Author: Constructech Editors
The trend is toward making low carbon a reality in construction. Whether moving to electric powered equipment and vehicles or finding ways to minimize or eliminate CO2 in the concrete used onsite, contractors know that the future will be constrained by energy and emissions issues. But how can you find suppliers offering low-carbon materials? Building Transparency is a nonprofit organization that provides open access data and tools to foster a better understanding of the low-carbon materials available. Building Transparency is the result of nearly 50 industry partners coming together to develop the EC3 (Embodied Carbon in Construction calculator). EC3 was initially…
Buy, build, rent, gig? The “gig economy” has taken over in many areas as people respond from the last years of lockdowns and social distancing by abandoning office jobs for self-employment. The classic, of course, is the Uber and Lyft drivers who respond to notices on their smartphone apps and pick up and deliver people, food, and many other legal items. What was once a fringe economy casually referred to as freelancing has become a major employer of independent-minded people. Got a car and need some extra money? Pickup the app and pick up people, no taxi license needed (in…
The largest non-U.S. software company is German giant SAP. In fact, SAP is the second largest company in German (by market capitalization) behind Linde and ahead of Volkswagen. SAP has overcome some early concerns about the complexity of its ERP (enterprise resource planning) system and with an expanded line of cloud and smaller entity products is now embraced across the world. One of the large companies using SAP is Schneider Electric, a French-based world leader in energy-management and automation. Schneider Electric, with revenues of about 29 billion euros annually, is very conscious of the markets it operates in and is…
Older multifamily units are being examined for possible efficiency improvements through automation. Many, built before central air conditioning was available, are still populated with window AC units that are a significant energy waste. With the extreme heat being experienced across the country in 2022, those units are running overtime, inefficiently cooling apartments during unoccupied hours as well as times when people need that cooling. Air conditioning units are second only to heating as the most expensive appliance to run in the home, so making them more efficient is one of the first steps towards achieving a fully smart energy system…
The construction of this house might look like all the others but look a little bit closer and the home serves as a case study for the future of sustainable living, leveraging leading edge construction technology. Tech expert Peggy Smedley and her husband David are embarking on a journey to build a home that will be a model for sustainable, resilient, and efficient residential homebuilding practices. Let’s take a look under the roof and behind the walls today. From the Ground Up: Project Sustainability Living Lab home leverages the best building materials and innovative solutions—and construction is well underway. Case…
If the saying is correct, “Follow the money.” Money, in turn, follows the easiest path. Have a solution to a problem? Money will flow to you once the concept is proven. This is illustrated every day by following the funds from venture capital firms and investors. In the construction industry, money all too often flows “out the door.” Legacy tools and processes used for designing complex building systems like electrical, plumbing, and HVAC make it difficult and time consuming to ensure designs are feasible for construction. Combined with time and resource pressures, this leads to errors that require significant rework,…
Wood has been used for buildings from time immemorial. Timbers have been found, intact, dating thousands of years in the past. Mass timber construction, therefore, has history on its side as well as environmentalists. Wood construction supports sustainability of forests and buildings both. The U.S. Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack has announced the awarding of more than $32 million to fund 2022 wood innovations and community wood grants to expand the use of wood products, strengthen emerging wood markets, and support active management to improve forest health and resilience, especially in light of the ongoing nationwide wildfire crisis. The SLB…
A few years ago, a pure EV (electric vehicle) on the street would probably be a classic from the turn of the century—the 20th century. The world has gone full circle with electric cars, trucks, and every other wheeled vehicle becoming commonplace. And all those Volt, Tesla, and Rivian vehicles need a place to plug in and charge up. Matching the availability of gasoline and diesel with electric charging stations is a challenge; without them, electric sales will platform and the trend will stagnate. Cities of all sizes are finding this out. Advanced urban areas, especially, know they need to…
Finding funding for a development or commercial project has had some serious ups and downs recently. Stock markets look like roller coasters and banks are cautious about lending to projects that had been quickly approved a few years ago. Making the best pitch can include offering the best construction management and view into the job for those lenders. A construction management and project monitoring application would seem like a good fit in this case. Built Technologies agrees. Built is a construction finance platform used by lenders that want to be proactive with their construction portfolio. Built’s Project Pro enters the…
Determining the ROI (return-on-investment) for new equipment can be a straightforward calculation while doing the same for add-ons to existing gear can be a pain. Equipment bought five-ten years ago might have been made obsolete in the market by newer versions but if it still works and still provides productivity a “simple” retrofit might be just what it needs to compete with the latest iteration. Such calculations are especially important now when interest rates and costs are going up and skilled labor is harder to find since the COVID-19 pandemic. Improving the ability of an operator to do the job…