As a wide variety of industries explore sustainable improvements, many look to options like process changes to improve efficiency while cutting resource uses. Those alterations can help, but it's sometimes necessary to do things differently regarding the materials used.

The construction industry is a prime example with its use of concrete. Cement is a binding material that mixes with sand, water and gravel to make concrete, the world's most widely used construction material. Portland cement—invented in the early 1800s—is part of the vast majority of concrete used today. The process of making it causes problems for the environment, however.

Reprinted courtesy of Emily Folk, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

No one could have predicted the speed and reach of COVID-19 in the last few months, or the overall impact to the construction industry. There have been drastic changes in operations and implementation along with disruptions to the industry’s supply chain. Safety on the job site has become more important than ever, especially as contractors focus on preventing the spread of COVID-19.

Financial standing plays a major role in construction projects, and coming out of COVID-19 will be no different. Because of the pandemic’s far-reaching impact, there may be unforeseen delays in project funding due to the dip in Q1 market conditions and Q2 earnings reports. In North Texas, for example, more than $2 billion in bond referendums were pushed from May 2020 to November 2020, and potentially even further. The biggest uncertainty is that the pandemic’s true depth is not understood, but the construction industry is made up of committed and hardworking thought leaders who will push through and work together to resolve these challenges.

Reprinted courtesy of Corbett Nichter, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

The trend toward sustainable construction is changing the way projects are designed and built. The demand for green buildings continues to rise driven by increasing concerns over global warming, tighter environmental regulations and a growing focus on occupant health. In response to this demand, the construction sector is embracing green practices including delivering LEED-certified commercial projects.

LEED, a third-party certification program sponsored by the U.S. Green Building Council, has verified the sustainability of thousands of buildings. Last year the program announced it had surpassed 100,000 registered and certified global LEED commercial projects and noted that the organization certifies more than 2.6 million square feet of space each day. And, according to data from Statista, the number of LEED registrations has steadily increased since the certification program’s implementation in 1993 with registrations in the United States alone reaching approximately 69,066 in 2019.

Reprinted courtesy of Ruben Mejia, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

We talked with Professor Martin Fischer of Stanford University’s Civil and Environmental Engineering Department in the run-up to WDBE. Our discussion covered what drew him to the discipline and the practical challenges of applying BIM in the modern built environment.

An essential part of contemporary design, Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a valuable collaborative practice when supported by the right suite of tools and workflows. It helps disparate teams work together, model progress on a build, and has been an area of interest for Professor Fischer since the start of his career.

Construction is considered an essential service, which is why many projects have continued to hum along even as large portions of the economy have shut down. And while some projects may slow or experience delays from budgetary constraints, experts forecast that the construction industry could soon be busier than ever. Still, amidst the uncertainty of COVID-19 is a silver lining: construction companies now have the opportunity to examine safety processes and update their technology and operations in ways that will positively affect their businesses for years to come.

The 2020 FMI Industry Report shows 66% of firms believe that maintaining a safe worksite is the number one concern for their future success. Now, since the advent of COVID-19, safety managers must do everything they can to protect their workforces, which is where technology comes in.

Reprinted courtesy of Mike Merrill, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

While COVID-19 related information and recommendations are continually evolving, many experts have warned that the United States will likely experience a surge of COVID-19 cases in the fall. This projected surge will likely coincide with the beginning of flu season—creating a perfect storm for the public and employers alike.

Flu season typically arrives in October or November and can last into May. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates, during the 2018-2019 flu season 35.5 million people were sick with the flu, 16.5 million people went to a medical provider, and the flu caused 34,200 deaths. Many experts estimated that flu cost employers $17 billion in productivity for the 2018-2019 flu season. On top of those bleak numbers, the Integrated Benefits Institute estimated in April 2020 that COVID-19 could cost employers more than $23 billion in lost productivity and employee benefits.

Reprinted courtesy of Curtis Moore, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

One would be hard pressed to find an industry that has not felt the effects of COVID-19 in its own unique way. The worlds of construction, roofing and solar are no different, and come with their own unique challenges. Among them, these industries are tasked with considering new ways of working to make contracted surveying, onsite inspections, design planning, bidding and winning new projects more efficient. But this was an obstacle even before the pandemic.

Unfortunately, these pre-pandemic obstacles haven’t gone away; if anything, they've become more challenging. COVID-19 is forcing contractors to think creatively and critically about how to approach the operational challenges inherent to their work. Tackling them is paramount to adapting to the difficulties presented by COVID-19.

Reprinted courtesy of Rob Newman, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

As COVID-19 reverberates through the real estate and construction industries, impacted companies should revisit their employee compensation programs to preserve cash and drive performance while maintaining legal compliance. This is particularly true for companies normally dependent on high rents in cities, where commercial tenants are trading brick-and-mortar office space for work-from-home arrangements, and freeing up employees—unshackled by any commuting concerns—to relocate in pursuit of lower housing costs.

With $2.99 Billion in 2019 revenue from the 11-state region and leadership in the construction of digital infrastructure, historic reconstruction and preservation, Turner Construction has been voted ENR Midwest's Contractor of the Year for 2020. This is the second year in a row that big blue stood alone atop ENR Midwest's top contractors rankings, booking $2.77 billion in regional revenue in 2018, and the fourth time they've had the most revenue in the last five years.

Construction is one of the most dangerous professions, with one in five worker fatalities in 2018 occurring within the industry. The dangers of a construction site extend beyond the fatal four dangers reported by OSHA (falls, electrocution, struck-by-objects and caught-in-between) to those that cannot be easily spotted. Known as the silent killer, Hydrogen Sulfide, commonly referred to as H2S or sour gas, is the second most common cause of workplace gas inhalation fatalities following carbon monoxide. The colorless, flammable gas is naturally produced by the decomposition of organic material and is also emitted as a by-product of many industrial processes.

Reprinted courtesy of Chris Detillier, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred a new focus on how health and wellness issues can be proactively addressed through building design and green construction techniques.

Designers have to consider how viruses can be transmitted and how the danger can be mitigated. Research on how airborne particles can be circulated in HVAC systems leads to more discussion about proper system design and filtration and the importance of introducing clean outdoor air in the facility.

Reprinted courtesy of Tommy Linstroth, Construction Executive, a publication of Associated Builders and Contractors. All rights reserved.