City Grill

Phil Brault 
Project Executive and Director of Operations for the D.C. Region
Consigli Construction

Washington, D.C.’s 2050 carbon-neutral push “is driving a large portion of construction activity,” Brault says. “We’re exploring ways to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce pollution by making buildings more efficient, especially our existing infrastructure.”

The electrification of transportation “will be a key step toward reducing pollution,” Brault says. He says funding from the 2021 infrastructure law will lead to more transit station work, such as  Mayor Muriel Bowser’s plan to revitalize Union Station and other “off-shoot” public sector projects. Bowser’s goal of  building 36,000 housing units by 2025 is expanding that sector. “Most of the progress already made is centered around the opportunity zones being created for development,” Brault says. “These zones offer lots of opportunity with tax incentives for developers.” 

Overall, construction is “looking strong for 2022 and beyond,” Brault says. But he foresees chronic labor shortages and rising costs  growing worse “as megaprojects resume and put a crunch on the market for labor and materials.”