At a national meeting Oct. 11 of the BIMForum in Tacoma, Wash., McGraw-Hill Construction presented highlights of its new research showing the rapid advance of Building Information Modeling usage by architects, engineers, contractors and owners in North America. Comparing results from its similar research in 2007 and 2009, McGraw-Hill Construction finds the following:
• The percentage of companies using BIM jumped from 17 percent in 2007, to 49 percent in 2009, to 71 percent in 2012.
• For the first time ever, more contractors (74 percent) are using BIM than architects (70 percent).
• All users report increased business benefits from BIM including better profits, more accurate documentation, less rework, reduced project duration, fewer claims and the ability to offer new services.
• Almost 40 percent of BIM users are heavily committed to it, doing over 60 percent of their work in BIM. This group has surged by 44 percent since 2009.
• As a sign of its increasing acceptance and maturity, almost half (49 percent) of BIM users have five or more years experience using it.
“This unique multi-year trend data demonstrates clearly that BIM is taking hold in the design and construction industry because it has proven business value,” says Stephen Jones, senior director at McGraw-Hill Construction and lead author of the research.
The full results of this research will appear in the “Business Value of BIM in North America SmartMarket Report,” part of the continuing McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Report series and released to the general public at the end of this month at http://construction.com/market_research/default.asp.
Construction Material Costs Jump in September; Contractors Hold the Line on Prices
Price spikes for several key construction materials in September threaten to push contractors out of business, according to an analysis of federal figures released Oct. 12 by the Associated General Contractors of America. The surge comes despite mild year-over-year changes in materials prices overall.
“The latest surge in materials costs may push subcontractors and some general contractors into insolvency, following years of razor-thin margins and shrunken levels of activity,” said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the construction trade association. “Most contractors have no ability to pass on unexpected cost increases.”
The producer price index for inputs to construction—covering materials that go into every type of project, plus items consumed by contractors such as diesel fuel—increased 0.9 percent in both September and August, while the indexes that reflect what contractors would charge for their work were largely unchanged, the economist noted. The price increases for materials follow several months of declining prices, so that the year-over-year change in the index for materials was a “deceptively mild 1.7 percent,” he added.
Simonson cited rising prices for a variety of essential construction materials as responsible for the September spike. The price index for diesel fuel jumped 5.7 percent in September, following a leap of 8.7 percent in August. Prices for copper and brass mill shapes climbed 3.6 percent in September. The indexes for aluminum mill shapes and lumber and plywood each rose 1.1 percent, while the price of steel mill products increased 1.0 percent.
In contrast, the price indexes for finished nonresidential buildings, which measure what contractors estimate they would charge to put up new structures, as well as the indexes for subcontractors’ work, were mixed for September, Simonson noted. The index for new industrial buildings decreased 0.2 percent from August to September, while the index for new school construction slipped 0.1 percent for the month. The indexes for new office and warehouse construction were unchanged, as were indexes reflecting prices charged by concrete, electrical and plumbing contractors for new, repair and maintenance work on nonresidential buildings. The index for roofing contractors was the only nonresidential building index to show an increase for the month: 0.3 percent.
Association officials said inadequate public investment in infrastructure is a major reason contractors are unable to recover costs. “With so few projects to bid on, contractors are offering their services with little or no margin to cover materials costs,” said Stephen E. Sandherr, the association’s chief executive officer, noting that Census Bureau data showed a 3.5 percent drop in public construction spending from August 2011 to August 2012. “Despite the tepid recovery, the construction industry continues to suffer from tight margins and weak demand. That is why federal, state and local agencies must keep funding intact for construction, or they will have even worse problems with unemployment and shuttered businesses.”
ASTM Launches a New Initiative to Address the Environmental Impacts of Products
ASTM International announces its new initiative as a Program Operator for Product Category Rules (PCRs) and Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), which will provide the venue for developing PCRs and verifying EPDs.
As “green” and “sustainability” become more prevalent terms, and measurement systems and labels more common, the need is growing to understand the real environmental impact of products from raw material extraction to disposal and recycling.
“The ASTM International program will provide scientifically based, quantifiable information about product parameters such as resource consumption and ozone depletion, which will give both businesses and consumers an understanding of a product’s real impact on the environment,” says Timothy Brooke, vice president of certification, training and proficiency testing at ASTM International. Through ASTM’s certification program, technical advisory committees will oversee the development process for PCRs.
PCRs will detail the rules and guidelines for developing environmental declarations for products that can fulfill equivalent functions. EPDs will be verified to ensure their adherence to the ISO 14040 standards as well as to ensure that life cycle assessment data accurately describes the environmental aspects of a product. ASTM International has developed its program in accordance with ISO 14025 – Environmental Labels and Declarations – Type III Environmental Declarations – Principles and Procedures.
In ASTM Committee E60 on Sustainability, a proposed standard practice will give guidance about information that all PCRs should contain regardless of the product. “For example, one life cycle assessment practitioner may assume that a product is sent to a landfill at the end of life while another may assume that a product is incinerated. Different environmental impacts result from these two different end-of-life scenarios. This standard will fill in many of the gaps that exist in current life cycle assessment standards,” says Amy Costello, P.E., senior environmental scientist at Armstrong World Industries Inc., Lancaster, Pa., an E60 member and a current member of the ASTM board of directors.
Inquiries about developing new PCRs and verifying EPDs are welcome; contact ASTM’s Certification and Declarations Department at [email protected] or visit www.astm.org/epds for more information regarding the ASTM International program.
Fifth Public Comment Period Now Open for Update to USGBC’s LEED Green Building Program
The U.S. Green Building Council announced Oct. 2 the opening of the fifth public comment period for the proposed update to its LEED green building program. The comment period, which will close Dec. 10, enables the building community to view the most recent draft of the rating systems and provide comments where any substantive changes have been made.
LEED v4 allocates nearly 20 percent of all points to optimizing energy performance over the stringent ASHRAE 90.1-2010, which would do more to help curb carbon dioxide emissions than any LEED rating system in its 12-year history.
In addition to bringing green building solutions to more market sectors, including data centers, warehouses and distribution centers, hospitality, mid-rise residential, and existing schools and retail, the next version includes more options for projects outside of the United States, making LEED the common language for sustainability around the globe.
The LEED v4 draft encourages innovative thinking and decision making about building materials and design. In this draft, using fewer, better materials will result in up to 9 LEED points, incentivizing product manufacturers that voluntarily report about their product makeup and those who reduce the negative impacts—from extraction of raw materials through the manufacturing process.
LEED v4 drafts and the public comment tool are available on the usgbc.org website. To view the drafts of LEED v4 visit www.usgbc.org/leedv4.
List of Improving Housing Markets Eclipses 100 in October
One hundred three housing markets across the United States qualified to be listed on the National Association of Home Builders/First American Improving Markets Index for October, released Oct. 4. This is up from 99 markets listed as improving in September and is the largest number of metro areas on the IMI since it was created one year ago. Thirty-three states and the District of Columbia are represented on the October list.
The index identifies metropolitan areas that have shown improvement from their respective troughs in housing permits, employment and house prices for at least six consecutive months. Markets added to the list in October include such geographically diverse locations as Santa Cruz, Calif.; Pocatello, Idaho; Abilene, Texas; and Savanna, Ga.
“While 11 new housing markets were designated as improving in October, 92 metros retained their spots on the IMI and just seven slipped from the list,” noted Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. “This is an encouraging sign that the housing recovery is proceeding at a steady pace as firming prices and employment help spur new building activity, which in turn generates new jobs and more home sales.”
“The fact that most markets are maintaining their spots on the improving list from month to month is an important indication that the recovery trend is solidifying,” agreed NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. “At the same time, overly tight credit conditions are certainly constraining consumers’ ability to purchase homes as well as builders’ ability to construct them.”
The IMI is designed to track housing markets throughout the country that are showing signs of improving economic health. The index measures three sets of independent monthly data to get a mark on the top improving Metropolitan Statistical Areas. The three indicators that are analyzed are employment growth from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, house price appreciation from Freddie Mac and single-family housing permit growth from the U.S. Census Bureau. NAHB uses the latest available data from these sources to generate a list of improving markets. A metropolitan area must see improvement in all three measures for at least six months following those measures’ respective troughs before being included on the improving markets list.
A complete list of all 103 metropolitan areas currently on the IMI, and separate breakouts of metros newly added to or dropped from the list in October, is available at www.nahb.org/imi.
Dodge Momentum Index Dips in September
The Dodge Momentum Index retreated 0.8 percent in September compared to August, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year. The September Momentum Index came in at 94.7 (2000=100), down from a revised 95.4 in August and 96.7 in July. While the longer term trend is still viewed as positive, the Index appears to be experiencing a temporary pause. Uncertainty, particularly related to the impending presidential election and yearend expiration of the Bush tax cuts combined with automatic spending cuts (the “fiscal cliff”), is likely the main contributor to this short-term hesitation in future development plans.
The uncertainty seems to be weighing more heavily on the commercial segment of the index, which dropped by 5.4 percent in September. Institutional building, by comparison, rose by 4.0 percent. A decline in the volume of education projects was offset by the inclusion of two large healthcare developments: the $300 million Children’s Hospital proposed in San Antonio and the $200 million Froedtert Hospital slated in Milwaukee. The decline for the commercial segment of the index was cushioned by two $100 million office campuses—one in Midland, Texas, and one in Wesley Chapel, Fla.—that entered planning in September.
September Housing Scorecard Shows a Strengthening Housing Market
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of the Treasury released on Oct. 5 the September edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard—a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. Data continue to show signs that the housing market is strengthening—home equity has increased by $860 billion since the end of 2011 and August had the highest level of existing home sales in more than two years—although officials caution that the overall recovery remains fragile. The full Housing Scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.
“As the September housing scorecard indicates, our housing market is showing important signs of recovery, with homeowner equity at a four-year high and summer sales of existing homes at the strongest pace in two years,” said HUD Acting Assistant Secretary Erika Poethig.
The September Housing Scorecard features key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including the following:
Rising home values have brought homeowner equity to its highest level since the third quarter of 2008 and helped lift 1.3 million families above water. Homeowner equity jumped $406 billion, or 5.9 percent, to $7,275 billion in the second quarter of 2012. After a sharp first quarter rise, total equity has grown to $863 billion, or 13.5 percent, since the end of 2011. The number of underwater borrowers has declined by 11 percent since the end of last year, from 12.1 million in the 4th quarter of 2011 to 10.8 million in the second quarter of 2012.
The administration’s foreclosure programs are providing relief for millions of homeowners as we continue to recover from an unprecedented housing crisis. Nearly 1.3 million homeowner assistance actions have taken place through the Making Home Affordable Program, while the Federal Housing Administration has offered more than 1.4 million loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions. The administration’s programs continue to encourage improved standards and processes in the industry, with HOPE Now lenders offering families and individuals more than three million proprietary mortgage modifications through July.
Homeowners entering HAMP continue to benefit from deep and sustainable assistance. As of August, more than one million homeowners have received a permanent Home Affordable Modification Program modification, saving approximately $539 on their mortgage payments each month, and an estimated $15 billion to date. In August, 81 percent of homeowners with eligible non-GSE mortgages benefitted from principal reduction with their HAMP modification. Eighty-seven percent of homeowners entering the program in the last two years have received a permanent modification.
Safway Group Acquires North American Coatings
Safway Group, a multi-service industrial services provider offering scaffolding, insulation and painting headquartered in Waukesha, Wis., announces the acquisition of North American Coatings and its family of companies, including CL Coatings, Industrial Coatings & Fireproofing and SEI Coatings, which specialize in the application of high-performance coatings throughout the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, power, refining, marine, manufacturing, transportation and commercial construction industries.
North American Coatings, LLC and its family of companies will continue to operate independently as the painting, coatings and fireproofing subsidiary of the Safway Group.
Kodiak Building Partners Acquires Great West Drywall Supply
Denver based Kodiak Building Partners announced Oct. 15 the acquisition of Great West Drywall Supply, a specialty distributor of drywall, steel framing, ceilings and accessories to contractors in the greater Denver market.
Great West has been privately owned by a small group of investors since its founding in 2002. The decision by the former ownership group to concentrate its efforts on its other portfolio investments led to the opportunity to sell the business to Kodiak. Denis Dieker, managing member and treasurer for the investment group stated, “We’re pleased with the sale of our Great West business in that it will allow us to concentrate on our much larger contracting business, maintain a supply relationship with Kodiak, and ensure that our people have the on-going support of an owner with a desire to grow this business.”
Todd Mills and his team will continue to operate Great West, however, the business will be moving to Barton Supply’s 20-acre facility located in Aurora, Colo., from their current location in Greenwood Village, Colo.
The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
People in the News
CEMCO™ announces its new outside sales representative, Robert Gatica of League City, Texas. Gatica’s territory includes Texas, Louisiana and the Gulf Coast. Gatica comes to CEMCO with nine years of experience in the steel framing and metal lath products industry. He will be based out of CEMCO Ft. Worth, Texas, facility.
Dryvit Systems, Inc., West Warwick, R.I., has named Jeffrey Wellen as its vice president, CFO, and Beth Iacono, staff engineer.
Bringing 13 years of extensive professional audit experience to the job, Wellen will work closely with management to evaluate and implement strategic initiatives.
Iacono, a LEED Accredited Professional, will draw on her background in mechanical engineering and sustainable design to provide product-engineering support.
South Valley Drywall, Inc., Littleton, Colo., has promoted Garrett Vap to residential division manager and named Roger Barrett its residential production manager.
Vap joined the company in 2008 as a residential estimator and was promoted to sales manager in 2011 and vice president of the residential division in February 2012. Over the years he assumed increased responsibilities including client development, staff allocation and ensuring the residential sales department aligns with and supports company objectives.
Vap currently holds a seat on the board of directors of AWCI – Colorado, a local chapter of the national Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry.
Barrett, a South Valley Drywall employee since 1986, has served successfully as president and residential manager. Barrett’s new focus will be making sure the company’s commitment to delivering consistent and exceptional quality and service is achieved. His responsibilities include partnering with the company’s clients to exceed their expectations. Barrett is a current board member of the Shilo house, past president of the Colorado chapter of the AWCI and a former board member of AWCI.
New on the ’Net
Every year, thousands of workers are involved in electrical arc accidents, molten metal splashes, flash fires and combustible dust explosions on the job. To educate companies about these risks, as well as what they can do to comply with new industry standards, Cintas has launched a new website dedicated to its flame-resistant clothing line. To learn more, visit the new Cintas Flame Resistant Clothing website at www.cintas.com/flameresistantclothing/.
Is Outsulation a right-brain or left-brain product? Either answer, you’re correct.
That’s the unique quality about an Outsulation system by Dryvit—it meets both the form and function requirements of a building envelope. To bring this concept to life, Dryvit has launched a redesign of its website, dryvit.com. When you visit the site, simply click on the right or left arrows to take a tour around the building and see how Outsulation is a single source of exterior continuous insulation (left brain) and a variety of realistic and beautiful aesthetics (right brain).
Empire Level Manufacturing Corporation has redesigned and relaunched its Facebook page, adding interactive features that make product information even easier to obtain. The page, which is now more user-friendly and includes information on the full Empire product line, can be found at https://www.facebook.com/empirelevel.
The International Code Council has created and launched the new online store at http://media.iccsafe.org/store/newonlinestore.html. The store is more intuitive, with intelligent search functions and filters to help members and all customers find what they need. Other new tools to manage purchases and digital downloads provide a more user-friendly checkout process.
