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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has announced a new round of grants worth nearly $160 million to support the clean manufacturing of domestically produced construction materials. The funds are being distributed to 38 entities, including the University of Massachusetts Amherst... View full entry
Construction input prices fell by 0.3% in June, according to the latest Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) analysis of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Producer Price Index. For the month, Nonresidential construction input prices declined by 0.4%. Overall construction input prices are... View full entry
Product standardisation—or the lack thereof—is a major obstacle to mass timber adoption, especially in the lower-rise and mid-rise “sweet spots.” It comes as Europe is miles ahead of North America (Asia-Pacific, Australia, and New Zealand) in developing mainstream mass timber systems. — Wood Central
“They [North America] have a mature market where woodworkers and integration shops work alongside billet producers to service the market,” Adrian Mitchell told the outlet. “It is not about whose panel size got designed by the engineer into a project from the start, giving that manufacturer... View full entry
When we asked architects in our recent Archinect Business Survey about their economic outlook, one of the five big factors behind the architecture industry’s current economic slowdown mentioned most frequently by participants was high construction costs. "Construction costs are exceeding... View full entry
New analytic reporting on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data for May from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) has documented an overall 0.9% decrease in construction input prices. For the month, nonresidential construction input prices fell by 0.8%. Overall... View full entry
A team of researchers from Japan’s Tohoku University has developed a new mechanoluminescent construction material they say can be used in infrastructure to monitor daily use stress information in real-time in order to avert potential future catastrophes that may result from its aging stock of... View full entry
The latest analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data for April from the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) shows a 0.5% increase in construction input prices. For the month, nonresidential construction input prices increased by 0.6%. Overall construction and... View full entry
A new report on the socio-economic situation in Gaza from the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) has established a baseline for rebuilding as a cease-fire deal that would end the seven-month Israel-Hamas war continues to be up in the air. The findings lay out the most realistic timeline for... View full entry
A group of materials companies in Sweden has collaborated on a hybrid wall element with a lower carbon footprint than conventional concrete wall elements. The joint venture, comprising concrete element manufacturer Heidelberg Materials Preca and engineered timber manufacturer Metsä Wood, is... View full entry
New findings published in the journal Construction and Building Materials from a team of materials researchers working at the University of British Columbia Okanagan's School of Engineering have demonstrated the sustainable qualities of using wood fly ash by-products as alternatives to traditional... View full entry
The Biden Administration has announced a new investment of $2 billion into 150 different federal building projects meant to minimize carbon emissions in 39 states. The funding will be dispersed through the U.S. General Services Administration and used to purchase low embodied carbon... View full entry
The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) has announced the launch of the New York City Mass Timber Studio in an effort to join industry leaders who are elsewhere raising the bar for the use of sustainable materials in the built environment. The Studio is operated with support... View full entry
A new report driven by the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) and Yale University's newly-formed Yale Center for Ecosystems + Architecture (Yale CEA) has recommended drastic reductions in the industry’s use of certain construction materials as it faces the environmental headwinds of sector-wide... View full entry
Engineers in Australia have found a way of making stronger concrete with roasted used-coffee grounds, to give the drink-additive a "double shot" at life and reduce waste going to landfills. [...]
Published in the Journal of Cleaner Production, the study by RMIT engineers is the first to prove that waste coffee grounds can be used to improve concrete.
— Science Daily
The study found that three different coffee ground samples each increased their concrete pour’s compressive strengths by up to 30% once their organic compounds were broken down through pyrolysis. The discovery could go a long way in combatting issues such as food waste and the carbon impact of... View full entry
According to a recently released analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Producer Price Index data by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC), construction input prices have fallen 0.9% in November from October readings. Additionally, nonresidential construction input prices fell 0.8% in... View full entry