Driven by a need for speedy delivery and an overarching demand for energy-efficient buildings, federal facilities appear primed for a significant facelift in the near future, if proposed stimulus funds come through. Within the stimulus package proposed last week by House Democrats, the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) and Department of Defense-related facilities would be among the bill’s biggest beneficiaries. The current package calls for $7.7 billion for the GSA, including $6 billion for buildings with an emphasis on energy efficiency upgrades and $1 billion for border stations. Meanwhile, more than $10 billion could flow toward defense-related work, including medical

Think you’ve been overlooked in the $787 billion economic stimulus package? Architecture and engineering (A/E) firms may find more opportunities than they would expect, says Elaine Howley, editor of the recently released manual, Guide to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, produced by ZweigWhite, a Massachusetts-based research and consulting firm. “A lot of designers are put off by the term ‘shovel-ready,’” Howley says. “They think this bill isn’t really for them, but that’s not necessarily the case.” Howley notes that while getting shovels in the ground is a priority, government agencies with stimulus funds have a wide variety

An overall decline in construction starts in the United States could prove more dire than originally thought. McGraw-Hill Construction, RECORD’s corporate affiliate, estimates that the industry experienced an 8 percent decline in construction starts in 2007 and it forecasts another 2 percent drop in 2008. This forecast was released today during McGraw-Hill Construction’s 2008 Construction Outlook conference in Washington, D.C. After reaching a record $668.9 billion in total construction starts in 2006, values are expected to hit $626.7 billion for 2007 and $614.1 billion in 2008. Last year, McGraw-Hill Construction predicted that starts in 2007 would drop 1 percent, as