While finding the right employee hires is a key concern for any business, less attention has been paid, until recently, to streamlined training and workforce development initiatives. Yet, with the growing sophistication and proliferation of online training services and mobile apps that can assist... View full entry
The Trump administration announced Friday that it would block a rule designed to phase out older incandescent bulbs and require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs.
In announcing the move, the secretary of energy, Dan Brouillette, who is a former auto lobbyist, said the administration had chosen “to protect consumer choice by ensuring that the American people do not pay the price for unnecessary overregulation from the federal government.”
— The New York Times
The rule in question was set to phase out the use of inefficient incandescent light bulbs on January 1, 2020 through the imposition of stringent energy efficiency standards initially crafted in 2007 under the administration of President George W. Bush. Regarding the measure, The... View full entry
With the summer season kicking off, the month of May was filled with new tall towers breaking ground, amazing architectural photography, rising architects, and some tips on personal development. However, the month also brought the loss of a beloved architectural icon. Check out what May 2019 was... View full entry
This year April brought about all kinds of emotions among the architecture community. We laughed, we cried, we got self-reflective and we got angry... all the good stuff that fuels the passion behind this field we love to hate and hate to love. APRIL FOOLS'! IKEA Vässel IKEA Buys Naming Rights to... View full entry
At the direction of Mayor Jenny Durkan, the city’s Human Services Department is studying the possibility of mandatory biometric screening of homeless shelter and service clients, using fingerprints or other biometric markers to track the city’s homeless population as they move through the homelessness system. — C is for Crank
Independent journalist Erica Barnett reports on an ongoing study being undertaken by municipal officials in Seattle, where efforts to resolve the city's ongoing homelessness crisis could include using biometric tracking systems to log how individuals make use of public services. View full entry
As scientists continue to advocate for further development of [geoengineering] technologies, the field’s demographics are drawing more scrutiny. Some researchers argue the lack of diversity affects both which geoengineering projects get discussed [...] and how their risks get calculated. — Wired
In a recent article, Wired writer Sarah Sax dives into the troubling demographics of the White male-dominated geoengineering field, a largely theoretical research program with the potential for global impacts, both anticipated and unforeseen. Explaining how the monocultural makeup of the... View full entry
With this tumultuous year finally coming to an end, let's take a look back and dig through some of the most exciting and stand-out news and feature stories on Archinect during the month of February. ARCHITECTURE & DESIGN CULTURE Elm, by Tumbleweed, Tiny House Company ↑ Tiny homes are fitting... View full entry
In order to reflect upon the year, let us start at the beginning. Although January 2019 was a rocky month for the U.S. amid the government shutting down, that didn't stop the architecture community from staying busy during the month. From defining a thesis, architecture sales, pondering over... View full entry
While construction on the long-talked-about high-speed train between Las Vegas and Southern California is slated to begin next year, work probably won’t start in Nevada until the following year.
Virgin Trains USA could break ground in the second half of 2020 on the 170-mile route between Southern Nevada and the Victor Valley area of Southern California...
— Las Vegas Review-Journal
The project is expected to be completed in 2023, but, according to state Department of Business Director Terry Reynolds, it cannot commence construction until the "record of decision" is received by the Federal Railroad Administration, reports Review-Journal. View full entry
New wearable technology could help prevent struck-by and caught-between injuries and incidents, found a study from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas released last month by the Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR). The study outfitted workers with waist belts with vibrating motors to detect possible nearby hazards. — Construction Dive
The study explored a system that notified workers through vibrations where nearby machinery and vehicles were in operations. The experiment even went so far as to cover the eyes of the participants, resulting in 95% accuracy in completing tasks. The research moves forward attempts to... View full entry
A long-in-the-works plan to link Houston and Dallas with high-speed rail is making steady progress as backers for the project announce that they could be one year away from breaking ground. Earlier this year, Archinect reported that Texas CentralTexas Central, the group advocating for and... View full entry
Inspired by the recently unveiled Tesla Cybertruck, Lars Büro has imagined a Cybunker, "a modular architecture that can be deployed as a hi-tech depot, an ADU, or an off-grid residence." Made with a rigid steel "monocoque" structure, the aerodynamic module is able to withstand grueling... View full entry
Now that California has reached 1 million solar roofs, some activists are looking at battery storage as the next frontier for lawmakers.
Dan Jacobson, director of Environment California, thinks the state should aim to install 1 million batteries by 2025. Those systems could store solar power for use in the evening — and help homes keep the lights on when utility companies intentionally shut off power to reduce the risk of wildfire ignitions.
— The Los Angeles Times
Writing in The Los Angeles Times, Sammy Roth reports on California's 1 million solar rooftop achievement, the culmination of a solar incentive plan initiated by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2006. According to the report, there are now more than 1,046,792 solar installations in the state... View full entry
Greenhouse gases are still rising globally. Some advocacy groups are demanding that these emissions be eliminated entirely within a decade, requiring a scale of industrial and political mobilization matching or exceeding that of World War II. — The New York Times
In order to clean up the electricity grid by 2030, the scale of construction programs required would be a "national project on an immense scale," The New York Times reports. American workers would need to build about 120,000 new wind turbines and around 44,000 large solar power plants to accompany... View full entry
The McHarg Center at the University of Pennsylvania has published a digital atlas that attempts to communicate the wide-ranging implications of both climate change and a potential Green New Deal for the United States. A color-coded breakdown of land uses across the country that includes... View full entry
