Local 636 donates to Wellness House

Finances at the Wellness House got a little better last month, thanks to the generosity of members of Pipe Fitters, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Service Local 636.

A hat was passed at the local's recent awards night banquet, and members donated $650 to the charity, which will be used toward building maintenance.

The Wellness House has been in existence for 15 years, and was Michigan's first provider of housing for AIDS patients. They work out of two 80-year-old houses in Detroit, "and they're both very high-maintenance," said Wellness House Executive Director Robert Fetzer. "We're grateful for the gift."

The Wellness House provides housing and nutritional services for people with HIV, and they provide a home to 12 patients and serve meals to 400 more at any given time.

"We're kind of proud that we could just pass the hat and get this level of response," said Local 636 Business Manager Jim Lapham. "We felt it was for a good cause, and hopefully it will help them out a little."

Material costs all over the map

While people costs in the construction industry have increased (see story at right), the trend in the cost of building materials and fuel has been more of a zig-zag affair.

According to the Engineering News Record, the cost of some building materials has been up; some have gone down, others have remained about the same. The rising price of oil and gas has been one of the biggest factors affecting costs for contractors.

"Low energy cost was one of the primary engines driving the current record-breaking economic expansion," the ENR said, "but that started to give way in the second half of last year."

"We are not very optimistic about energy prices in the near-term, especially with OPEC falling short of its promised production increases," said Amy Carneal, an analyst with Data Resources Inc., a Washington, D.C.-based price forecasting firm. They're forecasting a 1 percent jump in light fuel prices and a 5 percent increase in diesel fuel in 2001.

ENR's average price for paving asphalt ended the year up 22% above December 1999's level, while the Bureau of Labor Statistics' October producer price index for bituminous concrete was up 13% for the year.

PVC water pipe ended 2000 with annual increases between 9 and 12%, down from a 30% rate recorded earlier in the year.

In December, annual prices had fallen 14% for half-inch gypsum wallboard, 9% for 2x4 lumber and 6% for 5/8-in. plywood. Last year, these same products were flying high with peak annual inflation rates of 36% for wallboard, 22% for plywood and 17% for lumber. Steel and cement prices have been less volatile, and costs haven't moved too much.

The ENR said excess material capacity in those areas has led to the lower or stable prices, even while demand has been high.

There are many indexes that track overall construction industry costs. The ENR's Building Cost Index is forecasted to increase 2.6% by December 2001, or about 1.2% more than in December 2000.