Engineering Influence from ACEC

Introducing 2024-2026 ExCom Vice-Chair Peter Moore

Peter Moore, PE, FACEC, F.ASCE, F.FES, LEED AP, ENV SP – Florida President and CEO of Chen Moore and Associates, Inc. Vice Chair (2024-2026) Peter Moore is the President and CEO of Chen Moore and Associates, Inc, a multi-disciplinary engineering firm headquartered in Florida. Peter started in the firm as a project engineer, and has served as President for 16 years, currently leading over 125 professionals. He has been the President or Board Chair of eight organizations, ranging from local leadership non-profits to service on the Executive Committee of the American Society of Civil Engineers. Peter has a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering and Master of Engineering from the University of Florida. He is a licensed Professional Engineer in Florida and holds certifications as a LEEP AP and ENV SP. Peter has been elected as a Fellow of ACEC, ASCE, and the Florida Engineering Society. Peter lives with his wife Karolynn and daughter Sofia in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

Introducing 2024-2026 Vice Chair, Erica Jensen

Erica Jensen is the Vice President of CRW Engineering Group, based out of Anchorage, Alaska. CRW is a 100-employee, multi-discipline engineering and land surveying firm serving clients throughout Alaska and the Pacific Northwest.
Erica previously served as Executive Director for ACEC Alaska and various board and national positions for professional and technical engineering organizations.
Erica graduated summa cum laude from the University of Alaska Anchorage with a BS in Civil Engineering, followed by an MS in Engineering Management.

ACEC Market Insights: What’s Driving the Industry

Recently, the US Census released the results of its monthly Value of Construction Put in Place Survey. The survey provides estimates of the total dollar value of construction work done in the U.S. This data includes design and construction spending for public and private projects.  
With an estimate of $2.05 trillion (seasonally adjusted) for November 2023, this is the 11th consecutive month where construction spending rose, beginning in December 2022. 
Total Construction spending growth continues to be strong. Nominal values are still at all-time highs with 11.3% growth (seasonally adjusted). 
MoM growth is 0.4%, a decrease from last month’s revised 1.2% 
Spending growth continues to vary by project classification 
Year to Date spending growth on Public Construction projects is significantly higher at 14.6% compared to Private Construction at 3.9% 
Source: US Census Value of Construction Put in Place Survey January 2, 2024, release 
 
Nonresidential spending continues to have larger share of total construction spending since crossover in September 2022 though is plateauing 
Nonresidential project classifications grew at 18.1% YOY, a decrease from last month’s 20.0% 
Total nonresidential saw a decline in MoM growth at -0.1% compared to last month’s 0.1% 
 
Residential spending continues upward growth from April 2023 low 
November was the second month in 2023 with positive YoY growth at 3.7% 
7th consecutive positive MoM growth at 1.2% 
Source: US Census Value of Construction Put in Place Survey, January 2, 2024, release 
We can point to fiscal policy and subsequent private investment in sectors like manufacturing, and wastewater as supporting these high growth levels, while the residential sector continues its rebound. Compared to previous month’s, the Total Power (up 10.2% YTD) & Total Public Safety (up 11.3% YTD) sectors continue to grow and are no longer “bottom” growth categories, spurred by increased Government spending in this category. 

Reduced-Carbon Concrete Solutions and Opportunities in Paving and Construction

We were joined on the podcast by experts in low carbon concrete including Dr. Peter Taylor P.E. (IL), FACI, Director, National Concrete Pavement Technology Center, Thomas Van Dam, Ph.D., P.E., FACI, Principal, Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc., and Eric Ferrebee, Senior Director of Technical Services at the American Concrete Pavement Association to preview their new upcoming online class on the applications of reduced carbon concrete.
Construction project specifications are changing because of client requirements for low-carbon materials. Understanding and accepting the differences in materials is imperative to quality construction and engineering practices. These trends provide an opportunity for firms to provide expertise and consultation to achieve sustainable, resilient, and long-lasting results.
To facilitate the transition, the Inflation Reduction Act provides over $5 billion in grant funding to be used for three new Federal Highway Administration programs, including Low-Carbon Transportation Materials Grants. An anticipated $2 billion in funding is expected to be announced to support transportation programs.
The online course begins on January 31st.  Registration information can be found here. 
 

The Ethical Engineer with Tim Groover

Tim Groover will be leading ACEC's upcoming course titled: “Personal and Organizational Ethics: Charting a Values-Based Course to Authenticity and Trust." We sat down with Tim to discuss the importance of ethics in engineering and how his course will differ from others on the topic.

Key Findings from the First-Ever Diversity Roadmap

The ACEC Research Institute has released its first-ever Diversity Roadmap, the culmination of a six-month process designed to help member firms execute against their diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) goals. Launched in Summer 2023 and sponsored by the Zweig Group, the Roadmap is a comprehensive, data-driven tool that assesses the maturity of a firm’s DEIB program. Using these data, the tool then provides actionable suggestions on how firms can make further progress on their diversity journeys. In short, the tool doesn’t just tell firms how well they are doing. It tells them how they can do better. To participate in the Roadmap, firms were asked a series of questions about their practices and policies in a variety of areas: Workplace, Workforce, Marketplace, and Supplier/Community. Their answers to these individual areas were scored, then aggregated to produce a final score. Scores range from Aspiring (for firms at the earliest stages of building their DEIB disciplines) to Optimizing – firms that have robust strategic programs in place. In between are firms that are Emerging or Managing, signaling solid progress but outstanding work yet to be done. While most member firms are early in their DEIB journeys (80 percent scored as “Aspiring”), it is worth noting that nearly 200 ACEC member firms participated in the Roadmap initiative, which signals both a willingness and an appetite for creating diverse workspaces. And that appetite comes from the top of our firms. The data indicate that firm leaders show significant support for DEIB issues; the majority of responding firms have a CEO or president who articulates a commitment to these issues (68 percent always/often). This commitment can be seen in the numbers of firms that have initiatives for creating an inclusive work environment for all employees (68 percent) and in firms that have mechanisms in place for actively recruiting diverse candidates (64 percent). Nearly half (49 percent) are seeking to broaden awareness of DEIB topics, with 42 percent of firms reporting that they communicate the importance of these issues to their employees. While 24 percent of firms report having no DEIB initiatives, these firms’ participation in the Study would seem to signal at least some level of interest. And it’s not too late for firms that are interested in participating in the Roadmap but have not yet entered their data. The tool was closed for responses in advance of the ACEC Fall Conference but has been reopened and will stay open through the end of the year. If your firm would still like to participate, please contact institute@acec.org to receive your login information if you don’t have it. The deadline to submit 2022 data is Dec 31, 2023. Submitting by the end of the year will enable firms to benchmark year over year improvements when the tool opens back up for 2023 data collection in early Spring 2024.

Government Affairs Update for January 2024

Steve Hall, ACEC's Executive Vice President, joined the podcast to provide an update on what the Council's advocacy team is working on and what we're expecting for 2024.

Winds of Change - How Climate Change is Impacting the Legal Standard of Care

"Winds of Change - How Climate Change is Impacting the Legal Standard of Care" orginially appeared in issue four of Engineering Inc, the magazine of the American Council of Engineering Companies.  For more information please visit www.acec.org.