The Associated General Contractors of America released a new national plan this week detailing measures to stimulate demand for construction. Officials said the plan was needed to reverse construction employment declines that have taken place in 317 out of 337 metro areas since January 2007, according to new data released by the association. “Our goal is to rebuild a devastated construction market that has left millions jobless, littered cities with incomplete projects and sapped much-needed revenue, commerce and customers out of our economy,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, AGC chief executive officer. “Considering the scope and impact of construction job losses,
The Hispanic Contractors of Colorado honored industry leaders and member firms at the association’s 21st Annual Awards Banquet on March 5 at the Denver Grand Hyatt. The community awards featured: • Phillip A. Washington, general manager of Denver’s Regional Transportation District, who received the Public Achievement Award for his overall leadership and spearheading of the Eagle P3 Project, a public-private partnership serving as a pilot program that allows the U.S. Dept of Transportation to study PPPs, including completion dates, projections of costs and benefits and overall project performance. • Ismael Guerrero, executive director of the Denver Housing Authority, who received
Currently, the construction industry is showing modest signs of a rebound. Architectural billings are starting to rise modestly, secondary commercial financing is beginning to give bankers an outlet for moving commercial real estate loans off their books and some of the Fortune 1000, spurred by a friendly bond market and low interest rates, are floating debt or simply spending their mountains of cash and beginning to invest in plant and warehouse expansions (Caterpillar, Whirlpool, Amazon, etc.) In addition, the automobile business is expanding again after two-plus years of contraction and consolidation. All in all, the industry outlook appears to be
Construction spending slumped 0.7% from $798 billion in December to $792 billion in January, the lowest seasonally adjusted annual rate since July 2000, the Associated General Contractors of America noted this week in an analysis of new Census Bureau data. Association officials noted that nearly every private nonresidential category plunged, offsetting pickups in some residential and public nonresidential segments. They added that since January 2010, construction spending has declined by 5.9%. “These discouraging figures show that millions of construction workers and their firms are still suffering from the economic downturn, despite a year and a half of growth in the
The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory recently completed a yearlong of gasoline hybrid electric (gHEV) trucks compared with conventional diesel vehicles that showed the trucks produced substantially reduced tailpipe emissions during all drive cycles tested in the laboratory when compared to conventional diesel vehicles. On a drive cycle representing routes with frequent stops and accelerations, the gHEV trucks exhibited a 20% improvement in fuel economy while drive cycles representing routes with fewer stops and accelerations demonstrated similar fuel economy to the diesels. NREL’s Fleet Test and Evaluation Team collected and analyzed fuel economy, maintenance and other vehicle
More than 500 building projects have certified through the LEED Volume Program since the pilot launched in 2006, according to the U.S. Green Building Council. The LEED Volume Program streamlines the certification process for high-volume property owners and managers, from commercial real estate firms, national retailers and hospitality providers, to local, state and federal governments. Utilizing a prototype-based approach, the program enables large-scale organizational builders and operators to deliver a consistent end product, earning LEED certification faster and at a lower cost than would be possible with individual building reviews. The certification program was designed to meet industry needs for
New York-based Architectural Record magazine has selected the Denver Art Museum Shop as one of only nine winning projects in its annual Good Design is Good Business Awards of Excellence. The museum shop, which opened in November 2009, was designed by Denver’s Roth + Sheppard Architects. Photos: Courtesy of Roth + Sheppard Architects Formerly known as the Business Week/Architectural Record Awards, 2011 is the 13th year the Good Design is Good Business awards have been presented. The editors at Architectural Record said, “As one of only nine winning projects chosen from among dozens of impressive entries from around the world,
The U.S. Green Building Council recently released its 2010 list of top 10 states for LEED-certified commercial and institutional green buildings per capita, based on the U.S. 2010 Census Bureau information. Colorado made the list, coming in at No. 10. The District of Columbia leads the nation, with 25 sq ft of LEED-certified space per person in 2010, with Nevada being the leading state, at 10.92 sq ft per person in 2010. Other top states include New Mexico, New Hampshire and Oregon with more than 6 and 4 sq ft of LEED-certified space per person, respectively. “Using per capita versus
Even with all the new high-tech safety equipment and more access to quality safety training programs than ever before, hundreds of workers continue to be injured every year. The good news is that any size contractor can have an effective injury management plan (IMP) in place to handle non-critical injuries and keep costs to a minimum while raising employee morale. The Start-Up After a project is awarded and before you start work, locate an urgent-care facility (UCF). Location is an important factor, but not the most important. Consider evaluating a UCF like you would a subcontractor or vendor: What services
The increased pace of merger and acquisition activity late in 2010, including some huge deals, suggests that 2011 will be an active year. Low interest rates, significant cash on many firms� balance sheets, and stock prices that are low enough to attract buyers but high enough to move sellers off the sidelines all reinforce that possibility. Decisions on acquisitions are always a challenge. There is extensive literature that documents the too-high percentage of failed combinations, ones that failed to reward shareholders with a positive return on their investment. Yet most firms are motivated to consider acquisitions as an element of