Construction professionals are familiar with commercial green building projects and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system.  But what some contractors may not know is that "green" is growing to encompass other critical infrastructure projects - including highway and local road construction, site selection, utility installation, and community planning on the whole.  There is more to LEED beyond offices, and there are green programs and resources beyond LEED.  This article provides a snapshot of the key green programs that may eventually influence all aspects of construction.  Click here for the complete article.

Titled "Rising from the Ashes of Recent Economic Woes," this survey was aimed at charting out some of the fundamental changes in the industry today. The survey measures the "degree of staffing changes", predicted the "timing of future rehiring and spending increases", and indicates the "shifts in project delivery system and procurement." In addition, the survey was intended to get a better understanding of owner evolvement and what it means for the industry. One major conclusion of the survey coming from the FMI/CMAA is that the overall reductions in in-house staffing may be a more permanent change. To read the entire survey, access the PDF here.

Written by AGC contractor members and professional industry practitioners, Project Delivery Systems for Construction provides detailed information on traditional and alternative project delivery systems. It includes chapters on Design-Bid-Build, Design-Build, Construction Management At-Risk, Construction Management Agency, and Program Management. The book breaks down each delivery system by "typical" and "defining" characteristics and comes complete with self-tests and case studies to emphasize points covered in the text.

Save up to ten percent and get free ground shipping between now and October 31, 2010 when you use the coupon code "BuildingNews" at the new AGC Store.  Order today by clicking here!

Free Downloads

The ConsensusDOCS Guidebooks have been updated and are available as free downloads at http://consensusdocs.org/catalog/consensusdocs-guidebook/.

The Guidebooks include comments from individual associations to its own membership on specific contract documents, highlighting provisions and alerting members to special requirements.  The overview sections highlight issues and innovative features of the documents in general.

ConsensusDOCS contracts covered in the release of this Guidebook (others will be added later) include the following, and appear in the following order:  200; 200.1; 200.2; 205; 220; 221; 235; 240; 300; 301; 410; 415; 500; 510; 710; 750; 752 and 803; and the bond forms collectively.

ConsensusDOCS are the only standard contract documents written by a coalition of 28 leading construction industry associations, including The Associated General Contractors of America.

AGC members receive a 20% discount on all ConsensusDOCS products.  Purchase at www.ConsensusDOCS.org and use Partner Code "AGC" and Promotion Code "100".

For more information, contact Maggie Jaus at (703) 837-5408 or jausm@agc.org.

In the July/August issue of AGC's Constructor magazine, "After the Fall" examines the difficulties in the private sector construction market, and how members are finding new opportunities in the public arena.

To read the article, please click here.

Written by John Lynch from the State of Washington and published as a joint effort of AGC of America and the National Association of State Facilities Administrators (NASFA), this eight page article is targeted toward public owners who construct capital projects and those contractors who are engaged in this type of work.  It is particularly useful in this challenging economy.  This article can be found here.

This paper was the basis for a guest commentary in the May/June 2010 issue of Constructor magazine.  Click here to read Mr. Lynch's commentary.

According to Reed Construction Data, the value of project cancellations has declined over the past three months, with the majority of cancellations in the proposal stage.  Values are almost back to pre-recession levels, indicating that the industry may be edging towards recovery.

For more information, please click here.

Earlier this year AGC of America released a plan calling for market-based solutions, incentives and needed investments to deliver environmental improvements in our nation's infrastructure-buildings, transportation, water and land resources and power generation.

The plan, Building a Green Future, outlines measures designed to stimulate demand for green construction projects, boost infrastructure capacity, improve building efficiency and green construction practices.  It openly addresses how the places where we live, work, play and travel impact the natural environment; and it gives credit to industry and other groups for their efforts to reduce those impacts.  The plan offers recommendations to stimulate demand for new investment in our infrastructure-making it greener and safer.  It provides some common sense ways that contractors can help, such as recycling waste and reducing emissions from equipment; and it also addresses how policymakers can support those efforts instead of setting up roadblocks.

"You can't wish for a green future-you have to build it." AGC maintains that construction and renovation ultimately are the most immediate and effective ways to improve the built environment.  AGC intends to use this plan to guide policymakers, educate the public and provide members with a tool they can use to develop an environmental strategy for their firm.

AGC of America and the AGC of Washington unveiled the plan after a tour of a construction site for a green building in Seattle.  The new structure will serve as local construction firm McKinstry's incubator space for start-up green construction technology firms.  Citing that company's recent successes, David D'Hondt (executive vice president, AGC of Washington) said that while the plan would deliver significant environmental benefits, it also would provide new opportunities for the nation's hard-hit construction firms.

To read the plan, go to www.agc.org/greenfuture.

As AGC previously reported, OMB issued new guidance for recipients and sub-recipients of federal grants, loans and financial assistance. AGC is now learning that new interpretations of this guidance may be forthcoming. AGC reported last week that DOT has determined, in conjunction with OMB, that the reporting requirements do not apply, as contractors are interpreted to be vendors rather than sub-recipients.

AGC has also learned that EPA interprets the rule similarly to DOT. As EPA interprets the OMB regulation, the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act (FFATA) reporting requirements apply to subawards, as opposed to procurement contracts, made by prime grant recipients (state and local governments). For purposes of EPA's State Revolving Fund (SRF) programs, this means that FFATA reporting would not extend to procurement contracts for construction, engineering and other commercial services executed by either the state SRF capitalization grant recipient or municipalities that receive SRF loans.

For more information, contact Scott Berry at (703) 837-5321 or berrys@agc.org.
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AGC of America sponsored McGraw-Hill Construction’s SmartMarket Report titled: “Green BIM: How Building Information Modeling is Contributing to Green Design and Construction.”  To access this free report click here. Return to Top