SAFTI FIRST launches redesigned website

Wold Architects and Engineers' Senior Planner Ryan Downs, AIA, talks about how to make structures and communities more fire-resistant.

New York City has two very large buildings dedicated to answering the 911 calls of its five boroughs. With more than 11 million emergency calls annually, it makes perfect sense. The second of these buildings, the Public Safety Answering Center II (PSAC II) is located on a nine-acre parcel of land in the Bronx. It’s an imposing 450,000 square-foot structure—a 240-foot-wide by 240-foot-tall cube. The gleaming aluminum cube risesthe equivalent of 24 stories from behind a grassy berm, projecting the unlikely impression that it might actually be floating. Like most visually striking structures, the building has drawn as much scorn as it has admiration. 

In a summary judgement dated February 3, 2021, Chief Magistrate Joseph C. Spero of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that the patent infringement claims filed by Ely Holdings Limited (Ely) and Greenlite Glass Systems (Greenlite) against SAFTI FIRST, a USA fire rated glass and framing manufacturer, could not proceed to trial, finding that the SAFTI FIRST’s fire resistant floor does not violate Ely’s patent.

Here are seven key areas where innovation in structural engineering is driving evolution.

This week on The Weekly show, BD+C editors speak with AEC industry leaders from Bozzuto Management Company and Goldman Copeland about advice on installing EV ports in multifamily housing, and advances in fire protection engineering.

The new checklist helps building owners and facility managers ensure fire and life safety as businesses prepare to re-open amid the coronavirus pandemic. 

Inpro’s Fireline 140 fire barrier and Owens Corning’s Foamglas cellular glass insulation are among the 10 structural products to make Building Design+Construction's 2019 101 Top Products report.

Building Design+Construction readers and editors select their top building products for the past 12 months in the fourth-annual 101 Top Products report.