A growing number of building owners are looking to design buildings that produce as much energy as they consume each year. These so-called zero-net-energy (ZNE) buildings may sound like a pipe dream, but they’ve already become a reality in many parts of the U.S. and around the world.
While the total construction market in the United States has grown at a modest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 2.4 percent from 2012 to 2014, IHS found in its recent report titled the World Market for HVAC Equipment that 65.2 percent of total HVAC units sold into nonresidential buildings were retrofit sales.
Demand for HVAC equipment in the United States is forecast to increase 6.8 percent annually through 2019 to $20.4 billion, recording gains over twice the rate of the 2009-2014 period, according to a new study from The Freedonia Group Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm.
The United States construction industry added 39,000 jobs in January, including 12,700 net new nonresidential jobs, according to a new preliminary estimate released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
EMCOR Services Fluidics is helping building owners comply with the city of Philadelphia’s new benchmarking law (Bill #120428), which requires all buildings 50,000 square feet and larger to benchmark energy and water consumption annually.
A new course from ASHRAE, part of its ASHRAE Learning Institute fall online course series, offers guidance on best practices for conducting commercial building energy audits.
FMI has announced the release of its 2013 second quarter Nonresidential Construction Index (NRCI) report. The NRCI score of 60.1 is a two point improvement over the first quarter and is the highest score for the index since its inception in the first quarter of 2009.
Even though growth in the U.S. economy continues to be disappointing, nonresidential construction activity is projected to see healthy if unspectacular gains this year, with construction spending for buildings rising by 5 percent in 2013 before accelerating to 7.2 percent in 2014, according to a report from the American Institute of Architects (AIA).