November 5, 2009
CanaData Conference 2009
With BIM and LEED, Canada risks ignoring the future
Though technologies such as BIM and LEED are changing the way things are done in the architecture and construction industries, many Canadian firms are still reluctant to embrace them, owing mainly to the high costs. Are they ignoring the future at their peril?
“The future has a nasty way of rising up and biting you unless you pay attention to it,” said Daily Commercial News columnist Korky Koroluk, one of the speakers at last month’s CanaData Construction Industry Forecasts Conference in Toronto.
“Canadians generally I don’t think do a very good job of paying attention to the future. But maybe they will on this one – I’m not optimistic. I think that ultimately we’re going to get caught and an awful lot of firms are going to wonder, ‘Why didn’t anybody tell us?”“
Koroluk also assessed what he thinks the greatest threat to economic recovery in Canada will be.
“Timidity,” he said. “We have an inherent fear of trying to be leaders.”
Check out the executive summary from the 2009 CanaData Conference.
Comments: Cost of BIM consulting is 'ridiculous'
VIDEO: B.C. Construction Association welcomes standardized contract forms
Standardized construction documents are long overdue, says the president of the B.C. Construction Association.
Port Mann Bridge under construction
Time-lapse footage shows the progress of construction of the new Port Mann Bridge in Metro Vancouver.
VIDEO: How effective has stimulus spending been?
If you want a good indication of how effective government stimulus spending has been in Canada, look at the “remarkable” institutional starts statistics for the first half of 2010, CanaData chief economist Alex Carrick says.
VIDEO: Owners must lead charge toward BIM adoption
The greatest challenge in getting the architecture, engineering and construction industries to embrace building information modeling is convincing individual players they’d be better off working collaboratively, says the chair of the Canada BIM Council.
VIDEO: Canada’s economy is slowing down
As fall approaches, the Canadian economy is slowing down, but this lower growth is due to factors that beyond the nation’s control, says CanaData Chief Economist Alex Carrick.
VIDEO: Canada should embrace rainscreen cladding systems
Canada has been too slow to embrace rainscreen cladding systems, despite the advantages they offer in terms of better performance, low-cost maintenance and longer-lasting structures, says a distributor of architectural building products.
VIDEO: Ontario General Contractors Association shows support for Gold Seal
All the directors on the board of the Ontario General Contractors Association have become Gold Seal Champions, part of an effort to help promote the national construction certification program.
VIDEO: Green building critical in triple bottom line accounting
Building design and construction standards will undergo significant changes as “triple bottom line” accounting becomes more commonplace in the industry, says a Saskatchewan-based economist.
VIDEO: Boom truck tips over at Vancouver condo project
A boom truck tipped over while delivering lumber to a low-rise condominium construction project in Vancouver’s trendy Kitsilano neighbourhood, near Vine Street and First Avenue.
