Carbon fiber strings make Japanese office building earthquake resistant

Ishikawa, Japan, has experienced eight earthquakes over the past year. The constant rumblings have building owners seeking unconventional solutions.

Japanese architect Kengo Kuma found one for the former head office of fabric manufacturer Komatsu Seiren. The three-story building has been covered with Cabkoma Strand Rods, which are 9 mm-wide strings made of a thermoplastic carbon fiber composite.

As Endgadget explains, the rods make it appear that spiderwebs completely surround the building. The rods are tied to the roof and anchored to the ground, ensuring that when an earthquake hits, the entire structure will sway together and not crumble.

According to Kengo Kuma, the strings are seven times stronger than iron wires, but only a fraction of the weight. A 160-meter-long coil weighs just 26 lbs.

Seismic compliance with the applicable California building codes is onerous and disruptive for building owners, especially for a building in the heavily regulated sector of healthcare. Owners of older buildings that house acute care services have a big deadline on the horizon—Jan. 1, 2030, the cutoff date to upgrade their buildings to SPC-4D.

Steel structures offer faster path to climate benefits

Faster delivery of buildings isn’t always associated with sustainability benefits or long-term value, but things are changing. An instructive case is in the development of steel structures that not only allow speedier erection times, but also can reduce embodied carbon and create durable, highly resilient building approaches.

Data Centers | Oct 31, 2022

Data center construction facing record-breaking inflation, delays

Data center construction projects face record-breaking inflation amid delays to materials deliveries and competition for skilled labor, according to research from global professional services company Turner & Townsend.