Following another historic low score in January, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) was up two points in February, but still pointing to a general lack of demand for design services. 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. The [...]

Construction industry management consulting and investment banking firm FMI has released its Construction Outlook: First Quarter 2009 Report, available free online as a PDF document here. The outlook forecasts nonresidential construction will plummet and begin at least three years of contraction. The bottom, in terms of both dollar volume and percent decline, will not be [...]

I think that notion is being put to rest. In fact, green construction is expected to be a bright spot in the overall construction market during the current downturn and beyond. Consider: * According to Turner Construction’s 2008 Green Building Market Barometer survey of 754 commercial real estate executives, significant percentages of respondents view green [...]

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, [...]