Opening his State of the Union address with a reference to the periods of economic trouble America has faced and endured in the last century, President Obama appealed to Americans looking for answers about how to revive a still struggling economy. With his allusion to the ability of the American government to survive the Great Depression, Obama inevitably set himself up for comparison to FDR, the last Democrat to inherit a debilitating economic crisis upon his inauguration. When FDR took over the presidency in the midst of the Great Depression, he funneled US dollars into the public building market, creating large-scale public works and infrastructure projects that would ultimately transform both the physical and economic landscape of America.
A look back at this period of American economic history gives hope to those members of the building industry plagued by losses in both the commercial and residential markets. In order to achieve long-term success in improving the economy, the current administration must make large investments that will bring big returns. In 1933, FDRinitiated programs like the Tennessee Valley Authority, which included provisions to build schools and healthcare facilities and the Works Progress Administration, which built hospitals, schools and government-sponsored projects like parks and airports. Today, Obama’s stimulus funding provides the impetus for the same kind of building supported by the government seventy-five years ago: institutional building with a focus on education, healthcare, and government facilities.
While commercial spending continues to fall, the stimulus package creates opportunities for growth in institutional building. And if there’s one buzzword surrounding these opportunities, it’s sustainability. The key to healing a wounded economy is opting for changes that will offer a big payoff in the long term rather than quick fixes that will just require more spending in the near future.
What does this mean for building product manufacturers? Take a lesson from history and become involved in the public building investments that have been and will continue to be undertaken nationwide. To gain a competitive advantage, building product manufacturers must appeal to the architects and customers responsible for these building projects. With new energy efficiency standards rapidly being put into place, architects are specifying products that will contribute to energy efficiency and sustainability.
Funding for institutional projects has taken off in the past year and design-build companies with a green eye have come out ahead. College campuses nationwide are looking for ways to become more sustainable, and they are competing to fund projects that will build new green buildings and retrofit old ones for energy-efficiency.
Recently, the US signed a contract to begin construction on the USDepartment of Homeland Security’s new headquarters in Washington,DC. Building Design and Construction reports that this project, the first phase of which will be headed by joint venture Tishman-AECOM, is the largest federal construction project since the Pentagon was built. The total cost of this project, with an anticipated completion in 2016, is expected to top out at around $4 billion.
Building Design and Construction also reported in December that the state of California is undergoing three large-scale healthcare construction projects. The total cost for building the three hospitals is expected to be an astounding $4 billion. Building teams for the hospitals are collaborating to use the most advanced and efficient green designs available in the building market.
By offering products that meet the needs of the institutional market, building product manufacturers can not only make themselves more valuable in the construction industry, but can also play a role in revitalizing the nation’s economy.
Business is about making connections. It's who you know and connecting them with what you have to offer. And that is what Function: does - ...
: READ MORE
1. Attack the Market at a Regional Versus National Level Define a manageable amount of key regional markets, approximately six to eight, and focus ...
: READ MORE
A scene in the film Minority Report shows a flat screen TV greeting customers at stores with personalized ads. The Hunger Games’ notorious capitol society ...
: READ MORE
Function: remains engaged with our clients target audiences to better understand their habits, thought processes and to stay ahead of industry trends. This enables us ...
: READ MORE
In the age of social media, smart phones and online meeting tools, many people find themselves yearning for face-to-face interaction. Companies who put extra effort ...
: READ MORECarl Seville, GBA Advisor It isn't easy to meet the energy and water requirements set by the LBC The Living Building Challenge uses the flower ...
: READ MOREby Carl Seville, GBA Advisor This new non-profit has a solid pedigree and lofty goals Image 1 of 4 Adam Deck, the director of the ...
: READ MOREBy Carl Seville, greenbuildingadvisor.com How I learned more than I expected at an affordable housing conference I recently learned that in Georgia, as well as ...
: READ MOREBy Laura Davis, AIA, Dallas Architect There’s more to choosing an architect than what you’ll see in a résumé or proposal. Dallas Architects, Laura Davis, ...
: READ MOREBy Megan Tinkler, meganleanne.com Often times the term “modern design” is misused and misinterpreted by the general public. It is thrown around casually to describe ...
: READ MORE
Two-thirds of architects and designers, contractors and builders are using mobile apps. But out of those, what percentage are using mobile apps for business purposes? ...
: READ MOREIt's no secret that product manufacturer websites are a key resource for product specification. On the other hand, did you know claims from the manufacturer ...
: READ MOREby Ted Hettick, New Business Director, Function: During one of our Construct Knowledge Series Webinars, an editor asserted that 75% of information would be gathered ...
: READ MOREIn a year when large building and construction companies still felt the economic ripples of a hard-hit industry, Brian Zeis, president of Anjer Construction, said ...
: READ MOREOscar Wilde once said, “There is only one thing worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Today, in the age ...
: READ MOREContractors’ schedules are fast-paced and demanding. With more days spent out of the office than in, contractors often have little time to check email, browse ...
: READ MOREFunction: recently surveyed over 1,000 Manufacturers to examine the outlook for marketing building products in 2011. Through this research, we identified the direction of marketing ...
: READ MOREby Ted Hettick, New Business Director, Function: If you've met with me in person recently, you probably heard me talking about the contractor trend study ...
: READ MORE
Researchers in the UK are attempting to create something radical for the building industry: a living building skin. Like coral, this carbon negative compound is ...
: READ MOREby Ted Hettick, New Business Director, Function: The other day I had the chance to visit with TVS Design's Sustainable Studio Director, Susie Spivey-Tilson. As ...
: READ MOREIt’s important to tailor any marketing approach to the specific product and company, but with over twelve years of experience in this market, we at ...
: READ MORESure Social Media is a fun way to kill time with pointless status updates, playing games, sharing pictures, reuniting with old friends and keeping tabs ...
: READ MOREby Ted Hettick, New Business Director, Function: Ever heard of FUMIFU? I am a big proponent of acronyms and this one stuck with me. I ...
: READ MOREIn PR, knowing market trends is a foundational element of doing business. In the last few years, nothing has made a bigger impact than the ...
: READ MOREICC, ANSI, ASTM, ISO, ASHRAE - the string of monikers floating around in the world of building codes is a long one. And on March ...
: READ MORE
by Ted Hettick, New Business Director, Function: As we move into March of Twenty Ten, we find winter begrudgingly winding down and tax season winding ...
: READ MOREOpening his State of the Union address with a reference to the periods of economic trouble America has faced and endured in the last century, ...
: READ MORERecently, Function conducted a Webinar on the changing face of media relations. We brought in some of the most well respected and knowledgeable media experts ...
: READ MOREA New Culture For years the American mindset was “greed is good” (á la Gordon Gekko in the 1987 movie “Wall Street”). We produced a ...
: READ MOREThere was a time that marketers reached their audiences solely through print – printed pieces of mail, printed advertisements in magazines and newspapers, and printed ...
: READ MORE
by Jessi Probus, PR, Function:photo credit: Nationalgeographic.com It finally happened. Thanks to Al Gore, polar bears, and time-lapse glacier photos, being green is trendy. Celebrities ...
: READ MOREby Joslyn Fagan, Director of Public Relations, Function: For those of you who read this blog regularly (you are out there, right?), you may remember ...
: READ MORE
by Joslyn Fagan, Director of Public Relations, Function: As the mother of a six-month-old I spend a lot of time reading books that are designed ...
: READ MOREAs a society we have become increasingly aware of the impact of our behavior on the global environment. We have found ourselves, in a short ...
: READ MOREIn today’s tight market, competition is fierce. People and businesses are competing for jobs, clients and projects – using whatever means necessary to win. However, ...
: READ MOREBuilding Information Modeling, or BIM, is a design movement that has captured the interest of the industry and created a huge “buzz.” There’s still much ...
: READ MORE
