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Indholdsfortegnelse 1 ArchitectureWeek 2 McGraw-Hill Construction 3 Google News - Construction 4 building.co.uk 5 building.co.uk Technical news 6 Building Design 7 BuildingOnline eUpdate

ArchitectureWeek

AIA HEALTHCARE AWARDS 2008

At the CHA Women amp; Children's Hospital near Seoul, a softness of natural light, organic elements, and curving form tempers a sleek building of glass, aluminum, and stainless steel. KMD Architects designed the facility, with associate architect yo2 Architects, to provide uncluttered respite from the surrounding neighborhood's visual noise. [?]

AIA SMALL PROJECTS 2008

Housing for art lovers, homeless people, floodzone dwellers, and hobbits. Chandeliers, bus stops, and a synagogue entrance. An expandable bathroom. These are not massive landmarks, but rather the AIA's annual exemplars of design executed with limited financial and programmatic means: the American Institute of Architects 2008 Small Project Awards recipients. [?]

ASLA LANDSCAPE AWARDS 2008

In creating the Lurie Garden in downtown Chicago, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol Ltd transformed a parking garage rooftop into a public botanical garden. Located on three acres 1.2 hectares in Millennium Park, a part of Grant Park, the garden combines engineered elements with native perennials of the Midwestern prairie. [?]

AIA/HUD SECRETARY AWARDS

Where a failed urban housing project once stood, enclosed and separated from its surrounding neighborhood in San Francisco's Mission District, the mixeduse Valencia Gardens development now supports an integrated neighborhood designed to promote safety through activity. Architect Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP, with associate architect Martinez Architects, Inc., lined the sidewalk with building entries and reintroduced vehicular streets into the site, connecting it with the urban fabric. [?]

DESIGNING FABRIC STRUCTURES

The first step in designing a fabric structure is to create a form with sufficient prestress, or tension, to prevent it from fluttering like a flag or sail. Lightweight structures with minimal surfaces optimally should have double curvature 8212; a surface that possesses a highpoint positive curvature along one principal axis and a lowpoint negative curvature along the other principal axis. [?]

McGraw-Hill Construction

McGraw-Hill Construction Debuts the Dodge Momentum Index

First-of-its-kind index points to stronger growth for nonresidential building in upcoming months, and continuing into 2013 [?]

Quality and Value Driving Growth in the Green Building Market—According to New McGraw-Hill Construction SmartMarket Report on Green Homes and Remodeling

Energy efficiency efforts become standard in new construction and remodeling projects, while remodelers place high value on waste management and sustainable materials. [?]

Architectural Record Launches First-Ever Continuing Education Mobile App Allowing Design and Construction Professionals to Earn CEU Credits On-the-Go

McGraw-Hill Construction expands its social, mobile and digital capabilities as @ArchRecord celebrates its 320,000th follower—the largest following in its market sector. [?]

March Construction Climbs 23 Percent

New construction starts in March jumped 23% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $482.4 billion, according to McGraw-Hill Construction, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies. [?]

McGraw-Hill Construction Sweets Introduces New Mobile App for Design Professionals

With this app, design professionals can search for building product information quickly on iPhones and Android devices. [?]

Google News - Construction

Tunnel blast kills 20 at Chinese construction site - Chicago Sun-Times

MiamiHerald.com

Tunnel blast kills 20 at Chinese construction site Chicago Sun-Times (AP Photo/Xinhua, Yang Shiyao) NO SALES BEIJING (AP) — A blast in a tunnel has killed 20 workers at a highway construction site in central China. The explosion Saturday in Hunan province also injured one person, said two officials from the provincial ... Blast in tunnel kills 20 people at central Chinese highway construction siteWashington Post Tunnel blast kills 19 at Chinese construction siteFox News all 230 news articles »

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R Thomas Construction aims for efficiency - The Tennessean

R Thomas Construction aims for efficiency The Tennessean Builder statement: We are a custom home-building company working primarily in Williamson and Davidson counties offering a spectrum of services from construction, interior design and home plan design. With a commitment to building only a small number of ...

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Construction industry showing pulse - Arizona Republic

Construction industry showing pulse Arizona Republic 19, 2012 02:11 PM The Great Recession swung a wrecking ball through Arizona's construction industry, but this key sector -- with some help from rising consumer spending and stronger home prices -- has begun to recover. and more »

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Construction on public nature center to begin - San Antonio Express

Construction on public nature center to begin San Antonio Express Any trees that must be removed for construction are utilized as material for project amenities, such as a park bench. All trail material is pervious to allow storm water to be recharged into the aquifer. Native plant species will be allowed to thrive ... and more »

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Construction update: two-week closure set for Stephens Way bridge - Summit Daily News

Construction update: two-week closure set for Stephens Way bridge Summit Daily News Construction will move to the west side of Main beginning Monday, and the road will continue to be closed to northbound traffic between Lincoln and Watson Avenue. The intersection of Wellington Avenue and Main will be reopened to traffic this week, ...

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building.co.uk

Housebuilding slump prompts PM action

Treasury to look at use of state guarantees for infrastructure and housing projects as latest housing figures reveal 11% fall [?]

Ex-Davis Langdon partners launch Core Five

QS firm set up by former partners will focus on cost consultancy work for residential, commercial and London schemes [?]

PFI schools bidders will not be told budgets for work

Industry warns that unusual PFI strategy could result in short-term savings but not long-term value [?]

Costain and Skanska win £40m Crossrail contract

Joint venture will construct two ventilation and access shafts [?]

Triple glazing in offices increases carbon footprint

Exclusive whole life carbon research shows extra cost is not offset by emissions reductions [?]

building.co.uk Technical news

95% of homes fail to meet ventilation requirements

Rise in airtight homes prompts increase in mechanical systems [?]

Timber frame industry tackles fire safety

UK Timber Frame Association and HSE have joined forces to promote more fire resistant time frame systems [?]

Arup to open BIM consultancy in UK

Engineering giant has been offering BIM services in Australia for 12 months [?]

Cladding firm WWR collapses

Roofing and cladding specialist WWR has gone into administration [?]

Crossrail contractors to use new Lafarge rail link

The cement company says the freight connection will open in February 2012 [?]

Building Design

AA losses over ‘tainted leases’ balloon to £5.5m

Court papers reveal details of likely liabilities [?]

US client puts RMJM on five-year work ban

New York schools authority bars troubled architecture practice following evaluation [?]

Let ME lighten your load

At times roofing and cladding specification can be complex and heavy going. That’s why we are on hand to offer practical, experienced support in a host of useful ways. [?]

Let ME contribute to your CPD points

Marley Eternit have developed a suite of CPD’s [?]

Online technical tools…only from ME

Marley Eternit has enhanced its website to make it even more comprehensive for specifiers [?]

BuildingOnline eUpdate

GSA Study: Green Building Initiative's Rating System Aligns Better Than LEED with Federal Building Sustainability Requirements

<p /><b>WASHINGTON, D.C. -- </b>A study released by the U.S. General Services Administration shows that Green Globes®, exclusively offered in the United States by the Green Building Initiative (GBI), aligns with more of the federal sustainability requirements than any other green building rating system for new construction - including LEED.</p> <p />The GSA study evaluated and compared 180 third&#8208;party green building certification systems for new construction, taking into account criteria outlined in the Guiding Principles for Federal Leadership in High Performance and Sustainable Buildings. The GSA commissioned the study in accordance with requirements set forth in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 Section 436(h) to identify tools that could help federal agencies comply with the requirements mandated in Executive Order 13514 issued in 2009.</p> <p />View the GSA study <a href="http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/131983">HERE</a>.</p> <p />The Guiding Principles employ integrated design, energy performance optimization, water protection and conservation, enhancement of the indoor environment, and the reduction of material impacts as best practices to achieve federal sustainability goals.</p> <p /><b>GBI launches Guiding Principles Compliance certification system for existing buildings</b></p> <a href="http://www.thegbi.org/guiding-principles-compliance/" target="_blank"> <img src="http://www.thegbi.org/assets/img/guiding-principles-compliance/logo-guiding-principles-compliance.png" border="0" align="right" alt="Guiding Principles Compliance Rating and Certification System by the Green Building Initiative"> </a> <p />In a related announcement, the Green Building Initiative has also formally launched its Guiding Principles Compliance certification system for existing federal buildings. Developed after the initiation of the GSA study and not yet included in their report, the new rating system is the first and only third party certification system for existing buildings designed to align 100% with the Federal Guiding Principles. Several federal agencies are using the GBI's Guiding Principles Compliance system to meet the requirements of Executive Order 13514. To date, nearly 200 federal buildings have been certified through this program.</p> <p />Learn more about the Guiding Principles Compliance Certification system.</p> <p />"GBI's new Guiding Principles Compliance program is an effective way to take building evaluation guesswork out of the process and assign scores to the federally mandated areas," said Michael O'Brien, Third Party Assessor after assessing one of 190 VA medical facilities already assessed using the GBI system. "This process gave facility personnel...a clear understanding as to the areas for improvement as well as highlighting sustainability items being carried out effectively."</p> <p />GBI President, Ward Hubbell said, "We applaud the federal government's initiatives to enhance the sustainability of their new and existing buildings and are pleased to play a role in helping agencies comply with EO 13514 by using Green Globes and our Guiding Principles Compliance Certification program."</p> <p />Hubbell will provide testimony today to the US House of Representatives Science, Space and Technology Committee Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight on current federal policy regarding green building assessment and rating.</p> <p />The Green Building Initiative is a nonprofit organization and ANSI Standards Developer dedicated to accelerating the adoption of building practices that result in energy-efficient, healthier and environmentally sustainable buildings by promoting credible and practical green building approaches. For more information on the GBI's Guiding Principles Compliance Certification System, visit <a href="http://www.thegbi.org/guiding-principles-compliance/">www.thegbi.org/guiding-principles-compliance</a>.</p> <p /><b>GREEN BUILDING INITIATIVE MEDIA CONTACT:</b><br />Erin Shaffer<br />Vice President of Federal Outreach<br />Green Building Initiative<br />202-285-8339<br /> <a href="mailto:erin@thegbi.org" target="_blank">erin@thegbi.org</a><br /> </p> [?]

April Housing Starts Rise 2.6 Percent From Upwardly Revised Rate and Hits a Seasonally Adjusted Annual Rate of 717,000 Units

<p />Nationwide housing production gained 2.6 percent from an upwardly revised pace in March to hit a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 717,000 units in April, according to newly released figures from the U.S. Census Bureau and HUD. This modest gain was seen in both the single- and multifamily sectors, which registered growth of 2.3 percent and 3.2 percent, respectively. </p> <p /> "April's increase in housing production comes on top of strong upward revisions to the previous month's data, and is an encouraging sign that we are returning to a gradual, upward trend that should continue in the year ahead as builders respond to improving demand for new homes in certain markets," said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. "Unfortunately, overly restrictive lending conditions for builders and buyers are slowing the pace of this trend considerably." </p> <p /> "While still less than half the pace of what we would expect in a fully healthy market, the rate of housing production in April was very solid for this point of the recovery and in keeping with the findings of our latest builder surveys that have registered modest improvements in buyer traffic and near-term sales expectations for single-family homes," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. </p> <p /> The 2.6 percent gain in housing production this April was due to a 2.3 percent increase on the single-family side to a seasonally adjusted, annual rate of 492,000 units and a 3.2 percent increase on the multifamily side to a 225,000-unit rate. </p> <p /> Regionally, starts were mixed in April, with the Midwest and South posting gains of 6.7 percent and 11.6 percent, respectively, and the Northeast and West posting respective declines of 20.7 percent and 8.1 percent. </p> <p /> Permit issuance - which can be an indicator of future building activity - fell 7.0 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 715,000 units in April following an unsustainably large gain in the previous month. The decline was entirely on the more volatile multifamily side, where permits fell 20.8 percent to a 240,000-unit rate that is essentially back to trend. Single-family permits gained 1.9 percent to 475,000 units. </p> <p /> Regionally in April, permit activity held unchanged in the Northeast while declining 12.3 percent in the Midwest, 3.2 percent in the South and 13.9 percent in the West, respectively. </p> <p /> ABOUT NAHB: The National Association of Home Builders is a Washington-based trade association representing more than 140,000 members involved in remodeling, home building, multifamily construction, property management, subcontracting, design, housing finance, building product manufacturing and other aspects of residential and light commercial construction. NAHB is affiliated with 800 state and local home builders associations around the country. NAHB's builder members will construct about 80 percent of the new housing units projected for this year. </p> <p /> NAHB MEDIA CONTACT: Paul Lopez<br /> 202-266-8409<br /> <a href="mailto:plopez@nahb.org">plopez@nahb.org</a><br /> <a href="http://www.nahb.org">www.nahb.org</a><br /> </p> [?]

Builder Confidence Rises Five Points in May

<p />Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes gained five points in May from a downwardly revised reading in the previous month to reach a level of 29 on the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI), released today. This is the index's strongest reading since May of 2007.</p> <p />"Builders in many markets are reporting that buyer traffic and sales have picked back up after a pause this April," said Barry Rutenberg, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) and a home builder from Gainesville, Fla. "It seems we have resumed the gradual upward trend in confidence that started at the beginning of this year, as stabilizing prices and excellent affordability encourage more people to pursue a new-home purchase."</p> <p />"While home building still has quite a way to go toward a fully healthy market, the fact that the HMI has returned to trend is an excellent sign that firming home values, improving employment and low mortgage rates are drawing consumers back," said NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe. "The pace of this emerging recovery could be stronger were it not for the significant impediments that the market continues to face with regard to builder and consumer access to credit, inaccurate appraisals, and more recently, rising materials prices."</p> <p />Derived from a monthly survey that NAHB has been conducting for 25 years, the NAHB/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index gauges builder perceptions of current single-family home sales and sales expectations for the next six months as "good," "fair" or "poor." The survey also asks builders to rate traffic of prospective buyers as "high to very high," "average" or "low to very low." Scores from each component are then used to calculate a seasonally adjusted index where any number over 50 indicates that more builders view conditions as good than poor.</p> <p />Each of the index's components rebounded from declines in the previous month. The component gauging current sales conditions and the component gauging traffic of prospective buyers each rose five points in May to 30 and 23, respectively, with the traffic component hitting its highest level since April of 2007. The component gauging sales expectations in the next six months rose three points to 34.</p> <p />Three out of four regions registered improving builder sentiment in May. This included a six-point gain to 32 in the Northeast, and five-point gains to 27 and 28 in the Midwest and South, respectively. The West posted a two-point decline, to 29.</p> [?]

Economists Say Housing Outlook Continues to Slowly Brighten

<p /><b>WASHINGTON -- </b>Mirroring the uneven economic recovery, the housing market is expected to move in a slow, gradual upward path in 2012, while encountering its share of speed bumps along the road, according to economists participating in the recent National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) construction forecast webinar on the housing and economic outlook.</p> <p />While the latest monthly housing data have shown signs of a slight softening, NAHB Chief Economist David Crowe said this is more reflective of typical month-to-month volatility in the numbers and unusual seasonal factors than they are an indication of any significant downward trend in the broader housing market.</p> <p />"The aggregate information suggests we're just in a pause mode right now in terms of these measures," said Crowe, who noted this could partly be the result of an early spring that brought much better weather than usual into the picture at the start of this year and pulled some housing activity forward.</p> <p />Pointing out that less volatile quarterly data have continued to show modest improvement in key housing indicators such as builder sentiment, new-home sales and housing production, Crowe said the "housing outlook continues to slowly brighten."</p> <p />Crowe noted that numerous other fundamentals remain positive for housing at this time, including demographic factors (with pent-up household demand expected to ramp up and echo-boomers heading into their prime household formation ages), historically favorable mortgage rates that are not expected to move higher than 5 percent by the end of next year, more than 100 local markets currently listed on the NAHB/First American Improving Markets Index, and the fact that house price-to-income ratio has now returned to its historical average of about three-to-one versus the nearly five-to-one to which it had previously risen during the height of the housing boom.</p> <p />However, he cautioned that housing still continues to face formidable challenges of its own -- such as rising foreclosures, persistently tight lending standards for home buyers and builders and difficulties in obtaining accurate appraisals. Moreover, disappointing job growth numbers in March and uncertainty in the European economy are undermining prospects for a vigorous recovery.</p> <p />"No one is anticipating that an upward path for housing will run in a straight-line trajectory," said Crowe. "The economy is in an uneven recovery and we can expect some corresponding ups-and-downs in the housing market in the months ahead. However, NAHB believes that on the whole, we can expect a slow and gradual recovery in housing starts, home sales and the overall housing market in 2012."</p> <p /><b>Starts and Sales on Upward Path</b><br /> New-home sales are expected to climb from a record-low of 305,000 units in 2011 to 357,000 this year and 505,000 in 2013. Existing single-family sales are expected to follow suit and rise from 3.8 million last year to 4.4 million in 2012 and 5.4 million next year.</p> <p />Housing starts are also anticipated to move in the same upward trajectory, Crowe said, with single-family housing production increasing from 434,000 units last year to 503,000 this year and a more solid 660,000 in 2013.</p> <p />On the multifamily side, starts posted a healthy 55 percent increase in 2011 over 2010.</p> <p />"A lot of newly formed households have become renters, so we need more rental units," Crowe said. "We don't expect to see the same rate of increase moving forward, but we should continue to see a healthy recovery."</p> <p />NAHB is anticipating that multifamily starts will rise from 177,000 units last year to 216,000 in 2012 and 235,000 in 2013.</p> <p />With many households choosing to stay in place and remodel their homes rather than move, residential remodeling is expected to rise 12 percent this year and another 7.9 percent in 2013.</p> <p /><b>U.S. Economic Outlook</b><br /> Delving into the economic forces that housing will be contending with in the next two years, Chris Varvares, senior managing director and co-founder of Macroeconomic Advisers, LLC, projected growth in the gross domestic product of 2.6 percent this year and about 3.3 percent in 2013.</p> <p />Citing a number of risks to this outlook, Varvares said the "eurozone is the 800 pound gorilla in the room," and if Spain or Italy face a financial default, the effects could spill over into the U.S.</p> <p />Soaring oil prices and the standoff with Iran over its nuclear stance could also unnerve financial and commodity markets.</p> <p />In the U.S., he said that the payroll tax holiday, emergency unemployment benefits, and the Bush-era tax cuts are all due to expire at the end of the year. So if Congress does not act, he said we could be "hitting a fiscal cliff."</p> <p />On the plus side, he said that increasing household formations, rising real incomes, steadily upward payroll growth and a bullish stock market will contribute to the current economic expansion.</p> <p />Turning to the housing front, Varvares said "we believe we have hit the trough in home prices" and expects prices to be flat this year and to rise 1.5 percent in 2013.</p> <p />He anticipates 514,000 single-family starts in 2012 and 751,000 next year. Multifamily housing production should hit 221,000 this year and 238,000 in 2013.</p> <p />"Our long-term analysis suggests that given the demographics, we need to build roughly 1.6 million units a year over the next decade to meet demographic demand for housing," said Varvares. "Obviously, we are now well below that. We do believe we will see a fairly nice run in 2013 and beyond as we need to build those units."</p> <p /><b>Conditions Vary by State</b><br /> Looking at various state statistics behind the national numbers, Robert Denk, NAHB's assistant vice president for forecasting and analysis, noted a range of conditions across the country and differences among the states in the amount of distress suffered during the recession and the headway that is being made in recovering.</p> <p />Housing nationwide bottomed out at an average 27 percent of normal production, which he defines as the residential building that occurred in 2000 to 2003, before the housing boom.</p> <p />The hardest hit states - such as California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona - bottomed out at between 10 percent and 15 percent of normal production, while better states, in sharp contrast, declined to 50 percent of normal production.</p> <p />Denk said that housing prices are drifting back to near-normal in many states. The number of states where house prices now exceed their historic trend are continuing to recede, joining the states where prices are in the normal range.</p> <p />Some states however, such as Arizona and Nevada, have seen an overcorrection of boom prices and will take longer to get back to normal.</p> <p />Nationally, he said prices have dropped back to normal. "What we are seeing is stabilization of house prices across the country, back to nearly their historical averages," he said.</p> <p />Most states saw their foreclosure rates jump from an average of 0.5 percent during the period before the boom to a peak of nearly 1.5 percent in the third quarter of 2009, but there were those - such as California, Arizona, Florida and Nevada - where foreclosures increased by a factor of four, five or six times normal.</p> <p />Nationally, foreclosure rates have dropped back down to an average of 1 percent, and while they remain a problem in most markets, they are at crisis proportions in only a few, Denk said. He added that Texas and Florida have roughly the same number of mortgages, but Florida has four times as many foreclosures.</p> <p />The protracted housing recovery now underway will bring housing starts to 40 percent of normal production by the fourth quarter of this year and 55 percent of normal by the end of 2013.</p> <p />Getting back to normal considerably faster will be oil states Texas and Oklahoma; coal and natural-gas producing Wyoming and Montana; and Iowa, supported by agricultural commodities.</p> [?]

Kitchens and Bathrooms Remain Top Remodeling Jobs According to NAHB Survey

<p /><b>WASHINGTON -- </b>A new survey released by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) shows common remodeling projects have increased, compared to a similar survey from 2010. The survey, released today in conjunction with National Home Remodeling Month, describes the changes the remodeling market has undergone in recent years.</p> <p />Remodelers report that kitchen and bathroom projects remain the most popular remodeling jobs with home owners increasingly upgrading both rooms and making major repairs as they decide to stay in their current homes longer. Nearly 50 percent of remodelers report seeing an increase in the number of home owners who undertake remodels to avoid moving compared to the 2010 findings.</p> <p />Both kitchen and bathroom remodeling projects were up 17 percent from two years ago, with bathroom remodels cited as a common job by 78 percent of remodelers and kitchen remodels at 69 percent. Since 2009, bathrooms and kitchens have switched places in popularity, with bathroom remodels moving into the top spot as the most common type of remodeling project.</p> <p />"As the priorities of home owners shift, remodelers have to adjust to the needs of their clients," said NAHB Remodelers Chairman George "Geep" Moore Jr., GMB, CAPS, GMR and owner/president of Moore-Built Construction & Restoration Inc. in Elm Grove, La. "And while the motivation behind a home owner's decision to remodel may have changed, their desire for quality, professional results have not. Professional remodelers remain committed to the highest industry standards."</p> <p />Repairs and replacements of old components and the desire for upgraded amenities were cited as the top reasons for customers to hire a remodeler. More than 60 percent of remodelers reported increased demand for repairs and replacements of old components in the past two years, while more than half of remodelers said that the desire for upgraded amenities increased. In contrast, more than 20 percent of remodelers said there was a decrease in customers remodeling to increase home values as an investment.</p> <p />In addition to kitchens and baths, other popular remodeling categories included window/door replacements (44 percent), whole house remodels (35 percent), room additions (33 percent) and handyman services (31 percent).</p> <p />"Home owners are repurposing spaces and making more efficient use of their home's square footage," Moore said. "Whether it be young families or couples aging in their homes, people want to let their house adapt with their needs as they change over time."</p> [?]