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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.
The Trinity River Audubon Center, which sits within a 6,000-acre forest just outside Dallas, utilizes sustainable materials that help the $12.5 million nature center fit its wooded setting and put it on a path to earning LEED Gold.
Building-integrated wind turbines lend a futuristic look to a parking structure in Chicago’s trendy River North neighborhood. Only time will tell how much power the wind devices will generate.
The $137 million, 12-story, 500,000-sf Miami Valley Hospital cardiac center, Dayton, Ohio, is the first major hospital project in the U.S. to have made extensive use of prefabricated components in its design and construction.
The Mississippi Coast Coliseum and Convention Center in Biloxi is once again open for business following a renovation and expansion necessitated by Hurricane Katrina.
The $4.8 million Lewis and Clark Confluence Tower in Hartford, Ill., commemorates explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark at the point where their trek to the Pacific Ocean began—the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
A curving, 550-foot-long glass arcade dubbed the “Wall of Light” is the standout architectural and sustainable feature of the Battery Park City Community Center, a 60,000-sf complex located in a two-tower residential Lower Manhattan complex. Hanrahan Meyers Architects designed the glass arcade to act as a passive energy system, bringing natural light into all interior spaces.
Construction is moving along on Hudson County Community College’s North Hudson Campus Center in Union City, N.J. The seven-story, 92,000-sf building will be the first higher education facility in the city.
27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Special Recognition. Early in the current decade, violence within the community of Northeast Central Durham, N.C., escalated to the point where school safety officers at Holton Junior High School feared for their own safety. The school eventually closed and the property sat vacant for five years.
