Building Design & Construction articles from October 2007

Building Design & Construction archives from October 2007

Mystery BuildingIntrigues Spartans.
October 1, 2007... By Dave Barista, Managing Editor Michigan State University's newest building looks like every other academic facility on the East Lansing campus, but it serves a very different purpose. Can you guess what it is? Have you figured out...

Chicago Transit Authority HQ.
October 1, 2007... Dave Barista, Managing Editor CTA makes its green offices even greener with LEED-EB Gold status When the Chicago Transit Authority put the finishing touches on its sparkling new, 12-story headquarters in late 2004, the 400,000-sf...

Chicago Permits Ever Greener.
October 1, 2007... Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor It's been more than two years since the Chicago Department of Construction and Permits (DCAP) initiated its Green Permit Program in April 2005, allowing projects to quality for fast permitting by meeting...

Healthy living, Chicago-style.
October 1, 2007... Staff Canyon Ranch Living-Chicago, a planned 67-story high rise in Chicago's Gold Coast, will bring healthy living to a neighborhood known more for excess. The tower will be operated by the same-named Arizona-based company known for its...

Green Armitage boasts several sustainable features.
October 1, 2007... Staff Green Armitage is a new market-rate residential project with first floor commercial space and eight, 1,200- to 1,300-sf residential units. Project developer The Sanders Company is stressing energy efficiency in the five-story...

Development will transform Chicago public housing into luxury condos.
October 1, 2007... Staff Located on Chicago's Near West Side, the new Roosevelt Square development will offer affordable housing and market-rate and luxury units in a neighborhood setting. Encompassing more than 100 acres, the community is a redevelopment of...

New DePaul building to have green laboratories.
October 1, 2007... Staff The Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan Science Building is a new five-story, 130,000-sf building that will house the chemistry department at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus. Seeking LEED Silver certification, the project will have...

Aqua breaks ground near Chicago's Grant Park.
October 1, 2007... Staff Architect Jeanne Gang's 83-story residential development, Aqua, broke ground this spring near Chicago's Grant Park. The $300 million, 1.9 million-sf project will be LEED Silver certified, and will include a hotel, offices, retail,...

Chicago dance company to get sustainable theater.
October 1, 2007... Staff Muntu, a company specializing in progressive interpretations of African and African-American dance, will soon be the first African dance company in the nation to have a permanent home and the sole Chicago-based ensemble to own its...

Ralph Johnson's latest condo tower will seek LEED certification.
October 1, 2007... Staff The Peshtigo Tower, designed by architect Ralph Johnson, a design principal with Chicago's Perkins+Will, features a distinctive, angular design. The 358-unit, $180 million tower is anything but a 'uniform box,' according to developer...

University of Chicago selects architects for arts center.
October 1, 2007... Staff The University of Chicago announced that New York architects Tod Williams and Billie Tsien have won the commission for a $100 million creative and performing arts center, beating out other finalists including Daniel Libeskind. The...

What other cities can learn from 'Green Chicago'.
October 1, 2007... Robert Cassidy, Editor-in-Chief In his time as mayor of Chicago (1955-1976), Richard J. Daley would answer his critics with a curt rhetorical question: 'How many trees did you plant today?' It was a none too subtle reminder of who made The...

Color your world.
October 1, 2007... Staff Patented ecoresin panels contain an interlayer of light-refracting film, creating eye-catching color and light effects in two different spectral ranges (warm lunar and cool solar) and two finishes (sandstone and supermatte)....

Need to vent?
October 1, 2007... Staff Continuous tile-over ridge vent efficiently removes hot, moist air from the attic space of a building, helping reduce cooling costs and moisture build-up. Manufactured in a roll for easy installation, EcoVent comes standard with the...

Low-flush with no fuss.
October 1, 2007... Staff Sponsored by the EPA, the WaterSense program identifies products that are water efficient but perform equally, or better than, their standard, water-hog competitors. Eight of Kohler's toilets received this rating in 2007. All use at...

Windows and doors for coastal regions.
October 1, 2007... Staff Line of aluminum structural and impact products are designed for the Southeast coastal market, particularly the state of Florida. Biscayne Shutterless impact windows and doors have passed extensive testing for wind and debris...

Mold-free ceiling systems.
October 1, 2007... Staff Open plenum ceiling systems from Chicago Metallic are designed to fit a variety of projects and are environmentally oriented to fit demanding standards of green design. Available in five different system options (Magna T-Cell,...

Totally tubular.
October 1, 2007... Staff Fabric duct line has been expanded with designer fabrics for retail, hotel, commercial, and multi-unit housing applications. The DuctSox Coronado Series features four fabrics: galvanized, cork, harvest, and camo. The ducts are made...

Tile roofing system.
October 1, 2007... Staff Engineered for steep-slope roofing applications, the Ecoset Tile Roofing System provides an R-value of 10.68, besting the average R-value (2.59) offered by traditional tiling systems. The system consists of a waterproofing...

Green AlleysReduce Stormwater Runoff.
October 1, 2007... Annie Hartman, Editorial Intern Chicago has about 1,900 miles of public alleys-more than any other city in the world. The Chicago Department of Transportation's Green Alley Program is an environmentally minded approach to upgrading alleys...

Chicago Among the Nation's Most Bike-Friendly Big Cities.
October 1, 2007... Dave Barista, Managing Editor With more than 350 miles of marked bike lanes, signed bike routes, and off-street paths, Chicago has one of the largest and most innovative bike infrastructures in the nation. During the past 15 years, the...

Retail construction: a mixed bag.
October 1, 2007... By Jim Haughey, BD+C Economist While retail construction spending is 15% higher than a year ago, it's experienced no spending increases in the four months through July. That's in contrast to other nonresidential projects, which have...

Education construction slows.
October 1, 2007... By Jim Haughey, BD+C Economist There has been a surge in construction spending for school buildings in 2007, thanks to above-average growth in state and local government tax collections. In 2008, however, spending is expected to slow to a...

RSMeans costs comparisons.
October 1, 2007... By Jim Haughey, BD+C Economist [TABLE OMITTED]

Chicago Center for Green Technology.
October 1, 2007... Dave Barista, Managing Editor Former Scrap Yard Teaches Chicagoans the Value of Green One of the first LEED Platinum buildings in the nation and only the third U.S. building designed to LEED standards, the Chicago Center for Green...

McCormick Place West.
October 1, 2007... Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor America's Biggest LEED-NC Certified Building On November 7-9, when Chicago hosts the Greenbuild 2007 International Conference and Expo, an estimated 18,000 attendees will meet beneath the massive...

Merchandise Mart.
October 1, 2007... Dave Barista, Managing Editor Nation's Largest Commercial Building Goes Green At 4.2 million sf, Chicago's Merchandise Mart is the largest commercial building in the U.S. and one of the biggest multistory structures in the world. And,...

Wis Tavern gets first LEED for Homes Gold in Illinois.
October 1, 2007... Kristin Foster, Editorial Intern Located in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood, the Wis Tavern building on Wabansia Ave. had been a popular bar for nearly 40 years. Today, however, the same two-story brick building is home to a completely...

Evanston gets green community center with local ties.
October 1, 2007... Staff The Boocoo Cultural Center and Cafe in Evanston, Ill., was built to foster community connections. The 5,000-sf facility, formerly a gas station, grocery store, and dollar store, now offers a 125-seat performance space, music school,...

Nonprofit calls green office home.
October 1, 2007... Staff Access Living, a center providing support for the disabled, moved into its new 50,000-sf headquarters. The nonprofit's home is a model for universal and sustainable design, with high-efficiency lamps, daylight sensors that control...

Why California schools cost so much.
October 1, 2007... Jeff Yoders, Associate Editor A group of more than 20 representatives from California's government, education, legal, design, and construction communities recently authored a 27-page report detailing why construction costs are so high for...

News Briefs.
October 1, 2007... Staff * AGC warns materials prices going up sharply. The Associated General Contractors of America (AGC) is warning owners, budget setters, and contractors to expect greater materials and labor cost increases in 2008 than they have...

USGBC promotes green schools.
October 1, 2007... Kristin Foster, Editorial Intern With the success of the LEED commercial construction and renovation program, the U.S. Green Building Council is all set to foster an increase in green K-12 schools. To help educate and encourage...

People+Firms.
October 1, 2007... Staff * Skanska has named Mike McNally president and CEO of its business unit, Skanska USA Building Inc., based in Parsippany, N.J. * San Francisco-based MBT Architecture , a specialist in science and technology and higher education...

Davoren joins BD+C editorial board.
October 1, 2007... Staff Peter J. Davoren, president and CEO of Turner Construction Co., has joined Building Design+Construction 's editorial board. Davoren has spent his entire 30-year career in construction at Turner, which completed more than $8.6...

Green Initiatives Take Flight at O'Hare International Airport.
October 1, 2007... Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor More than 77 million passengers traveled through Chicago's O'Hare International Airport in 2006, according to the Airports Council International, which once again ranked the airport as the second busiest in...

Green Building, Chicago-Style.
October 1, 2007... The Editors Starting with the first green roof he built on City Hall, Mayor Richard M. Daley has implemented plans and policies to make Chicago the greenest big city in America. Police and fire stations, libraries, and other public...

Army Depot's roof goes green.
October 1, 2007... Staff Officials at the Tobyhanna Army Depot in Northeastern Pennsylvania wanted to operate a more energy-efficient building, so they opted to install a green roof on one of the depot's wings. Randy Didier, environmental management division...

Old, new Hearst offices fitted for wireless technology.
October 1, 2007... Staff The original Hearst office complex is a six-story historical landmark building constructed in 1928. That same New York City building was integrated into the communications company's new 46-story headquarters. For Hearst, it was...

Water chillers cool off Pearl Island.
October 1, 2007... Staff Qatar Cool, the district cooling authority for the Pearl Island of Qatar in the Arabian Gulf, will use 46 water-cooled chiller units from Johnson Controls to supply 130,000 tons of chilled water to about 15,000 residential and...

Flexible, aesthetic alternative to security gates.
October 1, 2007... Staff While working on Farina Focaccia & Cucina Italiana Restaurant in San Francisco, Bay Area architects Monica Viarengo and Brett Terpeluk searched for an attractive, unobtrusive security gate that would protect against break-ins and fit...

Florida college gets copper-paneled roof.
October 1, 2007... Staff While designing Florida State University's new College of Medicine building, architects HOK and Elliot Marshall Innes wanted the building to be distinct yet harmonious with campus style. They opted for a Petersen Aluminum mansard...

Mold-free construction, even in a moist climate.
October 1, 2007... Staff Moisture, mold, and mildew are big no-nos in any hospital. So, when officials at the Medical University of South Carolina began working on a 641,000-sf addition in hot, humid, and hurricane-prone Charleston, S.C., they knew they...

Philadelphia high rise gets the eco-friendly lighting test.
October 1, 2007... Staff SCA Americas, a global consumer products company, is conducting energy-efficiency tests in its Philadelphia offices. The company is comparing four single-person offices equipped with Lutron's EcoSystem lighting control solution on...

New Women's HospitalGets A Shot ofSustainability.
October 1, 2007... Robert Cassidy, Editor-in-Chief Seven years ago, officials at Chicago's Northwestern Memorial Hospital took a hard look at Prentice Women's Hospital, knowing full well that, after 25 years of service, their Gold Coast jewel was delivering...

Condos Not DeadYet - Provided They're Green.
October 1, 2007... Robert Cassidy, Editor-in-Chief The talk in real estate circles is that condos are dead, but don't tell that to three developers who are building green condo high-rises in Chicago: Related Midwest, which recently completed a LEED Silver...

Lutron EcoSystem Daylight Dimming System.
October 1, 2007... Staff Lutron's EcoSystem saves energy in buildings by controlling lighting. Composed of digital dimming ballasts, controls, and environmental sensors, EcoSystem can contribute to 20 LEED-NC and 12.5 LEED-CI points. The customizable...

Household Chemicals and Electronics Recycling Center.
October 1, 2007... Jeff Yoders, Associate Editor Former incinerator a home for recycling Many cities have household waste recycling programs for paper, cardboard, plastic, and aluminum. But what about old paint, used antifreeze, fertilizer, your broken...

'We're going to reduce our emissions 80% by 2050'.
October 1, 2007... Staff Sadhu Johnston was recently appointed Chief Environmental Officer of the City of Chicago by Mayor Richard M. Daley. Previously, he had served for two years as Commissioner of the City Department of Environment and for a year and a...

USG Headquarters Ingrained in Green.
October 1, 2007... Jay W. Schneider, Senior Editor Employees heading to the cafeteria in USG's new headquarters in Chicago are waking up to something besides a shot of caffeine in their morning coffee. As their organic java is served in eco-friendly,...

'Green Exchange' To Cater to Eco-Friendly Businesses.
October 1, 2007... Kristin Foster, Editorial Intern Two entrepreneurs, David and Douglas Baum of Baum Realty Group, are converting an old lamp-making factory in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood into an exchange building that will house only green-oriented...