We’ve talked about the prefabrication of the tallest building in the world that is planned for China next year and ways that it might impact construction in this country.  We are about to find out what prefabrication might mean for the industry in the first of a 15-building mixed use project in Brooklyn called Atlantic Yards which is being developed by Forest City Ratner Companies.  The first project, a 363 unit residential development, designed by SHoP Architects will be totally modular and will be prefabricated at the Brooklyn Navy Yard by union labor.  The project is being joint-ventured by Forest City and Skanska USA Building through a new company created to enable the two companies to develop projects throughout the United States.

According to an article published in the New York Daily News, the modular project will break ground next month.  One of the most interesting changes evident in the project is the fact that the unions are providing labor to prefab the units on the factory floor in the old Navy Yards for $55,000 per year, less than half of the rate that they would charge on a standard building site.   Read more » about Prefab Lands in the US

Those Bob Dylan lyrics will become more and more applicable to the construction industry as the market recovers, older construction workers retire and the technology of construction enters the transition phase to whatever lies ahead.

In a recent conversation I had with a developer and a contractor, both were wondering out loud what the next big changes might be.  They both, independently, suggested that the expansion of prefabrication might be one answer to skilled labor shortages, higher technology demands for the next generation buildings, and to the lack of quality found in building construction around the world.

We already see lots of prefab in some of the trades like Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) where ducts and piping are prefabbed, then transported and installed on site.  This is becoming more prevalent in clean installations and in hospitals.   Read more » about “The Times, They Are a-Changin” 2

Home Channel News reports on a study by McGraw-Hill Construction that “architects, engineers, contractors and owners are increasingly embracing Building Information Modeling (BIM) in their building projects.  Comparing results from its similar research in 2007 and 2009, McGraw-Hill Construction found that the percentage of companies using BIM jumped from 17% in 2007, to 49% in 2009, to 71% in 2012.”  That means almost three quarters of the companies involved in construction are using BIM.  Their sophistication ranges from conflict resolution and avoidance to “lay down” space on restricted sites, scheduling and beyond.

Several contractors have created “BIM Caves” where clients, prospects, peers and workers can be brought to see the BIM in action.   Read more » about BIM Technology Takes Hold

According to an Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) press release, “Construction employment declines in 164 out of 337 metro areas between August 2011 & 2012 as ‘fiscal cliff’ dampens demand for projects.”

The press release which was posted following the publication of the job numbers revealed in October stated that the market was also stagnant in another 43 metropolitan areas.  This comes in light of the addition of 5,000 jobs in the construction industry between August and September.

Residential and some commercial work has bolstered the job numbers in the private sector, but the lack of work in the public sector and the looming uncertainty about the economy and the elections has again shelved a number of projects.   Read more » about Construction Employment Still in Trouble

Facebook might be having a drop in its stock offering after the initial public offering this year, but it has not slowed in its need for a new headquarters building, and it has hired one of the most “out of the box” designers in the world to design the new facility.

Archdaily’s Karissa Rosenfield reports that Mark Zuckerberg and Frank Gehry have been working on a new headquarters facility named Facebook West, and it will be located just across the highway from Facebook East in Menlo Park, California.

According to the article, the facility will be one large room of about 10 acres and it will contain every amenity that the Facebook generation expects as a work environment:

“When Facebook employees need a break, they can retreat to outdoor-terraced cafes for some sushi and barbecue, play arcade games in the lounge with their co-workers, or escape up a ‘twisting wooden stair’ to the lush roof garden.”

Construction on the quarter-mile long workspace and the amenities around it will begin in the spring of 2013.   Read more » about A 10 Acre Room Full of Geeks at Facebook

According to ArchDaily, an architectural publication, a new 96-story building designed by Skidmore Owings and Merrill, LLP (SOM) broke ground this year.  Designed by the same firm that created the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, the CTF Tianjin Tower in China will be the 14^th tallest in a long string of tall buildings to be completed worldwide by 2020.

The tower’s structure will contain eight sloping columns designed to stabilize the supertall building during earthquakes.  Several multi-story wind vents and the aerodynamic outer shape of the building will help it remain steady against high wind speeds.  ArchDaily quotes SOM Structural and Civil Engineering Partner William Baker:

“The single most important structural parameter of a tall building is the architecture.  The CTF Tianjin Tower will be significantly quieter, with less movement than other tall buildings. We tested 18 schemes in the wind tunnel before finalizing the design.”   Read more » about CTF Tianjin Tower

When materials and labor make up the bulk of your construction costs, and you receive a letter from your manufacturers and suppliers explaining that a major increase is on the way, you are likely to take a deep breath before you decide what to do about it.  (You should probably take a deep one now before reading the rest of this story)

After you read the letter and the anger fades, questions emerge.  Are they serious?  Will it stick?  Are all of the suppliers following suit?  Then you have to look at what you will do, and you will ask more questions including: will you pass 100% of the costs to your clients and customers, will you pass on part of it to them, or will you decide that it is wise to absorb all of those costs?  You will also likely look at a number of factors like whether the changes apply to everyone in the industry or just one segment like residential or commercial.   Read more » about Major Drywall Price Increase Coming

Seven protesters, members of the Tar Sands Blockade group, were arrested in Livingston, Texas recently after 4 of their members chained themselves to a construction truck being used on the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline.  The pipeline will extend from the tar sands of northern Canada to the Texas Gulf coast refineries.

As reported by Brian Merchant, a contributing writer to the TreeHugger website, the group of protesters are just plain folks who are afraid that the construction of the pipeline by TransCanada will destroy neighborhoods and communities by using eminent domain to take over right of way along the 3,000 mile route of the pipeline.

The protestor’s website tells their story with updates including photos and videos.

The Fort Worth Weekly spells out the taking of a 50-foot swath through the Red d’Arc Ranch,   Read more » about On the Chain Gang of the Keystone XL Pipeline

As you can imagine, the movement of hundreds of oil field workers and construction equipment into the Shale areas of west and south Texas is causing real pain for construction workers hired to build new hotels and apartments in cities like Midland.

CBS affiliate KOSA Channel 7 in Midland reports on one site where the construction workers were brought in from El Paso to build a new hotel.  As of the time of the report, the workers had not been paid and were forced to live in shipping containers without facilities.  Rudy Vegas, one of the workers, talks about living inside a storage unit:

“This is about it right here for 9 guys.  We have 1 bathroom for 40 people and it's not even a real bathroom, we had to build it.  I came over here to make money, not to dig a hole.”   Read more » about Oil Boom Causing Growing Pains

Fredericksburg, Texas is the home to the National Museum of the Pacific War.  I visited there over Labor Day with my Marine friend and architect and was amazed with the history lesson presented in the exhibits and relics from the Pacific Theater of World War II.  Much of the lessons presented there have been lost in the rhetoric of politics in the country and around the world, but the role of the construction industry and factory workers who supplied the armies, navies and air forces of that war are almost unbelievable.  There are examples like the Japanese minisub that was retrieved from Pearl Harbor, tanks, and artillery that were built by the thousands and shipped around the world.  There are planes like the B-25 that were created and built by welders, sheet metal workers, and electricians in a time frame that would make most of us shake our heads.

Not only did the construction workers build them, they maintained them and salvaged the parts to keep them moving and flying.  Read more » about The National Museum of the Pacific War