Here are some news items of interest for you. Look for more industry news in our next issue of Builders Exchange Magazine.

Make plans now to join the Cleveland Restoration Society and AIA Cleveland on May 6 from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.

The Cleveland Engineering Society is seeking entries for the Student Sustainability Challenge. The contest theme is “Turning Your School into a Sustainable School.”

Red-hot steel prices, combined with record diesel fuel costs, are making construction unaffordable," Ken Simonson, Chief Economist for The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC), said today. Simonson was commenting on the producer price indexes (PPIs) for March reported today by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

The Northern Ohio Chapter of the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties (NAIOP) will present its annual Awards of Excellence on Saturday, May 10 starting at 6 p.m. at Windows on the River, black tie optional. NAIOP will be celebrating the 25th anniversary of this event. The annual program recognizes the top accomplishments in the commercial real estate industry in Northern Ohio during the previous year.

Nonresidential construction spending has gone up about 12% in the last year and was up 1.3% in March, according to an Associated Builders and Contracts report citing the Department of Commerce construction spending report.