6 must reads for the AEC industry today: October 1, 2020

1. Sir David Adjaye OBE to receive 2021 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture (RIBA)
" The Royal Gold Medal is approved personally by Her Majesty The Queen and is given to a person or group of people who have had a significant influence 'either directly or indirectly on the advancement of architecture'."

2. SOM reimagines former Cook County Hospital into mixed-use destination (BD+C)
"The reimagined building now includes a new hotel, a food hall, medical offices, and community spaces and is the first phase of a proposed $1 billion redevelopment plan for the area. The building also includes a museum space that will showcase the important role the hospital played for the city and in the field of medicine."

3. Thornton Tomasetti launches T2D2, AI solution company to detect, classify, and monitor deterioration of building envelopes and infrastructure (Thornton Tomasetti)
"T2D2 founder and CEO Badri Hiriyur, Ph.D., director of CORE AI at Thornton Tomasetti, said the AI within T2D2 has been applied to identify visual anomalies and other signatures of deterioration on facades and structures. It analyzes digital images or videos taken by any type of camera (hand-held, fixed or drone-mounted) and can detect and identify conditions of deterioration."

4. U.S. Green Building Council, Green Business Certification Inc. expand resilience resources to support the green building industry (USGBC)
"LEED and GBCI rating systems drive resilience-enhancing strategies to help businesses and governments mitigate climate risks."

5. RedBird Mall co-developer is ready to bring his vision to other languishing U.S. malls (Bisnow)
"The mall is slated to offer South Dallas a solid mix of office, healthcare, retail, entertainment and affordable housing product. The apartments on-site are about 60% complete and developers are grinding away on the underground infrastructure."

6. Millions are house-rich but cash-poor. Wall Street landlords are ready (WSJ)
"Hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic are likely to force a lot of sales and create new renters."

Inflation may be starting to show some signs of cooling, but the Fed isn’t backing down anytime soon and the impact is becoming more noticeable in the architecture, engineering, and construction (A/E/C) space. The overall A/E/C outlook continues a downward trend and this is driven largely by the freefall happening in key private-sector markets.

Hotel Facilities | Jan 23, 2023

U.S. hotel construction pipeline up 14% to close out 2022

At the end of 2022’s fourth quarter, the U.S. construction pipeline was up 14% by projects and 12% by rooms year-over-year, according to Lodging Econometrics.

Products and Materials | Jan 18, 2023

Is inflation easing? Construction input prices drop 2.7% in December 2022

Softwood lumber and steel mill products saw the biggest decline among building construction materials, according to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index.

Market Data | Jan 10, 2023

Construction backlogs at highest level since Q2 2019, says ABC

Associated Builders and Contractors reports today that its Construction Backlog Indicator remained unchanged at 9.2 months in December 2022, according to an ABC member survey conducted Dec. 20, 2022, to Jan. 5, 2023. The reading is one month higher than in December 2021.

Market Data | Jan 6, 2023

Nonresidential construction spending rises in November 2022

Spending on nonresidential construction work in the U.S. was up 0.9% in November versus the previous month, and 11.8% versus the previous year, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Industry Research | Dec 28, 2022

Following a strong year, design and construction firms view 2023 cautiously

The economy and inflation are the biggest concerns for U.S. architecture, construction, and engineering firms in 2023, according to a recent survey of AEC professionals by the editors of Building Design+Construction.