Around the Circuit
After showing struggling business conditions for most of 2011, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) has now reached positive terrain in consecutive months. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine- to 12-month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) reported the December ABI score was 52.0, following the exact same mark in November. This score reflects an overall increase in demand for design services (any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings). The new projects inquiry index was 64.0, down just a point from a reading of 65.0 the previous month. To read more on this story, visit EC&M's website.
Despite the lingering effects of an over-built housing market, the continued difficulty to obtain financing for real estate projects, budget shortfalls at state and municipal governments and the anxiety surrounding the prolonged European debt crisis, there are signs that the U.S. design and construction industry will be improving, according to the American Institute of Architects' (AIA) semi-annual Consensus Construction Forecast, a survey of the nation’s leading construction forecasters. Corporate profits have returned to pre-recession levels and businesses have subsequently been increasing their capital spending, borrowing costs are at record low levels and pent up demand for commercial and retail projects factors into what projects to be a 2.1% rise in spending this year for nonresidential construction projects. The forecast also projects a 6.4% increase of spending in 2013. To read more on this story, visit EC&M's website.
Significantly fewer construction firms are planning to make layoffs in 2012 than at any point in the past few years, according to survey results released recently by the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) and Computer Guidance Corp. The survey, conducted as part of the 2012 Construction Industry Hiring and Business Outlook, shows many firms expect key private sector market segments to expand this year even as the overall outlook remains mixed. To read more on this story, visit EC&M's website.
NEMA's Electroindustry Business Confidence Index (EBCI) for current North American conditions edged higher in January, rising to 54.2 from December’s reading of 52. It was the fourth straight month in which the index exceeded the 50 point mark, above which more panelists than not report an improved business environment. To read more on this story, visit EC&M's website.
Project Watch
The Town of Greewhich, Conn., is seeking bids for electrician services. The service agreement will have an initial term of one year. The deadline to submit bids is 3 p.m. EST on February 7. For more information, visit the town's website.
Proposals are being received at the Office of the Director of Public Works, City of Urbana, Ill., for design and construction engineering services for the Northwest Urbana streetlight replacement project. The deadline for submission of proposals is 4:30 p.m. CST on February 15. For more information, visit the city's website.
Web Exclusives
Creating an energy management strategy that’s right for your business — and right for your bottom line — can be complicated for any organization. Efficiency is often dictated by a slew of variables and cost components that sometimes change rapidly. With large manufacturers in particular, these factors are regularly compounded by pressures from increasing competition and potential climate change legislation that can make a successful energy management plan all the more difficult to achieve. Enter Lufkin Industries, a vertically integrated company that specializes in oilfield equipment and power transmission products. Like most manufacturing plants, Lufkin faced similar pressures and energy costs on par with the industry average of 5% to 7% of total operating expenses. Its annual consumption typically reached upward of 70 million kWhr — a number that was expected to rise. For more on this story, visit the EC&M website.
Kaiser Electric has completed the first phase of a $4-million project to upgrade the power plant at the University of Missouri – Columbia (MU). The project includes construction of a new truck unloading facility, five storage silos and a conveyor system, plus, replacement of an existing coal boiler with an environmentally friendly biomass unit. To read more on this story, visit the EC&M website.
Eye on Safety
The electrocutions of two teenagers detasseling corn in northwestern Illinois last July were not the result of any violation of law, according to the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) in letters sent to the field owner, ComED, Monsanto, and R&J Enterprises of Illinois, Inc. Although the agency did not issue citations, it recommended that electrical equipment be bonded and grounded as reflected under current national safety standards. The letters signed by OSHA Area Director Kathy Webb recommend that in the future, "if any persons are working in the fields … the electrical system and irrigation equipment shall be effectively bonded and grounded to prevent electric shock or electrocution." Jade Garza and Hannah Kendall, both 14 and from Sterling, Ill., died July 25 while working in a field still wet from a storm, according to witnesses. The girls came into contact with electrical current from a field irrigator while detasseling corn, officials said. Eight others were injured in the field. Investigators believe that lightning damaged a meter box, energizing components of the center pivot irrigator system, according to OSHA.
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