Industry News Briefs
September 20, 2007 Headlines
A Beautiful Tomorrow for Structural Engineering?
Playing the Global Infrastructure Boom
Hotel Chains Grapple With Meaning of Green
Shopping Centers Begin to Feel Ripples of Housing's Ills
Computing and Information Technology Research in Civil Engineering-- Self-Fulfilling or Industry Transforming?
States Moving to Back Green Infrastructure in Stormwater Permits
Industry News
A Beautiful Tomorrow for Structural Engineering?
Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce (09/13/07) Magnusson, Jon
Structural engineering is approaching a new era thanks to new
technology, says Jon Magnusson, CEO of Seattle-based civil and structural
engineering firm Magnusson Klemencic Associates. Among the changes will be the
strengthening of construction materials. Over the past 50 years, the typical
strength of structural steel has increased by 40 percent, reinforcing bars by 50
percent, and concrete by up to 100 percent. This trend will continue, with
concrete reinforcing bars, typically having a strength of 60 ksi, now reaching
strengths of 100 ksi. These stronger bars will be used more frequently in the
future, says Magnusson, since in the tonnage of rebar needed for a building
tends to decrease in direct proportion to its increase in strength. This
stronger rebar will also make it possible to dramatically increase the strength
of concrete, an effort that has been hampered by the congestion caused by the
amount of rebar needed to reinforce today's advanced concrete. Stronger rebars
will reduce this congestion. The typical concrete strengths in columns and shear
walls could double, says Magnusson. Structural steel as strong as 100 ksi are
already in limited use. Double the strength of typical structural steel,
Magnusson expects the use of the strong material to pick up in coming
years.
Playing the Global Infrastructure Boom
BusinessWeek (09/11/07) Holloway, James
U.S. physical
infrastructure is aging, and as demands on it increase along with the population
so does the need to secure funding for necessary repairs and expansion. The
issue is not just a national one. "Infrastructure is the backbone of the global
economy," says Aaron Visse, co-manager of the Kensington Investment Group's
Global Infrastructure Fund. "The great challenge for governments today is
discovering methods of financing the maintenance and development of
infrastructure networks." Macquarie Bank estimates that global transportation,
energy, water, and communications infrastructures will require $30 trillion
through 2030. Increasingly, funding for infrastructure demands is coming from
public-private partnerships, such as ones engaged in by Kensington and
Macquarie. Though a long-used practice in Europe, such partnerships are becoming
increasingly popular in the United States, especially in regards to
transportation. In 2004, Chicago auctioned off the Skyway Toll Road to Cintra of
Spain and Macquarie, who in exchange for $1.83 billion received a 99-year
operating lease. These partnerships allow the government to benefit from the
expertise of private players. Thus, within three months of closing the Skyway
deal, the investment group installed an electronic toll-collection system that
helped reduce wait times, increase Skyway use, and generate revenues.
Hotel Chains Grapple With Meaning of Green
Wall
Street Journal (09/11/07) P. B1; Audi, Tamara
Big-name hoteliers
like Hilton Hotels Corp., Marriott International, and Starwood Hotels &
Resorts Worldwide Inc. are striving to become more environmentally friendly.
Such companies are taking steps in response to customer demands, but are having
mixed results. Kendra Walker, Hilton's vice president of brand communications,
reports, "We're currently in what you might call a discovery phase. We're
looking at best practices. We're looking at energy-saving light bulbs,
water-saving features [and so forth]." One problem these major companies are
facing is that there currently is no single standard in the United States for
what qualifies a hotel as "green." Green Seal does have an extensive
certification program for hotels and motels. However, this evaluation typically
takes up to three months and costs between $1,950 and $3,000 per year.
Currently, only 43 hotels in the entire country boast this certification.
Marriott established its own internal "green council" earlier this year to look
at everything from the kind of bathroom products it buys to how far cotton
towels travel from field to factory to lodging. Earlier in the decade, Marriott
joined the EPA's Energy Star program, which has provided it with public
acknowledgement for such achievements as reducing greenhouse-gas
emissions.
Shopping Centers Begin to Feel Ripples of Housing's Ills
New York Times (09/12/07) P. C6; Pristin, Terry
Analysts
report that the nation's shopping centers have been snared in the same credit
crunch that has transformed the capital markets. Before the squeeze, private
buyers were able to finance as much as 95 percent or more of the cost of an
acquisition. Today, with the absence of such high leverage, those same buyers
are being driven out of the market. Blue Ridge Capital, an Atlanta-based
property firm that specializes in purchasing troubled strip shopping centers,
has had a front-row seat to the upheaval. Owner Fritz McPhail comments, "We are
seeing prices change. We are seeing deals blow up. People are calling us back a
second time to see if we want to consider another offer." Even the country's
biggest mall owners are feeling the pinch of tightening lending standards.
Macerich and Simon Property Group agreed earlier in the year to sell three malls
they have jointly owned for the past 10 years to a private firm that has been
relying on a high degree of leverage. The deal was scuttled when the buyer was
unable to land the necessary financing. At the same time, approximately 26.2
million square feet of strip centers will reach completion in the last half of
this year, contributing to oversupply problems in some markets. According to
Torto Wheaton Research, the vacancy rate in this niche has risen sharply in such
metro areas as Dallas and Oakland; while new centers in such markets as
Cleveland, Indianapolis, and Nashville are having a tough time leasing
space.
Computing and Information Technology Research in Civil
Engineering-- Self-Fulfilling or Industry Transforming?
Journal of
Computing in Civil Engineering (10/01/07) Vol. 21, No. 5, P. 301; Issa, Raja
R.A.; Anumba, Chimay
Although a number of research projects on
various aspects of computing and information technology in civil engineering
have been conducted in the last 20 years, many of these projects have resulted
in proof-of-concept prototype IT systems that often have little or no use after
the project has been completed. As a result, there are a number of questions
regarding the quality of the research undertaken and the publications associated
with them that must be asked. For example, researchers should find out how many
of these computing and IT research projects have served as stepping stones for
other researchers in the domain, as well as how many of the resulting prototype
systems have evolved into successful commercial systems. In addition,
researchers need to find out how many of the outcomes of these projects have
been adopted by the civil engineering industry, particularly at the
field/jobsite level. Although some may argue that research prototypes do not
need to answer all of these questions, it could also be argued that those that
fail to answer any of them are of questionable value. In addition to answering
these questions, researchers also need to think about the short, medium, and
long-term impact of their work on the industry and on future research. Research
that is geared towards making a short-term impact should be done in
collaboration with the architecture, engineering, and construction industry,
along with the computing industry, and, if of sound quality, should be expected
to lead to adoptable commercial IT systems and/or models. Longer-term research,
meanwhile, should have an impact on future research and should serve as a basis
for new research strides.
States Moving to Back Green Infrastructure in Stormwater
Permits
Water Policy Report (09/13/07) Vol. 16, No. 18,
State permitting authorities are beginning to push "green
infrastructure" techniques as a part of stormwater management permits but have
run into problems from both local governments and environmental activists. In
April, the Environmental Protection Agency expressed its dedication to "green
infrastructure," also called low impact development (LID), the use of soil and
vegetation to filter stormwater. LID is most effective when combined with other
tactics such as permeable pavement or rain barrels. While many states have begun
to allow LID when approving Clean Water Act stormwater management permits, they
have run into criticism. In Washington, almost every stormwater permit issued is
being appealed, half from municipalities who believe that the regulations are
too strict and half from environmentalists who claim that they are not strict
enough. Local governments have slowed the growth of LID because they encourage
developers to stay within local zoning regulations. However, other states, such
as Maryland, have begun requiring LID for anyone seeking a stormwater permit.
The EPA is also working on its Stormwater and Clean Watersheds Needs Survey, a
report to Congress that is delivered once every four years.
Construction Economists Are Hopeful About Commercial Building
Climate
Minneapolis Finance & Commerce (09/11/07) Johnson,
Brian
Economists in the construction sector remain optimistic about
the U.S. non-residential building market. Associated Builders and Contractors
chief economist Jeff Taylor says that consumer spending, corporate profits, and
a healthy global economy are fueling non-residential construction. "Businesses
are optimistic. They are saying, 'We need to build more buildings or expand our
facilities,'" says Taylor. "Lodging, office, commercial, health care, education,
streets-- all these are growth areas. It's really broad-based." American
Institute of Architects chief economist Kermit Baker says he is not surprised
that non-residential construction is strong at a time when housing has hit a
slump. "We had strong numbers in residential construction through the first five
years of this decade and extremely weak numbers on the non-residential side,"
says Baker. "There was a lot of pent-up demand being created over that time when
those sectors were moving in different directions." Baker says that while
school, health-care, government, and cultural construction will remain strong,
office, hotel, and manufacturing projects may have "run their course."
Associated General Contractors chief economist Ken Simonson noted a U.S.
Commerce Department report on employment in the United States in August that
showed 1,700 jobs being added in three non-residential construction sectors --
specialty trades, building, and heavy/civil -- despite 4,000 jobs being lost
overall.
Challenges Increase Risks for Providing
Timely Infrastructure Support for Army Installations Expecting Substantial
Personnel Growth
GAO Reports (09/07)
The U.S. Army plans
to accommodate the addition of about 154,000 personnel at 18 domestic bases
through 2011 due to base realignments and closures, the rebasing of overseas
forces, and force modularity actions. Military construction costs of over $17
billion are expected to meet realignment and closure mandates, not to mention
the costs to be incurred by communities that will have to grow alongside the
bases they host. Yet a failure to determine the exact amount of personnel that
will be added at each base has made it difficult to determine infrastructure
construction requirements. Furthermore, funding is being hampered by the
redirection of allocations to the war efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Leading
the construction effort is the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which will have to
implement new construction strategies to complete the needed infrastructure
while minimizing costs and schedules.
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Despite Labor and Pricing Pressures,
Turner Forecasts Continued Increase in Construction Costs
Turner
Construction Company (09/17/07)
Turner Construction's quarterly
Building Cost Index forecasts a 1.89 percent increase in construction costs in
the third quarter compared to the previous quarter. The figure represents a 7.74
percent increase over the third quarter of last year. "The construction industry
continues to face a shortage of skilled labor and trade contractor
availability," says Turner vice president Karl F. Almstead. "The strength of the
developing economies of the world has added to the demand for raw materials and
equipment, adding to the pressure on material prices in the United States"
Despite the rising costs, Almstead says that the construction market will remain
strong. "According to McGraw-Hill Construction, the non-residential building
market activity grew five percent over the past twelve months," he notes.
"Confirmation of the continued strength in the construction industry is
supported by the AIA’s June Architectural Billing Index."
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California Greening
Building Design &
Construction (09/07) Kirk, Patricia L.
Though developers had argued
in the past that green building certification is a practical impossibility for
retail developments, several have managed to receive LEED certification since
2005, such as Issaquah Highlands in Washington state, Northfield Stapleton in
Denver, Atlantic Station in Atlanta, and two experimental Wal-Mart big-box
stores in Texas and Colorado. Now, new state and local laws in California are
positioning that state to take the lead in green development, including
voluntary or mandatory rules in San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and
Calabasas that are now in place or soon to come. In Riverside, the city is
planning incentives to encourage people to use photovoltaic solar panels, while
the Inland Empire cities are looking at code changes mandating sustainable
building. According to KTGY Group architect Mike Flynn, local governments are
becoming more comfortable with requiring sustainable building practices as part
of their building codes, and he estimates that green building now only costs 2
percent more than conventional building practices. Increasing demand and
increasing availability of supplies for green building, such as building
materials low in volatile organic compounds, has driven prices down while
conventional building has become more expensive. Randy Jackson of The Planning
Center says that code changes have many developers already adopting green
practices even if they had not planned to, and he predicts that someday they
will instinctively use green building practices because of becoming accustomed
to them. Even landscaping can be done in a green fashion, using methods that cut
water consumption, restore sensitive habitat, provide shade, and make use of
recycled materials, all of which were used by NUVIS Landscape Architecture at
Bakersfield's Crossings at Corona shopping center. In addition, the U.S. Green
Building Council is working on two new programs aimed at retail development,
with the intent of making it easier to put in place at multitenant projects by
giving control over buildout to the developer.
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Reaching for A Smarter Factory
Industry Week.com
(09/01/07) Teresko, John
Some research initiatives currently
underway promise to make factories smarter by implementing machine tools that
have computer intelligence and the ability to communicate with one another.
"While individual characteristics of the smart machine tool of the future are
here now, the goal is to put the pieces together into equipment that can think,"
says John Kohls of TechSolve and the Smart Machine Platform Initiative (SMPI).
According to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the
definition of a smart machine is one that is aware of its capabilities and
condition and can be queried about them; knows how to optimally machine a part;
makes every part right; monitors, diagnoses, and optimizes itself; is aware of
the quality of its work; and is able to learn and improve itself as time passes.
SMPI evolved from workshops held by NIST and the National Science Foundation in
2000 and 2002, and it has now been receiving government funding for two years.
NIST believes that the United States will be able to make itself competitive in
mass customization by getting rid of trial and error in prototype development
and making time to market faster. Smart machines "will react to abnormal process
sound as experienced human operators would," says Kohls, adding, "The machine
would communicate a warning and suggest ways of correcting the problem."
Different manufacturers have different visions of what exactly the smart factory
will entail--for example, machine-tool maker Haas Automation sees SAP-based
network integration as being the chief route to a smarter factory--and there is
also an effort to create a communications standard called MTConnect that will
allow interoperability between different manufacturers' products. Maintenance
may be the area that is the most advanced in terms of smart-factory practices,
with the help of the research initiative Center for Intelligent Maintenance
Systems, and there is a goal to make smart maintenance more preventive rather
than relying on the current method that simply uses sensors to detect when a
failure has already occurred.
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Going With the (Variable)
Flow
Engineered Systems (09/07) Vol. 24, No. 9, P. 43; Inman, Jon
A.
Although variable refrigerant flow systems (VRFs) have been
around for some time now, it has only been recently that engineers in North
America have begun to look at VRF as a viable HVAC option. More and more
engineers are considering VRF as an option because of the significant energy
savings that the technology can provide. VRF systems are efficient because they
use variable-speed compressors that load and unload to deliver only the
necessary amount of refrigerant to the system's indoor units. VRF systems also
have a recovery option for designs requiring simultaneous heating and cooling.
In VRF systems with the heat recovery option, heat is rejected from the indoor
units in cooling mode, recovered, and then used as the heat absorption source
for the indoor units in heating mode. When the heat recovery option is
available, compressor loading is greatly reduced, which improves overall
performance and reduces energy bills. VRF systems can also be less expensive
than what is traditionally thought of as the least expensive option, the
single-zone heat pump. Although VRF systems are more costly on a tonnage basis,
they only require one electrical connection, unlike the heat pump solution,
which requires an electrical connection for each heat pump, one roof support
location, and one location for pipe penetrations.
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