conditions and non-related weather patterns like La Niña is becoming more and more imperative, as... View full entry
Months of isolation made people rethink the way they wanted to live. That meant their buildings would change. That meant construction, and architects became useful again, after being abandoned. But the craziness of a new era has made all builders and architects simultaneously empowered by their new in-demand status while fully threatened by costs and availability of all the products and people necessary to build. — CT Insider
Earlier in the year, labor and supply chain issues had caused markets in steel and timber to skyrocket, delaying many commercial and residential projects industry-wide, in addition to triggering what some think will be a boom in demand once the pandemic subsides. However bright the prospects are... View full entry
The latest edition of the Dodge Momentum Index indicates a 4% decrease in November from October. Commercial planning fell 8% while institutional planning moved 5% higher. The value of nonresidential building projects continues to move in a sawtooth pattern, in which month-by-month measures... View full entry
Higher prices and longer wait times do not appear to be turning buyers away from the nation’s homebuilders. With demand still surging, homebuilder confidence in the market for single-family homes rose more than expected in November, to the highest level since last May — CNBC
According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB)/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), builder sentiment in the market for newly-built single-family homes moved three points higher to 83 in November. Readings above 50 indicate that more builders view conditions as good than... View full entry
According to an Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of the recently-released U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data, construction input prices increased 1.5% in October. Nonresidential construction input prices have increased by 1.4% in the month. ... View full entry
Total construction starts across the United States rose 10% during September 2021 versus the previous month, according to new data from Dodge Construction Network. The 10% figure is an amalgamation of residential building starts, nonresidential building starts, and nonbuilding starts, all of which... View full entry
The Global Cement and Concrete Association (GCCA) announced that forty of the world’s leading cement and concrete manufacturers have come together to commit to cut carbon dioxide emissions by a quarter by 2030. This is a major statement in the association’s race to produce carbon-neutral... View full entry
Researchers from the University of Tokyo’s Department of Architecture have developed a promising new kind of concrete that has the potential to reduce emissions from the construction industry. Approximately 7% of the world’s carbon dioxide emissions come from the manufacture and use of... View full entry
New images released by Urbanize LA reveal that the Eric Owen Moss Architects-designed (W)RAPPER office tower has topped out. The 17-story, 183,000-square-foot high-rise stands out with its free-form steel exoskeleton that wraps the structure allowing for column-free... View full entry
Rider Levett Bucknall's Crane Count decreased by 4.5% from Q1 to Q3 2021. The index measures the number of fixed cranes across cities in the U.S. and Canada, as a representation of the active construction workload in those cities — Construction Dive
Of the 14 cities measured, only Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Toronto, saw an increase in the number of cranes during this period. Chicago, Denver, Honolulu, Phoenix, and Portland were reported as having significant decreases in the number of cranes, dropping between 32% and 78%. Boston, Las... View full entry
Construction will be an engine of global economic growth in the decade to 2030, with output expected to be 35% higher than in the ten years to 2020, according to a new global forecast. — Global Construction Review
The report, titled Future of Construction, by Oxford Economics and Marsh McLennan subsidiaries March and Guy Carpenter projects that growth in construction output will average 3.6% per year from now until 2030, outpacing that of the manufacturing and services sectors. According to the study, this... View full entry
Alleging that vaccine mandates for contractors are unconstitutional, the Colorado Contractors Association is suing the city of Denver for requiring workers on public contracts to get inoculated against COVID-19. — Construction Dive
The Colorado Contractors Association, along with six other construction associations, believe the mandate violates the U.S. Constitution’s contracts clause because it substantially impairs their existing contract rights with the city. As reported by Construction Dive, the associations expect the... View full entry
