Clear correlation to climate change and changes in the behavior of the construction industry. It’s not only the manpower, but also construction materials.
This article was authored by Jarred Schenke, and is republished here with the permission of Bisnow Atlanta. © Copyright 2019 Bisnow. All Rights Reserved.
Part 3 in a 3 part series on the construction industry and hot weather
Urban Land Institute Executive Director of the Center for Sustainability and Economic Performance Billy Grayson sees a clear correlation to climate change and changes in the behavior of the construction industry. It’s not only the manpower, but also construction materials.
“Extreme heat can delay construction projects due to the need for specific building materials to cool or cure,” Grayson said. “If these products can’t solidify at the right timing for the project, it can cause significant delays.”
In the past, Choate said his firm would sometimes mix ice into a concrete mix to prevent it from solidifying too fast, which could cause it to crack.
Ware said he has seen clear incidents of climate change complicating construction, not only through heat but also through more days of wet weather.
“A lot of it is unpredictability,” Ware said. “What I’m seeing anymore is just the shifting of the timing of when the wet season is.”
For the years when he ran a construction company in Ohio, he saw heat waves last longer, and more heavy storms in October and November. That wreaks havoc in the construction industry, which depends on predictability to plan projects. That includes planning for expected weather conditions, he said, like focusing construction on the warmer months of the year, or more overnight work during what are expected to be the hotter days.
Ware said this could lead to more adoption of prefabricated construction, which his current company in San Francisco specializes in.
“It’s taking the risk out of the heat wave, because you’re putting the [staff] into a factory or a controlled environment,” he said.
(Source: Schenke, Jarred. “Costs, Complications Plaguing Construction Industry Amid Hottest Summer Ever.” Bisnow.com, Bisnow Atlanta, www.bisnow.com/national/news/construction-development/heatwaves-changing-costing-construction-industry-100007.)
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