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

Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) and executive architect BNIM have unveiled their design for a new mass timber cube structure called the Makers’ KUbe for the University of Kansas School of Architecture & Design. A six-story, 50,000-sf building for learning and collaboration, the light-filled KUbe will house studio and teaching space, 3D-printing and robotic labs, and a ground-level cafe, all organized around a central core.

Airports

The next destination: Passive design airports

Today, we can design airports that are climate resilient, durable, long-lasting, and healthy for occupants—we can design airports using Passive House standards.

Codes and Standards

First federal blueprint to decarbonize U.S. buildings sector released

The Biden Administration recently released “Decarbonizing the U.S. Economy by 2050: A National Blueprint for the Buildings Sector,” a comprehensive plan to reduce greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions from buildings by 65% by 2035 and 90% by 2050.

Green

LEED v5 released for public comment

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has opened the first public comment period for the first draft of LEED v5. The new version of the LEED green building rating system will drive deep decarbonization, quality of life improvements, and ecological conservation and restoration, USGBC says.

Aug 11, 2010

Arup, SOM top BD+C's ranking of the country's largest mixed-use design firms

A ranking of the Top 75 Mixed-Use 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

Structure Tone, Turner among the nation's busiest reconstruction contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report

A ranking of the Top 75 Reconstruction Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants

Aug 11, 2010

SSOE, Fluor among nation's largest industrial building design firms

A ranking of the Top 75 Industrial 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

Walmart establishes sustainable product index to evaluate 'greeness' of products

Walmart today announced plans to develop a worldwide sustainable product index during a meeting with 1,500 of its suppliers, associates and sustainability leaders at its home office. The index will establish a single source of data for evaluating the sustainability of products.

Aug 11, 2010

Manitoba Hydro Place, Tornado Tower among world's 'best tall buildings,' according to the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat last week announced the winners of its annual “Best Tall Building” awards for 2009, recognizing one outstanding tall building from each of four geographical regions: Americas, Asia & Australia, Europe, and Middle East & Africa. This year’s winners are: Manitoba Hydro Place, Winnipeg, Canada; Linked Hybrid, Beijing, China; The Broadgate Tower, London, UK; Tornado Tower, Doha, Qatar.

Aug 11, 2010

Clark Group, Mortenson among nation's busiest state/local government contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report

A ranking of the Top 40 State/Local Government Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit /giants

Aug 11, 2010

Economic outlook for construction continues to decline in 2009

On July 23, three economists in the construction industry provided an economic outlook of the…

Aug 11, 2010

Report: Building codes and regulations impede progress toward uber-green buildings

The enthusiasm for super green Living Buildings continues unabated, but a key stumbling block to the growth of this highest level of green building performance is an existing set of codes and regulations. A new report by the Cascadia Region Green Building Council entitled "Code, Regulatory and Systemic Barriers Affecting Living Building Projects" presents a case for fundamental reassessment of building codes.

Aug 11, 2010

Portland Cement Association offers blast resistant design guide for reinforced concrete structures

Developed for designers and engineers, "Blast Resistant Design Guide for Reinforced Concrete Structures" provides a practical treatment of the design of cast-in-place reinforced concrete structures to resist the effects of blast loads. It explains the principles of blast-resistant design, and how to determine the kind and degree of resistance a structure needs as well as how to specify the required materials and details.