Author: Constructech Editors
Election season comes every year, it seems. Federal elections return every two years, state and local elections happen then and in the between years, as well. Some candidates are on television, radio, your favorite social media platform, even in your computer’s email or cellphone’s text inbox every month. And these days, many have the same pitch: the economy is (fill in the blank). In 1992, campaign strategist James Carville coined the phrase “It’s the economy, stupid.” At that time, Carville was attempting to emphasize the importance of the struggling economy in then-candidate Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign. Although originally intended…
With the expansion of email came the sending of various documents between offices, suppliers, subcontractors, owners and developers, and government agencies. The preferred method today is by PDF or photo images. Since we are still in a somewhat incompatible environment, not every program can read every format. One answer has been OCR (optical character recognition) software that can read documents and convert them from one format to another. Corecon Technologies, a provider of cloud-based estimating, project management, and job-cost construction software, now offers OCR functionality as part of its Procurement Module. For use by Corecon subscribers, as well as outside…
The funding is flowing for infrastructure repair and renovation as the Congress releases and the various executive agencies distribute the money allocated in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act. Picking the priorities and sorting out the bids will take time and effort on the part of states and localities; getting ready to perform will be the task of the bidding contractors. Few companies are staffed and equipped to handle the complete project when it comes to massive infrastructure jobs. Subcontractors and suppliers will need to be in the loop from the start to assure pricing…
The interest in 3D printing of houses and other structures has been growing at various levels of the market for a few years now, and one segment, local government, is picking up on it. Azure Printed Homes, innovators of 3D printing utilizing recycled plastic, has been chosen by Enfield Housing Corp. of Enfield, N.C., for the delivery of seven two-bedroom homes. Enfield’s Mayor, W. Mondale Robinson, believes this will be a great start to tackling the lack of affordability in Enfield, a town rated the 8th poorest city in America with 43% of the current homes uninhabitable. Azure has a…
The IoT (Internet of Things) is only part of the ecosystem called The Internet. Most people don’t even recognize that they are interacting with the IoT, whether through their appliances or Personal Systems like Alexis. It is “just there.” But everyone knows when they interact with the Internet on their computer, tablet, or smartphone. Open a browser or email client, and there is the Internet. Families, especially, recognize the importance of the Internet. With nearly every piece of information, accurate and not, available at a click of a link, the Internet has become part of the family’s daily routine. Accessing…
Parks Associates’ new consumer research finds that nearly three-fourths of EV (electric vehicle) owners own at least one smart-home device, compared to 38% of all U.S. internet households. EV momentum is real, and so is the opportunity for utilities and connected home players. Major auto OEMs (original-equipment manufacturers) have committed to a conversion to fully electrified fleets across the next 10 years, so the EV revolution has already begun. When our survey fielded with new electric vehicle questions in December 2021, global market forces were forming up to push vehicle electrification forward: The U.S. congress was working out an infrastructure…
Most companies want to stay away from politics since whichever side they appear to be supporting will make the other side distrustful. In an election year, politics and politicians are everywhere and avoiding the subject gets harder each day. In 2022, the standard saying, “All politics is local,” can be a bit deceiving as world politics, from tariffs to war, are making the news daily and impacting the lives of everyone from workers on the line to C-level executives. According to Gartner, technology governance issues, emanating from cross-country politics, have led to “digital geopolitics” rapidly becoming an issue that multinational CIOs…
Statistics don’t lie, the saying goes. But interpreting those statistics, that can be something else. Monthly reports on employment, starts and completions, various demographic data, and deep drilling into where those numbers are coming from, makes for interesting reading. Then the next month, it all changes. Take the monthly summary of federal data on construction spending. The analysis by the AGC (Associated General Contractors of America) of total construction spending in August, the latest month government statistic cover, shows a decline of 0.7% as spending on new houses turned sharply lower, while public and private nonresidential construction posted mixed results. Association…
Known around the world simply as Cat, Caterpillar is a global player in many segments of the heavy mobility market. With 2021 sales and revenues of $51.0 billion, Caterpillar Inc. is the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, off-highway diesel and natural gas engines, industrial gas turbines, and diesel-electric locomotives. Besides the readily recognized construction equipment, dozers and loaders in particular, Caterpillar is noted for its long list of off-road, mining, and infrastructure equipment. Perhaps less known is the engine division, providing power for heavy equipment, trucks, busses, and even yachts from many other companies. Cat has been…
Concrete, steel, and masonry have long been the staple building materials, especially in non-residential construction, worldwide. However, as the focus turns more and more towards emissions control and climate change, wood is making a comeback. According to the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy in the School of Intl. Service at American University, Washington DC, mass timber construction has many advantages over the concrete and steel commonly used in commercial buildings. Mass timber is a carbon removal technique that involves using specialized wood products to construct buildings, including high-rise buildings. Manufacturers use products such as CLT (cross-laminated timber), LVL…