Latest Reports

Non-residential construction spending has dropped 6 percent since the beginning of 2016. This reduction was offset by a nearly equal increase in infrastructure spending and steady residential construction. Increases in construction prices for 2016 are now trending towards 6 percent annually, depending on location, while job growth saw a slight up-tick with an average of 192,000 jobs added per month in the third quarter of 2016 versus the 171,000 jobs per month averaged in the first half of the year.

Because it’s expensive to heat and cool outdoor air drawn into a building, workspaces tend to be ventilated only enough to meet ASHRAE minimums or achieve a LEED credit. But air quality profoundly affects workers’ cognitive performance, and even modest increases in ventilation can yield productivity and health benefits that far exceed the cost, says Joseph Allen, assistant professor and director of the Healthy Buildings Program at the Center for Health and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

It can be hard to know whether a building initiative is meeting the mark by looking at anecdotal feedback about what worked and what didn’t. Pre- and post-occupancy data make it possible to evaluate the success of a design strategy. Studies indicate that the new Center for the Sciences & Innovation (CSI) at Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas, is attracting more students from all departments to the building, boosting integration between science and non-science majors, and increasing interest in STEM studies among incoming students at a rate of 50 percent.

The new 320,000-sf Knight Cancer Institute research building currently being built by Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) on the south waterfront in Portland, Ore., will maximize scientific collaboration for more than 500 researchers through the use of flexible floorplans, shared equipment cores, and new ratio configurations for wet and dry lab space.

Organizations of all types are using location-based social media data and other user-generated information to improve workspace design and functionality. By researching occupancy data, user satisfaction ratings, and other metrics, facility designers are finding smarter ways to lower costs and create efficiencies. While some organizations mine existing trace data automatically generated by mobile devices and building management systems, others are developing customized platforms dedicated to capturing key information.