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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
A new architectural installation from MIT’s Norman B. Leventhal Center for Advanced Urbanism (LCAU) for the Mextrópoli Architecture and City Festival in Mexico City is leveraging the school’s recent innovations in materials research to weave a narrative about the centuries-old capital through... View full entry
The Biden Administration has unveiled the first set of recommendations under its Federal Buy Clean Initiative, an undertaking that aims to drive the development of American-made, low-carbon construction materials, while also supporting job growth. During a visit to the Cleveland-Cliffs Direct... View full entry
A quartet of undergraduate engineering students at the American University in Cairo has developed self-luminescent concrete they say is a possible offset to the material’s poor environmental performance. Working under the stewardship of Professor Mohamed Nagib AbouZeid, the students were able to... View full entry
A new poll conducted by the National Association of Home Builders shows builder confidence in the market for new single-family homes is at its lowest level after six straight months of decline.
The poll measures builder perceptions of current and future single-family home sales, and the traffic of prospective buyers. All three categories posted declines in the latest monthly data with buyer traffic falling most sharply, a sign that homebuyers — especially first-time ones — are giving up.
— NPR
The now-familiar cocktail of increasingly higher interest rates and home prices is once again causing headaches for contractors looking to fill America’s shortage of 4 million homes. The NAHB has been pushing the Biden Administration to take action on the supply-side of the problem since last... View full entry
The White House has announced the establishment of a task force to enhance the sustainability credentials of federally-funded buildings. The Buy Clean Task Force will promote the use of construction materials with lower embodied carbon emissions and pollutants across their lifecycle, including at... View full entry
When old office blocks are demolished, their steel frames are typically smelted down to be recycled, emitting thousands of tonnes of carbon in the process. But at One Broadgate, the steel beams that once framed the London headquarters of inter-dealer broker TP Icap Plc will instead be salvaged from the site and recycled by developer Fabrix. Chief Executive Officer Clive Nichol says the example proves it’s possible to “apply the circular economy to structural elements of buildings.” — Bloomberg Green
Fabrix has purchased 139 tons of steel from the contractor behind the demolition of One Broadgate and plans to use it on other projects in London. The process, known as urban mining, recovers and resells raw materials from waste products. Related on Archinect: How 'Anthropocene mining'... View full entry
Although the prices of some raw materials fell in December, costs are still sky high for contractors looking to purchase them, according to a new analysis by the Associated General Contractors of America. Overall, the price of construction materials jumped nearly 20% in 2021, the group said Thursday. — Construction Dive
In addition, according to the Associated General Contractors of America’s (AGC) 2022 Construction Hiring and Business Outlook Survey, material costs were listed as a top concern for contractors this year. Though prices moderated for some construction materials in December, they still... View full entry
Why don't we re-use what we've already extracted, rather than gouging the planet for ever more raw materials? This thought has spurred a growing band of architects and building firms to look at how to re-use the huge range of materials already hiding within our built environment, from concrete and wood to the metallic bounty within electronic waste — BBC
Architecturally-rich cities are both a fount of reusable materials and a way of circumventing the awful cycle of environmental and human destruction caused by mining for the raw substances needed to help mitigate the effects of the built environment on climate change. Recent projects like the... View full entry
Architects, officials, and villagers confirm the trend: People are discarding traditional materials, mostly mud, in favor of concrete, as soon as they can afford it. As living standards increase making concrete more accessible, some of the world’s hottest, poorest landscapes are rapidly morphing from brown to cinder block grey. — National Geographic
Architects like Francis Kéré have been attempting to buck the trend of using concrete by experimenting with upgraded versions of terrestrial materials like mud bricks that simultaneously provide tools for community-building in developing countries like Burkina Faso. Facade detail of Kéré... View full entry
As part of the AEC sector’s effort to decarbonize in light of the industry’s contribution to climate change, architects, engineers, and researchers are increasingly devoting efforts not only to the design of space but to the composition of materials, structural systems, and façades. In the... View full entry
Backers of the law say the labels, or “environmental product declarations,” will be another key factor in cutting greenhouse gas emissions in Colorado and worldwide. The clean energy think tank RMI says building emissions make up at least 39% of the global greenhouse total, and that the carbon created in producing the materials for those buildings is at least 25% of that. — Colorado Sun
via Carbon Leadership Forum Michael Booth reports on Colorado House Bill 21-1303 aka "Buy Clean Colorado" passed earlier this year, which will require a carbon-use label aka "environmental product declarations" for materials used in public construction projects. View full entry
Since lumber, steel, and other construction material costs began skyrocketing during the summer of 2021, Archinect has followed the ongoing fluctuation of construction costs. During our July construction coverage, the cost of lumber began to drop, which brought a slight glimmer of relief... View full entry
Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has unveiled their design for the future of metal production, combining land and sea-based elements. Collaborating with The Metals Company, a developer of lower-impact battery metals from seafloor rocks, BIG sought to bring innovative, sustainable, whole-system design... View full entry
The Netherlands’ Schiphol Airport is to send grass cut on its approximately one thousand hectares to panel maker Ecor to make ceiling panels, partition walls, furniture and flooring for use at the airport and elsewhere. — Global Construction Review
Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport estimates that its annual amount of grass clippings will be enough raw material for partnering manufacturer ECOR to produce 100,000 square meters (1.8 million square feet) of panels. "Before starting large-scale production, the panels were extensively tested for... View full entry
