Building Design & Construction articles from November 2005

Building Design & Construction archives from November 2005

Seeking higher ground for green building.(EDITORIAL)
November 1, 2005... This month, as U.S. Green Building Council members head to Atlanta for the fourth annual Greenbuild conference, the green building movement seems to be reaching a new stage of maturation that carries with it both opportunity and concern. ...

What does the future hold for the skyscraper?(NEWS & TRENDS)
November 1, 2005... When considering the virtues of today's tall buildings, is height all that remains? This thought-provoking question was posed by Ole Scheeren, partner with Office for Metropolitan Architecture, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, to more than 400...

AIA reports largest increase since 1998 in September index.
November 1, 2005... AIA reports largest increase since 1998 in September index. Billings at U.S. architecture firms made their largest monthly gain since 1998 in September, generating a score of 60.5 on the The American Institute of Architects' Architecture...

Study questions existence of toxic mold syndrome.
November 1, 2005... Study questions existence of toxic mold syndrome. Mold and dampness can cause coughing and wheezing, but there is little evidence to support the existence of the so-called toxic mold syndrome, according to researchers at the Oregon Health...

California officials say older buildings should be retrofitted for quakes.
November 1, 2005... California officials say older buildings should be retrofitted for quakes. Thousands of older concrete buildings across California represent the state's largest remaining risk of serious damage in the event of a major earthquake, seismic safety...

Gadgets, parachutes offer tall building escape routes.
November 1, 2005... Gadgets, parachutes offer tall building escape routes. Since 9/11, business executives, architects, engineers, and safely experts have worked to find safer ways to evacuate skyscrapers, focusing mostly on improving stairwells and elevators. But...

Seattle City Hall is not the 'energy hog' that has been portrayed.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2005... In your recent news story on the new green Seattle City Hall (BD&C September 2005, p.9) you report that the facility is an "energy hog" and it consumes "up to 50% more electricity than the larger building it replaced." One of my colleagues...

Credit where it's due.(LETTERS)(Letter to the Editor)
November 1, 2005... We were delighted to receive a Grand Award for the Essex County Courthouse restoration in your annual Reconstruction Awards program (BD&C October, p. 20). However, there was one omission that needs to be corrected: Cobra Construction Company of...

Chicago Biomedical Center focused on metastasis research.(ON THE DRAWING BOARD)
November 1, 2005... The University of Chicago started work on its 330,760-sf, 10-story Center for Biomedical Discovery. Designed by a team from the Los Angeles office of the Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership, the $162.5 million center was engineered to provide...

English, ASL building planned for California College.(ON THE DRAWING BOARD)
November 1, 2005... Targeted for completion in summer 2007, the 88,000-sf Communication Arts Building has broken ground at Grossmont-Cuyamaca Community College in El Cajon, Calif. Designed by NTD-Stichler Architecture of San Diego, the facility will provide...

The show must go on: Trump Tower in New Orleans will still be built.(ON THE DRAWING BOARD)
November 1, 2005... Trump Tower Hotel, New Orleans, will be built despite Hurricane Katrina, and it will be the tallest building in New Orleans when completed. The project, first announced in the spring, will be one of the 2first new high-rises constructed in the...

Mississippi Island Resort also moves on undaunted.(ON THE DRAWING BOARD)
November 1, 2005... Despite setbacks stemming from Hurricane Katrina, work will move forward an the 38-story Portofino at the Broadwater hotel/condo development in Biloxi, Miss. The tower will feature a lifestyle and spa facility and a yacht marina. It will be...

Downtown Orlando mixed-use project takes shape.(ON THE DRAWING BOARD)
November 1, 2005... 801 North Orange, a $25 million mixed-use project, has begun to emerge in downtown Orlando, Fla. Craig and Tom Ustler are developing the property, which will have 96,000 sf of office space and 18,000 sf of street-level retail space. The...

Office complex breaks the mold in Carlsbad, Calif.(ON THE DRAWING BOARD)
November 1, 2005... Centerpoint Plaza, a 97,500-sf office building, is under construction in Carlsbad, Calif. The commercial project was designed by the San Diego office of Austin Veum Robbins Partners. Reno Contracting of San Diego is the general contractor. "Our...

Condo/hotel project approved in Ocean City, N.J.(ON THE DRAWING BOARD)
November 1, 2005... Construction has begun on the $60 million Soleil Resort hotel/condominium project at 11th and Ocean Avenues in Ocean City, N.J., across from the well-known Flanders Hotel. Scheduled to open in the second half of 2007, the five-story Soleil...

First LEED-CS building in Illinois nears completion.(ON THE DRAWING BOARD)
November 1, 2005... One South Dearborn, a 40-story, 820,000-sf office tower currently being built in downtown Chicago, is the first LEED core and shell (CS) project in the Land of Lincoln to be pre-certified by the U.S. Green Building Council. Designed by...

Materials costs spike higher in the wake of hurricane season.(INDUSTRY DATA)
November 1, 2005... Construction materials costs are being abruptly pushed higher at the end of 2005 by the added demand and the reduced supply caused by the season's severe hurricanes. This ends a year of a steady price index, where rising fuel, chemical,...

Education construction spending increases while enrollment dips.(INDUSTRY DATA)
November 1, 2005... Education construction spending has entered a period of at least three years of very strong growth after essentially no-inflation-adjusted growth during 2002-04. Although spending growth on education projects has stalled in the last few months,...

Retail, parking are the bright spots in the stagnant commercial sector.(INDUSTRY DATA)
November 1, 2005... Commercial construction spending expanded about 15% from winter 2004 to spring 2005, recovering to its pre-recession level. But growth is forecast to slow to about a 6% pace through the end of 2007. Real estate investors currently see the...

Cost comparisons per square foot in select metro markets.(INDUSTRY DATA)
November 1, 2005... Cost comparisons per square foot in select metro markets Hospital 2-3 story '05 '04 % chg. Atlanta 197.66 149.34 na Baltimore ...

Green Building Studio: energy analysis made easy.(INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY)
November 1, 2005... With the development of software programs like DOE-2 and EnergyPlus, it's never been easier for Building Teams to evaluate potential energy saving measures for a building project. However, preparing data that accurately represents the...

Deep green: chilled beams ... self-cleaning cement ... preferred permitting ... mini-wind turbines ... air-filter skyscrapers ... form-based codes ... online processing for LEED projexts ... Think you've seen it all when it comes to sustainability? BD&C dug deep to uncover groundbreaking products and ideas that take green building to a whole new level.(SUSTAINABILITY)
November 1, 2005... CHILL THE CEILINGS AND ACHIEVE COOL ENERGY SAVINGS. U.S. designers are constantly scouring Europe, Asia, and Australia in search of new energy saving technologies--from double-wall facades in the 1980s to under-floor air distribution in the...

To leed, or not to leed: that was the question before the San Jose city council: whether 'twas nobler to suffer the slings and arrows of certifying its Richard Meier-designed city hall, or to avoid a sea of troubles and simply build it 'green.' Ay, there's the rub.(SUSTAINABLE DESIGN)
November 1, 2005... San Jose, California's third-largest city (after Los Angeles and San Diego), enjoys a robust population of almost one million and the idyllic climate of Northern California--300 sunny days a year on average, with a mean temperature of 70...

Designing for the obese: as hospitals struggle to serve the growing number of overweight patients, design experts offer tips on creating bariatric-friendly healthcare spaces.(HEALTHCARE FACILITIES)
November 1, 2005... During the past 20 years, obesity among U.S. adults has increased more than 60%, according to the National Center for Health Statistics. The disease now affects more than 60 million adults, or about 30% of the U.S. adult population. ...

Richlite paper-based pressboard.(The Professional's Choice)
November 1, 2005... Designed for everything from kitchen countertops to skateboard ramps to boats, Richlite hardboard panels are composed of multiple layers of FSC-certified craft paper that is treated with No-VOC resin and then pressed and baked to create...

Fireproofing material protects 7 WTC.(PRODUCTS AT WORK)
November 1, 2005... Grace Construction Products' Monokote Z-106/HY fireproofing was specified to protect the new 7 World Trade Center building's entire structural steel frame from failure in the event of fire. The fireproofing material was selected by general...

A smart fire system.(PRODUCTS AT WORK)
November 1, 2005... When a building has mixed uses, its fire safely system needs to respond differently for each. In the case of Little Rock, Ark.'s First Security Center--a 14-story mixed-use complex that includes a hotel, a trading firm, and condos--the system...

In Canada, mold and surgery don't mix.(PRODUCTS AT WORK)
November 1, 2005... The Vancouver General Hospital day surgery building's air intakes were besieged with mold and other microorganisms stirred up by three nearby demolition and construction projects. Consulting engineer Desmond Pattrick from the Vancouver office...

A sneak peak at the Top 10 Green Products.(EDITORS' PICKS)
November 1, 2005... A dual-flush toilet designed for the commercial market and a "pint-sized" thermal energy storage system for small commercial and residential buildings are among the winners of BuildingGreen's 2005 Top 10 Green Products awards. The Braltleboro,...

LED lamps enlighten and save energy.(EDITORS' PICKS)
November 1, 2005... Westhinghouse's Nanolux LED lamps provide uniform light distribution through their patented polymer magnification and dispersion system. Lasting up to 100,000 hours, the energy-efficient LED lamps can be used in indoor and outdoor applications...

Green hand dryer.(EDITORS' PICKS)
November 1, 2005... World Dryer Corporation's newest hand dryer, the 275 CFM volume output, 15-second AirMax, has qualified for the GreenSpec designation, which allows customers who purchase the product to earn LEED certification credits. The dryer is available in...

Ventilated, insulated roof panels.(EDITOR' PICKS)
November 1, 2005... Hunter Panels' Cool-Vent rigid roof insulation panels are manufactured as ventilated nailbase panels that promote air circulation within the roof assembly. The steep-slope boards have sustainable thermal insulating characteristics, including an...

Sustainable tile.(EDITOR' PICKS)
November 1, 2005... Oceanside glasstile uses scrap glass (mostly post-consumer bottle glass) and other recycled materials to create its luxury glass tile lines. Red #777, shown above, is composed of 100% post-consumer glass. Oceanside Tile Glass Reader...

Self-adhering wall coverings.(EDITOR' PICKS)
November 1, 2005... Milliken & Company's new wall covering, called 180 Walls, hangs with pressure-sensitive adhesive, not paste. The company says the "dry" installation prevents shrinking and peeling, and enables the covering to be removed years later without...

Easy-to-use, compact fluorescent lighting.(EDITOR' PICKS)
November 1, 2005... Lithonia Lighting's CKP residential compact fluorescent downlights have a plug-and-play feature that reduces installation time by 35%, the company says. The fixture is shipped with two housings: a remote unit factory-installed with a pre-wired...

Custom alarms fit any building type.(EDITOR'S PICKS)
November 1, 2005... Gamewell has a line of fully digital and networked audio alarm systems able to support up to six channels of digital audio, including line paging and two-way phone communications, plus control functions that all operate on a single pair of...

Clear and strong safety glazing.(EDITOR'S PICKS)
November 1, 2005... SuperLite safety glass is a clear, impact safety-rated, fire-rated and scratch-resistant ceramic glazing. It can withstand up to 400 lbs. of impact without breaking (impact-rated toCPSC 16CFR1201 Cat. II), as well as meet the most stringent...

A blue look for architectural glass.(EDITOR'S PICKS)
November 1, 2005... PPG has introduced Vistacool Azuria glass, a reflective, color-enriched architectural glass that has an aqua-blue appearance and transmits high levels of daylight. The new glass was created to fill the needs of customers who wanted tinted high...

Side-load header.(EDITOR'S PICKS)
November 1, 2005... Gyro Tech by Nabco Entrances Inc. offers a side-load header option on its line of swing doors, which eases installation and service of the door operator and controls, the company says. The system's access panel, which is located on the header's...

Outdoor radiance.(EDITOR'S PICKS)
November 1, 2005... Energy-efficient parking garage lighting provides for client and vehicle safety. NiteLyte II illuminates horizontal and vertical surfaces. Durable die-cast aluminum design can be mounted in a variety of ways. Available in a white polyester...

Clean, clear lighting for labs.(EDIT PICKS)
November 1, 2005... Guth BioSeal luminaires are well suited for hazardous locations requiring bio-safety levels 1, 2, or 3 and cleanrooms from Class 10 to Class 10,000. Typical applications include research, development, and testing laboratories of all kinds. The...

Directory of green products & services.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... ADHESIVES Franklin International WE KNOW GREEN BUILDING... INSIDE AND OUT As a pioneer in environmentally-friendly glues and adhesives, Franklin International offers the industry's most extensive selection of VOC-compliant and...

Vivian Loftness: 'buildings should speak to the soul'.(THOUGHT LEADERS)(Interview)
November 1, 2005... Vivian Loftness, FAIA, is University Professor at Carnegie Mellon University's School of Architecture (which she headed from 1994 to 2004) and senior researcher in CMU's Center for Building Performance and Diagnostics. A board member of the...

The Hardwood Council: sustainable solutions for green design and building.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... Versatile, durable and sustainable, American hardwoods have served builders, architects and designers for centuries--because people respond positively to natural materials in the built environment. Nontoxic natural hardwoods bring...

Why LCA?(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... You have probably been hearing about LCA (life cycle assessment) and wondering what the big deal is. What has biology got to do with buildings, or with manufacturing building products? Is this the latest fad in architecture? Is it just going to...

Life cycle assessment for whole buildings: seeking the holy grail.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... Food bought in a supermarket is labeled with a standard nutrition form that tells you the amount of nutrients, salt, and fat contained in each serving. Someday building materials may also have a label, listing each product's contribution to...

Turner Green buildings.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... Turner continues to lead the charge with sustainable, or Green, construction--it's a promise we made one year ago, and we have made substantial progress. More and more clients are asking about Green, and we have been privileged to work on some...

LCA tools around the world.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... When choosing materials and designing buildings to achieve sustainability, our decisions are seldom as clear-cut as we'd like. We'd all love to have a simple list of all the products that are truly green. Unfortunately, the natural world and...

North American Insulation Manufacturers Association.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... The North American Insulation Manufacturers Association (NAIMA) is a trade association representing nearly all manufacturers of fiber glass, rock and slag wool insulations produced in North America. NAIMA's industry role centers on promoting...

Can ISO life cycle assessment standards provide credibility for LCA?(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... In the late 1980s a number of "dueling" life cycle assessment studies attempted to illustrate the superiority of one product over another. As these studies gained visibility, issues associated with boundary conditions, sources of data, and...

Lafarge North America.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... Lafarge North America is the U.S. and Canada's largest diversified supplier of construction materials such as cement products, ready-mixed concrete, gypsum wallboard, aggregates, asphalt and concrete products. The company's materials are used...

Life cycle impact assessment for the building design and construction industry.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... You can measure chemical emissions and construction wastes by the ton, but weight a[one won't tell you how or where the emissions and waste may harm humans or the environment. If you can apply the metrics of life cycle impact assessment,...

Durolast[R] Roofing, Inc.: the world's best roof.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... "Cool roofing" is a term that has been well established for several years and has received a lot of press coverage. As architects, building owners, facility managers and other specifiers consider cool roofing alternatives, they should remember...

The U.S. LCI database project and its role in life cycle assessment.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... We are experiencing a fundamental change that affects not only how building products are developed, but how they are perceived, especially by governments and other high-volume purchasers and by members of extended supply chains. We're...

The Vinyl Institute, Inc.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... Life-cycle assessments have been used for decades to help manufacturers increase production efficiency. Today, they are finding broader application--for example, helping to improve our understanding of green building. Two major life-cycle...

The role of life cycle assessment in sustainable product certification.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... Product certification programs--with their necessary partner, voluntary consensus standards--are a key component in the design and construction of buildings. The work of today's architects, engineers, and contractors has been streamlined...

GSA.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... GSA's Public Building Service is committed to incorporating principles of sustainable design and energy efficiency into all of our building projects. The result is an optimal balance of cost, environmental, societal and human benefits that...

Applying a life cycle perspective to federal construction specifications.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... While life cycle assessment is applicable to the design process primarily by informing design decisions, the construction specifier's role is crucial in delineating the specific, enforceable submittal and environmental performance requirements...

LCA's role in the manufacture of construction materials.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... It is estimated that the construction industry, consumes about 40% of all raw materials and energy, making it the largest single user of these precious resources. All stakeholders in the building segment recognize the need to move toward more...

The Construction Specifications Institute: are you prepared to manage the complexities of a LEED project?(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... Site development, water efficiency, energy usage, building materials, interior building systems, construction wastes and increased recycling--you have to manage it all when you are building to achieve LEED[R] certification. Sustainability...

USGBC's 'LCA into LEED' project.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... The U.S. Green Building Council has long recognized the value of incorporating LCA-based credits into its Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating systems, for its potential to holistically assess building materials and...

Building Green.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... BuildingGreen is committed to providing dependable and timely information to help building and design professionals improve the environmental performance of buildings and surrounding landscapes. We provide both print and electronic...

The eLCie System: a new addition to the LCA toolkit.(PROGRESS REPORT LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... Decisions regarding the selection of materials during the construction and operations and maintenance life cycle of a building have serious impacts on the natural and indoor environments, as well as on the building's economics. While they might...

LCA and the Green Globes environmental assessment and rating system for commercial structures.(PROGRESS REPORT LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... The process of integrating life cycle assessment into green building rating systems in North America represents a fundamental shift in the way these systems have traditionally approached green building--away from a prescriptive methodology to...

MasterFormat 04 and LCA.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... MasterFormat and life cycle assessment are tyro separate but useful tools that can be utilized to organize and report information. The process of evaluating and specifying sustainable building products in green building projects requires...

Integrating LCA into green building design.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... During the design process, a broad range of stakeholders--architects, engineers, designers, contractors, subcontractors and owners--combine technical expertise to produce one-off buildings with long life spans. They must consider the...

The Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... Headquartered in Chicago with technical and marketing professionals, the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) is an association of more than 2,000 members, including 230 certified producers operating 320 plants, and 100+ supplier...

LCA into the future: going global, getting social.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... Three decades ago, as the environmental movement was just beginning to gain credibility and acceptance, small teams of engineers and physicists in the U.S., continental Europe, and the United Kingdom, acting independently, were called upon by...

Green Building Initiative[TM].(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... At the Green Building Initiative (GBI), we believe that the integration of Life Cycle Analysis is an important step in the evolution of North American green building standards. GBI is the non-profit organization that markets the Green...

Chemical Fabrics and Film Association--Vinyl Roofing Division.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... With energy efficiency now accepted as a significant component of sustainability, cool roofing has gone mainstream--becoming a significant solution to critical national energy and environmental challenges as well as a strategy for reducing...

White Paper action plan.(PROGRESS REPORT ON LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT)
November 1, 2005... In two previous White Papers, the editors of Building Design & Construction have offered positive recommendations to our 76,008 subscribers, the U.S. Green Building Council, government officials, NGOs, environmental groups, and others involved...

United States of America Department of Energy.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) leads the Federal government's research, development, and deployment (RD&D) efforts to provide reliable, affordable, and environmentally sound energy for America's future. Our vision...

The Carpet and Rug Institute.(Advertisement)
November 1, 2005... The Carpet and Rug Institute (CRI) is the source for balanced facts and insight into how carpet and rugs can create a better environment--for living, working, learning, and healing. CRI is the national trade association representing the...