BIM is the most important event that has ever happened to the Architectural, Engineering, Construction, Facilities Management (AEC/FM) and Building Product Manufacturing (BPM) professions.  Our professions have been lagging in the world of automation and efficiency.

Building green needs to get easier. From both an environmental and technological perspective, the building industry has made incredible strides forward, but we’re not there yet. Ratings systems like LEED, CHPS and others that require specific metrics from products have set the bar for responsible building. And while BIM sets the standard for how we’ll work tomorrow, simplifying the documentation process that proves we’ve done the right thing needs to be integrated into that process.

I am constantly asked if Reed can come in and clean up the “Object Mess” for the firm, the answer is YES!  Reed has the knowledge to create new or fix the bad objects, add the important missing objects and a consistent naming convention into the SmartBIM Library so they will be organized and accessible.

According to Statistics Canada’s fourth-quarter survey of travel accommodation providers, a majority of the survey’s 1,300 respondents expect to be busier in the fourth quarter of this year than they were in the third quarter and much busier than they were a year ago. This positive attitude comes in the face of three factors that could threaten the industry’s prospects: (1) turmoil in financial markets; (2) the rapid appreciation of the Canadian dollar; and (3) labour shortages. Furthermore, the latest survey results indicate that hotel owners are expecting room rates to be higher in the fourth quarter and there will be a need for more staff.

Since the recent release of the Bank of Canada’s Inflation and Monetary Policy Outlook report, energy prices have escalated sharply and this increase will likely put additional upward pressure on Canada’s headline inflation rate. Given that labour markets are very tight in most regions, there is an increased probability that the escalation in prices will lead to a further increase in wage rates.

In the past couple of years, both of the Saguenay Census Metropolitan Area’s (CMA) key industrial drivers (i.e., pulp and paper and primary metal processing) have experienced dramatic downsizing. However, despite the lacklustre -2.8% year-over-year employment growth in goods production, total employment in the area was up 1.3% year over year in October. This increase can be traced to sustained hiring in the services sector, specifically in public administration, management services, accommodation and leisure services. Looking forward, investments in the aluminum sector are greatly improving the city’s prospects.

The nearly six-year decline in the value of the U.S. dollar at a 3% to 5% annual pace quickened in the last few months, following the flight of foreign capital concerned about the value of securities backed by U.S. property and the 0.5 percentage point cut in U.S. short-term interest rates. The full consequences on the U.S. economy and construction markets are yet to be felt. The dollar steadied in the past month, but the damage already done has not been reversed and is not likely to be reversed soon.

In September 2007, manufacturing employment in Trois-Rivières shrunk by 10% year over year, due to the headwind of the strong Canadian dollar. Despite this drop, total employment in the Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) has recorded three consecutive months of growth over 6%. The CMA has successfully offset the job losses in its staple industries (i.e., furniture manufacturing, pulp and paper mills and wood products manufacturing) through diversifying its economy with a new logistics hub, casino and call centre.

QTO/Costing, while not glamorous, is one of the most important activities performed by those working in the construction industry. Owners will spend $40 billion on architectural and engineering fees in the United States this year.  What most people do not know is that owners will spend $70 billion on Quantity Take Offs (QTO), cost estimates and cost proposals.

Concrete is the most logical choice of material for sidewalks, driveways, patios, steps, garage floors, basement floors, slabs-on-grade, and commercial and industrial floors, not to mention walls, columns and beams — whether cast-in-place or precast.