6 must reads for the AEC industry today: July 2, 2020

1. Are hospitals prepared for the next pandemic? (BD+C)
"Caught off guard by COVID-19, healthcare systems take stock of the capacity and preparedness."

2. Construction spending declines 2.1% in May as drop in private work outweighs public pickup (AGC)
"Construction spending declined for the third month in a row in May as a sharp slowdown in private projects more than offset a rise in public work, according to an analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of government data released today."

3. COVID-19 public health guidelines may be downplaying building systems solutions (BD+C)
"Emphasis on cleaning surfaces overlooks importance of mechanical infrastructure."

4. Blackstone CEO Stephen Schwarzman forecasts 'big V' economic recovery this summer (Business Insider)
"Economic reopenings will drive the first bounce-back but fail to completely bring the US back to 2019 levels of activity, he said during the Bloomberg Invest Global virtual conference."

5. How physical spaces may adapt to a post-COVID world (Forbes)
"Lots of questions are being asked about how life will change in the wake of COVID-19. Because physical distancing is a big part of that conversation, designers of physical spaces are among those expected to supply answers."

6. What, us worry? Multifamily developers sanguine about supply (Bisnow)
"Booming multifamily housing production, a pandemic and increasingly difficult restrictions on tours and amenities don't have the sector's biggest developers worried, they say."

The Architectural Billings Index measures the general sentiment of U.S. architecture firms about the health of the construction market by measuring 1) design billings and 2) design contracts. Any score above 50 means that, among the architecture firms surveyed, more firms than not reported seeing increases in design work vs. the previous month.