In his October editorial, Building Design & Construction Robert Cassidy asked whether commercial real estate is the next bubble, quoting Dan Tishman, CEO of Tishman Construction, who said $3.4 trillion in commercial real estate loans generated in 2007 will be rolling over in the next 5-7 years, and the capacity to refinance these loans is [...]

The outlook for the general economy is improving, but that doesn’t mean good news for construction yet. Total construction in 2009 and 2010 will be down 14% and 5% respectively, according to FMI economist Heather Jones. Click here to download FMI’s Q309 report free. (post updated on December 2)

In the three-year period leading up to the current recession, gross billings at U.S. architecture firms increased nearly $16 billion from 2005 and totaled $44.3 billion in 2008. This equates to 54% growth over the three-year period with annual growth of about 16%. These findings are from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Business of [...]

Construction spending during August 2009 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $941.9 billion, 0.8% above the revised July estimate of $934.6 billion and 11.6%, or $124.2 billion, below the August 2008 estimate of $1,066.1 billion. During the first eight months of 2009, construction spending reached $629.5 billion, 11.9% below the $714.3 billion [...]

As the nonresidential construction industry continues to struggle, the American Institute of Architects’ (AIA) Architecture Billings Index (ABI) showed a nominal improvement in September. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate 9- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. It is derived from a monthly “Work-on-the-Boards” [...]

Construction spending during July 2009 was estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $958 billion, 0.2% below the revised June estimate of $959.5 billion and 10.5% below the July 2009 estimate of $1,070.2 billion. During the first seven months of 2009, construction spending reached $543.8 billion, 11.4% below the $613.5 billion for the same [...]

Another stall in the recovery for the construction industry as the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) dropped to its lowest level since June. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the August [...]

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes notched up two points in July to its highest level since September 2008, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI rose two points to 17 in July as builders saw an improvement in current sales conditions but [...]

Building Design & Construction’s July issue features an article by C.C. Sullivan and Barbara Horwitz-Bennett titled, “MEP Technologies for Eco-Effective Buildings,” includes several sections related to lighting. I was pleased to participate in the article as a source instead of an author this time, representing my client the Lighting Controls Association, for which I’m acting [...]