Moving Forward

by Marcy Marro | June 1, 2021 12:00 am

In recent weeks, things in the U.S. have really started to move forward. And at times, move very quickly. With the increase of vaccinations, and COVID cases down to their lowest points, the U.S. seems poised to be ready for a return to normalcy. Masks are now not required in many places as long as people are vaccinated, and companies and employees are expected to start returning to offices in the next few months.

Additional signs that things are starting to return to normal is the American Institute of Architect’s[1] (AIA) Architecture Billings Index (ABI), which saw scores that hadn’t been seen since before the Great Recession.

For the third consecutive month, the ABI has recorded positive billings. With an April 2021 ABI of 57.9, both the new project inquiries and new design contracts reached record highs with scores of 70.8 and 61.7 respectively. AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker, Hon. AIA, Ph.D., said, “This recent acceleration in the demand for design services demonstrates that both consumers and businesses are feeling much more confident about the economic outlook. The pent-up demand for new and retrofitted facilities is keeping architecture firms in all regions and building sectors busy.”

The U.S. Green Building Council[2], along with the Green Business Certification Inc.[3], released the results of its 2021 community survey[4], which is designed to gather actionable feedback that can be used for program development, as well as gain a better understanding of the needs of the green building and business community. This year’s survey was focused on the USGBC’s COVID-19 response and healthy economy strategy, Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO, USGBC and GBCI, said, and consequently there were double the amount of people who participated over last year’s survey. “Health, equity and green building access were cited as key factors for building reentry, and as we begin to come out from the pandemic, this will continue to be a crucial opportunity for the green building industry,” he said.

Overall, survey respondents see a variety of opportunities after the challenges of the last year, including focusing on health. The largest opportunity shows a greater consumer demand for buildings to promote a healthy environment for occupants (35%), with the connection the general public is making about the impact of sustainability on health and wellness (24%), and the importance of monitoring indoor air quality (22%).

After this past year, members are facing financial challenges and tightening budgets (23%), as well as growing remote workforce (22%), increased operational costs for health and safety protocols (22%), and reduced or no occupancy in buildings (21%).

In the coming months, we will continue to see what changes people and companies are having to make as a result of COVID-19. In the meantime, things are starting to look up and finally, slowly, return to normal.

Source URL: https://www.metalarchitecture.com/blog/moving-forward/

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