In the U.S. today, right now, we have more of everything than we need. More housing, more GLA of every type of space, more service providers, more developers and more building contractors. In order to survive this cycle, we’ve remained nimble, watched expenses and never forgotten what brought us to the party. Our goal is …
As an industry, the recent years have taken us through some lows. As we continue to look ahead and heal, it’s important to consider and overcome what could hold us back. At a recent breakfast, Brian Moore of FMI presented three challenges ahead of us, and some thoughts on how to keep them at bay. 1. Availability of entry-level employees. …
Earlier this week, I met with a national architectural firm with whom we are partnering on a 2012 mixed-use project. I asked the principals what they thought of BIM and their response was, “it will become the norm for architectural and engineering work sooner than later–in less than five years.” We also believe BIM will …
Our CFO Del Allen recently attended the Birmingham Aon/Smith Currie breakfast, where they presented a “state of the union” type look at the construction industry. Later this week, I will share 3 key issues effecting talent in the construction industry, but first I thought you might like to take a look at the stats. Many …
Recently, a customer came to me with a request I hadn’t heard in a while. They wanted an integrally color-blocked single Wythe incorporated into a new project we will be constructing. Many of our projects used this means and method a few years back, but we evolved away from that type of concrete masonry unit …
A while back, I wrote a post titled, “Can Drywall Be Green?” which discussed the aftereffects of the Chinese Drywall crisis that plagued our country earlier this decade. When it comes down to it, drywall is a convenience product. It is efficient, replacing lath and plaster and therefore saving time and money. However the emissions …
Recently, our friends at Superior Mechanical were kind enough to give me a tour the new half-billion dollar Children’s Hospital expansion here Birmingham. I was interested to see how they are integrating Lean construction initiatives with their BIM work to be more efficient, and save their ultimate customer time and money. As background, Lean is …
Recessions don’t have many redeeming qualities, but they do create opportunities that wouldn’t exist otherwise. Let me explain myself with an example. During our current economic downturn, commercial and retail spaces have often been leasing at reduced rates. Many of the prime locations already have been scooped up by opportunistic businesses. There still are good …
In short, sometimes. Last week, I was reading an article in Engineering News Record titled, “When Does It Pay to Use Innovative Concrete Construction Products?” The piece details a study by the Construction Industry Institute where three recent innovations in concrete were investigated, comparing them to traditional counterparts. The article explains the “why” behind their …
Last week, I was having a conversation about pricing on an HVAC system with Heath Cather in our office. Why had the mechanical engineer chosen hot gas reheat? It’s more expensive and sometimes unnecessary, I offered. He mentioned a trend he’s noticed. With all the mold law suits lately, we are seeing recommendations for a …
When we built our corporate campus a few years back, we were thinking about how to create a better workplace for our folks. Our goal was to create an environment to promote teamwork, break down cylinders and be fun. To accomplish this, I considered multiple designs: –minimum walls and many open work areas, our customer …
It seems like so far this year, we’ve had three seasons: Winter, then Tornado Season and now Hot Summer. It feels like we skipped Spring entirely. For the last couple of weeks, temperatures in the Southeast–and across the country–have been unbelievably hot, which puts additional stresses on ready mix concrete pours. Temperature, wind and humidity …