The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently unveiled new guidance on additional assistance funding for net zero buildings. The funding is available for implementing net-zero energy projects with a tie to disaster recovery or mitigation.

Children’s Health and the UT Southwestern Medical Center have unveiled their plans for a new $5 billion pediatric health campus and research hospital on more than 33 acres within Dallas’ Southwestern Medical District. 

K-12 school sector experts are seeing “healthiness” for schools expand beyond air quality or the ease of cleaning interior surfaces. In this post-Covid era, “healthy” and “wellness” are intersecting expectations that, for many school districts, encompass the physical and mental wellbeing of students and teachers, greater access to outdoor spaces for play and learning, and the school’s connection to its community as a hub and resource.

Illinois is the latest jurisdiction to release a stretch energy code that provides standards for communities to mandate more efficient building construction. St. Louis, Mo., and a few states, including California, Colorado, and Massachusetts, currently have stretch codes in place.

‘Safe bathroom’ technology developed by a Massachusetts electrician has been proven to prevent fatal drug overdoses in public restrooms across the country. The systems use ultrasonic and infrared motion sensors connected to timers that detect slight body movements. When a system doesn’t sense motion within a set time period, it raises an alarm alerting emergency medical teams.

In this edition of Building WELLness, DC WELL Accredited Professionals Hannah Arthur and Alex Kircher highlight an important item of the WELL Building Standard: water.

Spending on nonresidential buildings will see a modest 4% increase in 2024, after increasing by more than 20% last year according to The American Institute of Architects’ latest Consensus Construction Forecast. The pace will slow to just over 1% growth in 2025, a marked difference from the strong performance in 2023.

Gordian’s most recent Quarterly Construction Cost Insights Report for Q4 2023 describes an industry still attempting to recover from the impact of COVID. This was complicated by inflation, weather, and geopolitical factors that resulted in widespread pricing adjustments throughout the construction materials industries.