Industry The VOICEThe Issue 1, 2024 The official magazine of The Construction Users Roundtable Register for CURT Events! www.curtevents.com 2024 and BeyondThe Construction Users Roundtable 3 IN DEPTH WORDS OF WISDOM 5 This Issue’s Experts 7 A Message from Jim Ellis, CURT Chairman of the Board Published For: The Construction Users Roundtable 2245 Gilbert Avenue, Suite 100 Cincinnati, Ohio 45206-3000 Tel: (513) 563-4131 E-mail: construction-users@curt.org Web: www.curt.org Published By: Matrix Group Publishing Inc. Please return all undeliverable addresses to: PO Box 41270 1450 Vassar Street Reno, NV 89504 Toll Free Tel: (866) 999-1299 Toll Free Fax: (866) 244-2544 www.matrixgroupinc.net President & CEO Jack Andress Operations Manager Shoshana Weinberg weinberg@matrixgroupinc.net Senior Publisher Jessica Potter jpotter@matrixgroupinc.net Editor-in-Chief Shannon Savory ssavory@matrixgroupinc.net Editor/Social Media Manager Jenna Collignon Finance/Administration Lloyd Weinberg, Nathan Redekop accounting@matrixgroupinc.net Director of Circulation & Distribution Lloyd Weinberg distribution@matrixgroupinc.net THE COVER 12 Investing in Wellbeing: When Construction Companies Focus on Their Workers’ Mental Health, Everyone Reaps the Rewards 17 A Passion for Positive Change: Fluor is Delivering Sustainable Solutions to Build a Better World 19 AI in the Built Environment: What Can Construction Professionals Expect From Artificial Intelligence in 2024 and Beyond? LEADERSHIP The Construction Industry: 2024 and Beyond This issue’s cover story shares the theme of CURT’s National Conference in February and will seek to answer a question that’s on everyone’s mind… what can the construction industry expect in 2024… and beyond? 8 ,QGXVWU\ 7KH VOICE The Issue 1, 2024 The official magazine of The Construction Users Roundtable :MOQ[\MZNWZ+=:<-^MV\[ ___K]Z\M^MV\[KWU IVL*MaWVL Your Subscription Your Way! Scan this QR code or email distribution@matrixgroupinc.net to subscribe or update your existing subscription information. Note, The VOICE is free for representatives of CURT member companies. FEATURES WHAT’S UP ONLINE 23 An Appetite for Innovation: There is a Broad Acceptance of the Sector’s Ongoing Issue With Productivity – and an Appetite to Fix It 26 INDEX TO ADVERTISERSThe Construction Users Roundtable 5 Thank you to the contributors who shared their expertise in this edition. THIS ISSUE’S EXPERTS Jim Ellis, Chairman of CURT’s Board, is a Senior Executive with over 40 years of global leadership experience in business, operations, manufacturing, technology, engineering, project management, and supply chain. Jim has a demonstrated track record of delivering sustainable shareholder value while building strong sustainable internal and external stakeholder relations across the globe. Cal Beyer, CWP, is a human capital risk management and well-being consultant. He has been a contributor to The VOICE since March 2020. He serves on the Executive Committee for the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention and the Advisory Groups for Goldfinch Health, MindWise Innovations, Youturn Health, and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. Michael Costas is Bechtel’s General Manager for Defense and Space. He has over 40 years of total Defense, Space, and Department of Energy experience. Michael joined Bechtel in 2011 and has served in a variety of roles in corporate and on projects. Prior to Bechtel, he worked for Raytheon and Boeing. Jamie Dabbs, CSP, ASP, CRIS, is VP of Safety, Health and Environmental for TDIndustries, a premier mechanical construction firm. Jamie joined TDIndustries after earning a Bachelor of Science Degree in Occupational Safety and Health from Southeastern Oklahoma State University. Jamie pioneered TDIndustries’ best-in-class safety culture and vision, ZERO Harm. Kathi Dobson is a Safety Director for Alberici Constructors and leads safe work efforts in their automotive, industrial processes, and Mexican divisions. She is a 25-year veteran of the company and has a special emphasis on worker health and well-being and issues related to women in the industry. Dr. Gretchen Gagel is an experienced advisor and leader with over 25 years of experience in the construction industry. Gretchen is currently Chair of the Board of Brinkman Construction; and she is a member of the National Academy of Construction (US), the AGC Diversity and Inclusion Committee (US), and the Construction Industry Culture Taskforce (AUS). Clay Gilge is a Principal and National Lead for KPMG’s Capital Projects practice, with over 27 years of experience in construction performance management, risk and controls, construction technology, and advanced project analytics. Clay is the Chief Architect of KPMG’s industry leading Major Projects Advisor tool and he has authored more than 30 articles on construction technology, risk, and performance. Xavi Juarez is the Director of HP’s Construction Services division. Based in Barcelona, he has overseen the development and introduction of HP’s SitePrint robotic layout solution in multiple markets around the world. Xavi has been in the HP Large Format business for over 22 years, including the roles of Director of Product Strategy for HP’s DesignJet and PageWide XL portfolios, as well as the worldwide marketing lead for HP PageWide XL printers. Sean Manning, PE, BCEE, is Director, Project Management, Advanced Technologies & Life Sciences, at Fluor. He has over 25 years of experience in civil engineering planning and design, design-build construction, general contracting, and construction management services in the municipal, federal government, and commercial sectors. Ken Simonson has been Chief Economist for the Associated General Contractors of America since 2001. He provides insight into the economy and what it implies for construction and related industries through frequent media interviews, presentations, and The Data DIGest, his weekly one-page e-newsletter. Ken has more than 40 years of experience analyzing, advocating, and communicating about economic and tax issues. Lalith Subramanian is Vice President, Product Management & Engineering at Autodesk. He is an accomplished leader with a track record of product innovation in SaaS/cloud businesses. Prior to Autodesk, Lalith served as VP of Product Development at DocuSign, where he led product for the DocuSign Foundations platform as well as global engineering, product management and cloud operations, in addition to driving Docusign’s AI initiatives across product lines. The Construction Users Roundtable 7 WORDS OF WISDOM A message from the CURT Chairman of the Board. CURT: 2024 and Beyond L ooking forward to 2024 and beyond, CURT remains dedicated to providing solutions that enable driving safe, sustainable, efficient, and profitable capital projects across all industries globally! Over the past year, we’ve undergone significant strategic development, refining our vision, mission, strategies, and governance model. Our focus is on actionable plans developed through Sprint Teams and projects that will yield immediate improvements for the industry at large while ensuring CURT effectively supports its members and stakeholders. We’re excited about these changes and determined to make a tangible difference in the world. In identifying a needed crucial shift, we’ve recognized the necessity to translate established best practices, knowledge, expertise, and technology into active implementation for member and industry value. CURT aims to serve as the catalyst for necessary transformation. Numerous critical areas demand our collective attention: • Safety has continued to erode with fatalities up over 11 percent in 2023 vs. the prior year. • Cost and schedule overruns continue to impact shareholder value and returns. • 95+ percent of all MEGA project (>$1B) fail to meet at least one critical business objective. • Capital projects generate more than 40 percent of transactional waste and inefficiencies. • Stakeholder expectations continue to increase impacting permit timelines. • Buildings represent 40 percent of all global carbon emissions with ~11 percent stemming from building materials. • Skilled craft labor availability remains a significant unmitigated project risk. Despite these daunting statistics, we’re confident in the readiness and enthusiasm of CURT and its stakeholders to revolutionize our capital project industry. The growth projected for the global construction industry, which will more than double over the next 10 years, emphasizes the urgency for significant change. If we don’t adapt fundamentally, we’ll miss out on a tremendous opportunity that will enable our industry to deliver capital projects that are more safe, sustainable, efficient, productive, and profitable. CURT is uniquely positioned to work with our great member companies across the supply chain to provide solutions that create sustainable stakeholder value at or better than expectations! Our roadmap for change has already seen progress. In 2023, we engaged our members extensively through surveys and focus groups, and in the process transitioned from committees to Sprint Teams that are dedicated to delivering solutions. These teams are addressing crucial areas like ESG & Sustainability, Procurement & Contracting, Safety, Workforce Development, Emerging Leaders, Technology & Productivity, Lean Project Delivery, and Off-Site Construction/Modularization. We will be sharing more on the key priority projects for Sprint Teams at our upcoming National Conference in February! The outcomes from these teams will be disseminated through various channels, including meetings, summits, papers, blueprints, and webinars. We welcome all CURT members to share their expertise and/or experiences on any of these subjects. Or, let us know about a topic that YOU would be interested in pursuing with a team. It’s easy to get involved. Contact Ronna DuBro, CURT Director of Membership and Member Services, rdubro@curt.org or 513-981-2773. CURT values your input! Excitement looms for the launch of a construction-specific AI-driven solutions portal in 2024, with more insights to be shared at our National Conference. I extend heartfelt gratitude to those who contributed to our CURT Committees over the years, paving the way for our progress. I value each of you as members, and appreciate your dedication and guidance, which has been invaluable to CURT and our industry. The challenges we face together in capital projects are formidable, however you can rest assure that CURT is actively crafting solutions. Join us on this transformative journey as we evolve into a leading provider of services while remaining the definitive voice in global capital projects delivery. The groundwork for change is underway; our mission is in progress! We are asking for your continued support and I’m counting on US being the difference! Join us on this transformative journey as we evolve into a leading provider of services while remaining the definitive voice in global capital projects delivery. The groundwork for change is underway; our mission is in progress! ‘ ‘Industry The IN DEPTH Can anyone predict what the construction sector can expect in 2024… and beyond? 2024 and BeyondThe Construction Users Roundtable 9 Industry The L ast year was another exciting yet challenging year for the construction industry. On one hand, there have been some tremendous growth drivers, including government driven grants and loans through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), and the CHIPS Act, as well as the ramp-up of energy transition which is leading to massive spending around renewable generation, electric vehicles, and distributed energy systems. On the other hand, there have been headwinds around systemic challenges such as the commercial real estate lull that has been exacerbated by higher interest rates, construction labor shortages, lingering supply chain disruptions, and volatile material and commodity prices. With 2023 in the rearview mirror, what is on the horizon for 2024 and beyond? The VOICE had the opportunity to speak with four construction thought leaders to hear their predictions about what the future may hold for the construction industry. 2023 was a very good year for Bechtel’s Nuclear, Security, and Environmental global business unit (GBU), and the company experienced significant growth across its five GBUs, with its backlog of projects continuing to grow. Bechtel also added a new Manufacturing and Technology GBU to focus on emerging markets like chip production, electric vehicles, and battery systems, among other innovations that bring Bechtel’s digital capabilities to the world. In recent years following the pandemic, opportunities have been provided to the construction industry, as the United States government has invested heavily into infrastructure spending to strengthen the economy, while building critical national capability. Following suit, Bechtel has made its own internal investments into areas that it expects to become increasingly important as America focuses on becoming net zero by 2050. “We’re looking at innovation and at how we can scale solutions in such a way that we meet our customers’ needs while, at the same time, conserving resources to support projects of the future,” says Bechtel General Manager and Principal Vice President, Michael Costas. “Bechtel is making a clean energy transition and integrating sustainable energy sources into our projects where we can so as the project matures into a capability, it can be sustained without placing demand on critical resources. We are always looking for ways to ensure that our projects are executed in the most responsible way possible.” Costas believes that the construction industry will continue to experience growth into the future, although the pace of that growth is difficult to ascertain. What is known, however, is that infrastructure in the United States is currently seeing a once in a generation level of investment from the federal government to repair the crumbling roads, rail systems, and bridges. Better yet, there is so much infrastructure that needs attention, it would seem that the construction industry will be kept busy for many years to come. But Costas also anticipates that many of the market challenges surrounding the supply chain in recent years following the pandemic will continue to persist, bolstered by complexity that is driven by increased global conflict and a growing sense of economic uncertainty. He also recognizes that the construction industry is nothing if leadership misses the opportunity to effectively manage risk. After all, Bechtel was established more than a century ago and, over the years, the company has successfully built projects through wars, depressions, recessions, and, most recently, a global pandemic. In construction, challenges just come with the territory. As such, from a risk management standpoint, the construction industry needs to be able to continue mitigating risks posed by these challenges. He says, “We have to quickly pivot to meet the demands of our customers and you can’t take anything for granted. Whether it’s the supply chain or the logistics of moving personnel and materials or it’s labor availability, you have to be able to create a kind of symbiotic relationship between all these factors to ensure that they’re fully integrated across the lifecycle of the project. At Bechtel, we want to be a company that’s responsible when addressing any challenges and ensure that our stakeholders are reaping the benefits of what we deliver. That’s what charges us up when we go into work every day.” As the Chair of the Board at Brinkmann Construction and President of Greatness Consulting, Gretchen Gagel has dedicated her career to helping leaders and organizations understand profitability, strategic planning, and growth strategies, as well as how to effectively deliver billions of dollars of construction programs. For the last 25 years, she has also authored the Industry Trends Study, which thematically boils down what is happening in the construction industry. In 2023, Gagel interviewed approximately 40 global construction leaders to help determine what is – or should be – on every construction owner’s radar, focusing on three primary trends: sustainability, inclusion, and artificial intelligence (AI). In terms of sustainability, the construction industry is increasingly conscious of the impact it makes on the planet, and it’s hard not to be. Hardly a day goes by without a story in the news about some flood, storm, or wildfire made worse by the effects of climate change. So, while the industry has reached a minimum standard of sustainability with things like LEED ratings or WELL accreditation, it is now time for construction to look to the future and take it up another notch. Unfortunately, builders today are still largely beholden to what the client is willing to pay for in terms of more sustainable practices or materials. “People say that they are really trying but there is still an incredible amount of waste that’s leaving construction projects and going to landfills, or I hear ‘we want to do better but money is getting in the way,’” says Gagel. “Looking ahead, it will take something like regulation and public policy, as well as requirements from large clients, to really push continued innovation in the area of sustainability. Like sustainability, inclusion in construction is another area that has improved tremendously over the years, but still has lots of room for further improvement. Construction owners today are significantly more cognizant of the need for diversity in the workforce and they are doing great when it comes to “checking the boxes,” but they still tend to struggle with what a true transformation in inclusivity really means. It is not about being nice By Paul Adair, Staff WriterNext >