by Brianna Crandall — January 27, 2016—The U.S. building industry is under increasing pressure to deliver high-performance buildings to meet the needs of owners, occupants and the government. Owners and contractors are looking for opportunities to improve certainty in schedule, performance and cost while managing risks. At the same time, there is an increasing concern from multiple segments of the industry on the availability of a skilled workforce, as well as the productivity of the buildings workforce today and into the future.
Efforts are underway on a variety of fronts to address productivity challenges, including the expansion of off-site construction techniques; development of enhanced tools and processes such as building information modeling (BIM); enhancing mid- to long-term forecasts of workforce needs; and attracting new, technology-savvy entrants to the workforce through development of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education programs.
This past fall, the nonprofit National Institute of Building Sciences, an authoritative source of innovative solutions for the built environment, held a Representative Hearing on Productivity and the Workforce. Based on oral and written testimony provided by 18 representatives from a broad group of industry organizations during the hearing, the Institute developed an infographic to identify the major themes that will help the industry address the productivity challenges.
The infographic, titled “Tackling Productivity in the Building Industry,” identifies the recommendations and includes: collaboration; contracts / risk allocation; technology / BIM; metrics and knowledge sharing; safety and quality; life-cycle focus; workforce; and off-site construction.
A panel consisting of representatives from the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), the Institute and the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) presided over the hearing, which was sponsored by Autodesk and supported by the International Code Council (ICC).
Additional outputs based on the hearing will be available later this year.
