Recovery eludes construction sector, cement groups point to shaky markets

Published: August 19, 2010
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By Brian Johnson
Dolan Media Newswires
Minneapolis — The construction economy throughout the nation is showing more discouraging signs.
Architecture billings are still slow, according to the latest numbers from the American Institute of Architects, and cement industry officials say their industry is years away from significant recovery.
This week, the AIA announced that its latest Architecture Billings Index, [...]

Economist predicts rough ride for construction industry

Published: July 19, 2010
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By Tony Anderson
Special to The Daily Reporter
An industry group is forecasting at least one more year of decreased construction spending in a market already battered by a weak economy.
An American Institute of Architects economic forecast is predicting the decline. The report, written by Kermit Baker, AIA’s chief economist, anticipates a 20 percent decrease in construction [...]

Tension builds over contract forms

By Justin Carinci
Dolan Media Newswires
For more than 100 years, American Institute of Architects documents have helped set the ground rules between owners, architects and contractors on projects.
The participation of builders’ groups gave credibility to the documents, which are incorporated into many construction contracts, and helped establish the rules as industry standards.
Each version of the A201 [...]

Government work buoys Miss. architects

Published: October 16, 2009
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Laura Smith
Dolan Media Newswires

Jackson, MS — When architects Michael Grey Jones and Joey Crain attended American Institute of Architects meetings in Washington, D.C., they were struck by the horror stories told by their colleagues from across the nation.
“One of the larger firms had to let 80 people go,” said Crain, president-elect of the Mississippi Chapter [...]

Architects adapt for BIM boom

Published: July 2, 2009
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Paul Snyder
paul.snyder@dailyreporter.com
Architects realize the potential and potential headaches of a switch to building-information modeling for large state construction projects.
“I just wrestled with it for two hours on the simplest thing,” said Josh Johnson, president of the American Institute of Architects Wisconsin and an architect with Madison-based Aro Eberle Architects Inc. “There will be growing pains [...]

Decline continues in architecture

Published: June 25, 2009
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Sean Ryan
sean.ryan@dailyreporter.com
When U.S. architects reported work was picking up in March, expectations followed that the industry would be in recovery mode by now.
“It looks like this recovery is going to be a bit more elusive than we hoped,” Kermit Baker, chief economist for the American Institute of Architects, said Thursday.
Nationwide billing numbers stalled during [...]

Builders try to break project backlog

Published: March 24, 2009
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Sean Ryan
sean.ryan@dailyreporter.com
Builders are pushing Wisconsin governments to stop trying to balance their budgets by putting construction projects on the back burner.
Milwaukee County emerged as an example Tuesday when the Public Policy Forum Inc., Milwaukee, reported the county has a $325.5 million backlog of deferred projects.
“Generally speaking, governments are facing the most severe fiscal challenges that [...]

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THIS MONTH'S WISCONSIN BUILDER



The tree architect

Roald Gundersen’s ideas are as big as the trees he shinnies up like a man half his age. The Stoddard-based “tree architect” wants to take wood construction far beyond the rustic cottages with which people associate him, but first he has to convince builders and architects of trees’ potential. Caley Clinton heads to western Wisconsin to see what future the forest holds.

Check out the Wisconsin Builder site.