Top Stories

• Blue ribbon panel unveils recommendations for NYC's green building codes
  
  BDC Staff, February 1, 2010
  In response to City's request, the task force unveils more than 100 recommendations for greening NYC buildings, in most sophisticated analysis ever conducted by a municipality
  
• ABI drops more than three points in November
  
  December 16, 2009
  Following its highest mark since August 2008, the Architecture Billings Index (ABI) dropped more than three points in November
  
• Virtually all facilities managers are concerned about water conservation
  
  December 15, 2009
  
  
• The gospel of virtual design and construction
  
  December 15, 2009
  The gospel of virtual design and construction
  
• Underwriters Laboratories, ICC Evaluation Service announce dual evaluation and certification program for building products
  
  December 14, 2009
  Underwriters Laboratories (UL), the leading product safety testing organization, and ICC Evaluation Service, Inc (ICC-ES), the United States' leader in evaluating building products for compliance with code, today announced a partnership that will provide the building materials industry with a Dual Evaluation and Certification Program for building products.
  
• Minneapolis Public Housing authority, Honeywell launch energy retrofit program
  
  December 14, 2009
  Minneapolis Public Housing Authority and Honeywell today announced a $33.6-million energy efficiency and facility renewal program that will help the housing authority improve its infrastructure, reduce its impact on the environment, and save more than $3.7 million in utility costs per year. Local contractors will also complete a majority of the work for the program, one of the largest of its kind for a public housing authority, helping boost the Twin Cities job market.
  
• Shepley Bulfinch announces merger of Merzproject
  
  December 14, 2009
  National architecture firm Shepley Bulfinch of Boston and Merzproject of Phoenix today announced their merger. The merger unites Shepley Bulfinch, one of the country’s leading design firms, and Merzproject.
  
• Chinese apartment building falls over on its side
  
  December 14, 2009
  A nearly finished, newly constructed building in Shanghai toppled over last summer, killing one worker.
  
• Housing downturn results in demand for more infill and high-density development
  
  December 14, 2009
  Consumer preferences for community design that once trended toward suburban and rural areas are now trending increasingly toward infill sites that have greater access to public transportation options. Mixed-use developments focused around density are being favored in some cases over traditional neighborhood design with homes close to the street, sidewalks, and smaller lots, according to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Home Design Trends Survey for the third quarter of 2009. BD+C, December 14
  
• Pilot Building Energy Labeling Program Launched by ASHRAE with Leading Owners, Designers
  
  December 11, 2009
  Program to provide information aimed at reducing building energy use Pilot Building Energy Labeling Program Launched by ASHRAE with Leading Owners, Designers
  
• NRCA warns proposed new EPA rules could endanger construction
  
  December 11, 2009
  The National Roofing Contractors Association (NRCA) expressed serious concern about an "endangerment finding" issued Dec. 7 by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) because of the ruling's expected effects on construction projects throughout the US.
  
• Skanska Promotes Richard Kennedy to COO for NY/NJ Metro Area
  
  December 9, 2009
  Skanska USA Building Inc., headquartered in Parsippany, N.J., has announced that Richard Kennedy was promoted to Chief Operating Officer from his previous role as Senior Vice President – General Counsel. Kennedy’s promotion marks the latest addition to Skanska’s national leadership team.
  
• The New Yorker's David Owen: Why Manhattan is America's greenest community
  
  December 8, 2009
  David Owen is a staff writer at The New Yorker and the author of 14 books, most recently Green Metropolis: Why Living Smaller, Living Closer, and Driving Less Are the Keys to Sustainability, in which he argues that Manhattan is the greenest community in America. He graduated from Harvard and lives in Washington, Conn., where he chairs the town planning commission.
  
• Brown Craig Turner opens senior living studio
  
  December 8, 2009
  Baltimore-based architecture and design firm Brown Craig Turner has significantly expanded its housing design capabilities and expertise with the launch of its new senior living studio.
  
• Economy affects bonuses in architecture and engineering fields
  
  December 8, 2009
  Wayland, Massachusetts--In the year when bonuses became the villain, executives in architecture, engineering and environmental consulting firms still believe incentive compensation has a place, according to a ZweigWhite survey.
  
• Wood product manufacturers' association condemns EPA finding on carbon
  
  December 8, 2009
  Saying “The Clean Air Act is not the right vehicle for regulating greenhouse gases,”.
  
• 2010 AIA Gold Medal Awarded to Peter Bohlin, FAIA
  
  December 7, 2009
  The Board of Directors of The American Institute of Architects (AIA) voted recently to award the 2010 AIA Gold Medal to Peter Bohlin, FAIA. Bohlin, founder of Bohlin Cywinski Jackson, which has five U.S. offices, is renowned for his versatile, contextual use of materials.
  
• George H. Miller, FAIA, inaugurated as 2010 AIA President
  
  December 7, 2009
  George H. Miller, FAIA, partner at Pei Cobb Freed & Partners LLP, was inaugurated as the 86th president of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) during ceremonies held on December 4th.
  
• Parsons Brinckerhoff names new CEO
  
  December 3, 2009
  Parsons Brinckerhoff announced the appointment of George J. Pierson as the firm’s CEO effective January 1, 2010. Mr. Pierson, currently President and COO of the firm’s Americas division, succeeds Keith J. Hawksworth, who becomes Chairman.
  
• Economic conditions to cause drag on cement consumption
  
  December 3, 2009
  The conditions facing the construction industry are likely to remain weak for another year or more, causing a drag on cement consumption, according to the most recent economic forecast from Skokie, Ill.-based Portland Cement Association (PCA).