QXO Looking to Hit $50 Billion Mark in Next Few Years
After a big acquisition year, the giant distributor looks to grow through both new deals and internal expansion. Speaking recently at the Economic Club of New York, company founder Brad Jacobs said that QXO’s acquisition earlier this year of Beacon Roofing Supply was just the first step in his goal to take the company to […]
NAHB Reports Remodeling Gaining on New Construction
The new home building market remains stagnant but a new study reports home renovation is driving a larger share of the building market. The number of remodeling companies has nearly doubled over the past 25 years, the National Association of Home Builders discovered when analyzing census bureau data, growing from fewer than 69,000 companies to […]
Meta and Microsoft Latest Mass Timber Converts
The two giant tech companies better known for software than hard timber are using the material for new data centers. For massive technology companies like Meta (many of us still call it Facebook) and Microsoft, it’s usually all about bits and bytes but each of these two giants is now using mass timber construction technology […]
Lot Supplies Hit Five-Year High but Still Off Historical Levels
New data shows the supply of building lots in the second quarter of the year was up 20.6 percent over a year ago. Zonda’s New Home Lot Supply Index reported its fourth consecutive quarterly increase but the research firm said the market remains “significantly undersupplied,” a condition that has prevailed since 2017. The LSI tracks […]
Check Out Seattle’s Zoo for the Newest Use of Mass Plywood
A new 12,000-square-foot pavilion in the Woodland Park Zoo in Washington State is nearing completion. A new trailhead in the more-than-100-year-old zoo leading to the mass plywood pavilion is being finished up, the latest use of this new construction method using engineered wood. “Designed to be one of the most innovative mass plywood pavilions, the […]
Houzz Barometer Grows More Cautious
The uncertainties surrounding the national economy, especially in the home building sector, are turning pros more pessimistic. The new Q3 U.S. Houzz Renovation Barometer, a key metric for sizing up the overall state of mind of the professional building community, is out and it shows another decline in sentiment, the second consecutive quarter of such […]
California Reverses Itself, Exempting Projects from Eco Law
In a stunning turnaround in a state with some of the strictest environmental laws in the country, many construction projects will now be excluded from protectionist laws. The YIMBY — Yes In My Back Yard — faction has won a major victory in the country’s most populous state with the signing into law by Gov. […]
Lumber Prices Edge Up in May
As inventories issues continue to accumulate the supply chain is causing prices to increase. Madison’s Lumber Reporter said for the week ending May 30, Western Spruce-Pine-Fir was up 1 percent, or $6, to $450 per thousand-board-feet from the week before. Compared to a month ago, it was also up 1 percent. Year-over-year the increase was […]
Teddy Roosevelt Riding into the Mass Timber Movement
The new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Library in North Dakota is the latest mass timber structure – fitting for a man who loved nature. He was the driving force behind the creation of the National Parks Department so it seems only fitting that his library, now under construction in Medora, ND, use mass timber construction. Set to […]
These Are the World’s 9 Most Beautiful Bamboo Buildings
Architectural Digest searched the world for the most beautiful structures made of bamboo, many of which are in Asia. Bamboo has been a building material staple for centuries, especially in Asia, but is often used in more pedestrian applications. Architectural Digest magazine decided there was more to bamboo than that and set out to find the […]