Jim Kollaer's blog

Happy 4th of July to all of our readers! [node:read-more:link]

Google 3D printing and you will get 281 million results in less than a second. As we have previously posted, most of the attention in the 3D printing world has been focused on the printing of houses in Dubai and China, the additive manufacturing for autos, medical implants, all prototypes for the future. The growth of 3D printing in the AEC industry, while still in its infancy, is finding its way into some interesting places. [node:read-more:link]

Morpheus was, in Greek mythology, the god of sleep, and recently, he was a major figure in the Matrix movies. [node:read-more:link]

Welcome to the first building in the US to achieve the gold standard of the International Building Wellness Institute (IWBI). While many of you have not built Well buildings and/or communities in your recent work, I suspect that you will be asked to in the near future. That will become more prevalent as the Well Community movement expands in the US and around the world. [node:read-more:link]

Waymo is developing and testing a fleet of about 600 driverless cars across the country today as the emergent car sharing process takes shape. Policy makers are scratching their heads as they try to write cogent policy that will enable the driverless cars to enter the major markets in the US as soon as 2020 when mass production will begin. This date is much earlier than was originally proposed, and we are much closer to car sharing and driverless fleet than many of us could imagine. [node:read-more:link]

Construction workers, at least in Texas, will be the last folks to adopt autonomous vehicles when they are introduced in 2020 and beyond. They will be reluctant to give up their “big boys," their Ford F150s, their latest SUVs, or their panel trucks. [node:read-more:link]

Pressure is building for something to be done. According to the latest economic data, the unemployment numbers equal the number of folks looking for jobs and that means a tightening in the available workforce as well as the “now” need for more qualified workers, especially in the construction industry. [node:read-more:link]

The history of the construction industry is the history of families and the men and women in those families who have fought and sacrificed for our freedoms.  The Construction Citizen team joins you in remembering those who donned the uniforms and fought and died in the fields of battle.  We honor those who still today fight or stand at the ready to defend those freedoms.  We thank those who have fought and returned home to work in the industry. [node:read-more:link]

“Now is the time for the Industry to step out with a loud voice to tell the politicians on both sides of the aisle that even near-term construction projects will be put on hold pending action on immigration policies.” – Kollaer [node:read-more:link]

According to the latest figures, unemployment in the US is at its lowest level in over a decade and the number of workers entering jobs that do not require a college degree is far behind the level needed to close the gap. [node:read-more:link]