Ideas are cheap. Solutions are what count. The latest installment in BD+C's Great Solutions series presents 14 ways AEC professionals, entrepreneurs, and other clever folk have overcome what seemed to be insoluble problems—from how to make bricks out of agricultural waste, to a new way to keep hospitals running clean during construction. Enjoy!
1. HealthSpot station merges personalized healthcare with videoconferencing
This mobile kiosk lets patients access a network of board-certified physicians through interactive videoconferencing and medical devices. Read the article.
2. From Ag waste to organic brick: Corn stalks reused to make construction materials
Ecovative Design applies its cradle-to-cradle process to produce 10,000 organic bricks used to build a three-tower structure in Long Island City, N.Y. Read the article.
3. Wearable job site management system allows contractors to handle deficiencies with subtle hand and finger gestures
Technology combines a smartglass visual device with a motion-sensing armband to simplify field management work. Read the article.
4. Leo A Daly's minimally invasive approach to remote field site design
For the past six years, Leo A Daly has been designing sites for remote field stations with near-zero ecological disturbance. Read the article.
5. New data-gathering tool for retail designers
Beacon technology personalizes smartphone messaging, creating a new information resource for store designers. Read the article.
6. Reef Worlds to build world’s largest underwater theme park for luxury resort
Dubai is known for its gargantuan commercial building projects. The latest to be proposed is the world’s largest underwater theme park, designed and built by Reef Worlds. Read the article.
7. Clayco lends operational support and financing to construction services startups
Design-build firm Clayco has launched an investment arm called Treehouse Adventures to provide financing and operational infrastructure to startups, including those serving the AEC industry. Read the article.
8. Hard hat equipped with smartglass technology could enhance job site management
Smart Helmet is equipped with an array of cameras that provides 360-degree vision through its glass visor, even in low light. Read the article.
9. Spherical reflectors help spread daylight throughout a college library in Portland, Ore.
The 40,000-sf library is equipped with four “cones of light,” spherical reflectors made from extruded aluminum that distribute daylight from the library’s third floor to illuminate the second. Read the article.
10. Startup Solarbox London turns phone booths into quick-charge stations
About 8,000 of London’s famous red telephone boxes sit unused in warehouses, orphans of the digital age. Two entrepreneurs plan to convert them into charging stations for mobile devices. Read the article.
11. New mobile unit takes the worry out of equipment sterilization during healthcare construction
Infection control, a constant worry for hospital administrators and clinical staffs, is heightened when the hospital is undergoing a major construction project. Mobile Sterilization Solutions, a mobile sterile-processing department, is designed to simplify the task. Read the article.
12. HDR and Hill International to turn three floors of a jail into a modern, secure healthcare center
By bringing healthcare services in house, Dallas County Jail will greatly minimize the security risk and added cost of transferring ill or injured prisoners to a nearby hospital. Read the article.
13. 'Russian nesting doll' design provides unique fire protection solution for movie negatives
A major movie studio needed a new vault to protect its irreplaceable negatives for films released after 1982. SmithGroupJJR came up with a box-in-a-box design solution. Read the article.
14. High-strength aluminum footbridge designed to withstand deep-ocean movement, high wind speeds
The metal’s flexibility makes the difference in an oil rig footbridge connecting platforms in the West Philippine Sea. Read the article.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
AAMA leads development of BIM standard for fenestration products
The American Architectural Manufacturers Association’s newly formed BIM Task Group met during the AAMA National Fall Conference to discuss the need for an BIM standard for nonresidential fenestration products.
| Aug 11, 2010
HGA creates greener outlook with print systems from Océ
Since its founding in 1953, HGA Architects and Engineers (HGA), a full service integrated architectural and engineering firm, has operated with an unwavering belief that good design is sustainable. HGA takes its environmental responsibility seriously, both in the buildings the firm designs, its internal operations and its vendor partnerships. Therefore, when HGA decided to investigate new options for its printing and scanning needs, the firm wanted a vendor who shared its values.
| Aug 11, 2010
ACSA announces 2008-2009 ACSA/AISC steel design student competition winners
The Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) is pleased to announce the winners of the ninth annual steel design student competition for the 2008-2009 academic year. Administered by the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA) and sponsored by the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC), the program challenged students, working individually or in teams, to explore a variety of design issues related to the use of steel in design and construction.
| Aug 11, 2010
iSqFt acquires technology and key assets of Plan Express Inc.
Today iSqFt, the nation’s leading online preconstruction network, announced it has purchased the technology and key assets of Plan Express, Inc., a partner document-sharing network.
| Aug 11, 2010
Autodesk 2010 Certification Now Available for Design Professionals
Autodesk, Inc., (Nasdaq: ADSK), today announced that design and engineering professionals can become Autodesk Certified in AutoCAD 2010, Autodesk Inventor 2010, Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010, and AutoCAD Civil 3D 2010 software. Becoming Autodesk Certified allows professionals, and companies boasting Autodesk Certified employees, to validate their industry skills and knowledge, demonstrate expertise and gain credibility.
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, CH2M Hill, AECOM top BD+C's ranking of the 75 largest federal government design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 Federal Government Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
AGC: Construction unemployment reaches 19.2%
Unemployment in the construction sector climbed to a “horrendous” 19.2 percent (not-seasonally adjusted) as an additional 59,000 construction workers lost their jobs in May according to new federal data, said construction economist Ken Simonson today.
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler, HOK, HDR among the nation's leading reconstruction design firms, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 100 Reconstruction Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Gensler, Arup, HOK among the largest office sector design firms
A ranking of the Top 100 Office Design firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Construction Specifications Institute to end support of MasterFormat 95 on December 31, 2009
The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) announced that the organization will cease to license and support MasterFormat 95 as of December 31, 2009. The CSI Board of Directors voted to stop licensing and supporting MasterFormat 95 during its June 16, 2009, meeting at the CSI Annual Convention in Indianapolis.
