Manufacturing construction was hit hard during the pandemic, Steve Jones, senior director of industry insights and research for Dodge Data & Analytics, told ENR's FutureTech conference. In 2019, the sector had more than $32 billion in construction starts. But in 2020, manufacturing starts fell to a third of that and are expected to stay flat in 2021, with only a modest increase of 8% in 2022, Jones said. "It's been choppy," he said. "When consumers stop buying," the supply chain just falls off. The good news is that construction of data centers, warehouses and distribution centers are off the charts. Warehouses and distribution centers alone used to have almost no impact on the commercial building sector. Today, warehouse construction comprises about 30% of the entire sector. "Everything's becoming more and more digital and the need for digital drives the need for e-commerce, and it drives the need for data centers," Anthony Johnson, executive vice president of Clayco, told ENR. Johnson says Clayco has been working on projects for electric vehicle manufacturers and battery manufacturers. "We've been able to play a pretty significant role in the electric vehicle movement, which has been fun," Johnson says.
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