Seventy percent of of architects say client demand is driving green building, and owners and developers are demanding greener buildings to reduce operating costs, according to the third annual Green Index. The survey of green building practices by Autodesk, Inc. and the American Institute of Architects looked at the motivations and acceptance of nearly 350 practicing architects in the United States.

According to study results published in Building Design + Management, less than half of architects were incorporating sustainable design practices into their projects five years ago. Today, 90% of architects expect to incorporate some sustainable elements by 2012.

Source: Building Design + Management

More than a third of the 200 construction project and program owners surveyed by the Construction Management Association of America said they have used Building Information Modeling (BIM) on one or more projects. BIM is being adopted at an accelerating rate, according to a survey published in Building Design + Construction.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) refers to the use of digital information on a building project, such as cost, schedule, fabrication, maintenance, energy, and 3-D models. BIM is used for design decision-making, production of high-quality construction documents, predicting performance, cost estimating, construction planning, and managing and operating the facility.

Source: Building Design + Construction

St. Louis-based Brinkmann Constructors has completed The Crescent in Clayton, a $73 million, nine-story condominium tower located at 155 Carondelet Plaza in Clayton, according to RE Business Online. The 390,000-square-foot building features 72 luxury condos ranging in price from $900,000 to more than $2 million, and 26,000 square feet of ground-floor retail. Retailers include Araka, Kaldi’s Coffeehouse, Pulaski Bank, Lusso, Extra Virgin – an Olive Ovation, Elements of Denim and Sweet Petunia. The building is being developed by Mark S. Mehlman Realty. Currently, 70 percent of the condos are under contract, and 80 percent of the retail space is leased.

Source: RE Business Online

Nonresidential construction grew in November and accelerating hiring by architects and engineers suggests future growth, according to Ken Simonson, Chief Economist for The Associated General
Contractors of America (AGC). Simonson was quoted in the November 6 issue of Building Design & Construction News.

According to AGC, residential construction spending was down 16 percent from the year before while nonresidential was up almost 17 percent. That means that residential construction workers - as many as 400,000 of them - were doing nonresidential work.

Architectural and engineering employment rose 3.7 percent in the past 12 months, triple the growth in the overall economy, AGC reported.

Source: Building Design & Construction News

Taylor-Morley Homes, one of the area’s largest home builders, has allegedly defaulted on a $16.5 million loan according to a suit filed last month by Southwest Bank of St. Louis. According to the St. Louis Business Journal, Taylor-Morley’s revenue took a hit last year after several years of growth. The Chesterfield-based home builder 2006 revenue was $74.7 million in revenue, down from $114.7 million the previous year. Taylor-Morley currently has 16 new-home communities on the market in St. Louis and the Metro East, down from 28 in March.

Source: St. Louis Business Journal