Lodging, Office Sectors Slow Glass Construction in October

The value of nonresidential glass and glazing construction declined in October, according to Key Media & Research (KMR), a leading information provider to the glass industry. Architectural glass-related activity was down 4.4% compared to a year ago and unchanged from the previous month, at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate.

KMR’s glass and glazing activity figures are developed from the U.S. Census Bureau’s monthly construction spending report, with weighting and models applied to industry-relevant subsectors.

The year-over-year rate of decrease in glass construction was larger than nonresidential construction as a whole, which declined by 3.7% from 2019. Residential construction continued to head in the opposite direction and was up 14.6% from October 2019 to the same month in 2020.

A more-than-23% decrease in lodging construction and a 7.5% drop in office building year-over-year was largely responsible for a 7.2% decline in commercial glass and glazing work.

Meanwhile, changes in glazing contractor activity on the institutional side of nonresidential construction were less severe. Institutional-related glass construction edged down 1.4% from last October to October 2020 while increasing 1% from September.

Healthcare building was up nearly 2% from the same time last year, while the educational category saw a dip of 4.5%. Public safety was again a bright spot, increasing nearly 40% year-over-year.