Ideas are cheap. Solutions are what count. The latest installment in BD+C's Great Solutions series presents 14 ways AEC professionals, entrepreneurs, and other clever folk have overcome what seemed to be insoluble problems—from how to make bricks out of agricultural waste, to a new way to keep hospitals running clean during construction. Enjoy!
1. HealthSpot station merges personalized healthcare with videoconferencing
This mobile kiosk lets patients access a network of board-certified physicians through interactive videoconferencing and medical devices. Read the article.
2. From Ag waste to organic brick: Corn stalks reused to make construction materials
Ecovative Design applies its cradle-to-cradle process to produce 10,000 organic bricks used to build a three-tower structure in Long Island City, N.Y. Read the article.
3. Wearable job site management system allows contractors to handle deficiencies with subtle hand and finger gestures
Technology combines a smartglass visual device with a motion-sensing armband to simplify field management work. Read the article.
4. Leo A Daly's minimally invasive approach to remote field site design
For the past six years, Leo A Daly has been designing sites for remote field stations with near-zero ecological disturbance. Read the article.
5. New data-gathering tool for retail designers
Beacon technology personalizes smartphone messaging, creating a new information resource for store designers. Read the article.
6. Reef Worlds to build world’s largest underwater theme park for luxury resort
Dubai is known for its gargantuan commercial building projects. The latest to be proposed is the world’s largest underwater theme park, designed and built by Reef Worlds. Read the article.
7. Clayco lends operational support and financing to construction services startups
Design-build firm Clayco has launched an investment arm called Treehouse Adventures to provide financing and operational infrastructure to startups, including those serving the AEC industry. Read the article.
8. Hard hat equipped with smartglass technology could enhance job site management
Smart Helmet is equipped with an array of cameras that provides 360-degree vision through its glass visor, even in low light. Read the article.
9. Spherical reflectors help spread daylight throughout a college library in Portland, Ore.
The 40,000-sf library is equipped with four “cones of light,” spherical reflectors made from extruded aluminum that distribute daylight from the library’s third floor to illuminate the second. Read the article.
10. Startup Solarbox London turns phone booths into quick-charge stations
About 8,000 of London’s famous red telephone boxes sit unused in warehouses, orphans of the digital age. Two entrepreneurs plan to convert them into charging stations for mobile devices. Read the article.
11. New mobile unit takes the worry out of equipment sterilization during healthcare construction
Infection control, a constant worry for hospital administrators and clinical staffs, is heightened when the hospital is undergoing a major construction project. Mobile Sterilization Solutions, a mobile sterile-processing department, is designed to simplify the task. Read the article.
12. HDR and Hill International to turn three floors of a jail into a modern, secure healthcare center
By bringing healthcare services in house, Dallas County Jail will greatly minimize the security risk and added cost of transferring ill or injured prisoners to a nearby hospital. Read the article.
13. 'Russian nesting doll' design provides unique fire protection solution for movie negatives
A major movie studio needed a new vault to protect its irreplaceable negatives for films released after 1982. SmithGroupJJR came up with a box-in-a-box design solution. Read the article.
14. High-strength aluminum footbridge designed to withstand deep-ocean movement, high wind speeds
The metal’s flexibility makes the difference in an oil rig footbridge connecting platforms in the West Philippine Sea. Read the article.
Related Stories
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 29, 2015
Tenn. startup uses freeform 3D printer to build full-size walls
Branch Technology used the world’s largest freeform printer, one that has an arm that prints objects in open space, to make the lightweight yet incredibly sturdy lattice structures.
University Buildings | Jul 21, 2015
Maker spaces: Designing places to test, break, and rebuild
Gensler's Kenneth Fisher and Keller Roughton highlight recent maker space projects at MIT and the University of Nebraska that provide just the right mix of equipment, tools, spaces, and disciplines to spark innovation.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 20, 2015
New stylus brings digital sketching to the next level
Without buttons, users can change the weight of the stylus’ stroke.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 16, 2015
BIM for O+M: New app streamlines project documentation handover process
The Building Ops app enables owners to begin operations on the first day with a turnkey maintenance and asset management solution, according to its maker, Autodesk.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 15, 2015
Google launches open-source beacon platform: Eddystone
Though beacons usually broadcast information publicly, Eddystone has the option to communicate privately as well, which greatly expands the applications for the technology.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 14, 2015
New city-modeling software quantifies the movement of urban dwellers
UNA for Rhino 3D helps determine the impact that urban design can have on where pedestrians go.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 14, 2015
Nation’s first 'drone park' breaks ground in North Dakota
This is one of six testing sites around the country that are developing flight standards and evaluating the utility of drones for different tasks.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 6, 2015
BIM/VDC training is more than learning the features
Training can be a taxing experience for both the class and the instructor. CASE's Nathan Miller offers four ways to make training more relevant to practitioners.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 6, 2015
Researchers increase GPS precision to centimeter-accurate
A new startup is working with Samsung to develop a snap-on accessory for centimeter-accurate global positioning.
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 6, 2015
New documentary shows Legos as touchstones of creativity
The film's narrator, actor Jason Bateman, says it’s a story “about a simple toy and how its unique properties ushered in a new era of creativity for a whole generation.”
