To build water-efficient cities, water managers and urban planners must coordinate better

For improved water efficiency in cities, water managers and urban planners must coordinate their efforts better, according to a new report led by University of Arizona landscape architecture and planning researchers.

Lack of time and resources and practitioners not in the habit of working together were cited as the main factors stymieing better collaboration, according to responses to a national survey of water managers and urban planners. The report includes a tool for practitioners to identify goals for collaboration and what barriers might stand in their way.

The first steps toward improved collaboration include joint training sessions where water managers and urban planners hear each other's challenges and brainstorm ways of coordinating their work. Where coordination works well, a water engineer might sit in on development review meetings for new projects and weigh in during permitting to ensure that the new development would achieve groundwater and stormwater goals of regional and state agencies.

In the future, water managers and urban planners could help staff each other's agencies for a complete integration of the two functions.

Faster delivery of buildings isn’t always associated with sustainability benefits or long-term value, but things are changing. An instructive case is in the development of steel structures that not only allow speedier erection times, but also can reduce embodied carbon and create durable, highly resilient building approaches.

Building Team | Nov 7, 2022

U.S. commercial buildings decreased energy use intensity from 2012 to 2018

The recently released 2018 Commercial Buildings Energy Consumption Survey (CBECS) by the U.S. Energy Information Administration found that the total floorspace in commercial buildings has increased but energy consumption has not, compared with the last survey analyzing the landscape in 2012.

Codes and Standards | Nov 2, 2022

New York City construction official wants to boost design-build

The new associate commissioner of alternative delivery in New York City’s Department of Design and Construction aims to encourage more design-build project delivery in the city.

| Nov 1, 2022

Updated Florida building codes helped newer homes withstand Hurricane Ian

Newer homes seemed to fare much better than older structures during Hurricane Ian, suggesting that updated Florida building codes made a difference.

Data Centers | Oct 31, 2022

Data center construction facing record-breaking inflation, delays

Data center construction projects face record-breaking inflation amid delays to materials deliveries and competition for skilled labor, according to research from global professional services company Turner & Townsend.