In an effort to accelerate the development of cost-effective, sustainable concrete, Masdar, the developer of the planned carbon and waste-neutral Masdar City in Abu Dhabi, is holding a concrete mix design competition. The first prize is $150,000, for a sustainable concrete production method. The second prize is $50,000 for the lowest-carbon- footprint concrete mix. This is the first of several competitions to help Masdar, an initiative of the Abu Dhabi Future Energy Co., achieve its goals for sustainability at Masdar City, says Omar. M. Waqfi, Masdar's specifications manager. "We are pushing and challenging people on all aspects [of sustainable development],
In seismic zones, construction of concrete high-rises keeps getting easier, thanks to advances in high-strength reinforcing steel used for confinement of high-strength concrete. The first use of 100-ksi rebar, in a just-opening 31-story tower in Seattle, is getting pretty high marks from the structural engineer and rebar fabricator. And the first use of a more price-competitive 90-ksi rebar in a project in nearby Bellevue, Wash., is getting even higher marks. Slide Show Photo: Cary Kopczynski & Co Avalon Towers benefited from the lower cost of the material, which was produced using standard methods. The advantage of using the material on
The specific date in December for the implosion of the faulty, 376-ft-tall condominium tower on South Padre Island in Texas has not been set. But the demolition contractor says it has solved almost all the quandaries of one of its most challenging razings using explosives. If all goes according to plan, when the dust settles, Controlled Demolition Inc. (CDI) will have broken the height record, which it set in 1975, for imploding a reinforced-concrete tower. Slide Show Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Aluminum alloy shores around failed columns have to be factored into implosion plan. Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Walls were
Though green-building experts and construction lawyers laud the good intentions of the U.S. Green Building Council about its popular Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design green-building rating system, many have serious concerns about at least one new requirement in the latest version of LEED, which went into effect on July 1. The requirement, a “precondition” of certification for all buildings under LEED Version 3, says owners must commit to sharing building energy and water-usage data for at least five years after a new building is occupied or an existing building is certified. Another change sending shudders down the spine of
The $2-million Sustainable Sites Initiative, having included its four-star rating system within its guidelines for developing and maintaining healthy landscapes, is seeking applications for 75 to 150 pilot projects to test the credit-based program. Applications to SSI, which is taking the first comprehensive look at sustainable landscape design, construction and maintenance, are due by Feb. 15. Photo: Sustainable Sites Initiative Sustainable Sites Initiative is the first to take a comprehensive look at greener landscapes. On Nov. 5, SSI released the 233-page “SSI: Guidelines and Performance Benchmarks 2009” and “The Case for Sustainable Landscapes,” a set of economic, environmental and social
A San Francisco civic group is seeking support for an ambitious, 50-year plan, called the Resilient City Initiative, that could help minimize loss and speed recovery after the “Big One.” The initiative can serve as a model for disaster preparedness and recovery for all earthquake-prone communities, say sources. Photo: USGS A pre-quake retrofit might have limited damage and allowed a repair rather than a razing. While developed for San Francisco, the resilient-city concept of the nonprofit San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR) Association has “application anywhere a city is trying to deal with natural hazards,” said Chris Poland, chairman
A Chicago architect is producing a holistic planning approach to reduce carbon emissions in dense urban cores. The fledgling urban replanning effort, which Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture is developing for the 550-building Chicago Loop area, is a process that starts with a survey of existing buildings in a district to assess age, use, condition, energy consumption and more. The survey is a first step toward devising a district-wide approach to sustainable retrofits and appropriate adaptive reuse. The planning framework can be used as a model for retrofits in other cities, urban cores and building campuses, says the architect.
With three projects under construction and three more scheduled to start by the end of the year, officials in Guangzhou, China, are spending nearly $1 billion to prepare the north axis of the city’s center for the 16th Asian Games, which begin on Nov. 12, 2010. Although near-term activity is focused on improving the north axis, which covers 5.9 sq kilometers, the city has even more ambitious long-term plans, valued at $6.5 billion worth of construction, for the adjacent 16.1-sq-kilometer area, called the south axis. Photo: Heller Manus Architects Plans call for a central park crossed by city streets and
The “implosion” of the faulty, 31-story condominium tower and interconnected four-level parking garage on South Padre Island in Texas is not going to be standard by any measure, says the demolition contractor. The razing by explosives is complicated by the failed structural elements—a consequence of differential settlement between the structural concrete tower and the post-tensioned garage; post-tensioned beams; the tower’s robust frame; the high water table; and sand that conducts vibrations to nearby buildings, says J. Mark Loizeaux, president of Controlled Demolition Inc. Slide Show Photo: Controlled Demolition Inc. Developer alleges flawed engineering led to failed columns and beams near
Athird of the engineers surveyed in recent market research on building information modeling say they get a negative return on BIM investments; a fifth say they break even. The perceived return on investment for architects is better, with 19% saying they have a negative ROI and 23% saying they break even. BIM value for owners and contractors is perceived as much greater, at about 70% ROI. + Image Source: McGraw-Hill Construction “Engineers are the most pessimistic about the value of BIM, with 12% saying they see no meaningful value from it,” according to a market report, “The Business Value of
