The JAGG Group, a consulting and publishing company dedicated to the architecture, engineering, environmental and construction industries, ranks the apartment market as the hottest for AEC firms working in the United States in 2013.
The company’s 270-page report – The 2013 Guide to the U.S. AEC Markets – ranks 40 separate market sectors served by AEC firms within seven broader categories: residential, commercial, institutional, transportation, water/wastewater, environmental and power.
The full list is available on the firm’s blog (http://www.aecinsight.com).
“Ranking the markets according to a variety of factors, including size, anticipated growth and intangibles unique to the individual market gives some guidance to firms planning their marketing and business development approach in 2013,” says report author Jerry Guerra. “The intention is to show the relative strength various markets served by AEC firms in the United States. It is essentially a summary of the data and information presented throughout the rest of the report, which is where the real meat of these rankings lies.”
The report predicts that the multifamily-for-rent market, which enjoyed solid growth and high activity in 2012, will repeat its strong performance in 2013. The apartment market is followed in the rankings by natural gas, senior housing, transmission/ distribution and health care as the five markets anticipated to be the healthiest in 2013.
On the opposite end of the ranking for the New Year are high-speed rail, nuclear power and brownfields.
The report ranks the markets according to a weighted scale that takes into account the market’s size, short-term growth projection (2013), long-term growth projection (annualized five-year estimate) and a variety of intangible factors.
The intangible category – worth 20% of the total – is included to adjust for factors outside of size and anticipated growth. For example, single-family housing is a massive market expected to have a high growth rate in both the short- and long-term. However, because the market is recovering from such a low point, competition is high (including many small firms still starving for work) and opportunities for traditional architecture and engineering firms are limited, the “intangible” category drags the single-family housing market closer to the middle of the pack (12th overall).
To support the market sector rankings and provide more insight into their outlook for 2013, the book includes more than 150 pages of analysis. The annual report – the sixth authored by the 10-year-old JAGG Group – also includes top industry trends, an analysis of the 2012 Election results, an overview of the industry and U.S. economy, and a glimpse of international market opportunities for 2013. +
Related Stories
| May 17, 2011
Should Washington, D.C., allow taller buildings?
Suggestions are being made that Washington revise its restrictions on building heights. Architect Roger Lewis, who raised the topic in the Washington Post a few weeks ago, argues for a modest relaxation of the height limits, and thinks that concerns about ruining the city’s aesthetics are unfounded.
| May 17, 2011
The New Orleans master plan
At an afternoon panel during last week's AIA National Conference in New Orleans, Goody Clancy Principal David Dixon and Manning Principal W. Raymond Manning shared their experiences creating the New Orleans Master Plan, a document that sets a new course for the city, from land use and transportation planning to environmental protection.
| May 17, 2011
Do these buildings look like buffalo to you?
It’s hard to contemplate winter now that we’re mid-spring, but when the seasons change, ice skaters in Winnipeg will be able to keep warm in plywood shelters designed by Patkau Architects. The designers created temporary shelters inspired by animal behavior—specifically, buffalo bracing against the wind. Check them out.
| May 16, 2011
USGBC and AIA unveil report for greening K-12 schools
The U.S. Green Building Council and the American Institute of Architects unveiled "Local Leaders in Sustainability: A Special Report from Sundance," which outlines a five-point national action plan that mayors and local leaders can use as a framework to develop and implement green schools initiatives.
| May 16, 2011
Dassault Systèmes to distribute Gehry Technologies’ digital project
Dassault Systèmes and Gehry Technologies announced that Gehry Technologies’ Digital Project products will be integrated into the Dassault Systèmes’ portfolio and distributed through Dassault Systèmes. Digital Project is a suite of 3D BIM applications created by Gehry Technologies using Dassault Systèmes’ CATIA as a core modeling engine.
| May 11, 2011
DOE releases guide for 50% more energy-efficient office buildings
The U.S. Department of Energy today announced the release of the first in a new series of Advanced Energy Design Guides to aid in the design of highly energy efficient office buildings. The 50% AEDG series will provide a practical approach to commercial buildings designed to achieve 50% energy savings compared to the commercial building energy code used in many areas of the country.
| May 10, 2011
Google hires Ingenhoven Architects to design new Mountain View office
The current Googleplex is straining at the seams and yet the company is preparing its biggest hiring surge ever, so Google decided now’s the time to build its own office space—a first for the Internet giant. The company hired Ingenhoven Architects, a German firm that specializes in sustainable architecture, to create plans for what could be a 600,000-sf office.
| May 10, 2011
Solar installations on multifamily rooftops aid social change
The Los Angeles Business Council's study on the feasibility of installing solar panels on the city’s multifamily buildings shows there's tremendous rooftop capacity, and that a significant portion of that rooftop capacity comes from buildings in economically depressed neighborhoods. Solar installations could therefore be used to create jobs, lower utility costs, and improve conditions for residents in these neighborhood.
| May 10, 2011
Dinner is now served…atop the Lincoln Memorial?
Take a look at the temporary restaurant sitting atop Brussels’ historic Arc de Triomphe-Triomfboog. The Cube, by Electrolux, offers 18 diners a spectacular view of the Parc du Cinquantenair, and is one of two structures traveling across Europe, making stops at famous landmarks in Belgium, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, and Russia. What do you think about one of these 60-tonne structures being placed on a U.S. memorial?