flexiblefullpage
billboard
interstitial1
catfish1
Currently Reading

Few silver linings for construction in 2012

Few silver linings for construction in 2012

On the brighter side, nearly half of respondents (49.7%) said their firms were in at least “good” financial health, and four-fifths (80.2%) said their companies would at least hold steady in revenue in 2012.


By By BD+C Staff | December 21, 2011
BD+C 2012 forecast
Looking toward 2012, nearly half of respondents (46.8%) said they thought their companies would be beefing up PR and marketing i
This article first appeared in the December 2011 issue of BD+C.

The recession is weighing heavily on architects, engineers, and contractors, if the results of an exclusive BD+C survey of 504 AEC professionals are any measure of the commercial construction industry’s outlook on business prospects for 2012.

More than three-fourths of respondents (78.4%) rated “general economic conditions (i.e., recession)” as the most important concern their firms will face in the next year, followed by competition from other firms (40.1%) and lack of capital funding for their projects (34.5%).

Nearly three in four (74.8%) described the current business situation for their firms as “very” to “intensely” competitive—a strong verification of the dog-eat-dog climate that many in the AEC industry have reported anecdotally in the last couple of years.

On the brighter side, nearly half of respondents (49.7%) said their firms were in at least “good” financial health, and four-fifths (80.2%) said their companies would at least hold steady in revenue in 2012.

Layoffs over the last two years were reported by 44.8% of respondents, with another 37.3% saying that hours had been reduced, while more than half (51.0%) said their firms had eliminated or cut back on bonuses.

Looking toward 2012, nearly half of respondents (46.8%) said they thought their companies would be beefing up PR and marketing initiatives to revive their businesses.

More than a third (35.7%) said their firms would be pumping dollars into technology. However, more than one in five (20.6%) said their firms were not using building information modeling; of those who said BIM was used in their shops, a clear majority (58.4%) said BIM figured in less than 25% of projects, while only slightly more than one-fourth (26.8%) said BIM was being used most of the time (i.e., 50% or more of projects, based on dollar value).

Healthcare remains strongest sector
Respondents were asked to rate their firms’ prospects in specific construction sectors on a five-point scale from “excellent” to “very weak.” (Respondents who checked “Not applicable/No opinion/Don’t know” are not counted here.) Among the findings:

  • Healthcare was the most highly rated sector, with a strong majority of respondents (54.6%) giving it a “good” to “excellent” rating.
  • Data centers and mission-critical facilities were also given good marks, with 45.2% of respondents in the good/excellent category.
  • Government and military work was rated good to excellent by more than two-fifths of respondents (41.1%).
  • Senior and assisted-living facilities drew a fairly strong 37.8% of respondents in the good to excellent category.
  • University/college facilities were rated good to excellent by nearly a third of respondents (32.3%).

Other sectors had much less optimistic support from respondents. Only one in nine (11.1%) said they thought retail commercial construction would have a good to excellent year. Less than 1% thought cultural/performing arts centers had a chance to have even a good year, and only 1.5% were sanguine about industrial and warehouse facilities.

The prospects for office buildings were bleak as well, with only 9.4% saying that market would be good to excellent—and nearly two-thirds (67.3%) predicting office buildings would be “weak” or “very weak.” However, office interiors and fitouts fared better, with 28.0% saying that sector would be good to excellent.

“Good to excellent” prospects for other sectors were mixed: 23.2% for K-12 schools and 24.0% for multifamily projects (condos and apartments, but most likely the latter).

In sum, hardly the cheeriest of prognostications for the 2012 commercial design and construction industry, according to respondents to our exclusive survey.

Note: Of the 494 who gave their professional description, 41.3% are architects; 19.0%, engineers; 18.8%, contractors; 10.7% building owners, developers, or facility/property managers; and 10.2%, consultants or “other.”

For more information visit www.BDCnetwork.com/forecast/2012. BD+C

Related Stories

| Mar 1, 2011

AIA selects 6 communities for long-term sustainability program

The American Institute of Architects today announced it has selected 6 communities throughout the country to receive technical assistance under the Sustainable Design Assessment Team (SDAT) program in 2011. The communities selected are Shelburne, Vt., Apple Valley, Mn., Pikes Peak Region, Co., Southwest DeKalb County, Ga., Bastrop, Tx., and Santa Rosa, Ca. The SDAT program represents a significant institutional investment by the AIA in public service work to assist communities in developing policy frameworks and long term sustainability plans.

| Feb 24, 2011

Perkins+Will designs 100 LEED Certified buildings

Perkins+Will  announced the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification of its 100th sustainable building, marking a key milestone for the firm and for the sustainable design industry. The Vancouver-based Dockside Green Phase Two Balance project marks the firm’s 100th LEED certified building and is tied for the highest scoring LEED building worldwide with its sister project, Dockside Green Phase One.

| Feb 24, 2011

New reports chart path to net-zero-energy commercial buildings

Two new reports from the Zero Energy Commercial Buildings Consortium (CBC) on achieving net-zero-energy use in commercial buildings say that high levels of energy efficiency are the first, largest, and most important step on the way to net-zero.

| Feb 24, 2011

Lending revives stalled projects

An influx of fresh capital into U.S. commercial real estate is bringing some long-stalled development projects back to life and launching new construction of apartments, office buildings and shopping centers, according to a Wall Street Journal article.

| Feb 23, 2011

London 2012: What Olympic Park looks like today

London 2012 released a series of aerial images that show progress at Olympic Park, including a completed roof on the stadium (where seats are already installed), tile work at the aquatic centre, and structural work complete on more than a quarter of residential projects at Olympic Village.

| Feb 23, 2011

Call for Entries: 2011 Building Team Awards, Deadline: March 25, 2011

The 14th Annual Building Team Awards recognizes newly built projects that exhibit architectural and construction excellence—and best exemplify the collaboration of the Building Team, including the owner, architect, engineer, and contractor.

| Feb 23, 2011

The library is dead, long live the library

The Society for College and University Planning asked its members to voice their thoughts on the possible death of academic libraries. And many did. The good news? It's not all bad news. A summary of their members' comments appears on the SCUP blog.

| Feb 23, 2011

Data center trends: green design, technology upgrades

While green data centers will continue to be a trend within the industry, technology is also driving infrastructure upgrades that have never been seen before, according to the 2011 Data Center Technical Market Report from Environmental Systems Design. The report also includes an overview of the national data center market, construction costs, blackouts and disaster prevention, and site selection.

| Feb 23, 2011

“School of Tomorrow” student design competition winners selected

The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) and Kawneer Company, Inc. announced the winners of the “Schools of Tomorrow” student design competition. The Kawneer-sponsored competition, now in its fifth year, challenged students to learn about building materials, specifically architectural aluminum building products and systems in the design of a modern and creative school for students ranging from kindergarten to sixth grade. Ball State University’s Susan Butts was awarded first place and $2,500 for “Propel Elementary School.”

| Feb 23, 2011

Barbie's newest career: Architect

Mattel is introducing Architect Barbie this fall, following a campaign that started in 2002 to give the iconic blond a design job. The doll comes in a signature pink outfit, but if she's truly hoping to pass an an architect, shouldn't she be wearing all black?   

boombox1
boombox2
native1

More In Category


Healthcare Facilities

Watch on-demand: Key Trends in the Healthcare Facilities Market for 2024-2025

Join the Building Design+Construction editorial team for this on-demand webinar on key trends, innovations, and opportunities in the $65 billion U.S. healthcare buildings market. A panel of healthcare design and construction experts present their latest projects, trends, innovations, opportunities, and data/research on key healthcare facilities sub-sectors. A 2024-2025 U.S. healthcare facilities market outlook is also presented.



halfpage1

Most Popular Content

  1. 2021 Giants 400 Report
  2. Top 150 Architecture Firms for 2019
  3. 13 projects that represent the future of affordable housing
  4. Sagrada Familia completion date pushed back due to coronavirus
  5. Top 160 Architecture Firms 2021