5 must reads for the AEC industry today: April 30, 2020

1. College programs help prepare students for careers in the construction industry (BD+C)
"For more than a decade, John Klein has been toggling between academia and the construction industry. His new company, Generate, traces its roots to Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where for more than six years Klein was a teacher and research investigator. Generate exemplifies how universities have been coming down from their ivory towers to nurture ideas that catalyze practical solutions for the built environment."

2. The U.S. Hotel Construction pipeline continued to expand year-over-year despite COVID-19 in the first quarter of 2020 (BD+C)
"Many open or temporarily closed hotels have already begun or are in the planning stages of renovating and repositioning their assets while occupancy is low or non-existent."

3. New York City tightens restrictions on construction during pandemic (BD+C)
"The department issued more than 100 violations and stop-work orders for noncompliance with the construction ban as of April 2. For the most part, though, compliance has been the rule. More than 99% of nonessential construction sites have shut down or are in the process of doing so, the department says."

4. FMI’s Outlook Preview & CIRT Current Issues Survey: Second Quarter 2020 (FMI)
"FMI’s Q2 forecast revisions will exhibit lower construction put in place spending levels. Extended economic disruptions are anticipated
due to ongoing regulation/work from home provisions, unemployment and troubles in the O&G industry. Across the U.S., the Northeast will experience the largest and broadest near-term construction declines, followed by economic pockets of the West and South."

5. A National Movement to Cancel the May Rent Takes Shape (CityLab)
"A campaign dubbed Our Homes, Our Health is pressuring lawmakers to suspend rent and mortgage payments nationwide during the coronavirus crisis."