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
As they sift through debris from one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history, designers, builders and inspectors in Joplin, Mo., are evaluating the condition of the structures that survived the May 22 disaster and learning more about those that did not. Courtesy Thornton Tomasetti KILLING FLOOR An EF5 tornado cut a mile-wide swath through the heart of Joplin, Mo., leaving more than 150 people dead. The Reston, Va.-based American Society of Civil Engineers sent a technical assessment team to Joplin to evaluate the extent of the damage and determine whether modifications to ASCE standards are warranted.ASCE also plans to
More than four years after an EF5 tornado flattened Greensburg, Kan., and killed 11 of its 1,500 residents, business and home owners continue to rebuild in a fashion that embraces sustainable design, if not more stringent building codes. Related Links: Joplin, Mo., Devastated by May 22 Tornado, Learning Lessons From Rubble “We adopted the International Building Code in 2006 and haven't made any changes since then,” says Greensburg Mayor Bob Dixon.However, the majority of those who have rebuilt have incorporated safe rooms into their homes and workplaces. Further, if the rebuilding received financial assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency,
MARTELLY Fifteen months after an earthquake devastated Haiti's capital, the country's newly elected president, Michel Martelly, says he recognizes that he and his nation face a major rebuilding task. Speaking after an April 20 meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington, D.C., Martelly said, through an interpreter, “Clearly, I have huge challenges in front of me, but I intend to meet them.” He added, “The reconstruction process is despairingly slow.” Martelly, a former entertainer, said that 1.7 million Haitians “still live under tents” and that, unless more people are vaccinated against cholera, the epidemic could widen with the
One night in early March as well as the next day before dawn, the Dept. of Energy’s Jeffrey M. Baker wasn’t pleased when he noticed lights still burning on two floors of his pet project: the National Renewable Energy Laboratory’s new, ultra-green office building in Golden, Colo. “The cleaning staff probably left them on,” said Baker, who oversees the lab. Photo: Dennis Schroeder/NREL Monitors Pless (left) and a colleague track the building’s energy use to see if it aligns with the energy model used for design. Related Links: 2011 Award of Excellence Winner: Jeffrey M. Baker Risky ‘Golden’ Job Proves
Constructing any major hospital is a challenge, but building a 320-bed state-of-the-art teaching hospital for $16 million in the highlands of Haiti is fraught with difficulties. Yet the aid group Partners in Health (PIH) is doing just that, using funds that come not from the government or the United Nations but from donations collected by the Boston-based group, which has worked for 23 years to boost the capacity of Haiti’s public health sector. The materials, services and cash contributions are coming from private companies and organizations, especially from companies in the U.S. construction sector. The hospital, which will have six
Haselden Construction and architect RNL put almost everything on the line for the Energy Dept.’s Research Support Facility in Golden, Colo. The firm-fixed-price contract, at $64 million, was risky, says Byron Haselden, even after terms were sweetened to include a $2-million incentive award fee and the contract adjusted so the team did not have to commit to a price in its proposal. Photo: Courtesy of Stantec Macey, Haselden and Andary (from left) are using the federal project to get more ultra-green work. Related Links: 2011 Award of Excellence Winner: Jeffrey M. Baker Closely Watched Building Lives Up to Expectations DOE’s
Hundreds of roofs in the Northeast collapsed after a series of winter storms swept through the region from just before Christmas until the week after Groundhog Day, with minimal thawing in between. The accumulated loads proved more than many commercial flat-roof systems could handle. Photo: Courtesy Town Of Nottingham, N.H. Roof of Nottingham, N.H., town garage proved no match for series of winter storms. Injuries were minimal, but as the tally of structural failures mounted, some began to wonder whether it is time to re-examine building codes if the region is entering a climate-change cycle that will trigger increased precipitation
While a demolition contractor clears debris and stabilizes the site of what the owner claimed was the largest sloped green roof in North America, a forensics team is investigating why the structure suddenly collapsed on the afternoon of Feb. 13. Photo: Courtesy Aquascape Freeze-thaw cycle following major snowfall apparently triggered collapse of large green roof near Chicago. Related Links: Ice, Snow Take Toll on Northeast Roofs, But Engineers Say Codes Are Adequate The 700-ft by 50-ft area of roof that collapsed was attached to a warehouse. There were no injuries or inventory damage, said Ed Beaulieu, vice president at Aquascape,
Large pneumatic bags designed to contain blasts from improvised explosive devices are finding a peaceful application in Egypt, propping the crumbling interior of the nation’s oldest pyramid. When inflated, an array of the 1.5-meter-tall bags will allow workers safely to stabilize the fractured interior roof of the subterranean burial chamber, itself buried under the ancient stone heap that forms the Pyramid of Djoser, south of Cairo. Built nearly 4,900 years ago in the reign of Djoser, the first king of the Third dynasty, the structure is the world’s oldest major stone monument, according to Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt’s