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
| Jul 11, 2014
Are these LEGO-like blocks the future of construction?
Kite Bricks proposes a more efficient way of building with its newly developed Smart Bricks system.
| Jul 1, 2014
Hyper-speed rendering: How Gensler turns BIM models into beauty shots in seconds
In search of a fast rendering solution, Gensler looked to the gaming and moviemaking industries for the next breakthrough tool: Octane Render.
| Jul 1, 2014
Sochi's 'kinetic façade' may steal the show at the Winter Olympics
The temporary pavilion for Russian telecom operator MegaFon will be wrapped with a massive digital "pin screen" that will morph into the shape of any face.
| Jul 1, 2014
7 ways to cut waste in BIM implementation
Process mapping, split models, and streamlined coordination meetings are among the timesaving techniques AEC firms are employing to improve BIM/VDC workflows.
| Jun 30, 2014
Autodesk acquires design studio The Living, will create Autodesk Studio
The Living, David Benjamin's design studio, has been acquired by Autodesk. Combined, the two will create the Autodesk Studio, which will "create new types of buildings, public installations, prototypes and architectural environments."
| Jun 30, 2014
Report recommends making infrastructure upgrades a cabinet-level priority
The ASCE estimates that $3.6 trillion must be invested by 2020 to make critically needed upgrades and expansions of national infrastructure—and avoid trillions of dollars in lost business sales, exports, disposable income, and GDP.
| Jun 25, 2014
Taking a page from Lean manufacturing for improved design review processes
SPONSORED CONTENT As more building project teams look for ways to collaborate better, technology continues to provide solutions. Yet, as I learned from the experience of one of my customers, choosing the wrong technology can have an underwhelming effect, causing a team to simply swap out old challenges for new ones.
| Jun 18, 2014
Arup uses 3D printing to fabricate one-of-a-kind structural steel components
The firm's research shows that 3D printing has the potential to reduce costs, cut waste, and slash the carbon footprint of the construction sector.
| Jun 10, 2014
Site optimization: Paving the way for smoother land development projects
The biggest cost differential when dealing in site development from one site to another is the earthwork. So, when selecting a site, it is critical to not only take into account the initial purchase price of the property, but also what sort of investment it will take to prep the site for development.
Smart Buildings | Jun 8, 2014
Big Data: How one city took control of its facility assets with data
Over the past few years, Buffalo has developed a cutting-edge facility management program to ensure it's utilizing its facilities and operations as efficiently, effectively, and sustainably as possible.
