This month’s issue features our annual architects survey. While last year may go down in the books as the year of the labor shortage in the construction industry, the amount of metal building and construction products specified went up. The overall construction industry was in an expansion last year, and is expected to be continuing its strong growth this year, even with the steel and aluminum tariffs that went into place last year. Check out the full survey, click here.
In other news, the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) announced both the top 10 states and top 10 countries and regions for LEED green building this past month. The annual list ranks states on the number of LEED-certified square feet per person. Overall, the top 10 states are home to 128 million Americans and include more than 468 million gross square feet of LEED-certified space.
Illinois tops the list for LEED certification in 2018, with 172 certified green building projects representing 5.31 square feet of LEED-certified space per resident. The last time Illinois had the top spot was 2015. Also this year, Washington and Texas made returns to the list, each securing the highest rankings in their states’ history, while Colorado made the largest jump from 10 in 2017 to six in this year’s list. To see the complete list of states, go here.
In the USGBC’s list of top 10 countries and regions, Mainland China tops the list with more than 68 million gross square meters. Overall, the top 10 countries and regions account for close to 7,800 certified buildings and more than 210 million gross square meters of space. To check out the full list, click here.
