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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has awarded $39 million to 18 projects dedicated to developing technologies that can transform buildings into net carbon storage structures. The initiative titled the Harnessing Emissions into Structures Taking Inputs from the Atmosphere (HESTIA) program... View full entry
While most of these buildings are constructed out of more traditional materials like cement, brick, drywall, and plywood, forward-thinking architects and members of the construction industry have increasingly been turning to natural materials as an alternative for the future. Due to its ability to sequester carbon, hemp has landed itself at the forefront of the conversation about natural building. — Topic A
Hemp’s high tensile strength, pliability, and strength-to-weight ratio are increasingly valuable in the manufacture and design of products like fiberboard and even a new concrete alternative. The recent COP26 conference in Glasgow featured the speculative 'Urban Sequoia' design from SOM... View full entry
Australia’s first office tower with a “solar skin” is expected to be built next year in a landmark moment for the construction industry and decarbonisation efforts. The eight-storey building at 550-558 Spencer Street in West Melbourne will cost $40m and has been designed by the architecture firm Kennon on behalf of Dr Bella Freeman. — The Guardian
The first-of-its-kind structure for Australia will be covered by 1,182 solar panels with the equivalent thickness of a conventional glass façade. The cladding is called Skala, developed by German solar energy technology company Avancis. The system utilizes a thin-film PV module that sits atop a... View full entry
The Los Angeles City Council have passed a motion instructing several city departments to begin work on a framework that would require all new residential and commercial buildings in the city to be built to achieve zero-carbon emissions. Passed on May 27th, the motion may see a roadmap to... View full entry
A new draft plan by the California Air Resources Board was released on Tuesday that lays out an ambitious roadmap for achieving carbon neutrality in the state by 2045. Called the 2022 Climate Change Scoping Plan, the guide highlights the necessity for a comprehensive shift away from fossil... View full entry
Arup has designed and engineered the Netherlands’ tallest timber-hybrid residential building. Completed this year, HAUT is part of the country’s commitment to becoming climate-neutral by 2050, in which the use of timber as a building material has been identified as one of the most... View full entry
The Union Square Branch opening of the long-awaited Boston Green Line Extension (GLX) marks a major milestone for the Arup-supported project. The first of two segments as part of a 4.7-mile extension of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s (MBTA) regional transit system, the... View full entry
In May 2022, Cornellians will see a drill the height of McGraw Tower rise above a plot of land between the Cornell Teaching Dairy Barn and Cascadilla Creek as it drills a 10,000-foot hole. The drilling is part of the Cornell University Borehole Observatory: the first stage of the University’s Earth Source Heating project, which aims to eventually use geothermal heat to provide ecologically-friendly heating to campus buildings. — The Cornell Daily Sun
Cornell’s Earth Source Heating Program, aiming to harness renewable energy in Ithaca, is part of the school’s Climate Action Plan. The goal of the initiative is for the University’s campus operations to be carbon neutral by 2035. This step of the project will first explore the... View full entry
President Biden on Wednesday set in motion a plan to make the federal government carbon neutral, ordering federal agencies to buy electric vehicles, to power facilities with wind, solar and nuclear energy, and to use sustainable building materials. — The New York Times
Biden called for the transformation of 300,000 government buildings, 600,000 cars and trucks, and the use of its annual $650 billion budget for goods and services to meet his goal for a carbon-neutral federal government by 2050. Detailed by The New York Times, his timetable for the... View full entry
A floating solar farm that’s equivalent to about 70 soccer fields in size has begun generating power in Thailand, reflecting the country’s push to achieve carbon neutral status by 2050. — Bloomberg
Located at the Sirindhorn Dam, which is about 410 miles east of Bangkok, the facility is the world’s largest hybrid solar-hydropower system. It combines two methods of electricity generation, with 145,000 solar panels generating power from the sun during that day, while three turbines convert... View full entry
A new study out of Aalto University in Finland shows that building with wood can be economically feasible. The research team analyzed statistical data from real estate sales in the Finnish capital of Helsinki and two suburbs between the years of 1999 and 2018. Of these, timber-built homes... View full entry
This post is brought to you by Parade, the only online platform dedicated to tracking new product releases for the A&D industry So the story goes, when Elon Musk’s SpaceX was faced with a $120,000 price tag for a rocket booster actuator, the famed visionary advised his engineer thusly... View full entry
Twenty-two million trees are to be planted every year in Ireland over the next two decades as part of a plan to tackle climate change, the Government has said.
While the Government’s climate action plan, published in June, proposed 8,000 hectares – or 19,768 acres – of new forestry every year in a bid to capture carbon emissions, it did not specify the number of trees involved.
— The Irish Times
Ireland is aiming to turn a large portion of its agricultural land over to forestry as a plan to plant 22 million trees per year for the next 20 years takes shape. A Department of Communications spokesperson for the Irish Climate Action and Environment told The Irish Times, “The... View full entry
In a statement released today the museum shared their goals to becoming the first solar powered art museum. According to ICA LA's deputy directory Samuel Vasquez, "Our audience counts on us to uphold the wellbeing of our community, and once we looked at the numbers and saw that it was possible to... View full entry
AIA President William Bates has issued a statement praising the efforts of a Green New Deal, an ambitious resolution put forth by Senator Ed Markey (D-MA) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that addresses the immense threat of climate change while stimulating the economy through sustainable job... View full entry
