Industrial Report: Demand for specialty factories spurs industrial sector recovery

Jim Haughey, Director, Research and Analytics, Reed Construction Data

The industrial market doubled in the last four years but is still one-third smaller than the peak in 1998.

Jobsite construction spending for factories increased 11% during the past year, mostly for chemical and nonmetallic minerals facilities, which are operating in a supply-constrained world market. Spending to construct general-use factory space declined.

U.S. factory capacity utilization is about 80%, which is enough to generate limited new space and renovation needs but not enough to prevent a slow spending decline for several years.

The U.S. marketshare of the world “goods” market continues to shrink in spite of the boost being received from a depreciating U.S. dollar.

The value of manufacturing construction starts dropped 37% last year as U.S. GDP growth slowed and factory output declined briefly. A recovering economy has boosted starts 76% early in 2007, but this will not persist.

Top 20 industrial design firms
(2006 billings in $ millions)

Firm	Billings
Source: 2007 Giants 300 survey Note: This ranking is based on firms that made the Giants 300 list.
1. Jacobs Engineering Group	839.91
2. CH2M HILL	326.70
3. Carter & Burgess	98.95
4. SSOE	56.40
5. Ghafari Associates	38.51
6. URS Corp.	38.00
7. Clark, Richardson & Biskup	37.50
8. M+W Zander	35.00
9. The Benham Cos.	31.51
10. Burns & McDonnell	30.33
11. Stantec	25.89
12. KlingStubbins	23.40
13. STV Group	22.40
14. Merrick & Co.	22.05
15. Ware Malcomb	21.46
16. Ingenium Group	17.90
17. HDR Architecture	17.31
18. Baker and Associates	16.72
19. Stellar	14.99
20. Flad & Associates	14.63

Top 20 industrial contractors
(2006 revenue in $ millions)

Firm	Revenue
Source: 2007 Giants 300 survey Note: This ranking is based on firms that made the Giants 300 list.
1. Jacobs Engineering Group	2,688.88
2. Fluor Corp.	739.43
3. DPR Construction	710.15
4. Skanska USA Building	684.00
5. Hoffman Construction	494.10
6. Stellar	441.45
7. Walbridge Aldinger	423.00
8. The Turner Corp.	413.70
9. PCL Construction Enterprises	412.96
10. McShane Construction	358.85
11. The Haskell Co.	337.61
12. Duke Construction	334.25
13. Gray Construction	310.98
14. Austin AECOM	307.00
15. The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.	287.91
16. Graycor	274.80
17. H&M Co.	269.75
18. The Opus Group	264.81
19. Alberici Corp.	245.88
20. BE&K	244.01

AIA: Commercial Flooring

The colorful ribboned flooring at Toronto’s Corus Quay mimics the iconic corkscr

Discussions of commercial flooring tend to focus on the floor covering or finish material. This is hardly surprising, since the covering is the part of the floor that stakeholders see, interact with, and care about most. The...

The use of light load-bearing glass to create transparent stairs, floors, and ot

Glass has taken on new life in recent building years. Long valued for its transparency and lightness, glass is now also being considered for its structural and protective capabilities. Beyond the technique known as...

Building owners must plan ahead for roof replacement to avoid emergency leak rem

No building owner wants to be caught unprepared by catastrophic roof failure. Emergency roof replacements tend to be more expensive than planned ones, and damage to interiors may mean unrecovered costs and detrimental...

AIA: New Developments in Concrete Construction

Concrete has long been a reliable building material for commercial and institutional projects. Yet recent trends, including the growth in hospitality and urban rental project starts, as well as mixed-use towers and transit-...

Energy performance starts at the building envelope

Until recently, it has been lighting, mechanical, and control system upgrades which have received the most attention in the green building movement. At long last, the industry is now recognizing building enclosures as a long...

Brick and stone masonry have served as reliable and valuable elements of commercial building projects for centuries, gracing urban and rural landscapes since time immemorial. Building Teams have trusted clay brick to bring...

Making the Most of the Reconstruction Boom Reconstruction in its many forms—tenant improvements, retail fitouts, adaptive reuse, historic preservation, gut rehab, and so on—is keeping many design and construction firms...

Codes harvest rainwater

The topic of water shortages is nothing new, as cities around the globe struggle with drought, water quality, supply constraints, and failing infrastructures. However, the idea of new plumbing codes and design standards...

Guard booths, stations and shelters are defense strategy linchpins, becoming increasingly integral to perimeter defense planning. Before evaluating the efficacy of different guard booth configurations, and before selecting a...

From the company that brought you Construction Computing Magazine’s 2011 BIM Product of the Year ArchiCAD 15, the “Get There Faster with ArchiCAD” whitepaper examines five critical areas to explore before making your final...

2011 Zero and Net-Zero Energy Buildings + Homes

Download Complete White Paper Download Introduction Download Chapters 1-4Defining Net-Zero Energy Buildings

Our seventh White Paper on Green Buildings focuses on the role of water in sustainable design and construction. The editors conclude with a set of 21 detailed recommendations for the consideration of the Building Teams, home...