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MAD Architects has announced the completion of the ZGC International Innovation Center in Beijing. Spanning a total floor area of approximately 699,654 square feet, the structure was designed to serve as the permanent venue for the annual Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum). Photo: Zhu Yumeng The forum... View full entry
Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill has announced a new partnership with the Swiss energy storage company Energy Vault Holdings that will produce a series of prototype designs for deployable structures and vertical energy storage units up to 1,000 meters (3,280 feet). Led by SOM Partners Adam... View full entry
Following last week’s look at an opening for a Staff Architect at Greater Indy Habitat for Humanity, we are using this week’s edition of our Job Highlights series to explore an open role on Archinect Jobs for an Architect at the US Bureau of Reclamation. The role, based in Denver, CO, calls... View full entry
The Pentagon has announced it will be installing a solar panel array on its roof in a historic first that’s part of a new $55 million Department of Defense clean energy initiative at military installations in the United States and Germany. The DOD has been active in attempting to mitigate the... View full entry
All-electric building projects have increased by more than 130% since 2020, according to new data from the American Institute of Architects. The figure is one of several findings from the latest AIA By The Numbers report which provides a detailed analysis of the energy performance of architecture... View full entry
A new plan Mayor Mike Duggan is pitching would fill vacant land in the city, provide clean energy for the city, and give money back to community groups. After some consultation with solar companies, the plans should start to take shape this fall.
Starting July 1, neighborhood groups will be able to submit a community interest form. If they need assistance with the proposal, they can request help from a solar energy expert.
— Urbanize Detroit
The plan puts the Motor City squarely in line with Chicago, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and New York, whose attempt to power 250,000 homes by 2030 is still lagging. France also just commenced its own plan targeted at parking lots in the country at the beginning of the month, despite... View full entry
Belgian-French construction group BESIX and Dutch dredging and heavylift company Boskalis have been announced as the first European contractors to be awarded a design and build lump sum contract by NEOM to work on the first phase of development for the Port of NEOM project. BESIX will work... View full entry
The American Institute of Architects' 2030 commitment program aims to transform building design to address climate change by setting standards and goals. AIA Honolulu member firms AEPAC, AHL, Ferraro Choi, KYA Design Group, MASON and WRNS Studio signed onto the commitment in honor of Earth Day. — Hawai’i Public Radio
The AIA 2030 Commitment program requires participating firms to report the predicted energy performance of all projects in their portfolios each year. Energy by fuel source, renewable energy, post-occupancy energy use, and embodied carbon are also tracked. The program has mapped out energy... View full entry
Chipotle Mexican Grill has unveiled a new fully electric restaurant design that aims to utilize 100% renewable energy and maximize energy efficiency in its equipment and systems. The chain has recently opened restaurants with these new features in Gloucester, Virginia and Jacksonville... View full entry
MVRDV has designed what the firm describes as a “pointillist” master plan for a health and technology campus in the Dutch city of Nijmegen. The project aims to reimagine the Noviotech Campus by unifying the currently disjointed campus buildings and adding new buildings in the empty spaces... View full entry
New York City has pledged to reach 1,000 megawatts of solar energy by 2030 — enough energy to power 250,000 homes, according to the Mayor’s Office of Environmental Justice. But state data shows that its current pace of installation will land short of that goal, leaving officials and advocates looking for ways to break down barriers to installation. — Gothamist
As Gothamist reported, 90% of the city’s energy grid is derived from fossil fuels. The effort to counteract this with rooftop photovoltaics is being stymied by the building codes and cost of installation, despite remarkable gains in solar capacity overall. A proposed new program called... View full entry
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot has announced a new grant program that aims to spur climate action across the city through nonprofit organizations and small businesses. Designed in partnership with the Department of Planning and Development’s Chicago Recovery Plan Initiative, the Climate... View full entry
In France, solar just got a huge boost from new legislation approved through the Senate this week that requires all parking lots with spaces for at least 80 vehicles – both existing and new – be covered by solar panels. — electrek
Starting on July 1, 2023, parking lots that have between 80 and 400 spaces will have five years to comply with the new measures. Those with more than 400 spaces will need to comply within three years, with at least half of the surface area of the parking lot needing to be covered in solar... View full entry
2021 saw a 67% annual increase in the number of all-electric buildings delivered in the United States by AIA 2030 Commitment signatories, according to new data from the American Institute of Architects. The findings are contained within the AIA 2030 Commitment By the Numbers report, which the... View full entry
As solar energy gains traction across the country, one beneficiary have been schools, particularly those in cash-strapped districts contending with dwindling tax bases.
The savings in electric bills from schools with solar panels often topped millions in each district, and many have been able to adopt the technology without shouldering any costs up front.
— The New York Times
According to White House statistics, energy costs rank second to only teachers' salaries on a list of the largest expenses the approximately 130,000 public schools across the country are faced with annually. Their emissions are equivalent to the CO2 output of about 16 coal-fired power... View full entry