White House wants to ‘aggressively’ get federal workers back to the office

The Biden administration wants to “aggressively” get federal workers back in the office by September or October.

“We are returning to in-person work because it is critical to the well-being of our teams and will enable us to deliver better results for the American people,” according to an email by White House Chief of Staff Jeff Zients. The administration will not eliminate remote work entirely, though.

The directive follows a memo sent in April by the Office of Management and Budget urging departments to have employees return to the office. The attention to office usage comes as federal agencies are making plans to reduce the amount of space they lease.

Published reports earlier this summer said that most federal agencies have been using less than 25% of their office space since the start of the Covid pandemic. As of September 2022, a General Services Administration report said that most agencies were planning significant office space reductions. The GAO surveyed 24 federal agencies on plans to reduce leased space, and 19 of them planned to reduce square footage over the next three years.

Now 46 years running, Building Design+Construction's 2022 Giants 400 Report rankings the largest architecture, engineering, and construction firms in the U.S. This year a record 519 AEC firms participated in BD+C's Giants 400 report. The final report includes more than 130 rankings across 25 building sectors and specialty categories.

Government Buildings | Apr 11, 2022

Milan’s new US Consulate celebrates Italian design

In Milan, Italy, the new U.S. Consulate General broke ground on April 6. Managed by Overseas Buildings Operations (OBO), a U.S. government agency that directs overseas builds, the 10-acre campus will feature a new Consulate building, as well as the restoration of the site’s historic Liberty Building and reconstruction of a pavilion on the 80,000-square-foot parade ground.

Welding Booths at the Portland Community College Training Center photo courtesy Mortenson Construction

Education Facilities | Feb 17, 2022

Community colleges build new centers for advanced manufacturing training

Portland Community College joins a growing list of community colleges building advanced training facilities to help close the skills gap in manufacturing.

Cherokee Adult Detention Center exterior

Government Buildings | Feb 16, 2022

Cherokee County Detention Center renovation completes

CROFT designed the project.

| Feb 16, 2022

The California Air Resources Board Southern California headquarters is the first net zero energy facility of its kind

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) Southern California headquarters has been completed in Riverside, Calif. The 403,306-sf is the largest vehicle emissions testing facility in the world and the largest net-zero facility of its kind.