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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced a plan for implementing a new label program to boost American production of more climate-friendly construction materials and products. The label program will prioritize steel, glass, asphalt and concrete.
The standards for energy-efficient construction and design have been raised. Due to the development of advanced low-e coatings for the interior surface and vacuum insulating technologies, architects now have more choices to improve U-values wherever enhanced thermal performance is needed to create eco-friendly spaces. These options can double or even triple thermal performance, resulting in annual energy savings and a positive return on carbon.
The Contra Costa County Administration Building in Martinez, Calif., is the world’s first public project to achieve the zero-waste-focused TRUE Gold certification for construction. The TRUE Certification for Construction program, administered by Green Business Certification Inc. (GBCI), recognizes projects that achieve exceptional levels of waste reduction, reuse, and recycling.
BD+C Editors break down July's top 15 building products, from Façades by Design to Schweiss Doors's Strap Latch bifold door.
Turner Construction joins a growing AEC industry movement, inspired by the Design for Freedom initiative, to eliminate forced labor and child labor from the production and distribution of building products.
New Horizon Urban Mining, a demolition firm in the Netherlands, has hitched its business model to construction materials recycling. It's plan: deconstruct buildings and infrastructure and sell the building products for reuse in new construction. New Horizon and its Founder Michel Baars have been named 2023 AEC Innovators by Building Design+Construction editors.
The General Services Administration recently released a document that outlines standards for low embodied carbon materials and products to be used on federal construction projects.
Researchers have turned to an ancient Roman concrete recipe to develop more durable concrete that lasts for centuries and can potentially reduce the carbon impact of the built environment.
The Fenestration and Glazing Industry Alliance (FGIA) published an update to its Liquid Applied Flashing Standard. The document contains minimum performance requirements for liquid applied flashing used to provide water-resistive seals around exterior wall openings in buildings.
This course from Walter P Moore examines numerous flood protection approaches and building owner needs before delving into the flood protection process. Determining the flood resilience of a property can provide a good understanding of risk associated costs.
U.S. school districts are widely planning to use funds from last year’s American Rescue Plan (ARP) to upgrade or improve air filtration and heating/cooling systems, according to a report from the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council. The report, “School Facilities Funding in the Pandemic,” says air filtration and HVAC upgrades are the top facility improvement choice for the 5,004 school districts included in the analysis.
Founders Hall at the University of Washington Foster School of Business, the first mass timber building at Seattle campus of Univ. of Washington, was recently completed. The 84,800-sf building creates a new hub for community, entrepreneurship, and innovation, according the project’s design architect LMN Architects.
Faster delivery of buildings isn’t always associated with sustainability benefits or long-term value, but things are changing. An instructive case is in the development of steel structures that not only allow speedier erection times, but also can reduce embodied carbon and create durable, highly resilient building approaches.
Sharon Prince, Founder and CEO of Grace Farms and Design for Freedom, discusses DFF's report on slavery and enforced child labor in building products and materials.
