Construction + Economy

LEED 2009 (LEED 3.0) is coming April 27. The new version of the LEED rating system will incorporate all of the rating systems that address commercial buildings–New Construction, Commercial Interiors, Schools and Existing Buildings: Operations & Maintenance–into three LEED 2009 systems: * Green Building Design & Construction * Green Interior Design & Construction * Green [...]

NEMA’s Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current conditions gained ground for a second month in a row in February, rising to 27.3 points from 20 in January. In spite of the recent rebound, the business environment remains bleak. February’s reading was far below the “breakeven” mark of 50 points and indicates a steep and [...]

Nationwide housing starts turned upward for the first time in eight months in February, rising to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 583,000 units in February, a gain of 22.2%. To put this in perspective, however, the gain was primarily due to a big bump in the often-volatile multifamily market–an 82.3% surge to a 226,000-unit [...]

The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce recently announced that construction spending during January 2009 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $986.2 billion, 3.3% below the revised December estimate of $1.02 trillion. The January figure is 9.1% below the January 2008 estimate of $1.085 trillion. Spending on private construction was [...]

On the heels of a modest uptick in December, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) dropped to a historic low level in January. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the [...]

Jim Haughey, chief economist for Reed Construction Data, writes about the January 2009 value of construction starts, excluding residential, at the Reed website here. Overall, the value of construction starts in January 2009 was up 5.3% over January 2008, but starts fell 23% from December, which, after accounting for the usual seasonal decline in January, [...]

The U.S. Census Bureau of the Department of Commerce has announced that construction spending during December 2008 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $1,053.7 billion, 1.4% below the revised November estimate of $1,068.8 billion. The December figure is 3.6% below the December 2007 estimate of $1,093.5 billion. The value of construction in [...]

New proposed infrastructure and public building investments will create or support nearly 2 million jobs throughout the entire economy in part because of the economic slowdown and massive construction layoffs that have occurred, George Mason University economist Stephen Fuller argued during Congressional testimony on behalf of the Associated General Contractors of America. Professor Fuller noted [...]

As the overall economy continues to struggle, nonresidential construction spending is expected to decrease by 11% in 2009 in inflation-adjusted terms, according to the AIA Consensus Construction Forecast. This semi-annual forecast is based on a survey of the nation’s top construction forecasters, including McGraw Hill Construction, Global Insight, Moody’s Economy.com, Reed Business Information and FMI. [...]