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Converging Networks

As building-control apps go mainstream, home-automation providers explore wireless options.

April 16, 2014

The Apple Store isn't a place you would typically look for residential building components. But you can find a new Wi-Fi-enabled lighting system from Philips called HUE there. This screw-in LED replacement for traditional bulbs can be easily controlled for color, color temperature, and intensity from a computer or smartphone.

Moving Up in the World

Structural gymnastics help ultrathin, ultra-tall residential towers for the ultrarich make their mark on the Manhattan skyline.

James S. Russell, FAIA Emeritus

April 16, 2014

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In New York City these days, residential towers cannot be too slim or too tall.

Modular Classroom Makeover

New designs for portable school buildings make improvements that are more than cosmetic.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

January 16, 2014

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The mention of “portable” classrooms—or any similar term—puts fear into the hearts of parents with school-age children.

Performance Anxiety

Peter Fairley

December 16, 2013

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Creating buildings that deliver on progressively more ambitious environmental goals will require energy simulations that reliably predict post-occupancy consumption. Higher energy performance has evolved from an aspiration to an expectation. Owners of buildings—especially those certified under rating systems like LEED—increasingly count on an energy savings payback. And a wave of “net zero energy” buildings promises to generate enough energy on-site from renewable sources to equal or exceed demand. As a result, predictive energy models face new scrutiny. “In the last five years, energy modelers have learned that they will have to answer for their models,” says Laurie Canup, an associate

Facade Retrofits: Wrap It Up

Face-lifts for three buildings showing their age aim to correct performance problems, project a more desirable image, and address the needs of new occupants.

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

October 16, 2013

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Like all of us, buildings of a certain age often have problems with their facades.

Making Sense of the New LEED

The latest version of the widely adopted green building standard is set to debut in November with the most thorough overhaul since its inception. Here’s what you need to know.

Nadav Malin

September 16, 2013

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A revamped LEED is launching later this year. The new rating system, referred to as LEED version 4, or v4 for short, has generated a lot of controversy in the design and construction industry, both from practitioners concerned about how different it is from the current LEED, and from product suppliers worried about new demands from their customers.

Urban Agriculture Grows Up

A wave of rooftop greenhouses and vertical farms captures the imagination of architects while offering an alternative to conventional cultivation methods.

Peter Fairley

July 16, 2013

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Community-gardening advocates have sold urban farming as a sustainable local alternative to industrial-scale farming and as an educational platform for healthier living.

The Bullitt Center by Miller Hull Partnership

Seattle

Joann Gonchar, FAIA

June 16, 2013

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An office building aims to be self-sustaining, offering a new model for commercial development in dense urban settings.

Dynamic Facades: Buildings Show Off New Moves

To enhance environmental performance and create dramatic visual effects, architects devise facades that adapt to changing conditions.

Russell Fortmeyer

May 16, 2013

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The outer layer of the double-skin facade for the Design Hub at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (RMIT) consists of more than 16,000 individually mounted translucent glass discs repeated on all four elevations of the eight-story main building.

A Force of Nature

Peter Fairley

April 16, 2013

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As design teams work toward harnessing air flows around buildings, they are producing some intriguing structures. But just how viable is wind power as a source of on-site renewable energy? Wind power is the fastest-growing source of megawatts thanks to the jumbo-jet-sized turbines sprouting en masse worldwide. But it also has a significant presence in the city, where gusts regularly send umbrellas to landfills. Rather than considering it a nuisance, architects increasingly view urban wind as a renewable resource for on-building power generation. Building-integrated wind power (BIWP)—wind turbines mounted on or incorporated within an occupied structure—may lack wind farms’ economies

Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 ICC CEU; 0.1 IACET CEU

Join us for this insightful webinar, where we'll delve into the principles of biophilic design and acoustical strategies.

Credits: 1 AIA LU/HSW; 1 AIBD P-CE; 0.1 ICC CEU; 0.1 IACET CEU

This webinar will explore the growing use of mass timber in K-12 schools and its transformative benefits across four key areas: health, well-being, durability, and sustainability.