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

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

Engineering News-Record today reported that an overall decline in construction starts in the United States is more dire than predicted. McGraw-Hill Construction estimates that the industry experienced an 8% decline in construction starts in 2007. Another 2% drop is forecast for 2008.

Total construction reached a record $668.9 billion in starts in 2006, and values are expected drop to $626.7 billion for 2007 and $614.1 billion in 2008. Last year, McGraw-Hill Construction predicted that starts in 2007 would drop 1%, despite the weaking single family home market.

Turmoil in the sub-prime mortgage market has been a major concern for the construction industry and the overall economy. Tighter lending conditions  will impact both residential and commercial development.

Some positive trends are still seen in public works projects and school construction.

New construction starts nationwide advanced 8% in June over the prior month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $662.4 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction. Nonresidential building showed an especially strong performance, surging up 29% over May, while residential building improved a moderate 4%, mostly due to a strong 40% increase in multifamily housing.

Excluding residential building from the year-to-date statistics, new construction starts in the first six months of 2007 were up 2% over 2006.

Source: McGraw-Hill Construction

The retail sector is lagging behind the pack in green building, according to The U.S. Green Building Council. They report that LEED project certifications for green buildings overall were up 67% from 2005 to 2006. But of the more than 800 LEED certified projects to-date, only 50 retail projects have been certified.

The key issue is real cost vs. spec benefits. Developers would pay more for green features and may not be able to recoup those costs in higher rents or faster lease-up. Still, the number of large retailers announcing green building initiatives has accelerated in 2007 and should peak in 2008-2009.
For more on the factors driving the green retail market, see Greening the Retail Sector in Building Design + Construction.

Building Design + Construction