Related Links: Sheer Innovation China Grapples with Supertall Building Boom The People's Republic of China is the center of tall building construction in the world. China has seven of the 10 tallest buildings in the world that are under construction. Yet China construction practices, even on closely scrutinized iconic supertall buildings, do not always meet U.S. quality and safety standards, said many high-rise construction experts, at a recent conference on tall buildings, organized by the Council on Tall Buildings & Urban Habitat.That is one reason why it is somewhat comforting that China’s building codes are more conservative, agreed the tall-building
Related Links: National September 11 Memorial & Museum After a prolonged fight, the National September 11 Memorial & Museum foundation and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey have settled financial and other differences regarding the subgrade museum at the World Trade Center. The dispute halted museum construction last December, cast a shadow on the two entities leading the project and delayed the scheduled Sept. 11, 2012, opening by about a year.The seven-level museum and some port-authority projects share infrastructure at the 16-acre site in Lower Manhattan (ENR 8/16/11 p. 34). The authority, which owns the land, had
Related Links: HP Labs Architectural Record HP Labs, the research arm of computer technology giant Hewlett-Packard,is giving back to the environment. The lab has set a goal to develop a method for designing and operating a data center that would consume no net energy from the public utility grid over the lifetime of the facility."This would take into account the building's embedded energy and operational energy," says Cullen Bash, director of ecosustainable systems for HP Labs, Palo Alto, Calif.For the project to be a success, the data center would have to have a two-year payback period for the up-front investment
photo courtesy of skanska modular RISING Factory-built data centers can save owners 30% to 40% on up-front capital costs because they are the right size for current demand and can grow in response to increased future demand. photo courtesy of integrated design group rows of racks Dense computer servers and related equipment generate heat that must be constantly ejected to avoid meltdowns. Related Links: EPA's Energy Star Program The Green Grid ASHRAE Uptime Institute Gartner Inc. Data centers in the U.S. gulp an estimated 388 billion liters of potable water every year. Experts say that's enough water to fill 155
Related Links: Engineering News-Record Uptime Institute Well over half of the respondents to a recent survey of 1,100 data center owners and operators around the globe said that saving energy is a major priority for their organizations. Eighty-two percent said saving energy translates to cost-savings. Yet most companies do not have financial incentives optimized to affect real change.These are some of the findings of the Uptime Institute's second annual data center industry survey, conducted in March and April.Information technology organizations that take a systematic approach to saving energy will get the most benefit, says the survey. They need to consolidate
Courtesy of PANYNJ Rendering of 408-ft-tall spire of future tallest building in the Western Hemisphere shows no cladding. Courtesy of PANYNJ Older rendering shows a spire with a wrapping, as designed by SOM. The future 408-ft-tall spire of the under-construction One World Trade Center has officially lost its cladding. On Aug. 7, the developers—the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey and the Durst Organization—issued 13 new renderings of the 3-million-sq-ft project, which is planned at a height of 1,776 ft. It is touted as the future tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.News broke about the design change several
After seven days of preparations, the implosion, which went off without a hitch and left adjacent structures undamaged, took only seven seconds. Courtesy of CDI Completed in 1986, the Radio Network House posed a challenge because its concrete structure was heavily reinforced to accommodate seismic loads.
Related Links: Standard 201P, Facility Smart Grid Information Model A proposed standard that would provide a common basis for consumers to describe, manage and communicate electrical energy consumption and forecasting is open for an advisory public review until Sept. 3, according to ASHRAE. The group is developing Standard 201P, Facility Smart Grid Information Model, with the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. “Historically, electricity consumption has been viewed as a collection of dumb loads at the end of a distribution system," with almost no interaction between the loads and those responsible for electricity generation and distribution, says Steve Bushby, chairman of the
In October, the National Science Foundation Directorate for Engineering expects to issue a "re-competition" solicitation for four to six national earthquake engineering research centers. The competition to create the infrastructure for the George E. Brown Jr. Network for Earthquake Engineering Simulation 2, or NEES2, will take place in fiscal 2013 and 2014. NEES2 funding is expected during fiscal 2015-19. Contingent on the availability of National Science Foundation funds, the Directorate for Engineering expects to seek approval for a NEES2 cooperative agreement in mid-2014.In 2004, the National Science Foundation created NEES to give researchers the tools to learn how earthquakes and