Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google

How Inflation, Experience Gaps, and AI Are Reshaping Education Construction and Cost Control

  • 03/23/26

Scott Creekmore, VP of Customer Engagement at Gordian, explains how Gordian evolved from Job Order Contracting into planning tools for facility condition assessments and asset recapture, plus estimating through RSMeans price data. He outlines major challenges facing education construction today: rapid inflation driven by geopolitics, an industry-wide experience gap as seasoned professionals retire without enough backfill, and resulting cost-control volatility where prices swing dramatically over short periods. Creekmore describes how advancing technology—especially AI—along with CMMS and cost-tracking software can help agencies do more with less by improving scope detail, reducing change orders, tracking labor on site, and enhancing cost benchmarking and predictive insights, including regional price differences. He also advocates for longer-term planning, economies of scale, and reexamining procurement laws and options such as cooperative purchasing and job order contracting to improve cost control.

00:00 Meet Scott and Gordian
00:22 Gordian Origins and Services
01:14 Industry Challenges Today
03:14 Tech Trends and AI Tools
05:11 AI for Better Scopes
07:42 Long Term Planning in Education
09:22 Smarter Procurement and Cost Control
10:05 Closing Thoughts

Additional resources:

Sponsored by Gordian

Featured

  • Health & Science Building

    Health & Science Building

    Established in 1999, the Education Design Showcase is a vehicle for showing off innovative — yet practical — solutions in planning, design, architecture, and construction. The College of Western Idaho's Health & Science Building has been recognized with an EDS 2026 Project of Distinction award in the category of New Construction.

  • Wold Completes Geothermal Projects at Two Minnesota Schools

    Wold Architects & Engineers recently announced that it has completed two geothermal expansion projects for Mounds View Public Schools in Shoreview, Minn., according to a news release. The work at Highview Middle School and Irondale High School serves the district’s long-term goal of reducing energy costs and dependency on non-renewable fuel sources, as well as improving building performance.

  • Tomball ISD Opens New Tomball West High School

    Tomball Independent School District in Tomball, Texas, recently celebrated the official opening of Tomball West High School, the district's third comprehensive high school, with a community ribbon-cutting ceremony, according to a district news release.

  • Fargo, N.D., Starts Construction on Consolidated Elementary School

    Fargo Public Schools in Fargo, N.D., recently announced the beginning of construction on a new elementary school, according to a news release. The district partnered with ICON Architectural Group and Kraus-Anderson Construction on the new Horace Mann Elementary School.