Bjarke Ingels Group designs a mass timber cube structure for the University of Kansas

Twenty years ago the Northridge Earthquake shook California and the results surprised designers throughout the U.S. AISC and the steel industry is presenting a special series of sessions at the 2014 NASCC: The Steel Conference examining the lessons learned and the state-of-the-art in seismic design.

From a crowd-funded smart shovel to a why-didn’t-someone-do-this-sooner scheme for managing traffic in public restrooms, these ideas are noteworthy for creative problem-solving. Here are some of the most intriguing innovations the BD+C community has brought to our attention this year.

Under LEED v4, projects are awarded points for using at least 20 building products that have issued Environmental Product Declarations or Health Product Declarations. In response, manufacturers are racing to offer EPDs and HPDs for their product lines. 

The Furniture Row retail center in Charlotte, N.C., incorporates four specialty stores in a distinctive, efficient structure. 

The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) has added more historic documents to its online ePubs collection for AISC members. The latest addition is a collection of shape producer catalogs dating back to 1885. The collection is available at www.aisc.org/epubs in the historic shape producer section. This collection is part of AISC's effort to preserve unique industry documents before they are lost to age-related deterioration.

In California, there are still hundreds of concrete buildings that need reinforcement to bring them up to the new seismic code.

While the durability of metal as a construction material is widely recognized, some of its other advantages are less commonly acknowledged and appreciated.  

The 75-story residential building, designed by SOM, features a dramatically rising helix shape for a distinctive addition to the city’s skyline.