Building Technology News

AstroTurf: Experts say synthetic turf is safe - 5/10/2008
GeneralSports Venue, LLC (GSV), exclusive U.S. licensee of AstroTurf branded products, in collaboration with a panel of highly respected toxicologists, epidemiologists and chemical fiber engineers from across the country, presented scientific data and test results on Monday that confirm the safety of synthetic sports turf. At a press conference held at the Science, Industry & Business Library in Manhattan, GSV Chairman Michael Dennis asserted that "synthetic turf sports fields, including the nylon version recently brought into question in New Jersey, present no health risk to athletes or to our children." The presentation, comprised of seven separate scientific conclusions, countered recent concerns raised by the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services related to lead chromate, a compound in the pigment particles used in some synthetic turf systems. The expert panel included polymer and fiber engineering specialist Dr. Davis Lee, Ph.D., of InnovaNet Consulting; clinical and forensic toxicologist Dr. David Black, Ph.D., of Aegis Sciences Corporation, food and environmental toxicologist Dr. James R. Coughlin, Ph.D. of Coughlin & Associates and, via telephone, Dr. C. Ralph Buncher, Sc.D., Department of Environmental Health, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Each concurred with the summation that synthetic turf sports fields present no health risk.

U.S., Afghan troops swap building skills - 4/20/2008
Apr. 21--CAMP PHOENIX, Afghanistan -- A rock-catcher is a must for the indoor plumbing in an Afghan bathroom. That's one of the things that S.C. National Guard Lt. Col. Robert Spires learned when his team of engineers started designing and building barracks for the Afghan army. Spires learned that rocks, which are plentiful here, commonly are used in the Afghan bathroom routine instead of toilet tissue. Thus, a rock-catcher is essential.

New storage product will help data centers go green - 4/14/2008
Hie Electronics, Inc. announces the sale of its TeraStack®Solution product to HKS, Inc., a top-three international architecture and engineering firm. The TeraStack®Solution is a leading green tech data processing and storage product. Nationwide there is a focus on decreasing IT data center electric power use. The EPA recently reported that 2 percent of our electric grid is consumed annually by data centers. The TeraStack®Solution significantly reduces environmental requirements of data centers and for all data storage users.

Wastewater may power office park in Sonoma - 4/11/2008
When most people think alternative energy, solar, wind or biofuels come to mind. Sonoma County officials want to add another source to the list: treated wastewater. A pilot program taking root in a nondescript business park near the Charles M. Schulz Airport just north of Santa Rosa would use highly treated water pumped from a nearby plant to heat and cool buildings, with the additional promise of using the piped water to irrigate landscaping and vineyards. If the ambitious, expensive plan gets off the ground, environmental planners in similar-size cities around the country theoretically could use the template - developed in part by scientists at the Los Alamos National Laboratory - to slash power bills and better use every last drop of water.

First integrated wind turbines open in Bahrain - 4/10/2008
(BW)(BWTC) World's First Integrated Wind Turbines Inaugurated in Bahrain Bahrain World Trade Center Leads the Way in Environmental Architecture Architecture Writers MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin mmg.cgi?eid=5651478

Japanese developer pushing Tokyo higher - 3/30/2008
Minoru Mori, the most prolific Japanese developer, will finish the world's tallest building in May. Many of his colleagues might consider the 101-story Shanghai World Financial Center, at 492 meters, the crowning achievement of a long career. But Mori, 73, has lots of plans for the future. As president of Mori Building of Tokyo, he has remade the city's skyline with half a dozen high-rises, including Roppongi Hills, a $4 billion megacomplex over 27 acres. Now, he is fielding offers to build skyscrapers in Bangkok and Singapore. And he is planning to build or help build 10 more huge complexes like Roppongi Hills in downtown Tokyo, including one that could be the tallest in Japan, over the next 10 to 15 years. He is also talking to Chinese and Middle East sovereign wealth funds about raising tens of billions of dollars to finance the projects.

New technology may stop tower-related bird deaths - 3/30/2008
Every year, more than 10,000 migrating birds crash into Toronto's highrise towers, then plunge to the sidewalks below, where a heavy-hearted Michael Mesure helps scoop them up in the early morning hours. Toronto's bright lights and wall-to-wall glass attract and confuse the birds and Mesure, executive director of a non-profit group dedicated to preserving the lives of migratory flocks, is left to pick up the pieces. In his battle to safeguard birds that pass through Toronto's air space every spring and fall, Mesure has enlisted some unlikely allies.

CHP generators make a comeback in New York - 3/30/2008
On the 15th story of a Manhattan high-rise, a humming, room-sized box sits on a ledge. Inside, two roaring 16-piston engines fueled by natural gas generate both heat and electricity for the building. According to experts, combined-heat-and-power (CHP) generators like these will play a critical role in the future energy landscape of New York, the United States, and perhaps the world. The principle of CHP is to bring the power plant home. Energy that escapes up the smokestack as waste heat at a remote power plant can, when generation occurs nearby, heat (and cool) a skyscraper or a home. CHP nearly doubles the efficiency of separately generated heat and electricity, saving money, fuel, and the planet. "It's a win-win-win in many ways," says Peter Falcier, a senior analyst at Endurant Energy, the company that installed the generators. "We're trying to do this in as many buildings as we can."

Office space demand in China's hi-tech tower grows - 3/30/2008
Towering over West Kowloon, the city's newest iconic skyscraper, the International Commerce Centre (ICC), dominates the skyline on the peninsula even though it's still being built. The gigantic hi-tech complex is also starting to dominate the office leasing market as its floor space becomes available in stages. When completed in 2010, the 490-metre mega-structure will be Hong Kong's tallest building and the world's third-tallest building in terms of usable floors.

Eiffel Tower gets new, webbed observation deck - 3/25/2008
Mar. 19, 2008 (Gizmodo delivered by Newstex) -- Next year marks the 120th anniversary of the Eiffel Tower. To celebrate, the French will be adding a gigantic webbed Kevlar observation deck to the top, doubling the size of the deck and making the Eiffel Tower look like some sort of alien space needle.The addition isn't permanent -- don't worry, purists -- but will be simply bolted in place and easily removed later. It's pretty amazing looking, a really interesting way of blending the past with the future. I like it. What say you? [Dwell via io9] Newstex ID: GAWK-0002-23895085