Nearly a year after President Obama signed an executive order calling on the federal government to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions 28% by 2020, agencies have outlined plans for achieving those green goals. The White House Council on Environmental Quality and the Office of Management and Budget reported on Sept. 9 that 56 federal agencies had submitted sustainability performance plans that will serve as frameworks for future sustainability efforts. Although many of the plans focus on practices such as reducing waste, some of the agencies’ strategies give significant weight to green design and construction goals. For example, the General Services Administration’s plan
Is construction accounting headed for a troublesome shake-up? A proposed new rule aimed at aligning financial reporting by construction firms with other industries could bring sweeping changes to long-held, generally accepted accounting principles. Critics warn the new rule could significantly raise administrative costs, open the door to financial manipulation and dampen surety credit. The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB), which is the designated private-sector organization in the U.S. that establishes financial accounting and reporting standards, and the International Accounting Standards Board have released a draft standard to create a single revenue-recognition standard across multiple industries, including construction. “The idea is
With backlog burning off and new sales in a prolonged slump, the vast majority of top contractors are feeling the full brunt of the recession this year. In an environment in which opportunities are limited, competition is fierce, and fees are slim, the best hope for many companies is that the market has bottomed out. However, rather than wait for a rebound, company executives are adjusting strategies to keep operations steady. Photo: Courtesy Of Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System Large projects—like this $720-million VA hospital in New Orleans—are rare. Related Links: Environment: Treatment-Facility Work, Cleanups Bolster Sector Manufacturing/Telecommunications: Tough
Only a few years ago, building information modeling was considered an emerging technology, but today it is rapidly taking a prominent place in the toolboxes of Texas designers and contractors. A growing number of owners and contractors now expect BIM to be used on projects, and they’re pushing other team members to embrace it. In light of the recession, some BIM experts see this as a critical period when firms can gain an edge with the technology or lose pace with the competition. “If you’re not working in BIM today, you’re behind the curve,” says Cameron Curtis, manager of business
Construction workplace deaths continued to decline in 2009, but the fatality rate held even with the previous year’s mark, and industry safety specialists see little sign that conditions are improving on project sites nationwide. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest annual census of fatal occupational injuries, released on Aug. 19, shows construction deaths last year totaled 816, down 16% from 975 in 2008. But with the volume of construction work in a slump, the industry’s fatality rate last year was the same as 2008’s level, at 9.7 per 100,000 full-time workers. BLS reported that construction hours worked fell 17% in
Lonnie Schock learned long ago that safety can’t be bought. A decade ago, while working as a safety professional on a job in Oregon for Intel, he got a tough lesson in how incentive programs intended to lower incident rates actually can unravel a project’s safety culture. The company used a popular lottery system, seen on many construction sites over the years, in which workers who reported solid safety statistics earned chances to win a new pickup truck; anyone injured on the job was ineligible for the prize. Workers driving to the jobsite saw the truck parked in front of
Turner Construction Co., New York City, is looking to put $333 million back on its books after it won a bid protest regarding a new 745,000-sq-ft hospital planned for Fort Benning, Ga. On Aug. 5 the Army Corps of Engineers reinstated the design-build contract, which was terminated in March because of organizational conflict-of-interest charges. The move follows a July 8 federal claims court ruling that agreed with Turner’s appeal of a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) decision against the firm. The concerns centered on Turner’s design partner Ellerbe Becket, Minneapolis. The firms began pursuing the hospital project in 2008 and
Turner Construction Co., New York City, is looking to put $333 million back on its books after it won a bid protest over a new 745,000-sq-ft hospital planned for Fort Benning, Ga. Photo: Fort Benning, Ga. Army site’s hospital project was focus of contract protest. . On Aug. 5, the Savannah District of the Army Corps of Engineers reinstated the design-build contract, which had been terminated in March over charges of organizational conflicts of interest. The job re-award follows a July claims court ruling that agreed with Turner’s appeal of a decision by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) against
Turner Construction Co., New York City, is looking to put $333 million back on its books after it won a bid protest over a new 745,000-sq-ft hospital planned for Fort Benning, Ga. Photo: Fort Benning, Ga. Army site’s hospital project was focus of contract protest On Aug. 5, the Savannah District of the Army Corps of Engineers reinstated the design-build contract, which had been terminated in March over charges of organizational conflicts of interest. The job re-award follows a July claims court ruling that agreed with Turner’s appeal of a decision by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) against the
These are trying times for specialty contractors. Given the limited opportunities for new work, the struggle to get paid for completed jobs and the reluctance within the lending community to extend credit to construction firms, the region’s subcontractors are fighting on all fronts to survive. Many contractors are cautiously optimistic that the economic environment could improve in 2012, but conditions could get worse before they get better. Public projects such as road, transit and infrastructure jobs have provided the most work for specialty firms over the last year. Related Links: TSC Overall Ranking in the Tri-State Area TSC Rankings broken
