Hooray, Arrays! Image Courtesy of NREL The National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Colorado. Thanks to its arrays of photovoltaic cells with a total production capacity of 973 kW, the nation's largest net-zero energy-use building produced as much energy as it used on June 22. National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers in the Dept. of Energy's 220,000-sq-ft Research Support Facility expect the Golden, Colo., building to achieve NZEU for the month of July, assuming the sun continues to shine. DOE's Jeffrey M. Baker, the facility's visionary and ENR's 2011 Award of Excellence winner, reports the year-old building is performing as designed (ENR
Architects and structural-steel, concrete and masonry interests fighting the “wood first” movement are breathing a collective sigh of relief since Oregon legislators adjourned for the year on June 30 without enacting legislation that would give wood a leg up over other framing materials for use in public buildings. Photo by Patrick Cotter Architects The Remy, a six-story, wood-framed apartment building in Vancouver, B.C., where the wood-first movement was born. It was partly complete when a May 3 fire destroyed it. Photo by Nick Procaylo / The Vancouver Sun An opponent of Canada's 'wood first' movement cited the Remy, a six-story
A new report claims that Foster + Partners’ unfinished Harmon Hotel tower on the Las Vegas Strip is beyond repair and could potentially collapse in a “code-level” earthquake. Related Links: Who's To Blame for Faulty Foster Tower? Owner MGM Resorts International recently commissioned Weidlinger Associates, a California-based engineering consulting firm, to perform a structural assessment of the 400-room, oval-shaped high-rise that anchors the northeast corner of CityCenter.The report, whose findings were made available July 11, represents the latest salvo in a battle that dates to 2009. It says the 28-story tower’s construction defects are “so pervasive and varied in character
If all goes according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s plan, Los Angeles will avoid the dreaded “Carmageddon” this weekend when a major highway section is sealed off. Related Links: Locals' Ire Doomed a Simpler I-405 Plan All of Southern California, it seems, is bracing for the shutdown of a 10-mile section of Interstate 405 so that one of its overpasses, the Mulholland Drive Bridge, can be partially demolished as part of a $1-billion project to upgrade the I-405 between Interstate 10 and U.S. 101.The media-saturated region dubbed the weekend closure “Carmageddon” in reference to the end of Southern California driving
Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Jeffrey Mullan says reports about his resignation this fall are premature, according to an email from a Mass. DOT spokesman today. Related Links: MassDOT Study Blames Salt For Big Dig's Fallen Light Fixture MassDOT Administrator Out After Latest Big Dig Mishap “In May, I discussed with the Governor my intention to transition from the administration within the year for personal reasons,” Mullan states in the email. “However, we made no final decisions regarding my future at that time. While I still intend to transition out this year, I have made no final plans. I am fully
A Nuclear Regulatory Commission task force has called for tightening safety regulations at the nation’s 104 nuclear powerplants and requiring plants to make upgrades when necessary, in areas such as seismic protection, electric power and cooling water for spent-fuel pools. Related Links: NRC task force report In a 90-day report released on July 13, the NRC panel concludes that a sequence of events like those following the Japanese accident is “unlikely to occur” in the United States. Still, the existing U.S. regulatory approach, developed piece by piece over decades, is a “patchwork,” and needs to be improved, the task force
After months of wrangling between the Calgary Airport Authority and the city of Calgary, the airport's $2-billion expansion has received a last-minute add-on: a tunnel underneath the 14,000-ft-long, 200-ft-wide runway. Rendering Courtesy of Calgary Ariport Authority The $1.4-billion terminal is already in construction and substantial work recently started on the $620-million runway—the largest project of its kind in North America.The two entities reached a tentative agreement in May, allowing the city to construct a six-lane extension of Airport Trail east under the runway to connect to the northeast section of the city, also keeping open the possibility for future light
As the investigation and cleanup of the ExxonMobil oil spill in the Yellowstone River continues in Montana, plans for a much longer oil line are coming under scrutiny. The State Dept. says it will consider the recent leak from the ExxonMobil pipeline as part of its ongoing review of the international TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline, parts of which originate in Hardisty, Alberta, and cross through the same river in Montana on its way to oil terminals located in Texas. “Since we're in the decision process, of course we're looking at what's happened in the ExxonMobil case, and we're interested in
After months of wrangling between the Calgary Airport Authority and the city of Calgary, the airport's $2-billion expansion has received a last-minute add-on: a tunnel underneath the 14,000-ft-long, 200-ft-wide runway. The $1.4 billion terminal is already in construction and substantial work recently started on the $620 million runway—the largest project of its kind in North America.The two entities reached a tentative agreement in May, allowing the city to construct a six-lane extension of Airport Trail east under the runway to connect to the northeast section of the city, also keeping open the possibility for future light rail extension. Jim Stevenson, Calgary
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