School district plans net-zero building

Camas (Wash.) School District is planning to utilize one of three energy sources—photovoltaics, wind turbine, or geothermal—to help take its new community high school completely off the grid. The school district commissioned Interface Engineering to explore all three options for the project, which is scheduled to break ground in August.

Early findings from Interface and project architect Mahlum Architects show that wind turbines may be feasible because of the site’s close proximity to the Columbia River Gorge, which is known for its winds. The geothermal option may work because power could potentially be drawn from water in an underground channel built in the late 1800s for an adjacent paper mill. The third option arises from grants that could be used to buy rooftop PV panels.

“Embodied Carbon and Material Health in Insulation” and “Embodied Carbon and Material Health in Gypsum Drywall and Flooring,” by architecture and design firm Perkins&Will in partnership with the Healthy Building Network, advise on how to select the best low-carbon products with the least impact on human health.

Products and Materials | Jul 31, 2023

Top building products for July 2023

BD+C Editors break down 15 of the top building products this month, from cleanroom doors to window storm protection systems.

Adaptive Reuse | Jul 6, 2023

The responsibility of adapting historic university buildings

Shepley Bulfinch's David Whitehill, AIA, believes the adaptive reuse of historic university buildings is not a matter of sentimentality but of practicality, progress, and preservation.

HKS-designed HALL Arts Residences Dallas 4.jpg

Apartments | Jun 27, 2023

Dallas high-rise multifamily tower is first in state to receive WELL Gold certification

HALL Arts Residences, 28-story luxury residential high-rise in the Dallas Arts District, recently became the first high-rise multifamily tower in Texas to receive WELL Gold Certification, a designation issued by the International WELL Building Institute. The HKS-designed condominium tower was designed with numerous wellness details.

Building Materials | Jun 14, 2023

Construction input prices fall 0.6% in May 2023

Construction input prices fell 0.6% in May compared to the previous month, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Producer Price Index data released today. Nonresidential construction input prices declined 0.5% for the month.

Building interior with many plants and daylight

Sustainability | Apr 20, 2023

13 trends, technologies, and strategies to expect in 2023

Biophilic design, microgrids, and decarbonization—these are three of the trends, technologies, and strategies IMEG’s market and service leaders believe are poised to have a growing impact on the built environment.

Codes | Mar 2, 2023

Biden Administration’s proposed building materials rules increase domestic requirements

The Biden Administration’s proposal on building materials rules used on federal construction and federally funded state and local buildings would significantly boost the made-in-America mandate. In the past, products could qualify as domestically made if at least 55% of the value of their components were from the U.S.

Michel Baars founded New Horizon Urban Mining to have a bigger impact on recycling materials from demolitions for new construction in The Netherlands. Photo: New Horizon

AEC Innovators | Feb 28, 2023

Meet the 'urban miner' who is rethinking how we deconstruct and reuse buildings

New Horizon Urban Mining, a demolition firm in the Netherlands, has hitched its business model to construction materials recycling. It's plan: deconstruct buildings and infrastructure and sell the building products for reuse in new construction. New Horizon and its Founder Michel Baars have been named 2023 AEC Innovators by Building Design+Construction editors.