GSA to invest $80 million on smart building technologies at federal properties

The U.S. General Services Administration (GSA) will invest $80 million from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into smart building technologies within 560 federal buildings. GSA intends to enhance operations through granular controls, expand available reporting with more advanced metering sources, and optimize the operator experience.

Products and Materials

Top products from AIA 2024

This month, Building Design+Construction editors are bringing you the top products displayed at the 2024 AIA Conference on Architecture & Design. Nearly 550 building product manufacturers showcased their products—here are 17 that caught our eye.

Mass Timber

Oregon State University builds a first-of-its-kind mass timber research lab

In Corvallis, Oreg., the Jen-Hsun Huang and Lori Mills Huang Collaborative Innovation Complex at Oregon State University aims to achieve a distinction among the world’s experimental research labs: It will be the first all-mass-timber lab meeting rigorous vibration criteria (2000 micro-inches per second, or MIPS).

Lighting

LEDs were nearly half of the installed base of lighting products in the U.S. in 2020

Federal government research shows a huge leap in the penetration of LEDs in the lighting market from 2010 to 2020. In 2010 and 2015, LED installations represented 1% and 8% of overall lighting inventory, respectively.

Sep 13, 2010

Second Time Around

A Building Team preserves the historic facade of a Broadway theater en route to creating the first green playhouse on the Great White Way.

Sep 13, 2010

China's largest single-phase hospital planned for Shanghai

RTKL's Los Angles office is designing the Shanghai Changzheng New Pudong Hospital, which will be the largest new hospital built in China in a single phase.

Sep 13, 2010

Data Centers Keeping Energy, Security in Check

Power consumption for data centers doubled from 2000 and 2006, and it is anticipated to double again by 2011, making these mission-critical facilities the nation's largest commercial user of electric power. With major technology companies investing heavily in new data centers, it's no wonder Building Teams see these mission-critical facilities as a golden opportunity, and why they are working hard to keep energy costs at data centers in check.

Aug 11, 2010

Average annual pay increases at A/E/P firms continue to rise in 2010

Despite the economic challenges that many architecture, engineering, planning(A/E/P) & environmental consulting firms have faced in recent years, a large majority of firms continue to include pay increases for their staff in their annual budgets, according to a new report released by ZweigWhite. According to ZweigWhite's 2010 Policies, Procedures, and Benefits Survey of Architecture, Engineering, Planning & Environmental Consulting Firms, the average pay increase that A/E/P firms project that they will provide in 2010 has increased from 2009. ZweigWhite, March 2

Aug 11, 2010

Georgia Tech requires LEED Gold for all new buildings and renovations

The Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta is currently updating its facilities design standards to meet LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold as set by the U.S. Green Building Council. Energy Ace, Inc., an Atlanta-based sustainability consulting firm is assisting Georgia Tech in preparing the Standards upgrade.

Aug 11, 2010

ASHRAE Receives NIST Grant to Study IAQ in Retail Stores

The American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) has been awarded $1.5 million dollars in grant money from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to conduct a three-year research project on ventilation and indoor air quality in retail stores.

Aug 11, 2010

UC Merced researchers receive $568,000 grant to develop solar sensing, tracking system 

Alberto Cerpa, an engineering professor at the University of California Merced, has received a $568,202 grant from the National Science Foundation to develop a system that will measure and track the amount of sunlight that reaches ground level where photovoltaic panels and solar concentrators used in solar energy systems collect light and heat to turn into electricity.

Aug 11, 2010

Only four out of 337 cities added construction jobs in 2009

Construction employment grew in only four out of 337 metropolitan areas in 2009 as spending on construction projects dropped by $100 billion in December to a six-year low of $903 billion, according to a new analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America of federal figures released recently.

Aug 11, 2010

Mark McCracken named chair-elect of USGBC Board of Directors

Mark MacCracken, CEO of CALMAC, Inc., a producer of cold storage energy solutions, has been selected as Chair-elect of the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) Board of Directors for the 2010 calendar year. The USGBC Board of Directors is responsible for articulating and upholding the vision, values and mission of USGBC. In 2009, MacCracken was elected to serve a second 3-year term as Director in the Energy Services Seat.

Aug 11, 2010

ULI: 'Old Normal' will not be a part of the housing recovery

As the U.S. economy recovers, emerging trends in demographics and consumer behavior will become major drivers of new housing opportunities, resulting in a residential market vastly different from the one that existed prior to the recession, according to Housing in America: The Next Decade, a new research paper authored by John K. McIlwain, senior resident fellow, Urban Land Institute/J. Ronald Terwilliger Chair for Housing.