Author: Laura Black

We are currently embarking on a blog series looking at sustainability—and exploring the topic in both in the construction process and ultimately in the lifecycle of the building. Now, there is a new report out that explores how we can create a national blueprint for decarbonizing the United States in the building sector. Let’s take a look at some interesting facts. Released in April 2024, the report from the U.S. Dept. of Energy provides a framework for how to reduce building greenhouse gas emissions, while still providing resilience, affordability, equity, and other benefits to communities. It sets forth a rather…

Sustainable construction starts with the design of the building—and continues throughout the lifecycle of a construction project from work being done on the jobsite and in the office, ultimately through the operations of a building. With Earth Day just around the corner, let’s examine some of the biggest trends for the construction industry. Deloitte suggests the built environment accounts for roughly 39% of gross annual carbon emissions, which includes both operational carbon and embodied carbon. Operational carbon emissions are the ongoing emissions from day-to-day use, while embodied carbon emissions are all the carbon used when producing, transporting, and disposing of…

We are currently embarking on a short Earth Day series, narrowing in on sustainability in the construction industry. Last week, we looked at overall sustainability in our buildings. Today, let’s narrow in on the conversation surrounding water and building standards. In March, the Intl. Code Council shared the findings of a new report from the University of Miami, which found building standards are a defense against water scarcity. The IWCCP (Intl. Water Conservation Code Provisions) promotes water conservation through safe and sustainable practices. In the book Sustainable in a Circular World, Peggy Smedley wrote about the dangers our world faces…

Earth Day is roughly a month away. Every year on April 22, Earth Day marks the anniversary of the birth of the modern environmental movement in 1970. To prepare, let’s embark on a short blog series focusing on sustainability in the construction industry. First up, sustainability in our buildings. We have all heard the dire statistics. Roughly 37% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from the construction and operation of the built environment, according to the United Nations. Certainly, this impacts the environment, but it also impacts pocketbooks. In the current real estate market, operational costs and sustainability are crucial,…

The construction industry is well aware of the challenges with concrete, such as the fact the concrete industry is responsible for 8% of the global CO₂  emissions. Concrete is also one of the most consumed materials in the world, second only to water. How, then, can we be more responsible and sustainable, as we look to rebuild our homes, buildings, cities, and infrastructure? That is the question many stakeholders are asking today. There are many options to address this challenge head on in the future. Let’s consider some of the solutions. As one example, we have reported on C-Crete Technologies…

The construction market is an interesting one now. From the labor shortage to cost volatility, there is much to consider as we move forward. Let’s consider the current state of the construction to identify how to navigate it in 2024 and beyond. Currie & Brown suggests there are many challenges in today’s construction market including geopolitical turmoil, inflation, materials and skills shortages, and tightening sustainability regulation, just to name a few. As a result, many of these factors are driving up construction costs globally, with costs rising by 3.64% last year alone. Certainly, this isn’t a new challenge. In the…

While there were a bevy of announcements at last week’s NAHB (National Assn. of Home Builders) IBS (Intl. Builders Show), home appliances and HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) were certainly some of the splashiest—but will builders take the bait and move forward in the next era of electrification in the home? Certainly, we would hope the answer would be yes, but it isn’t always that cut and dry. Let’s look at a few examples from the show. Specifically focused for the residential builder market, LG’s energy-efficient heat pump technology, inverter technology, and air solutions maximize energy efficiency in the…

I am easily enticed when it comes to productivity hacks. Perhaps there is no greater place to heighten workplace efficiency than with emails, as emails consume roughly two hours per day for the average worker. This is certainly true in construction, as it is in other industries. Consider the research from PPM Express, which suggests establishing time for emails can be challenging when managing a construction team. The statistics are staggering too. Each day in 2022, an estimated 333 billion emails were sent and received worldwide, and this figure is projected to surge to 392.5 billion daily emails by 2026.…

Hopefully, innovation is something that is encouraged and celebrated all year long, but for some it is commemorated on February 16—Innovation Day—to recognize the role that new knowledge plays in spurring creativity and ingenuity in an organization. Such is the case for Skanska USA, which launched Skanska Sidekick on Innovation Day last week. Skanska Sidekick is a proprietary chatbot designed to alter how solutions are delivered to customers. Here’s how it works: Sidekick leverages the same underlying technology as ChatGPT, and all data that is input into these internal tools will remain within the Skanska Cloud to ensure the safety…

Consumers and businesses are expected to generate twice as much data in the next five years as all the data created over the past 10 years. The rise of AI (artificial intelligence) and other technologies will change the way we build homes, cities, and infrastructure. Perhaps the most obvious example of this is at the data center. Data centers are built with different requirements than conventional facilities and may require contractors and operators to plan, design, and allocate power resources based on the type of data processed or stage of generative AI development. Maybe we should look at what comes…