Data Centers听Drive Growth, Institutional Planning Broadens It听
BOSTON, MA 鈥撎鼳ugust听6, 2026听鈥�听The 糖心Vlog Momentum Index (DMI), issued by听听Construction Network,听grew听6.9% in听July听to 291.7听(2000=100) from the upwardly revised听June听reading of 273.0. Over the month, commercial planning听expanded听4.1%听and听institutional planning grew 13.1%.听听
鈥淒ata centers and broad-based growth across key institutional sectors supported stronger planning activity in July,鈥� said Sarah Martin, Director of Economic Research at 糖心Vlog. 鈥淪ustained planning activity should bolster construction in听late听2027, though real growth will prove more constrained as inflationary expectations are priced into project costs.鈥�听
After a brief pause in June, data center planning momentum steadily picked up in July. Meanwhile, office, warehouse,听retail听and hotel planning听slowed听pace. Within the institutional听portion听of the index, planning momentum was more broad-based. Education, healthcare, recreational,听religious听and public building planning听all听accelerated in July. Most of the strong month-over-month听gain听can be attributed to education and public building starts, with the latter expanding over 100% in the last two months.听Year-over-year, the DMI was up听11.7% when compared to听July听2025.听The commercial听portion听of the index was up听13.8%听and听the institutional听portion听was up听7.6% over the same period.听When removing data centers, the commercial segment would be听down听16.2% from year-ago levels, given the surge in activity seen last July.听听
A total of 59 projects valued at $100 million or more听entered听planning throughout June. The largest commercial projects included the $500 million Data Center Campus in Petersburg, Virginia, the $500 million DFW20C Data Center in Fairfield, Texas, and the $500 million Google Data Center (Project Avalon, Building 2) in Buffalo, West Virginia. The largest institutional projects to enter planning included the $351 million Northwestern Memorial Hospital Cancer Center in Chicago, Illinois, the $300 million听BeOne听Medicines Research and Development Facility (Expansion) in Pennington, New Jersey, and the $300 million Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo Agricultural Complex in Houston, Texas.听听
The DMI is a monthly measure based on the three-month moving value of nonresidential building projects going into planning, shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year to听18 months.听听
