Add sand shortage to supply chain woes

As if it wasn’t enough to have lumber, windows, doors, and metal pipe in short supply, you can add sand, which is theoretically plentiful on Earth, to the list of construction materials that can be hard to come by.

While sand is an item that can be found all over the planet, the high-quality aggregate form isn’t easy to source, according to a Stanford University scientist. “The sand found in deserts is unsuitable as construction material because it has been eroded by wind, making its sand grains smooth and they do not bond well together,” says Eric Lambin. “That is why the tall buildings of Dubai, a desert city, were built with sand imported all the way from Australia—as skyscrapers require extremely high-quality aggregates.

“Once high-quality deposits become exhausted or inaccessible due to urban growth, nature protection, or farming, sand extraction shifts to low-quality materials with organic matter or salt that, when used for the wrong applications, increase the probability of construction failure and building collapse. Construction failures have been linked to poor sand quality in Haiti following the earthquake, Nigeria, Morocco, Thailand, South Africa, and Italy.”

It's unlikely that we will run out of sand, Lambin says, but regionally, scarcities of sand needed for construction do occur, driving up costs and potentially delaying projects due to limited availability. “Instead of mining unconsolidated sediment deposits, fine-grained sand and coarser products can be produced artificially by crushing rocks or by recycling construction and demolition waste such as concrete or masonry,” Landin says. Engineered timber is also an alternative to concrete construction.

A partnership of leading earthquake engineering researchers from top U.S. and Canadian universities and design professionals from the steel industry have begun the final phase of a three-year project to increase the seismic safety of buildings that use lightweight cold-formed steel for their primary beams and columns.

| Jun 13, 2013

WorkingBuildings acquires Specialty Operations Solutions

The WorkingBuildings Companies, a leading provider of comprehensive Owner-based solutions for the built environment, announces the acquisition of Specialty Operations Solutions (SOS), a national provider of research and laboratory services.

| Jun 13, 2013

Health Product Declaration Collaborative names Knott as Executive Director

John L. Knott Jr. has been named as the Health Product Declaration Collaborative’s (www.hpdcollaborative.org) first Executive Director following a national search. The Health Product Declaration Collaborative (HPDC) is a customer-led standards-setting organization committed to the continuous improvement of the building industry’s environmental and health performance, through transparency and innovation in the building product supply chain.

| Jun 13, 2013

AIA partners with industry groups to launch $30,000 'Designing Recovery' design competition

The program will award a total of $30,000 to three winning designs, divided equally between three locations: Joplin, Mo., New Orleans, and New York.

| Jun 12, 2013

More than 90% of New York City schools have code violations

More than 90% of New York City schools have at least one outstanding building code violation. Loose wires, stuck doors and inadequate ventilation are just some of the problems.