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New research from MIT has found that adding sodium bicarbonate, otherwise known as baking soda, to concrete mixtures may make a significant dent in the material’s carbon footprint. The findings, published recently in the journal PNAS Nexus, also suggest that the addition of sodium bicarbonate... View full entry
The Biden administration issued another round of tariffs Friday on key industrial goods from Russia — including a 200% tariff on aluminum — as the country’s invasion of Ukraine crosses the one-year mark.
Aluminum tariffs were announced in addition to $2.7 billion in new duties on many metals and raw materials from the country. The tariff rates on most metals and metal products will double from 35% to 70% beginning April, and target “a crucial revenue generating sector of the Russian economy”
— Supply Chain Dive
Russia is behind China and India the world’s third-largest producer of aluminum and ranks fifth overall in terms of imports of the metal into the United States. Architects and builders have only recently come out from under 25% steel and aluminum tariffs imposed on certain countries by the... View full entry
The price of construction materials rose 1.3% in January 2023 alone, according to new data by Associated Builders and Contractors. In addition to being 1.3% higher than December 2022 figures, the prices are also 4.9% higher than this time last year, the smallest annual increase since January... View full entry
The material is essentially free, or at least locally available for a fraction of the cost of concrete...Mud construction contributes little to global warming. And concrete tends to be a gateway, once people can afford it, to another fossil-fuel-guzzling invention: air-conditioning. — National Geographic
Peter Schwartzstein explores the work of folks such as Clara Sawadogo, Francis Kéré and Salima Naji who are trying to rekindle an interest in materials and methods that have a long tradition in Africa and the Middle East. View full entry
A Swiss research team from Empa's Building Energy Materials and Components Lab explores the potential for using raw, plant-based materials as insulation for buildings. Led by scientist Dr. Jannis Wernery and researchers from the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, the project is... View full entry
Researchers from the University of Chicago’s Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering have published details of a new material that can auto-regulate its environment by changing its infrared colors and liquid-solid state. In the future, the ultra-thin material film could be added to a... View full entry
The University of Toronto’s School of Engineering has announced a new research center that will, together with its industry partners, work to find a viable solution to the growing need for public infrastructure that is in tune with the push for sustainability and concerns over climate change... View full entry
A team of researchers from MIT and Harvard University, working with laboratories in Italy and Switzerland, has made progress in understanding how concrete used by the ancient Romans has lasted for millennia. The discovery, outlined in a new paper published in the journal Science Advances, centers... View full entry
2022 was another productive year in laboratories across the United States and beyond, as colleges, manufacturers, and startups strove to challenge the orthodoxy of construction materials. While teams of students and researchers at institutions from Virginia Tech to ETH Zurich sought to push the... View full entry
Researchers at Penn State are undertaking a study into whether fungal materials can replace traditional acoustic insulation funded by the 2022 AIA Upjohn Research Initiative. The team behind the effort, funded in 2021 by both an AIA Upjohn Research Initiative grant and a SOM Foundation... 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
For many years, industrial hemp was illegal in the US due to hemp’s association with drug use, despite the fact that it does not contain more than 0.3 percent THC [...] Building residential homes with hempcrete was therefore effectively outlawed until 2018, when the Farm Bill distinguished between hemp and cannabis plants. Then, in September 2022, hemp building materials were added to the model US residential building code, paving the way for legal use in 2024. — Reasons to be Cheerful
The International Residential Code (IRC) accepted a modified appendix in September that some are hopeful could be a catalyst for further adaptation throughout the building industry. Builders for Climate Action spokesman Chris Magwood says its greatest potential lies in commercial... View full entry
Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) have developed a new type of material that can create adaptable, strong structures by learning from its surroundings. Dubbed a ‘mechanical neural network’ by its creators, the material uses a unique lattice structure that can... View full entry
Megadeveloper Lendlease is one of the entities behind a new study into the use of mushrooms as a means of decarbonizing construction waste through their application on discarded asphalt roofing shingles. The company teamed with Rubicon Technologies, Mycocycle, and Rockwood Sustainable Solutions to... View full entry
Los Angeles and Portland-based architecture firm West of West is currently working on a new creative office community in Hollywood, California. The studio's 6344 Fountain project integrates hybrid cross-laminated timber (CLT) construction within an adaptive reuse development. According... View full entry
