Buildings & Design: Page 4

  • Technicians install heat pump systems at a training facility.
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    Leon Neal via Getty Images
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    Deep Dive

    Heat pumps are hot, but commercial retrofits face cold realities

    Government decarbonization strategies call for widespread deployment of heat pumps for building heating and cooling, but experts warn of retrofit costs, disruption and other concerns.

    By Nish Amarnath • Oct. 23, 2023
  • A building inspector is completing an inspection form on clipboard.
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    Pixsooz via Getty Images
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    NYC project looks to support climate law with building inspection tech

    The AI-powered technology under development uses robots and drone scans to detect structural flaws that reduce energy efficiency.

    By Nish Amarnath • Oct. 16, 2023
  • smart city, smart cities Explore the Trendline➔
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    jamesteohart via Getty Images
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    Trendline

    Top 5 stories from Smart Cities Dive

    From worsening climate change to a shifting transportation landscape and the housing affordability crisis, cities have their work cut out for them in 2024.

    By Smart Cities Dive staff
  • A street sign above floodwaters
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    tornadochaser via Getty Images
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    FEMA makes ‘key changes’ to $1.8B climate resilience grant programs

    Amid concerns that some communities struggle to access federal climate resilience funding, the agency moved to lower the administrative and financial burden for certain applicants.

    By • Oct. 13, 2023
  • New York City skyline
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    Gian Lorenzo Ferretti Photography via Getty Images
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    NYC launches ‘smart city testbed’: Here are the first 3 pilot technologies

    Initial projects aim to pull pollution out of the air and scan buildings for flaws that reduce energy efficiency.

    By • Oct. 12, 2023
  • Aerial shot of city with lines connecting different locations
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    alexsl via Getty Images
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    Notable 2024 conferences for smart city leaders

    Newly added events focus on building energy codes, micromobility, economic development and transportation electrification.

    By • Updated April 15, 2024
  • The U.S. General Services Administrations' building.
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    Douglas Rissing via Getty Images
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    ‘Empty’ federal buildings under scrutiny

    Unused office space poses financial and environmental issues federal agencies must address, lawmakers from both parties said at a Senate committee hearing.

    By Nish Amarnath • Oct. 9, 2023
  • A facade of a sustainable glass office building with a tree for reducing carbon dioxide.
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    Fahroni via Getty Images
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    US Green Building Council’s LEED v5 doubles down on decarbonization

    The proposal for existing buildings would set new requirements to boost climate resilience, assess social impact and cut emissions from embodied carbon, refrigerants and transportation.

    By Nish Amarnath • Oct. 6, 2023
  • Workers in a collaborative conference room.
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    filadendron via Getty Images
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    Office utilization rates on a climb to pre-pandemic levels

    Culture, collaboration and communication are bringing employees back into the office on their own terms, said participants in a recent webinar by FM: Systems.

    By Joe Burns • Oct. 4, 2023
  • Construction cranes line the city skyline at dusk in New York City.
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    zxvisual via Getty Images
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    NYC’s ‘mass timber studio’ aims to warm builders up to the material

    The wood products represent a “huge untapped potential” to drive down the city’s carbon footprint, said the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

    By • Oct. 4, 2023
  • A facade of the White House in Washington, D.C.
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    Nick van Bree via Getty Images
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    Biden administration will define zero emissions for buildings

    Use of 100% clean energy and meeting strict energy-efficiency guidelines are part of the proposed definition, White House National Climate Adviser Ali Zaidi said.

    By Nish Amarnath • Oct. 2, 2023
  • New complex of apartment buildings under construction
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    ewg3D via Getty Images
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    Governments can cut buildings’ embodied carbon with new policies, reports say

    Targeted incentives and building code changes can support the transition to more climate-friendly building materials, say research, advocacy and industry groups.

    By • Sept. 28, 2023
  • Cars parked in a lot
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    Fahroni via Getty Images
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    Unused parking adds over $2M to typical multifamily projects: study

    New Jersey should adopt new parking ratio standards that better align with usage, a Rutgers University white paper proposes.

    By Mary Salmonsen • Sept. 27, 2023
  • U.S. capitol building with stormy skies
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    Douglas Rissing via Getty Images
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    ‘Everybody’s going to be impacted’: Fed shutdown would delay civil work

    Infrastructure projects will be held up if the government is not funded by Sunday, according to the White House and the American Society of Civil Engineers’ president.

    By Julie Strupp • Updated Sept. 27, 2023
  • View of the Statue of Liberty in front of the New York City Skyline
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    OlegAlbinsky via Getty Images
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    NY sets first-in-the-nation concrete emissions limits for state agencies

    Set for January 2025, the state’s Buy Clean Concrete rules establishing greenhouse gas emission limits will cover all agency projects.

    By Sebastian Obando • Sept. 25, 2023
  • Workers walk among solar panels at the construction site of a new solar energy park as wind turbines spin behind on April 06, 2023 near Prenzlau, Germany.
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    Sean Gallup via Getty Images
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    White House launches clean energy youth workforce program amid labor shortage concerns

    The American Climate Corps aims to put more than 20,000 people to work in its first year. The plan “harkens back” to the New Deal, said International District Energy Association CEO Rob Thornton.

    By Diana DiGangi • Sept. 22, 2023
  • A template of a building operations overview
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    Permission granted by Schneider Electric
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    Retrofits can cut office building emissions by up to 70%: Schneider Electric

    New research from the company says its digital building and power-management tools can slash up to 42% of operational carbon emissions, while eliminating fossil fuels can cut an additional 28%.

    By Nish Amarnath • Sept. 21, 2023
  • A clip from an animated Airbnb ad showing three people showing up for a hotel pool day to see a slew of kids running around during what is meant to be their vacation.
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    Retrieved from YouTube on September 13, 2023
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    Airbnb’s marketing touts short-term rental benefits as local restrictions tighten

    Restrictions such as New York’s Local Law 18 may have a greater impact on the city’s residents and tourism economy than on the company.

    By Aaron Baar • Sept. 20, 2023
  • An investigator views building data in NREL's visualization lab.
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    Schroeder, Dennis. (2023). [Photograph]. Retrieved from U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory.
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    NREL tool models how building upgrades can reduce energy use, carbon emissions

    Before the federal research center released its free, publicly available data, options for representing buildings’ energy use were limited and expensive, an NREL researcher said.

    By Joe Burns • Sept. 19, 2023
  • A curved beige building with rows of square windows.
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    Highsmith, Carol M. (2011). "Robert C. Weaver Federal Building, headquarters of HUD, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Washington, D.C" [Photograph]. Retrieved from Wikimedia Commons.
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    To improve multifamily housing energy efficiency and resiliency, HUD offers $4.8B for retrofits

    The first round of the $4.8 billion GRRP covers upgrades for 28 rent-assisted properties.

    By Mary Salmonsen • Sept. 18, 2023
  • Three people in winter gear walk through the burn-out remains of a building partly coated with snow. Blue mountains are in the background.
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    Michael Ciaglo via Getty Images
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    Building codes aren’t climate ready, but changes are coming

    Risk is growing from flooding and wildfires, said National Institute of Building Sciences panelists, and builders are relying on outdated guidance.

    By Julie Strupp • Sept. 15, 2023
  • EY building in New York City
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    Spencer Platt via Getty Images
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    NYC proposes leeway for building owners falling behind on net-zero emissions compliance

    Building owners who demonstrate a “good-faith effort” to rein in emissions could get a two-year reprieve to comply with a climate law that kicks in next year.

    By Nish Amarnath • Sept. 13, 2023
  • An aerial view depicts acres of homes and land burned and destroyed by wildfire.
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    Justin Sullivan via Getty Images
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    Older homes contributed to Hawai’i fire’s destruction

    Buildings constructed under older codes helped last month’s wildfire spread quickly, a new report finds.

    By Zachary Phillips • Sept. 11, 2023
  • Close-up of lit gas stove.
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    FotoCuisinette via Getty Images
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    California must ban gas in new buildings, local officials tell governor

    With a federal appeals court overturning Berkeley, California’s landmark gas ban, the state needs a unified standard to remain a climate policy leader, 26 local leaders told Gov. Gavin Newsom.

    By • Sept. 11, 2023
  • Close up of looping layers of concrete.
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    Courtesy of RCAM Technologies
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    Is 3D-printed concrete the future of infrastructure projects?

    A Canadian building giant bets the construction industry will increasingly use the material. But it isn’t covered by many building codes, and technical challenges remain.

    By Julie Strupp • Sept. 8, 2023
  • A lone piece of heavy machinery looms on a flat construction site. It's evening, and the ground is paved tile.
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    Permission granted by Indiana Convention Center
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    Indianapolis downtown redevelopment project breaks ground

    The city took over the $625 million hotel and convention center project this year after nearly a decade of planning, a pandemic and financial issues.

    By Matthew Thibault • Sept. 6, 2023