A recent article from David Roberts on Vox resurfaces the benefits of using mass timber (aka, “cross- laminated timber” (CLT)). Over the last century, the design and construction industry has leaned away from wood, especially for non-residential construction, and moved toward more manufactured materials, such as steel, concrete, and iron, in the name of safety.... Continue Reading →
Introduced recently in the U.S. Senate was a bipartisan bill: the Energy Storage Tax Incentive and Deployment Act of 2017. What this legislation would do is expand the definition of “energy property” in the tax code to include “equipment which receives, stores, and delivers energy using batteries, compressed air, pumped hydropower, hydrogen storage (including hydrolysis),... Continue Reading →
In January of 2015, the Obama Administration issued Executive Order 13690. The order was aimed at improving resilience to current and future flood risks and modified the 1977 Executive order 119888, which addressed flood plain development. Among other actions, the new order directed FEMA to develop a proposed amendment to 44 CFR part 9, “Floodplain... Continue Reading →
Contrary to previous studies that have indicated that worker productivity, health, and overall well-being increase in green offices, a new study by Stefano Schiavon of UC Berkeley’s Center for the Built Environment and Sergio Altomonte of the University of Nottingham’s Environmental Physics and Design Research Group concludes that most office workers do not experience a... Continue Reading →
One of the issues faced increasingly by design firms is whether they have a right to rely on the information provided by manufacturers of products, materials, and systems. While the standard of care basically states that if the reliance of the design firm on a manufacturer’s information or representations is reasonable at the time of... Continue Reading →
Firms that provide LEED-based sustainability certification services hold themselves out as having a special expertise. But destroying credibility with a client can be as easy as contracting with the client to have the project reviewed by the Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). That name has been around since the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) limited... Continue Reading →
An article in this month’s Journal of the National Institute of Building Sciences (on page 36) discusses its National Performance Based Design Guide for Buildings (NPBDG). The NPBDG was created to help owners make choices to achieve better-performing buildings and aid them in communicating their goals to the designers and builders of the projects. Traditionally,... Continue Reading →
New developments in the energy efficiency arena are happening all the time. From new products meant to increase efficiency and lower life-cycle costs to new design paradigms that weave new technologies and procedures with traditional building methods, green design has become commonplace in the market. However, the best-laid plans do not always delivery the best... Continue Reading →
A recent study performed by the University of Cambridge suggests that the construction industry could reduce its carbon emissions by up to 50 percent by optimizing the design of new buildings to use less steel. Currently, the UK study purports, the design of buildings calls for double the amount of steel and concrete required by... Continue Reading →
