Construction + Economy

My most recent contribution to the Lighting Controls Association’s blog is a post summarizing current economic trends, 2014 year in review for the lighting industry, and the AIA’s Consensus Construction Forecast. Check it out here.

Total construction put in place (CPIP) for 2014 will be $62 billion greater than last year—a 7% increase, according to the latest report from FMI. CPIP should finish this year around $972 billion and is expected to top $1.04 trillion in 2015. Commercial and manufacturing construction are two of the largest growth sectors, accounting for [...]

FMI recently released its Q3-2014 Construction Outlook. The forecast calls for solid, slow growth. Contributing factors include relatively low energy prices, low inflation, unemployment holding around 6.2% and GDP slowly growing. Additionally, consumer confidence is rising steadily, building permits and housing starts bounced back in July, and banks are starting to lend again–that is, if [...]

Headed by the continued strength in the multi-family residential market and the emerging growth for institutional projects, demand for design services continues to be healthy as exhibited in the latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI). As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture [...]

FMI, a provider of management consulting and investment banking to the engineering and construction industry, recently announced the release of the 2014 Fourth Quarter Nonresidential Construction Index report. The NRCI shows a slight increase from 62.5 in the third quarter to 62.8 in the fourth quarter of 2014. This is nearly 5.5 points ahead of [...]

NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Conditions Index (EBCI) for current conditions in North America improved to 58.3 in October as the share of panelists reporting improved conditions rose by a larger amount than the share reporting they worsened. Meanwhile, the EBCI for future North American conditions fell for a second consecutive month in October, dropping to 55.6.

With all geographic regions and building project sectors showing positive conditions, there continues to be a heightened level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI). As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and construction [...]

On the heels of recording its strongest pace of growth since 2007, there continues to be an increasing level of demand for design services signaled in the latest Architecture Billings Index (ABI). As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lead time between architecture billings and [...]

Demand for lighting equipment, as measured by NEMA’s Lighting Systems Shipments Index, was essentially flat during the second quarter, increasing 0.1% over 2014Q1. In contrast, year-over-year performance for the topline index showed a decrease of 1.4%. Emergency lighting and fixtures were the only index components to show an improvement in sales with ballasts, large- and [...]