More permits for ADUs than single-family homes issued in San Diego
Popularity of granny flats growing in California
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Popularity of granny flats growing in California
Changes affecting how construction projects in New York City are permitted will have significant impacts for contractors. On Dec. 11, the definition of a major building in the city’s code will change from 10 stories to seven, or 75 feet. The change will affect thousands more projects.
The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) adopted a new rule with new accessibility guidelines for federal buildings. The rule establishes that pedestrian facilities in the public right-of-way are readily accessible to and usable by people with disabilities.
The work from home trend will continue to put pressure on the office real estate market, with peak vacancy of between 22% and 28% in 2026, according to a forecast by Moody’s.
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a system that uses a camera to detect air leakage from buildings in real time.
A study of new apartment construction by zip code showed Washington D.C., and the Queens borough of New York City are the hottest multifamily markets since 2018, according to RentCafe.
The Biden Administration recently announced plans to encourage more office buildings to be converted to residential use. The plan includes using federal money to lend to developers for conversion projects and selling government property that is suitable for conversions.
Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI) has released a tool to identify financial incentives to help developers, industrial companies, and investors find financial incentives for heavy industry and transport projects.
Five winners were selected to share a $2 million prize in the 2023 Mass Timber Competition: Building to Net-Zero Carbon. The competition was co-sponsored by the Softwood Lumber Board and USDA Forest Service (USDA) with the intent “to demonstrate mass timber’s applications in architectural design and highlight its significant role in reducing the carbon footprint of the built environment.”
The City of Jacksonville, Fla., recently released plans for Resilient Jacksonville, a 50-year resiliency strategy to reduce the risks from flooding, hurricanes, excessive heat, and wildfires, and to respond better to those events. The plan includes ways to stop the St. Johns River from flooding vulnerable neighborhoods, including those prone to flooding during heavy rain or hurricanes.
“Embodied Carbon and Material Health in Insulation” and “Embodied Carbon and Material Health in Gypsum Drywall and Flooring,” by architecture and design firm Perkins&Will in partnership with the Healthy Building Network, advise on how to select the best low-carbon products with the least impact on human health.
Private-sector construction in major North American cities is slowing, according to the latest RLB Crane Index. The number of tower cranes in use declined 10% since the first quarter of 2023. The index, compiled by consulting firm Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), found that only two of 14 cities—Boston and Toronto—saw increased crane counts.
The proportion of the U.S. workforce working remotely has dropped considerably since the start of the Covid 19 pandemic, but office vacancy rates continue to rise. Fewer than 26% of households have someone who worked remotely at least one day a week, down sharply from 39% in early 2021, according to the latest Census Bureau Household Pulse Surveys.
U.S. contractors lost between $30 billion and $40 billion in 2022 due to poor labor productivity, according to a new report from FMI Corp. The survey focused on self-performing contractors, those typically engaged as a trade partner to a general contractor.