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Proposed tariffs by the incoming Trump administration may increase the prices of many items at the store. But for architects and advocates working on more efficient and sustainable buildings, there’s fear that tariffs could impact specific materials and machines that are key to their work.
Higher costs from tariffs, some say, may slow down the pick up of these techniques of residential and commercial construction, and make such buildings more expensive and less attractive to build.
— Fast Company
Firms could be hard put to keep pace with the cost of procuring materials like mass timber and products such as heat pumps after the proposed blanket tariffs are enacted, explains FastCompany. This would add stress and uncertainty to the already lagging American building industry, which is... View full entry
The demolition of the former Trump Plaza casino will become a fundraiser to benefit the Boys & Girls Club of Atlantic City that the mayor hopes will raise in excess of $1 million
Opened in 1984, Trump’s former casino was closed in 2014 and has fallen into such a state of disrepair that demolition work began earlier this year. The remainder of the structure will be dynamited on Jan. 29.
— AP
Get in line. View full entry
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has awarded BFBC LLC, a subsidiary of Bozeman, Montana-based Barnard Construction, a $569 million contract modification for the construction of approximately 17.2 miles of barriers along the U.S.-Mexico border in California. This adds to the $141.7 million contract awarded to the company in May for work in California and Arizona. — Construction Dive
According to Construction Dive, the Army Corps said that the projects are being delivered in response to the Department of Homeland Security's request that the Defense Department assist in securing the southern border to block drug smuggling through the construction of roads, fences and... View full entry
The U.S. government implemented final management plans Thursday for two national monuments in Utah that President Trump downsized. The plans ensure lands previously off-limits to energy development will be open to mining and drilling despite pending lawsuits by conservation, tribal and paleontology groups challenging the constitutionality of the president’s action — Los Angeles Times
About two years ago, President Trump cut the size of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument by almost 50 percent and the Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent. The President said the scaled back size was to reverse misuse of the Antiquities Act by previous Democratic presidents that... View full entry
President Trump is preparing to divert an additional $7.2 billion in Pentagon funding for border wall construction this year, five times what Congress authorized him to spend on the project in the 2020 budget. — The Washington Post
According to The Washington Post, the funding would give the government enough money to complete about 885 miles of new fencing by spring 2022, far more than the 509 miles the administration has slated for the U.S. border with Mexico. So far the Trump administration has completed... View full entry
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson told Mayor Eric Garcetti in a letter last Thursday that Trump officials are prepared to offer Los Angeles an array of resources, including emergency healthcare services and federal land.
However, Carson also suggested in his letter that the government expects changes from L.A. in how it manages homelessness...he wrote, “the city and county of Los Angeles must partner with our efforts and make necessary policy changes.”
— Los Angeles Times
The offer follows recent talks between senior Trump administration officials, Mayor Garcetti and Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, reports the Los Angeles Times. It includes potential provision of emergency healthcare services, supplemental emergency shelters and transitional... View full entry
...construction workers on Wednesday began building the first new border wall in South Texas just south of the town of Donna...it will connect to an existing border wall that was built in 2008 under the 2006 Secure Fence Act.
On Sept. 29, CBP in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract to Gibraltar-Caddell Joint Venture for up to $296 million to build 22 miles of noncontiguous border wall starting east of Santa Ana.
— Border Report
The new construction has prompted concern from locals in the area, as the work has begun on private land. According to Border Report, "many other landowners in the region have so far refused CBP access to survey their lands, and have not sold their properties for wall construction." View full entry
The president and his administration said last week that they plan on building between 450 and 500 miles of fencing along the nearly 2,000-mile border by the end of 2020, an ambitious undertaking funded by billions of defense dollars that had been earmarked for things like military base schools, target ranges and maintenance facilities. — The Columbian
The construction has commenced in Yuma, Arizona, where the 30-foot-tall fencing will replace existing shorter barriers. "The Trump administration says the wall—along with more surveillance technology, agents and lighting—is key to keeping out people who cross illegally,"... View full entry
The Architecture Lobby, a national group that organizes and advocates on issues related to the profession, published a call for design professionals to sign a public pledge condemning “all policies that use the built environment as an instrument of torture and oppression” and refusing to work on any project—be it an ICE office, a detention facility, or a wall—related to the Trump administration’s policies on immigration. — Fast Company
After the devastating and inhumane conditions detained individuals at the border have experienced in recent few years, groups of architects and organizers are increasingly speaking up against design projects relating to border control. As Fast Company's Kelsey... View full entry
Nearly 300 coal-fired power plants have been "retired" since 2010, according to the Sierra Club. It's a trend that continues despite President Trump's support for coal. That has left many communities worried that those now-idled places will simply be mothballed. — NPR
In an NPR segment, which aired in May, Jeff Brady discusses the Department of Community and Economic Development's plans to reuse and redevelop retired coal plants. Plans of action are listed in a "playbook" that outlines the attributes of listed coal plants and the pros and cons of each site... View full entry
The architects behind the Flying Pigs on Parade project—which planned to install four golden pig-shaped balloons in front of the infamous Trump Tower Chicago sign—are back with another anti-Trump parody, this time mocking the President's proposed border wall. New World Projects, the... View full entry
According to Fast Company, the Environmental Protection Agency is attempting to make the use of asbestos in manufacturing much easier. In June, under Scott Pruitt's leadership, the agency proposed the Significant New Use Rule (SNUR)—open for comment until August 10—that would allow for new... View full entry
The White House has revealed its budget proposal for 2019 and despite recommending a $716 billion spending increase for defense, Trump wants to slash funding for cultural programs. He has suggested cutting the NEA's budget from $150m down to $29m. Other cultural organizations would also see their... View full entry
In a 10-1 vote, the Austin City Council took the first step toward a boycott of any company that designs, builds or finances President Donald Trump’s $25 billion proposed border wall between Texas and Mexico. [...]
Four companies already have been tapped to design and build wall prototypes, including Texas-based Sterling Construction Company, Inc.
— KXAN
The Texas state capital is just the latest of several local and state governments having either passed or proposed legislation that would ban companies involved in designing, building, or financing Donald Trump's proposed border wall with Mexico from being considered for other public contracts. View full entry
The train station is being planned for the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem's Old City. Katz said he decided to honor Trump in this way following the president's decision early this month to recognize Jerusalem as Israel's capital and to ultimately move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. — Haaretz
Yisrael Katz, Israel's transport minister, has said he plans to name a future train station in Jerusalem "Donald John Trump" Station, after the U.S. President controversially recognized the city as Israeli's capital earlier this month. The station is part of a contentious proposal to extend... View full entry
