What do you have under there?

An architect has taken a unique approach to promoting sustainabilty by introducing a line of eco-friendly undewear. The skivvies came out just in time for Earth Day last week, and 10% of the proceeds from the sale of the unmentionables go to various non-profit organizations.

I don't imagine these designs will become part of Casual Friday attire, or at least not on the outside, but it's an interesting way to support your profession and donate to a good cause nonetheless.

What do you think of these? Have you bought any? Do you wish you thought of the idea?

Sometimes it's good to lose

How can you win when you lose? According to the Environmental Protection Agency, when you cut down on your building's energy consumption more than your fellow competitors, you're the big winner of the first National Building Competition. Fourteen buildings across the country will be pitted against each other in the contest to see which one can trim the most fat - or energy - through August. The competition is being run in the spirit of the popular NBC TV show "The Biggest Loser," which encourages overweight combatants to embrace a more healthy lifestyle.

What do you think of this idea? Who do you think will win? What is your company doing to encourage less energy consumption in its designs? Will you be putting those ideas to good use in our second  Board Room contest?

Infrastructure firm with a sense of humor

If you've always wanted to wear a goofy mustache while showing your support for a construction company, have we got a deal for you: Balfour Beatty of London is looking for its funniest fan to be part of the 2010 NAIOP Bus Tour/Trade Show. The funniest fan can head home with an iPhone and Pico iPhone Pocket Projector, so be sure to check it out if you plan to be in the Herndon, VA area on May 6.

Another fun contest idea

In our previous post, we unveiled the second in what we hope will be a series of contests here in The Board Room. Today, we introduce you to The Urban Assembly School of Design's Iron Designer Challenge. The competition is based on "Iron Chef," a popular cooking show in which two experts square off and must use a secret ingredient in five dishes and complete them in an hour. You can read the rules of this challenge for yourself, but I don't expect any cooking to be involved. It sounds like a cool idea. Wish I could be a judge!

It's Earth Day! Get inspired!

Today is the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, so we here in The Board Room are looking to do our part to preserve Mother Earth. To that end, and in keeping with the spirit of ingenuity and innovation we see so often in the design industry, I bring to you our second contest. First, a little background on how it was hatched:

Developer Arthur Huang of the Miniwiz Sustainable Energy Development Co. recently deigned a new expo building in Taipei, Taiwan made from thousands of plastic drink bottles that have been custom-formed with honeycomb fittings to join together and form huge, high-strength, transparent walls. Huang says the project was inspired by the huge numbers of plastic bottles discarded into trash bins. Taiwan's residents are estimated to use and throw away 4.6 billion plastic bottles each year.

So, how does this relate to you? I'm so glad you asked:

We're looking for you - or your firm - to come up with a similar idea and create an actual scale model. Does your office generate a lot of empty bottles? If so, it's time to turn those babies into the inspiration for a new building. It doesn't have to be bottles - it could be anything that isn't getting used and is piling up in a corner.

Let's see what you can do. The best idea gets a Bring TIM Meeting Cost Calculator and Clock. We'll set the deadline for May 28 to get your juices flowing and ideas percolating. Happy Earth Day, everyone!

Billings show slight improvement, more to come?

The end of the first quarter of 2010 brought with it another slight bump in the monthly gauge of design activity by the American Institute of Architects, but the 46.1 number still reflects a decline in billings in March.
The AIA’s Architectural Billings Index was up from 44.8 in February, but until it reaches 50.0, it will still be a sign that the industry hasn’t yet turned the corner on the economic recession.

“It’s up a little, but right now we’re treading water,” AIA Chief Economist Kermit Baker told ZweigWhite in an exclusive interview about the latest numbers. “We’re waiting for something to pop through. There’s really not a lot of strength in these numbers.

“I thought we’d see a little movement, but frankly I thought it would be a bit more. We’re still working our way through this, but the number for March is the highest it’s been for a year and a half,” he says.

New project inquiries made a significant jump from 52.0 in February to 58.5 in March, but Baker has discounted the rise in that number for several months, saying it hasn’t been translating into new work despite the move upward. He has said the increase is likely due to more firms reaching out for any projects they think could possibly generate work for them at a time when revenue is at a premium.

Baker believes an increase in payrolls in the larger economy could bode well for the future in terms of billings in the design industry. He continues to point to the second half of 2010 as the time when the ABI will finally crack the elusive 50.0 barrier, reflecting an increase in design activity.

“If we see a 1- to 1.5-point increase for each of the next three months, we’re right there at that 50 number so we’re on track to reach it by the middle of this year,” he says. “That bump we’re seeing in payrolls will ultimately percolate into the design sector. It’s just a question of when it happens.”

After the recession in 2001, it took about three years for the billings index to reach 50 again, Baker says, and of course that recession was not nearly as deep as the one in which we are now engulfed.

“The more new jobs there are out there, these companies are going to need more facilities,” he says. “There’s been a pretty tight correlation over time between jobs picking up and design activity, then of course you see construction pick up nine to 12 months later.”

Baker doesn’t believe the apparent glut of commercial space will slow down the design recovery, saying the vacancy rates aren’t significantly higher than they have been in the trough of previous downturns.

Don’t look for the passage of health care reform to be the answer when it comes to design activity picking up, he says.

“I really don’t see a direct connection there,” Baker says. “I haven’t heard a good persuasive argument that the sector will change very much as a result of health care reform.”

The federal economic stimulus package could help, as about half of the money in the pot for design work is expected to be distributed in 2010. Although many have criticized the $787 billion spending package as not delivering the expected results, Baker sees it in a different way.

“The money has to work its way through the economy,” he says.

Reed Business Information shutting down 23 trade pubs

Reed Business Information will stop publishing almost two dozen trade publications, most of which have some connection to the AEC industry. The company will continue to publish Reed Construction Digest, but many of its other building and construction titles will be wrapping up their circulation soon after they were unable to find a buyer to keep them going.

What do you think about this development? Do you subscribe to any of the soon-to-be-shuttered titles?