Related Links: Charles Pankow Foundation's Ambitious Rebar Research Goal Pankow Foundation Whether we are architects, engineers or constructors, we're all facing an economy and environment much different than that of our predecessors. The world we're facing has many challenges. For example, the word "sustainability" wasn't even in the industry lexicon 20 years ago. Who would have thought that a ubiquitous materialsuch as portland cement, once considered harmless, would threaten the global environment because of its high energy demands and carbon footprint? And who would have considered that water, once believed to be so abundant that wasting large amounts wouldn't matter,
Related Links: Southland Industries Website BrueningAt the beginning of 2011, I was handling the closeout of a 1 million-sq-ft facility that my company, Southland Industries, turned over earlier in the year. I was also initiating two projects that had been fast tracked to meet a September completion milestone.While I was busier than I had ever been in my career, my boss stopped by my office one afternoon to brief me on the concept of a new internal leadership development program the company was calling Built to Lead (BTL). A week later, I was on a conference call with five of
Related Links: Risky Business coalition blog Bob Langert: Fast 10 Sustainability Leadership Tips Letter from Oil Majors on Carbon Pricing Unilever CEO Paul Polman: The remedies for capitalism B Corp website New Envision Tool Pushes Sustainability Beyond Buildings BeinsteinUnderstanding how sustainability’s triple bottom line (TBL) of people, planet, and profit impacts design and construction firms is becoming an ever more urgent priority. Perhaps never before has a topic been so important to the AEC community, yet so poorly understood. Globally, the movement toward sustainability and TBL-focused results is rapidly accelerating—but how individual business leaders adapt, and how their firms can
The design and construction process has been around for over 4500 years and dates back to about 2630 B.C., when Imhotep, the first structural engineer in history, built the step pyramid for the Egyptian Pharoah Djoser.The big question that rolls around in my mind is, “Exactly how far has our industry progressed?”In science, the progress is obvious. And there is also obvious progress in a more efficient, freely employed workforce, as opposed to slaves, and better technology, including multiple advancements in heavy building equipment for ease of construction and most recently, 3D building information modeling (BIM) for design and construction information development.
Transmission and distribution infrastructure in North America is in the midst of a major shift. An industry that historically has designed to meet the lifespan of its equipment now must refocus that design on the growing challenges of resilience and reliability.Our dependence on electricity makes us vulnerable to extreme weather changes. Katrina and Sandy were devastating reminders that our power systems need to be designed to better withstand these kinds of events, which are occurring with increasing frequency. But utilities have been slow to make changes, thanks to a web of interconnected challenges:1. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
During the past year, district attorneys have sought to stem abuses by contractors who use illegitimate disadvantaged business enterprises (DBEs) on U.S. Dept. of Transportation-funded projects.
EisenhartAs a partnering facilitator on challenging building projects, I can share that effective communication among team members is the best offense in managing risk on any type of project. On a design-build hospital renovation project that I recently facilitated, project challenges related to unknown conditions and owner additions triggered each stakeholder's conventional risk management strategies—such as case building and communicating entirely through emails and letters—all of which led to distrust and further decelerated the project.Fortunately for all involved, the builder’s senior project manager was committed to finding a better way. His approach was to consult with the medical director and
Related Links: White House Rolls Out Private Infrastructure Finance Plans Biden Calls For More Private Investment Despite the uptick in construction, many firms are feeling hamstrung by the hesitancy of traditional banks to provide growth capital. Unfortunately for smaller players in construction, the small business lending process is not working well, with banks often reluctant to lend to smaller firms and offering high-rate and fee-laden business credit cards.Some Small Business Administration loans are available, but they can be cumbersome to obtain, with many banks preferring not to offer SBA loans of less than $350,000. Fortunately, new online SBA options do
About 10 years ago, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Georgia Institute of Technology set out to form the Construction History Society of America (CHSA), modeled on a similar society in the United Kingdom. Until that time, research and inquiry into the history of the American construction industry had been as fragmented as the industry itself, with each segment pursuing its own field of interest. Now, we are able to pull together the various strands. Next month, the CHSA is hosting the Fifth International Congress on Construction History in Chicago on June 3-7.BOWENIs this just an exercise
Uncertainties related to capital projects in the process industries have increased dramatically over the past three years. Brent crude prices have fallen precipitously to around $65/bbl, while the costs of capital expenditure (capex) projects in the upstream sector are estimated to have increased approximately 10-13% per year. In construction contracting, uncertainty increases cost because estimators must add contingencies to protect their bids from unknown conditions. As the process industry seeks to contain capital costs, many of the causes will be difficult to corral, while the volatility of oil and gas prices makes planning difficult. According to a recent study from