The Portland Cement Association is defending its sample ordinance for high-performance buildings despite strong objections from critics and a call to withdraw the proposal. “PCA will continue to promote our concepts and views, work to educate the general public and encourage the adoption of more stringent building-code requirements by state and local jurisdictions for the good of the people and their communities and the environment,” says Stephen S. Szoke, PCA’s director of codes and standards. The group has “no intention” of withdrawing its recommendation for code changes, says Szoke, the lead author of the controversial document. He says PCA plans
Only the giant cruise ships sidled up against the riverbank offer any hint of what lies below Shanghai’s newest stretch of green along the Huangpu River in the resurgent North Bund district. The Shanghai Port International Cruise Terminal Development Co. Ltd. wanted its 30,000-sq-meter passenger terminal, which had its soft opening last year, to disappear below grade, except for an iconic, 4,000-sq-m observatory on stilts that resembles either a bubble, spaceship or a giant bug. The public owner, part of the Shanghai port authority, wanted the world’s first underground cruise terminal to be topped by a park. Slide Show Photo:
After years of controversy and a total redesign, Forest City Ratner Cos., the developer of the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment in Brooklyn, N.Y., says it expects to begin construction of the development's centerpiece, an arena for the NETS basketball team, later this year. Ratner "anticipates" opening the facility, called Barclays Center, for the 2011-12 basketball season. Image courtesy of SHoP Architects and Ellerbe Becket Redesigned basketball arena in Brooklyn. Ratner released renderings Sept. 10 of the redesign by Ellerbe Becket in collaboration with SHoP Architects. The original architect was Frank Gehry. Under the new design, the 675,000-sq-ft arena is clad in
After years of controversy and a total redesign, Forest City Ratner Cos., the developer of the Atlantic Yards megadevelopment in Brooklyn, N.Y., says it expects to begin construction of the development's centerpiece, an arena for the NETS basketball team, later this year. Ratner "anticipates" opening the facility, called Barclays Center, for the 2011-12 basketball season. Photo: SHoP Architects and Ellerbe Becket Redesigned basketball arena in Brooklyn. Ratner released renderings Sept. 10 of the redesign by Ellerbe Becket in collaboration with SHoP Architects. The original architect was Frank Gehry. Under the new design, the 675,000-sq-ft arena is clad in weathered-steel and
Performance-based seismic design is on a roll, thanks to recent, first-of-their-kind shake-table tests that proved the viability of a “rocking” braced frame that moves seismic design beyond life safety toward build-for-repair. The steel frame not only survived shaking that was 1.75 times stronger than the Northridge earthquake, it returned to its original plumb position after shaking, thanks to post-tensioned strands. Damage was limited to a replaceable fuse, as planned. Slide Show Photo: NEESR-SG The system, tested in Japan, allows an owner to go beyond the minimum code requirements and commission a structure engineered to be repaired after a quake. Related
Concern is growing over a recently released “sample” ordinance for high-performance buildings from the Portland Cement Association. “High Performance Building Requirements for Sustainability,” which adds to and amends the International Building Code, was developed outside the standard consensus process and is biased toward concrete, say sources. “Wholesale changes” to scope and requirements of the IBC outside of the established consensus process are not supported by the American Institute of Architects’ policy on the development and promulgation of codes and standards, says the AIA. The majority of IBC modifications in the document have been fully vetted in the national model code
Call it a sidewalk shed or bridge: pedestrian protection by any name is viewed as a Big Apple eyesore to many, including local building officials and the New York chapter of the American Institute of Architects. Through a design competition, they are trying to improve the covers, which they say number 6,000 and add up to more than 1 million linear ft of unsightliness. Photo: Sawyer / ENR There are more than 6,000 sidewalk sheds in New York City that many consider ugly. Photo: Sawyer / ENR Competition may boost protection. On Aug. 13, the New York City Dept. of
Restoration work for a rail-to-trail with a lift—elevated 18 ft to 20 ft on an abandoned trestle—is called “an engineer’s dream,” even though parts of the 71-year-old steel structure, not used for commerce since 1980, were in “terrible condition,” says the structural engineer charged with preserving the section of the trestle that slices through, between and above 10 blocks of buildings and streets on Manhattan’s West Side. It is a dream because the elevated rail line, renamed the High Line in its reincarnation as a linear urban park, was designed for a 10,000-psf live load during its active years, when
Construction spending in the six Gulf Cooperative Council nations is expected to rise from about $315 billion this year to $350 billion in 2010, according to new data from Proleads Global released on Aug. 13 in a SmartMarket Executive Brief, by McGraw-Hill Construction, the publisher of ENR, along with the Chartered Institute of Building. + Image Image: McGraw-Hill Construction Rapid spending on construction has been affected by the downturn in development in the United Arab Emirate of Dubai, says the report. Overall, residential and commercial activity in the GCC, which consists of Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and
Oregon, which is implementing the first statewide electronic building permitting system in the U.S., is moving slowly ahead with system development, having recently enhanced its Website and added some services. But the 10-year program, funded by a 4% surcharge on permits, is at least a year behind schedule because of a significant drop in permit applications. Photo: The Los Angeles Department of Building And Safety Better software and improved interoperability are supporting the trend toward electronic permitting. For some states and most large jurisdictions, full-blown e-permitting, which includes digital filing, permit and plan tracking, plan review, payment, permit issuance and
