All Construction & Building Materials Articles
  • Frankfurt Terminal 3 construction begins with dedicated low-cost carrier…

    Matt Falcus Transportation Technology & Automotive

    Construction has begun on the first phase of the next major expansion at Germany’s largest airport in Frankfurt, which will dramatically increase the airport's capacity, create thousands of new jobs, and a bring boost to the national and regional economies. Terminal 3 has been in the preparation stage for a number of years, with the airside apron and the building’s basement level works already completed. Now, the cornerstone of the above-ground works have been laid by Fraport AG, the airport's operator, and it hopes to have the terminal's first pier in operation within two years.

  • More sellers than buyers for luxury homes

    Michael J. Berens Construction & Building Materials

    Sales of luxury homes have been falling since the beginning of the year. In most areas of the country, the number of luxury homes for sale has increased while selling prices have declined. Among higher-end properties, demand has especially dropped off as tax changes and fluctuations in the stock market have made luxury home purchases less desirable. Many luxury homes were put up for sale following the tax reform changes that took effect as of Jan. 1 this year.

  • Does your organization need a facility manager?

    Scott E. Rupp Facilities & Grounds

    An important part of understanding the role facility managers play includes defining when an organization might need to consider adding facility management services. The facility management role is designed to provide maintenance of an organization's buildings and equipment in a way that offers the best value to the building owner and users alike. For those organizational leaders who wonder about adding a facility manager to their operations, there are a few key considerations.

  • How a new school facility can improve learning

    Brian Stack Education

    "The same boiling water that softens the potato hardens the egg. It’s about what you are made of, not the circumstances." Years ago, as a high school math teacher, this quote was displayed in my classroom as a way to remind my students that, regardless of their circumstances and their environment, they could overcome adversity and succeed. In life, we make do with the hand that is dealt to us. Yet, for all the promise of a positive outlook when dealing with shortcomings in life, the reality is that sometimes an upgrade can go a long way towards changing one’s promise for a better future.

  • Opposing trends will hold remodeling growth in check

    Michael J. Berens Construction & Building Materials

    Recent first quarter industry reports show signs that the pace of remodeling services growth has begun to taper off. While forecasters do not expect demand to slip into negative territory for the foreseeable future, they do project that, contrary to the robust increases remodelers experienced in 2017 and 2018, growth over the next several years will be more modest. In part, this is because conflicting market forces will constrain demand. According to the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), year-over-year growth in residential remodeling spending fell from a high of 19% in 2017 to almost half that, 10%, in 2018.

  • 7 of the best living history parks and museums in the US

    Dave G. Houser Travel, Hospitality & Event Management

    Living history parks and museums invite us to step back in time — and into our ancestors’ world — for a glimpse into what our predecessors’ lives were like all those many years ago. There are far too many excellent living history destinations around the country to include them all in one article, so we’ve chosen seven of them that truly standout for their emphasis on interactivity and hands-on experiences — and for their great visitor reviews.

  • Career concerns for working baby boomers in design

    Lloyd Princeton Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

    This year, the last ripple of baby boomers, those born in 1964, turn 55. In two years, the vanguard, those born in 1946, will turn 75. Traditionally, these are the peak retirement years. But times have changed, and many baby boomers find themselves faced with the prospect of being financially unprepared for a retirement that could last 20 to 25 years or longer. If you are a working baby boomer, what should you do?

  • Don’t ever resign with a ‘shove it’ quit

    Hank Boyer Business Management, Services & Risk Management

    In 1977, country music artist Johnny Paycheck recorded what many employees wanted desperately to tell their boss as they quit their jobs. "Take This Job and Shove It!" nearly won a CMA award for Song of the Year, and artists like the Dead Kennedys and David Alan Coe re-recorded it in the years to follow. Have you ever felt like leaving a job this way? Many people have. However, before you yield to the temptation, there are few things you ought to know.

  • Housing America part 6: Cohousing

    Lucy Wallwork Construction & Building Materials

    Speculative housing development and the single-family home have been the norm for a large part of the last century. It’s all many of us know about housing works. But a new wave of cohousing communities across the U.S. features experimenting with a new model of living that places the emphasis back on shared space and shared prosperity. In this final part in the "Housing America" series of articles, I look at why these communities set up, whether the planning system is equipped to help them thrive, and whether their lessons can be applied more widely to how we build communities.

  • Interior designers consolidating in fewer states

    Michael J. Berens Interior Design, Furnishings & Fixtures

    Between 2017 and 2018, large numbers of interior designers changed locations, according to the most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Half of all states reported fewer employed interior designers in May 2018 than in May 2017. Many of the designers appear to have migrated to a handful of states with some of the highest concentrations of designers in the country. Employment figures for interior designers always fluctuate among states from year to year. However, in the past few years, the number of states losing designers has been gradually increasing.