10/20/2014 Summer 2014 Newsletter from The Concord Group

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Summer 2014, Vol. 5, Issue 355 East Monroe StreetSuite 2850Chicago, IL 60603312.424.0250 330 East Kilbourn AvenueSuite 565Milwaukee, WI 53202414.225.5305 300 Ottawa Avenue NWSuite 230Grand Rapids, MI 49503616.235.3000 www.concord-cc.com Contact us at any of ouroffices or at. info@concord-cc.com

NEW PROJECTS ProjectManagement Wheaton FranciscanHealthcare- St. Francis InterventionalRadiology Project Cost Management General ServicesAdministration- 610 S, Canal - Coil

Dear Edward, Welcome to the most recent issue of our newsletter. This isan opportunity for us to share information about what's going on withour firm and staff.

BIM According to Tim Over the last couple of years our Senior Project Manager, Tim Clancy, hasbeen in the process of obtaining a master's degree at the MilwaukeeSchool of Engineering (MSOE) in Construction and Business Management.For his final assignment he was required to write a thesis paper for which hedecided the topic would be "An Owner's Guide to Leveraging BuildingInformation Modeling (BIM)". Through his research he found that, despitehard evidence that BIM can be a very profitable process, many designersand contractors are still not utilizing it. In fact, the Royal Institute of BritishArchitects (RIBA) completed a study in 2012 and found that only 39% ofparticipants in the construction industry in Europe were currently using BIM.In 2013 McGraw Hill completed a survey of contractors in the United Statesand found that contractors who used it were only utilizing it on 30% of theirprojects. When asked what sort of opinion he formed from his research andfindings Tim replied, "Owners embarking on a large capital project shouldrequire that their designers, contractors and project team members utilizeBIM and should consider including their experience with it in their selectioncriteria mix. Owners should use a BIM Execution Plan to make sure that theproject team is maximizing the benefits of the process. Owners that requireand properly manage BIM will benefit from the increased profitability thattheir project team achieves by using it." The Concord Group has recentlydeveloped a template for a BIM Execution Plan that will be used by ourProject Management staff to help our clients better leverage the BIMprocess and achieve their project goals. We have also recentlyimplemented a new state-of-the-art software for construction estimatingwithin our firm that allows us to distill information directly from Revit files intoan instantly organized and usable data set. The use of this organized andconditioned data results in a more efficient and more accurate take-off ofquantities which in turn allows us to provide our services in a more efficientand cost effective manner.

Market Update andAIA Billing Index Update The AIA recently reported that architecture firms have exhibited

10/20/2014 Summer 2014 Newsletter from The Concord Group

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Replacement- JCK 6th & 9th Floor CeilingReplacement- JCK - Federal Reserve BOG -30th Floor Public Building Commission- Southeast Area ElementarySchool (SEAES)- Southwest Area ElementarySchool (SWAES)- Public Safety TrainingAcademy (Malcom X)- City Hall Basement ChillerReplacement 1400 N. Lakeshore Drive- Column Repair Retirement Community -Virginia (Orchard Ridge) VA Detroit A3 South Milwaukee Public Library - Tippecanoe Branch LibraryRemodeling Appleton Public Library Housing Authority of CookCounty- Goedke and King HousingDevelopments Data Center- Cottage Grove, WI Clarke House Museum University of Wisconsin-RiverFalls- Falcon Center Beloit Health System- Masterplan University of Illinois at UrbanaChampaign- Veterinary Medicine RoofReplacement Purdue University- Krannert Building AHUReplacement Real EstateAdvisory Services Cost Segregation

Schweitzer Dental- Dental Office Dutch Hollow Community- Mobile Home Community

Loan Monitoring Solutions Equity Capital SA- Hilton Garden Inn - Minot, ND- Hilton Garden Inn - Dickinson,

strong gains in billings this summer. This would indicate that designactivity may be entering a stronger phase after a weakperformance late last year and earlier this year. Employmentstatistics show that as of July, the year over year increase inemployment in the architecture and engineering sector stands at4.5% and this is another favorable indicator showing ongoinggrowth in this sector which typically leads to future growth in theconstruction market.

Construction starts in July pulled back in comparison to June asreported by Reed Construction Data. This is to be expected ashistorically projects start to move into construction earlier in theyear and as the summer progresses the number of starts decline.Year to date starts are up 4.8% compared to the same time periodlast year, indicating that there is sustained growth in the number ofprojects that are starting construction. Reed Construction Data hasfurther indicated that the level of demand for new constructioncontinues to increase. With a population that is growing atapproximately 0.8% per annum, the need for additional housingand improved infrastructure continues to rise. The jobless rate inconstruction now stands at around 7.5%; this is somewhat low incomparison to previous years. The construction sector is alsoadding jobs at a faster rate than the total economy in general(3.6% v 1.9%, year over year). We expect to see construction laborcosts increase in general as the availability of skilled labor willbecome more challenging for contractors trying to meet theincreasing demands of new contracts.

10/20/2014 Summer 2014 Newsletter from The Concord Group

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ND- Hilton Garden Inn - Bismarck,ND- Hampton Inn & Suites -Sidney, MT- Hampton Inn & Suites -Glendive, MT- Assisted Living Facility -Meridian, MS Mercantile Bank- Arena Place - Mixed UseFacility - Grand Rapids, MI Fifth Third Bank- The Residence at GrandCircus Park - ApartmentComplex - Detroit, MI- The Rock - MSU StudentHousing Staff Updates New EmployeesChicago Office Gavin MullanJunior Cost Estimator

Graphs courtesy of the American Institute of Architects: ABI

We hope that you have found our newsletter both enjoyableand helpful. We look forward to seeing you in the nearfuture. Sincerely,

Ed StritchPresident and CEOThe Concord Group

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The Concord Group | 55 East Monroe Street | Suite 2850 | Chicago | IL | 60603