ArcelorMittal, U.S. Set To Raise Steel Prices by $40 per ton
For the first time since last summers slump (2018) US steel prices have increased. Good news for the steelworkers of ArcelorMittal and Nucor as increasing prices have bumped up company profits for US steel to $1.1 billion. However it’s not great news for house builders and consumers, so if you are looking at any projects with a large steel component then you may want to investigate if now is a good time to buy, or if it would be better…
Interview With RIBA International Prize-Winning Architect
UTEC (Universidad de Ingeniería y Tecnología) in Lima, Peru, recently won the first ever RIBA International Prize for 2016. The Royal Institute of British Architects judged the project as “setting a new global standard for architectural achievement.” In an interview with Figueras Seating, Alejandro Shell Montero of Shell Arquitectos spoke about the design and how it reflected both the surrounding natural environment and the people who would occupy it. Here are some excerpts from that interview: The shape of the building reflects…
arc Online Platform Will Drive Green Building Performance
A new online platform, arc, announced at this year’s Greenbuild conference, will allow buildings to measure their energy performance against several green building rating systems, benchmark energy use against similar buildings, and make improvements. LEED-certified buildings can use arc to improve and benchmark against other certified buildings around them. Buildings that have not certified yet will be able to use arc to make incremental sustainability improvements and eventually achieve LEED certification. “The LEED rating system revolutionized the design, construction and…
Canada Tops Out World’s Tallest Wood-Frame Building
Celebrating the tallest wood-frame building of its kind anywhere in the world, Canada’s Minister of Natural Resources Jim Carr recently attended the “topping out” ceremony of the Brock Commons Residence. The new University of British Columbia student housing tower rises 18 stories to reach a stunning 178.8 feet (53 meters) tall. Under construction at the University of British Columbia Point Grey campus, the CA$51.5 million mass timber structure is a hybrid system comprised of cross-laminated timber (CLT) floor slabs, glulam…
SEIA Launches PV Recycling Program
The Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) plans on collaborating with companies like First Solar, SunPower, Flex, JinkoSolar, Panasonic, SolarCity, and Trina Solar as part of a new solar PV recycling program. As SEIA published in mid-September, it has launched a first-of-its-kind national PV recycling program. Of note, this program is designed to ensure the sustainability of the US solar market. In collaborating with major solar companies and developers, SEIA has established a state-of-the-art network of recyclers who are able to handle PV…
UL Courting Solar Market With New Acquisition
This article was originally published on Planetsave Independent global testing and certification body UL (Underwriters Laboratory) has acquired renewable energy engineering services and support firm, AWS Truepower for an unspecified sum. Underwriters Laboratory (UL) announced its AWS Truepower acquisition will strengthen its full lifecycle solutions. “There is strong alignment between the two brands,” said Jeffrey Smidt, vice president & general manager for UL Energy & Power Technologies. “UL and AWS Truepower have a shared mission and complementary businesses. As the market for renewable…
$20,000 Tiny House Is Upending The Construction, Banking Industries
Rural Studio in Alabama has spent a decade perfecting the design of a tiny house that will cost less than $20,000 to build, including labor. Their first prototype was completed in January.
Pig Manure Bioadhesive Produces Alternative To Asphalt Paving
A newly discovered pig manure bioadhesive has been developed by civil engineer Ellie Fini and a team at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Turns out the oils in swine manure are similar to petroleum, but are too low-grade for gasoline and perfect for asphalt. First, just to be clear, the asphalt created with this pig manure bioadhesive does not create an offensive odor. The odor-causing parts of the manure are removed during processing. “It is different from petroleum refinery,…
Vienna Will Be Home To World’s Tallest Wooden Building
The tallest wooden building in the world is under construction in Vienna. It will be 276 feet tall and save 2,800 metric tons of carbon dioxide compared to a concrete building.
Minneapolis City Center NFL Showcase: Finishing Touches Take Place On US Bank Stadium
We have enjoyed following the vision and ensuing work leading to the development of US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, now scheduled to open this August. Here is the most important item to keep in mind about this project: we’re not just looking at a new Minnesota Vikings football stadium replacing the old Hubert Humphrey Metrodome. Here the $1.1 billion investment involves a new kind of product for a sporting franchise and a government. This new-fangled stadium product represents the savvy evolution…
World’s First 3D-Printed Building Completed In Dubai
3D-printed construction is occurring far more quickly than many first imagined. Take a look at Dubai, which now features the world’s first 3D-printed office building. Vice President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum has stated the UAE stands as one of the major incubators of innovation and future technology in the world today. “We announce today the opening of the first 3D-printed office in the world, after less…
Top 10 Green Projects 2016
AIA’s Committee on the Environment (COTE) has announced its list of the top 10 green projects for 2016. Biosciences Research Building, Galway Ireland The design of the BRB embraces the moderate climate of Ireland. By locating low-load spaces along the perimeter of the building, the project is able to take advantage of natural ventilation as the sole conditioning strategy for the majority of the year and is supplemented less than 10% of the year with radiant heating. Due to this…
Panama Jungle Features Plastic Bottle Village
Far south, a few degrees north of the Equator, the plastic bottle is being smartly repurposed as a residential building insulation material. We visit Panama, where on an 83-acre jungle locale, 90 to 120 planned homes will be insulated by thousands of plastic bottles which have been recovered from the waste stream. The individual behind the scenes of this eco-village named Plastic Bottle Village is Robert Bezeau, a Canadian with a passion for managing and cleaning the waste left behind from the…
Car Free Building In Austin Will Have No Parking
Developers in Austin, TX are looking to build a 30-story mixed-use building in the heart of busy downtown without adding any additional parking. The building, called The Avenue, will not contain a parking garage or any other on-site parking, and is being billed as the first “truly car-free luxury development in downtown Austin.” Residents and visitors to the building’s shops and offices will be asked to use alternative transportation, or park somewhere else, when using the building’s facilities. “This is the…
Solar Installation Complete Atop Future IKEA Las Vegas; Will Be Nevada’s Largest Single-Use Retail Array When Store Opens May 18
The solar installation is complete atop the IKEA Las Vegas store. The opening is scheduled for May 18, 2016. Once commissioned, an IKEA press announcement states the project will be the largest single-use retail rooftop solar array in Nevada. The store’s 240,504-sq.ft. solar comprises a 1.14 MW rooftop system using 3,620 panels. The panels will produce approximately 1,750,000 kWh of electricity annually for the store. Translated into a global warming perspective, this production represents the equivalent of reducing 1,207 tons…
Green Building Tool Helps Architects, Builders, Specifiers
Building with Chemistry has provided a useful online tool aimed at sustainable or green building. The resource targets creating more energy-efficient and sustainable homes, offices, schools and other buildings, stating: “The increased popularity of green building design and construction has given rise to a variety of approaches that aim to guide architects, designers, materials specifiers, and builders in how to build ‘green.’” The following brief descriptions and links provide an extremely detailed and useful resource for anyone who happens to be…
Health and Well-Being Now Part of Real Estate Assessments
As interest in health and well-being in buildings grows, the industry has recognized the need for practical tools for systematic assessment, objective scoring and peer benchmarking of health and well-being. GRESB, the global standard for environmental, social and governance (ESG) assessment of real estate portfolios and infrastructure assets, today announced the launch of the GRESB Health and Well-being Module. The new module evaluates and benchmarks actions by property companies and funds to promote the health and well-being of employees and their strategy to…
ETFE Football Stadium Will Soon Be Minneapolis Showcase
When it opens this summer, US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis will feature the only ETFE (ethylene-tetra-fluoro-ethylene) roof on a sports facility in the United States. This resilient and transparent material, long used in Europe, will now provide Minnesota Vikings football fans with a comfortable experience inside the stadium and a clear view outside, even if the outdoor temperature is far below zero degrees Fahrenheit. In contrast to the preponderance of opaque domed stadiums in this country, some 60% of the…
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