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
New Story, a non-profit pioneering solutions to end global homelessness, in partnership with Mexico-based ÉCHALE, have announced "the world's first 3D-printed community" in Mexico. The first set of homes have been revealed. Each coming in at 500 square feet, the innovative structures were printed... View full entry
Denmark is developing plans to build “energy islands” – areas of reclaimed land that would host vast wind farms able to generate up to 10GW of electricity, 8.8GW more than the largest offshore wind farm now in existence.
The cost of the project or projects has been put at between $20bn and $45bn, most of which is expected to come from the private sector, with the government funding research and development.
— Global Construction Review
With 41% of its national energy mix already generated by wind turbines, Denmark leads the field in Europe in terms of percentage. A recently passed National Climate Act signals further commitment to set bold and legally binding emission reduction goals. View full entry
In May 2011, the UK Government issued a mandate stating that all centrally-procured government projects must utilize "fully collaborative 3D BIM," which produced a ripple effect in industry adoption of the technology across the region. Some wonder if the US will follow a similar pattern by... View full entry
UNStudio's facade design for P.C. Hoofstraat 138 in Amsterdam is a playful spin on the idea of window displays. Aiming to provide the Dutch flagship store to have a subtle yet distinctly eye-catching storefront, the team at UNStudio created The Looking Glass. Said to be a "celebration textiles in... View full entry
Ann Arbor-based autonomous Transportation-as-a-Service (TaaS) provider May Mobility and Toyota are taking steps forward to realize their mission to transform cities through autonomous transport. With demand rising, Toyota has led a new round of funding of $50 million that will aid the TaaS... View full entry
London-based architecture practice Foster + Partners recently announced its goal to "outline a holistic sustainable approach" towards its projects as a way to measure "embodied and operational carbon in each project." Aiming to use their international stature and design prowess to... View full entry
In an effort to explore the architectural possibilities in addressing sustainability and population density, Luca Curci Architects have imagined Vertical City, a conceptual project proposal for a vertical "city-building" settled in a body of water. The group began by analyzing the... View full entry
This post is brought to you by BQE Core How many times have you sent a client past-due invoices, only to hear nothing back? Small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the U.S. were owed $825 billion in 2016, according to figures released by invoicing financing company Fundbox. And the value of... View full entry
Although concrete is common building material that's readily available and easy to use, the environmental impact it generates is a costly one, specifically with regards to how it is manufactured. Estimates indicate that every pound of cement produces one pound of CO2 emissions, for example, a fact... View full entry
In true parametric fashion, Patrik Schumacher and the team at ZHA have designed a striking new look for the lobby of the Southbank Tower in London. Considered to be "one of the UK's most ambitious renovation projects," the office building was completed in 1972 by Richard Seifert and then converted... View full entry
3D printing equipment manufacturer Apis Cor recently built a two-story administrative office building for a Dubai government agency using one mobile printer. Standing at 31 feet tall with an area of 6,889 square feet, the building's walls were printed while the insulation, roof, foundation and windows were installed using traditional building methods... — Smart Cities Dive
According to Smart Cities Dive, "the company's proprietary printing mixture consists of off-the-shelf materials like sand, cement, gypsum, and other proprietary components..." The challenge ultimately becomes creating the right blend of materials in relation to the local climate. The... View full entry
This post is brought to you by BQE Core As an architect, you want to spend your time designing, creating, and innovating. But as a firm principal, you need to make sure you have a healthy cash flow to pay for those projects and support your passions. Manage your cash flow well, and you can stay in... View full entry
