Northglenn, a Denver suburb, opens a net zero, all-electric city hall with a mass timber structure

Northglenn, Colo., a Denver suburb, has opened the new Northglenn City Hall—a net zero, fully electric building with a mass timber structure. The 32,600-sf, $33.7 million building houses 60 city staffers. Designed by Anderson Mason Dale Architects, Northglenn City Hall is set to become the first municipal building in Colorado, and one of the first in the country, to achieve the Core certification: a green building rating system overseen by the International Living Future Institute.

K-12 Schools

The importance of selecting healthy materials for K-12 projects

Clark Nexsen interior designers Anna Claire Beethoven and Brittney Just, CID, IIDA, LEED Green Associate, share why it is imperative to specify healthy building materials in K-12 schools.

Office Buildings

Fact sheet outlines benefits, challenges of thermal energy storage for commercial buildings

A U.S. Dept. of Energy document discusses the benefits and challenges of thermal energy storage for commercial buildings. The document explains how the various types of thermal energy storage technologies work, where their installation is most beneficial, and some practical considerations around installations.

Industrial Facilities

UK-based tire company plans to build the first carbon-neutral tire factory in the U.S.

ENSO, a U.K.-based company that makes tires for electric vehicles, has announced plans to build the first carbon-neutral tire factory in the U.S. The $500 million ENSO technology campus will be powered entirely by renewable energy. The first-of-its-kind tire factory aims to be carbon neutral without purchased offsets, using carbon-neutral raw materials and building materials.

Aug 12, 2014

Vietnam's 'dragonfly in the sky' will be covered in trees, vegetation

Designed by Vietnamese design firm Vo Trong Nghia Architects, the building will be made up of stacked concrete blocks placed slightly askew to create a soft, organic form that the architects say is reminiscent of a dragonfly in the sky.

Jul 30, 2014

German students design rooftop solar panels that double as housing

Students at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences designed a solar panel that can double as living space for the Solar Decathlon Europe.

Jul 28, 2014

Post Tower Wins CTBUH 10-Year Award

The 10 Year Award recognizes proven value and performance in a tall building, across one or more of a wide range of criteria, over a period of 10 years since its completion.

Jul 24, 2014

MIT researchers explore how to make wood composite-like blocks of bamboo

The concept behind the research is to slice the stalk of bamboo grass into smaller pieces to bond together and form sturdy blocks, much like conventional wood composites.

Jul 17, 2014

A harmful trade-off many U.S. green buildings make

The Urban Green Council addresses a concern that many "green" buildings in the U.S. have: poor insulation.

The design is of a classic residential high-rise that is encapsulated by a layer

Jul 17, 2014

A high-rise with outdoor, vertical community space? It's possible! [slideshow]

Danish design firm C.F. Møller has developed a novel way to increase community space without compromising privacy or indoor space.

The complex is envisioned with public garden space. Renderings courtesy of April

Jul 16, 2014

Check out this tree-like skyscraper concept for vertical farming

Aprilli Design Studio has stepped forward with a new idea for a vertical farm, which is intended to resemble a giant tree. It uses lightweight decks as outdoor growing space, adding up to about 25 acres of space.

Jul 15, 2014

A look into the history of modular construction

Modular construction is more than a century old, and throughout its lifespan, the methods have been readapted to meet specific needs of different eras.