In one of his recent blogs, Seth Godin, author of Poke the Box, mentions that most of the organizations and institutions we know today such as education, our work places, and the medical profession are all “pre-digital”. He says “pre-digital” means that the real impact of the digital age has not changed those institutions to date. Pre-digital usually means too many folks doing too much work that is unnecessary or that can be done much faster in a digital context. People working in pre-digital industries don’t have access to information in a readily available form, which usually means that they are “reinventing the wheel” every time they make you fill out the forms for your physical or for your taxes.Construction is largely a “pre-digital” industry, and I don’t mean that in a complimentary way. Sure, structural engineering is computerized and digitized by necessity. So are mechanical, electrical and plumbing designs. Architects have been using CAD since the late 1970s, and today many owners have required that all drawings for their projects be digitized. LEED has driven change. Even BIM is making inroads, but the possibilities for new techniques and
December 05, 2011
I recently saw the headline that stated in bold type that the price of crude had once again broken through $100 per barrel, and I was reminded that it wasn’t always that way.In the 1990s, when the price of oil dropped through the floor to $10 per barrel, I was in a conversation about the future of Houston and the economy with the CEO of one of the major oil companies. He was a member of our executive committee and board of directors and I looked to him as someone who could see a little further into the future than most. After all, he was making 30-50 year investments to explore for new finds, and he had access to the best research that
November 28, 2011
I was thinking about the people and things in my life that I wanted to be thankful for this year when I ran across this blog posting by Simon Sinek, the author of Start With Why,...
November 23, 2011
Governor Jerry Brown recently signed two new bills into law that will address the misclassification and wage theft issues in a much stronger fashion. According to an Advisory received by Construction Citizen and issued by the law firm of Epstein, Becker, Green, the two bills are:“SB 459 directly impacts employers that classify workers as independent contractors.” This bill imposes steep civil penalties ranging from $5,000 – $25,000 per incident with the upper levels reserved for those firms that exhibit a pattern of violations. Additionally the penalties include the posting on the company’s website of a statement saying that they have been found guilty of a “serious violation of the law”.
November 08, 2011
According to an article posted in the DesignBuild section of Australia’s Architecture Source, civic leaders of Mexico City, as part of an effort to “uplift and modernize” the significant buildings of the city, may soon offer a building that “throws the very concept of a skyscraper, on its head.” The article reads:“Architectural team BKNR Arquitectura of Mexico have inverted all the standard architectural rules for skyscrapers, in fact they have inverted the idea of a skyscraper in its entirety. What they hope to uplift [in] the city’s centre is not in fact an overwhelming skyscraper, but a 65 storey earth-scraper. This is a concept that does not even have an associated vocabulary. It is the concept of a world class building that doesn’t deal in height, but depth, a completely revolutionary idea.”City ordinance prohibits buildings taller than 8 floors in the area, which inspired the design team to
November 02, 2011
The Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protesters have set up their makeshift camp in Zuccotti Park in New York in the shadows of the construction of the new World Trade Center Towers. We find it interesting that while there is a growing shortage of skilled craftspeople in the USA who could work on building projects like the World Trade Center Towers, there is a growing number of people
October 27, 2011
This week, on the Sunday morning news programs, I heard the first real indication of what is “coming down the pike” (as they say) for the construction industry, the economy and the country’s infrastructure after the presidential election next year.The AGC (Associated General Contractors of America) has noted over and over that the aging infrastructure, the highways, bridges, the underground piping and even the Big Dig are reaching a critical point
October 26, 2011
Several weeks ago, 300 Houstonians gathered at the Bell Tower event center for the unveiling of the 2040 Scenarios for the Houston region. This unveiling to the community was the result of over two years of work at the Center for Houston’s Future (CHF). With the help of the CHF team led by London-based strategist and scenario planner Dr. Barbara Heinzen, thirty volunteers from throughout the region studied, researched, debated, cajoled and in that dialog developed two alternative scenarios of what the Houston Region might be like in 2040, 30 years into the future.The brochure handed out to the attendees after the unveiling states, “The Center for Houston’s Future has completed Scenarios 2040, the largest public-interest, business-led, regional scenario project in the country.”The two scenarios, Playing to Win and Learning to Live, are now being rolled out around the community in small groups of industry leaders and the dialog has begun ...
October 24, 2011
As we stated earlier this week, the employment numbers that came out this morning from the Bureau of Labor Statistics may be telling as to whether we are still recovering, stagnating or slipping back toward the edge of another recession. They are, at best, mixed. That means more uncertainty, less likelihood of more hiring and another month of sluggish activity – not so positive for the construction industry.There were some new jobs created, but when we looked a little deeper, we found a problem. According to the BLS press release that came out at 8:30 this morning,“Nonfarm payroll employment edged up by 103,000 in September, and the unemployment rate held at 9.1 percent, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. The increase in employment partially reflected
October 07, 2011
Today, The WorkFaith Connection of Houston held its 4th annual fundraising breakfast with keynote speaker Herman Cain. There was an overflow crowd.The WorkFaith Connection is a group who works with individuals in transition from prison to the workplace. The message is that it is possible to make the right choices and decisions that will give you a productive life for the future. The Connection shows individuals that someone cares for them and that they can learn new skills, through God’s help, that will enable them to transition back into the workforce in a responsible manner. Many of their clients find work in the construction industry. Several of their clients spoke about their experiences. One of the most poignant stories was Freda Smith’s story.Ms. Smith was introduced by her son, Dominic Miller, who attends the “5-0” University of Houston on a full football scholarship. Freda’s story is that she served 24 months in a federal prison facility for accepting child support money that was later proven to be drug money. She served her time and then, in her transition, became a client at the WorkFaith Connection. Through the team at WorkFaith, she found a job where
October 06, 2011
