Each Monday, we'll let you know what's coming in the week ahead, including important residential and commercial report releases, as well as our own feature articles.
CMAA National Conference & Trade Show coverage — Oct. 12-13
Sunday through Tuesday, Construction Dive will be in Orlando for the Construction Management Association of America's National Conference & Trade Show. Check back this week for updates, interviews and feature articles from the event.
So far this year, we've attended the PCBC show in June, updating you on major trends in the homebuilding industry, as well as the Offsite Construction Expo last month, offering a round-up of big news in modular construction. Now, we will turn our attention to the world of commercial construction and major infrastructure projects during the CMAA event. The growing use of technology, especially BIM and AEC apps, for large construction projects will be one of the show's hottest topics.
Affordable housing feature — Oct. 13
Affordable housing mandates have dominated the headlines, as cities grapple with attempts to help residents pay for quality homes, while also keeping the local markets in check and developers happy.
Builders and developers often claim these laws will result in the transfer of the added cost of building below-market rate units to buyers of new homes — causing home prices to spiral even further out of control. But advocates have said the mandates are necessary to ensure more affordable housing becomes available.
In California, a group of builders filed a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to review San Jose's affordable housing law, which the state Supreme Court upheld in June. But last month, a Massachusetts think tank released a report that found inclusionary zoning rules don't increase market-rate prices — defying some builder and developer claims. The report added, however, that an ill-conceived ordinance could discourage development.
With debates about affordable housing mandates popping up in Portland, ME, New York, Chicago, Boston, San Jose, CA, and elsewhere, we talked to industry professionals to find out what they really think about this complicated issue. Check back on Tuesday, Oct. 13 for a look at the various industry perspectives surrounding affordable housing.
Producer Price Index — Oct. 14
The monthly Producer Price Index report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics will be released Wednesday, Oct. 14. That afternoon, the Associated Builders and Contractors will offer their take on the data, and we'll cover both reports in a combined story.
Last month, construction material prices fell 0.9% in August after a 0.1% dip in July. August marked the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year price decreases — the longest streak since 2009. With that report, ABC Chief Economist Anirban Basu attributed the "frenzied" commodity markets on economic uncertainty and events in China, Brazil, Iran and other countries. Will the nine-month streak of year-over-year price decreases continue into September?
Green roof feature — Oct. 15
Is the green roof trend poised to explode? Just this year, we've heard about several planned projects for massive green roofs:
Facebook plans for its new Menlo Park, CA, campus building to feature a 9-acre green roof — that’s roughly the size of seven football fields — with a half-mile walking loop and more than 400 trees.
The Vallco Shopping Mall in Cupertino, CA, if approved, will have the world’s largest green roof as part of a $3 billion renovation plan. The estimated $300 million green roof would be the focal point of the complex.
A Chicago soap factory will be home to the world’s largest rooftop greenhouse this fall after the 75,000-square-foot space — built by urban greenhouse company Gotham Greens — is fully planted. The greenhouse, bigger than a football field and at least as big as an average-size city block, is designed to grow up to 1 million pounds of greens like kale, arugula and lettuce, which will be planted in a hydroponic system that requires no soil.
While these projects are vastly different, the trend of finding innovative ways to use urban space has caught fire recently. Will green roofs soon become a common option for buildings? We'll answer these questions and more with our feature article on Thursday, Oct. 15.
