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.

Mass Timber

5 lessons in water mitigation for mass timber projects

Sustainability leaders from Skanska, RDH, and Polygon share five tips for successful water mitigation in mass timber construction.

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.

Wood | Oct 24, 2019

Could mass timber be a game changer for stadium design?

Projects throughout the U.S. and Canada showcase the design and environmental traits of large-scale wood sports facilities.

Sustainable Development | Oct 3, 2018

Developers are harkened for major revitalization project in Pittsburgh

Hazelwood Green, which has been in the works for 14 years, could take another 20 to build out.

Accelerate Live! | Jun 24, 2018

Watch all 19 Accelerate Live! talks on demand

BD+C’s second annual Accelerate Live! AEC innovation conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago) featured talks on AI for construction scheduling, regenerative design, the micro-buildings movement, post-occupancy evaluation, predictive visual data analytics, digital fabrication, and more. Take in all 19 talks on demand.

Jun 11, 2018

Accelerate Live! talk: Regenerative design — When sustainability is not enough

In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), HMC’s Eric Carbonnier poses the question: What if buildings could actually rejuvenate ecosystems?

May 30, 2018

Accelerate Live! talk: T3 mass timber office buildings

In this 15-minute talk at BD+C’s Accelerate Live! conference (May 10, 2018, Chicago), architect and mass timber design expert Steve Cavanaugh tells the story behind the nation’s newest—and largest—mass timber building: T3 in Minneapolis.

Green | Apr 11, 2017

Passivhaus for high-rises? Research demonstrates viability of the stringent standards for tall residential buildings

A new study conducted by FXFOWLE shows that Building Teams can meet stringent Passivhaus performance standards with minimal impact to first cost and aesthetics.

Museums | Jan 22, 2016

Canadian Canoe Museum selects Heneghan Peng Architects’ design for new location

The single-story structure is designed for sustainability as well as function.

Rob Cassidy | Dec 2, 2015

Do green building environments improve 'cognitive function'?

Researchers at Harvard, SUNY-Upstate Medical Center, and Syracuse University conduct a controlled experiment to see if high levels of carbon dioxide and VOCs and poor air ventilation affect cognitive scores.

Green | Jul 23, 2015

NASA: U.S. headed for worst droughts in a millennium

Data from NASA shows carbon emissions could be the driving force behind devastating water shortages and record droughts in the western U.S.

Green | Jun 24, 2015

6 steps toward better water management [AIA course]

When it comes to water conservation, Building Teams tend to concentrate on water-efficient plumbing fixtures, irrigation controls, graywater capture, and ways to recycle condensate from air-conditioning systems. Yet many of the best opportunities for saving water begin with big-picture thinking in a project’s earliest phases.