After a slow start, the Dept. of Energy's stimulus act-funded program to weatherize hundreds of thousands of low-income homes has picked up steam, with more 300,000 homes upgraded. Related Links: ARRA Home Weatherization Program Ramps Up Homes Weatherized By State in November 2010 While all of the American Recovery and Reinvestment-funded program's nearly $5 billion has been awarded to states, less than $2.2 billion actually has been spent in the form of outlays. DOE Secretary Steven Chu announced on Jan. 19 that more than 300,000 low-income homes had been weatherized as of Nov. 30. The new total, which reflect reports
Following a recent report identifying potential infrastructure construction cost savings of 15% in the U.K., the government has pledged to draft an implementation plan by March. The report comes at a time when the government forecasts about $320 billion in all forms of infrastructure-investment demand over the next five years, as budgets for public spending are cut. The Infrastructure Cost Review, published on Dec. 21, says there is “a clear opportunity” to achieve savings of at least $31.9 billion to $47.9 billion over the next decade. The government’s Infrastructure UK body led the investigation, supported by the Institution of Civil
A new Associated General Contractors of America survey shows that member firms see some encouraging market signals this year but also indications that 2011 still will be tough. Related Links: AGC National 2011 Construction Outlook Survey Results The 2011 AGC outlook survey report, released on Jan. 24, sums up its findings: "Despite predictions of slight growth in demand for several key construction sectors and an improving construction employment picture, construction firms are bracing for at least one more difficult year as the benefits of the stimulus begin to fade and overall demand for construction remains weak." AGC CEO Stephen E.
Photo: Judy Schriener For ENR The sagging economy still weighed heavy on the National Association of Home Builders’ International Builders’ Show Jan. 12-15 in Orlando, Fla. The ever-so-slow recovery, which David Crowe, chief economist for NAHB, labeled “a constant annoyance,” was the chief subject of conversations. Crowe admitted that, like most other economists, he was more optimistic at the beginning of 2010 than he was at the end of the year. Sales figures for single-family homes in 2010 were up, though just 7% higher than those of 2009, the worst year of the downturn. Crowe predicts growth of single-family home
Photo: Tudor Van Hampton For ENR Concrete people say the housing sector, one of the hardest-hit construction sectors, is holding back a recovery. “The housing market is definitely not on the way back up,” said Kevin L. Klein, vice president of engineering for slipform-paver producer Gomaco Corp., Ida Grove, Iowa. “I’m thinking it’s still going to be another two to three years.” Gomaco was one of more than 1,000 vendors displaying goods at this year’s annual World of Concrete, held January 18-21 in Las Vegas. In addition to a slow housing recovery, show attendees said, future road and bridge construction
Bright spots in the homebuilding industry are being embraced like a long-lost family pet by builders slogging through the seemingly endless recession. First cause for optimism is a resurgence in the 55-plus market, described as “the buzz of the show,” at a recent National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) event. Secondly, demand for multifamily housing is keeping many firms busy in anticipation of demand far outweighing supply in the next few years. And, the so-called Gen Y — some 80 million children of baby boomers — soon will flood both apartments and single-family homes, giving builders further hope for the
The U.S. Dept. of Transportation is making headway in moving "TIGER" grants awarded early last year closer to actual construction. U.S. DOT announced on Dec. 29 that it had signed agreements with the Alabama and Tennessee DOTs on a $105-million Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grant for two intermodal freight facilities along the Norfolk Southern Corp.'s "Crescent Corridor". DOT release. Of the $105-million grant, half will go to Alabama to help finance a $97.5-million, 261-acre regional facility near McCalla, about 20 miles southwest of Birmingham. Norfolk Southern (NS) and other sources will fund the remainder of the project's total cost.
+ Image Construction’s December unemployment rate rose to 20.7% from November’s 18.8%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Construction’s unemployment rate averaged 20.6% for all 2010, which was above 2009’s 19.0% rate and 2008’s 10.6% rate. A worrisome sign is that the industry lost a further 16,000 jobs in December. That measurement is seasonally adjusted; therefore, the downturn, with nearly all construction sectors showing job losses for the month, cannot be attributed to the industry’s usual fall and winter slowdown. Economists worry about the employment impact of the waning federal construction funding from the 2009 stimulus act, which
The recession has put downward pressure on costs, but the steepest declines have been recorded in western states, according to Phoenix-based cost consultant Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB), which compiles cost indexes for 13 cities nationwide. The steepest decline recorded by RLB was for Seattle construction costs, which have fallen 5% during the five quarters between the end of 2009 and the end of 2010. During the same period, the RLB cost index declined 3.6% in Phoenix, 1.5% in Portland, Ore., and 1.2% in Las Vegas. Declines have been moderating. In 2010’s fourth quarter, cost slipped in four western cities as
Slide Show New construction starts fell 9% in November from the previous month, according to McGraw-Hill Construction’s seasonally adjusted data. Non-residential building markets weakened for the second consecutive month, while non-building work retreated from last October’s gains. “The pullback in November shows that the up-and-down pattern continues, and there’s yet to be evidence that renewed expansion is taking hold,” says Robert Murray, MHC chief economist. “The worst of the decline for the commercial structure types is over, but activity remains very weak.” The educational sector of the nonresidential building market plunged 23% in November, despite the addition of a $500-million
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