Kaiser Borsari Hall will draw 100% of its electricity from a rooftop solar panel array. Photo courtesy Perkins&Will

Mass timber a big part of Western Washington University’s net-zero ambitions

Western Washington University, in Bellingham, Wash., 90 miles from Seattle, is in the process of expanding its ABET-accredited programs for electrical engineering, computer engineering and science, and energy science. As part of that process, the university is building Kaiser Borsari Hall, the 54,000-sf new home for those academic disciplines that will include teaching labs, research labs, classrooms, collaborative spaces, and administrative offices.

MFPRO+ New Projects

Two San Francisco multifamily high rises install onsite water recycling systems

Two high-rise apartment buildings in San Francisco have installed onsite water recycling systems that will reuse a total of 3.9 million gallons of wastewater annually. The recycled water will be used for toilet flushing, cooling towers, and landscape irrigation to significantly reduce water usage in both buildings.

Mass Timber

3 mass timber architecture innovations

As mass timber construction evolves from the first decade of projects, we're finding an increasing variety of mass timber solutions. Here are three primary examples.

Senior Living Design

Healthy senior living campus ‘redefines the experience of aging’

MBH Architects, in collaboration with Eden Housing and Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP, announces the completion of Vivalon’s Healthy Aging Campus, a forward-looking project designed to redefine the experience of aging in Marin County.

Aug 11, 2010

Las Vegas announces Green Building Rebate Program

The city of Las Vegas announced it will begin a Green Building Rebate Program to stimulate new green building construction and provide energy efficiency retrofits to existing buildings. The green building program provides rebates for new construction and existing commercial and residential retrofits for buildings who construct buildings or projects to green building program standards.

Aug 11, 2010

SPRI expands membership to include green roof and photovoltaic component suppliers

SPRI, the association representing sheet membrane and component suppliers to the commercial roofing industry, recently approved a bylaw revision expanding its membership to include companies that represent emerging technologies, such as photovoltaic and vegetative roof components.

Aug 11, 2010

JE Dunn, Balfour Beatty among country's biggest institutional building contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report

A ranking of the Top 50 Institutional 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

Jacobs, Arup, AECOM top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 75 largest international design firms

A ranking of the Top 75 International 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

Stimulus funding helps get NOAA project off the ground

The award-winning design for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) new Southwest Fisheries Science Center (SWFSC) replacement laboratory saw its first sign of movement on Sept 15 with a groundbreaking ceremony held in La Jolla, Calif. The $102 million project is funded primarily by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), resulting in a rapidly advanced construction plan for the facility.

Aug 11, 2010

LEED 2009 cites FloorScore Certification as indicator of indoor air quality

The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has cited FloorScore® certified flooring products as eligible for credits under the new LEED 2009 Version 3 guidelines. Reflecting the inclusion of FloorScore, the new LEED IEQ Credit 4.3 for Low-Emitting Materials has been expanded from “Carpet Systems” to “Flooring Systems” to include hard surface flooring.

Aug 11, 2010

Study explains the financial value of green commercial buildings

Green building may be booming, especially in the Northwest, but the claims made for high-performance buildings have been slow to gain traction in the financial community. Appraisers, lenders, investors and brokers have found it difficult to confirm the value of high-performance green features and related savings. A new study of office buildings identifies how high-performance green features and systems can increase the value of commercial buildings.

Aug 11, 2010

Architecture Billings Index flat in May, according to AIA

After a slight decline in April, the Architecture Billings Index was up a tenth of a point to 42.9 in May. As a leading economic indicator of construction activity, the ABI reflects the approximate nine to twelve month lag time between architecture billings and construction spending. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings.

Aug 11, 2010

Free-span solar energy system installed at REM Eyewear headquarters

The first cable-suspended free-span solar energy system was completed today over the REM Eyewear headquarters parking lot in Sun Valley, Calif. The patented, cable-supported photovoltaic system created by P4P Energy is expected to generate 40,877 kilowatt-hours of renewable electricity per year, enough to power five to six single family homes and to prevent 1.5 million pounds of carbon from being released into the atmosphere.

Aug 11, 2010

Construction employment declined in 333 of 352 metro areas in June

Construction employment declined in all but 19 communities nationwide this June as compared to June-2008, according to a new analysis of metropolitan-area employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America. The analysis shows that few places in America have been spared the widespread downturn in construction employment over the past year.