Much of the discussion about energy efficiency in commercial and residential buildings focuses on heating and cooling systems. But windows, which account for more than half of a modern skyscraper’s exterior surface area, are earning their share of attention in the search for smart solutions for buildings. Commercial buildings account for about 40% of carbon emissions. Glass traditionally used in skyscrapers easily transfer heat from the inside to the outside, leading to higher energy consumption for heating and cooling. In response, advanced materials and engineering are driving a “revolution” in the building industry, “one that is set to transform the way we think about construction and energy efficiency. At the center of this revolution lies glass,” says Görkem Elverici, CEO of Şişecam, a leading glass manufacturer based in Turkey. For example, low-emissivity (low-e) coatings incorporate an extremely thin coating of silver, zinc or indium tin oxide to reduce heat loss and heat gain through windows. They also help prevent the damaging effects of ultraviolet light on furniture, floors and other items. Insulated glass units often fit into existing window frames, eliminating the need for costly redesigns and retrofits. Other energy-efficient windows contain sealed layers of argon gas, which combine with low-e glass and vinyl framing for greater comfort and energy cost savings. Secondary glazing involves improving a window’s insulation with an additional windowpane. With this technology’s potentially not yet fully realized, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) is sponsoring prizes valued at $2 million to encourage innovation of high-performance, cost-effective secondary glazing systems for commercial building windows. The prizes will be announced by May 2026. “Less than 1% of commercial buildings get full window replacements each year because it is so expensive and disruptive for occupants. Secondary glazing systems can help solve this problem,”...

Asbestos, a mineral present in certain types of rocks, was widely used in buildings and consumer products starting in the 1800s. Prized for its strength, durability and resistance to heat and corrosion, asbestos served decorative, insulation or fireproofing purposes on decks, roofs, ceilings, plumbing pipes, attics and more, along with automobile components, fabrics and packaging. About 20% of all public and commercial buildings in the U.S. contain some asbestos material, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).  But the substance was eventually linked to cancers and other diseases of the lung, mouth, throat and other areas, prompting dozens of countries to ban it. A series of U.S. regulations since the 1970s has limited its use, and the EPA continues to set risk evaluation and compliance deadlines to phase it out. Seek expert evaluation, handling If you live or work in a structure built before the 1980s, asbestos may be present in such places as “popcorn” ceilings or vinyl flooring. Does that put you in danger? Not necessarily. “Even if asbestos is in your home, this is usually nota serious problem because generally, material in good condition will not release asbestos fibers. The mere presence of asbestos in a home or a building is not hazardous,” according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). “Material that is in good condition and will not be disturbed (by remodeling, for example) should be left alone.” The potential for harmful exposure comes when asbestos materials become damaged over time or are disturbed during construction, demolition, maintenance or renovation. These actions can release microscopic fibers that workers, tenants and residents can absorb into their lungs. It’s not possible to tell whether a material contains asbestos just by looking at it. Therefore, property owners, managers or occupants who suspect...

What are building codes and why are they necessary? Building codes are regulations that apply to architects, builders, owners and others involved in a structure’s construction and maintenance. Adopted and enforced by state, local, tribal and territorial entities, they ensure that buildings conform with safety and public health standards. They encompass standards for everything from the arrangement of doors and windows, minimum and maximum room ceiling heights, exit sizes and locations, room sizes and locations and structural integrity to lighting, water, ventilation, fire prevention and control, hazardous material handling, energy efficiency, drainage, occupancy limits, and parking and traffic impacts. Disasters spur action The Great Fire of London in 1666 prompted the first significant attempts to reduce building density and ensure that construction had some degree of fire resistance. Almost two centuries later, the London Building Act of 1855 provided the first systemic national building standard for room height, construction notifications, fireplace and drain placements and other provisions. In the U.S., building codes proliferated in the mid-19th century during heavy Industrial Revolution-inspired population growth in urban centers. Massive fires in Chicago and Baltimore in 1886 and 1904, respectively, along with the San Francisco earthquake in 1906, spurred additional codes and construction changes nationwide. Building codes are heavily influenced by the International Code Council (ICC), an association of building safety professionals whose members work with other interested parties to develop a consensus set of model codes, which are updated every three years. Policy at the local level Regardless of the recommendations the ICC might make, it is “at the state or local level whereby a building code in the US actually becomes law,” with it being common “for the final adoption authority to be left to an individual township,” according to the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction...

As you admire the expansive view or plush furnishings from the highest reaches of a commercial, residential or other type of building, it’s easy to take some things for granted – such as the system that distributes water for drinking, removing waste and suppressing fire. How does water arrive ready for use at the highest levels of a structure? Plumbing systems must be capable of supplying water from municipal or private sources at a consistent pressure, volume and temperature to high-rise buildings, which are anywhere from 75 feet to more than 2,000 feet. Some principal challenges of high-rise water distribution center around controlling pressure, which is “both friend and foe in plumbing systems,” say experts at the Nagpur Priyadarshini Indira Gandhi College of Engineering in Maharashtra, India. Water pressure systems that accommodate everything from low-flow faucet to high-flow showers and fire sprinklers must be carefully regulated to ensure efficient delivery and protect the building’s infrastructure. Other complications arise from the multiple penetrations through structural slabs that are needed to install plumbing infrastructure. Each of them must be sealed to prevent vertical migration of fire and smoke. Tall buildings require more robust structures, further limiting the allowable space for penetrations. Building designers and operators must also take water treatment systems and backup pumps and tanks to prevent service disruptions into consideration. And buildings such as hospitals must accommodate specialized plumbing needs such as laboratory waste, medical gases, and multiple water temperatures for cleaning and sanitizing. The water distribution system in a high-rise building can vary depending on the building’s size, number of occupants and local building codes and regulations. The two basic methods for distributing water are: Rooftop reservoir. After water is pumped to a rooftop reservoir, gravity distributes it throughout the floors below. “It’s...

During construction of an office building, apartment building, highway, water project, cell phone tower or other development, builders have to think about more than materials, project milestones and building codes. What if there’s a historic or prehistoric structure or site within the project’s footprint? Provo, Utah, USA downtown on Center Street at dusk. The U.S. encompasses thousands of years of American and Native American history. When a relic is discovered, various federal, state and local laws require the site to be examined for historical or cultural merits and for preservation measures to be determined and completed. In collaboration with planning authorities and archeological advisors, developers might excavate the site prior to construction, preserve it in situ or redesign the project. “Modern infrastructure such as underground car parks or urban transport systems can be very destructive if they do not take account of the buried heritage. Newly constructed buildings and specifically, tall offices, will often have foundations and services that impact on below ground archaeological deposits to a much greater extent than any building in the past centuries,” Jim Williams, senior science advisor for Historic England, which champions the protection of the country’s historic environment, stated in a paper he coauthored with colleague Mike Corfield. In 2015, for example, 100-year-old human remains were unearthed by construction workers in New York City during a routine water main replacement project. (The main was rerouted around them.) When a historic warehouse and elements of the city’s old Chinatown were found during the construction of America West Arena (now Footprint Center) in Phoenix, the city, the Chinese community, private funders, Arizona’s historic preservation office and developers agreed to save the warehouse for reuse as an athletic club and display the excavated artifacts in the arena, the home of the...

We’ve discussed the challenges, benefits and methods of building higher in these pages. This time we’ll look at building lower – specifically, underwater. Although it’s largely hidden, underwater construction is prevalent and necessary to many aspects of commerce and recreation. A study in 2020 found that infrastructure such as marine tunnels, bridges, oil and gas rigs, wind farms, ports, marinas, aquaculture farms, artificial reefs, cables, coastal defense and breakwaters cover about 11,600 square miles – an area about 500 square miles larger than Albania. Underwater structures face special challenges such as ocean currents, corrosive water and pressure. They must be positioned to avoid interfering with ships and be sturdy enough to withstand impacts from large sea animals. Moreover, many construction materials commonly used on land, such as wood, aren’t suitable for underwater use. Then there’s the actual construction process. Since it’s nearly impossible to build in water, sea-based structures are usually built on land, transported to their destination and lowered into place. Some pieces are lowered using their own weight while other parts are loaded with weights that help them reach the seafloor. One structure that was built this way is the Utter Inn, a small hotel in Sweden that was built on shore then submerged in the middle of a lake. Its entrance is only accessible by boat. If builders need to reach the bottom of a body of water, they might use a caisson, a watertight structure that creates dry interior. Once the structure is built, the caisson is released, allowing water to enter. Building the Brooklyn Bridge, for example, involved using large caissons to dig to the bedrock and form the bridge towers’ foundations. Cofferdams, another type of support structure, are temporary enclosures that pump water out to create a dry...

“So many new developments are under construction, they are likely to compete with each other – and not just for residents. Developers are also competing to find construction workers to build their projects.” National Real Estate Investor reported that in March 2017. The housing industry finds itself in much the same straits today. Even though more homes are under construction than at any time in the past five decades, supply chain slowdowns and labor shortages have added 25% or more to the time required to build a new home before COVID-19, according to the National Assn. of Home Builders (NAHB). Pandemic-related supply chain problems and rising interest rates add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of a typical house. Rising interest rates and inflation will also add to the affordability challenge. “We need to be building around 1.5 million to 2 million homes just to keep up with the demographic demand coming from the millennials,” says NAHB economist Danushka Nanayakkara-Skillington. Key factors keeping the number of homes in the U.S. at low levels include: Materials More than 90% of builders report shortages of key materials, the NAHB reported in June. Windows, doors, heating and air conditioning equipment, appliances, cabinets and even garage doors are in short supply, with overall costs rising 19% year over year as of June. Building material “price and availability, along with persistent supply chain bottlenecks, remains the most urgent challenge for builders as they seek to boost production to meet rising demand,” NAHB chief economist Robert Dietz said in February. Labor The current worker shortage that traces its roots to the housing bubble collapse in 2008, when many homebuilders went out of businesses and their workers left for other industries. The current influx of new workers barely covers...

Why have housing prices risen so dramatically lately? The answer begins with a huge uptick in demand driven by rising housing starts – seasonally adjusted single family housing starts in December 2020 hit their highest level since 2006 – along with low mortgage interest rates. An equally crucial factor is the rising cost of materials used to build and renovate homes. Structural steel, copper wire and other metal items – prices for all these products have risen substantially because of new housing, locked-down homeowners with time and money to spare for renovations, shut-down factories and lumber mills and tariffs. A sharp upturn in copper prices is “adding tens of thousands of dollars to a half-a-million-dollar” commercial project, according to Ben Goldberg of Petaluma, Calif.-based Simply Solar California. Perhaps the most volatile element is the market for lumber, used for framing, roofs, decks and fencing. In June, lumber costs were up 340% from 2020 levels before dropping dramatically a few weeks later, as sawmills ramped up production and imports increased. By early July, although still well above pre-pandemic levels, prices per board feet of lumber had dropped to 49% of its all-time high on May 28. Prices for other wood products were up 500% from pre-pandemic levels by mid-July, while the cost of steel mill products, up by about 70% in the first few months of 2021, remains high. The National Assn. of Home Builders, an industry advocacy group, estimated in May that the lumber price spike added nearly $12,000 to the market value of an average newly built multifamily home. Some wood products executives see the recent demand surge as a return to normal rather than abnormally high. Housing starts averaged 1.5 million units per year from 1960 through 2010 but lagged far below...

Bricks are a burden. For more than 5,000 years, we’ve used the same inefficient, environmentally destructive products to build homes, businesses and institutions. Their cumulative effects left landscapes barren, air polluted and contributed to warmer climates. Innovation is in place for smarter bricks—if the industry is ready to get onboard. The life of bad bricks Clay bricks are respected for their durability and simplicity. Unfortunately, the benefits stop there. Mining clay requires stripping landscapes of their plants, trees and topsoil. The sublayers of soil and stone are inhospitable to plant life, leaving bald scars on the landscape for at least a decade. Once mined, raw materials are transported to kilns where fossil fuels bake bricks at 2,280°F. Carbon emissions continue to climb as the finished product makes its way to distributors and work sites. At the end of their lives, companies demolish bricks and ship them off to landfills. Except for very few historic sites, bricks are not recycled or repurposed: to do so, workers would need to scrape off old mortar by hand. But more importantly, the industry does not have an efficient way to test the integrity of reclaimed material. It all becomes trash. Geological damage, long-term environmental concerns and poor disposal practices make our old bricks our new bad news. Fortunately, a team of innovators at Geotechnical and Geoenvironmental Engineering at Scotland’s Heriot-Watt University has created better bricks that can usher the industry into the future. Maybe. Stepping out on a limb (with the others) Professor Gabriela Medero set out to reinvent the brick. She knew that sustainable building would require more sustainable building materials. The outdated practice of brick making desperately needed modernization. “It’s the exploitation of natural resources, it’s the… massive volumes of waste, together with the massive volumes...

The National Apartment Association (NAA) is known as a source of industry best practices, innovation and benchmarks. As the organization’s annual conference is nearly upon us, we took the time to look at some of the organization’s recent research. As the overall economy and U.S. rental market remains strong, the NAA’s research department conducted a national survey to explore what determines the construction of multifamily properties. The study aimed to identify best practices and factors that impact housing availability and affordability. The factors considered included: community involvement, construction costs, affordability issues, infrastructure, density and growth restrictions, land supply, environmental restrictions, approval process complexity, political structure complexity and time to develop a new property. “The intent of this study was to provide data to identify differences in land management and to provide a more holistic and fact-based review of best practices and factors that impact housing availability and affordability,” reads the report. Rising costs for renters In the past decade, the U.S. renter demographic increased by more than 19.6 million. As demand outpaces supply, rents rise with the largest strain on affordable and market rate housing. Within the past four years, rents in Denver, San Jose, Seattle, Boulder, Oakland, San Francisco, Portland and Seattle have increased overall by more than 18 percent. Housing also makes up a large portion of monthly spending, in some cases surpassing spending and budgeting best practices for sustainable lifestyles. More than 40 percent of residents in California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, and Oregon spend more than a 34 percent of their income on rent. Major markets acknowledge the demand for affordable housing, but industry analysts disagree about how to meet the growing demand when confronted with barriers. Construction influences and issues The NAA study identified three major...

A recent study evaluated home listings in the top 200 metros in the United States. The analysis explored the price of listings with any of seven green features and compared them to conventional listings in the area. The study then identified markets where the cost of homes with green features came in lower than the cost of conventional housing. Where Green Dollars Go Farthest California excels in moderately priced sustainable homes. In Salinas, buyers can find eco-friendly listings that cost 14 percent less than the median home price for typical properties. This translates to buyers saving an average $233, 850 on homes with solar panels, for example. In San Jose, homes with at least one eco-friendly upgrade can cost 5 percent less than conventional homes. That may surprise many who are searching for a property in one of the hottest markets in the nation. In Connecticut, the Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk metro has a median home price of $792,050. Earth savvy buyers can pursue green listings and save an average of $37,050 for an ENERGY STAR certified home. Fort Collins, Colorado leads the list of metros where buyers can snag a home with green features at comparable cost to a conventional home. More than 35 percent of the town’s April listings had at least one eco-friendly upgrades. In those homes, the median price per square foot fell on par with their less sustainable counterparts. In some cities, the listing price of homes with sustainable features is higher than conventional homes but not by much. In Dallas, the median price per square foot is about 4 percent higher than homes without green features.  Green Becomes More Affordable Housing with sustainable features carry a loftier listing price than conventional homes in many metros. Yet overall, the cost of green...

Want to lower project costs and enjoy a faster build cycle all while improving the quality of the finished product? Of course you do. HercuTech’s HercuWall, the poster child of reNEWable Living Home 2018, makes it possible. The Product HercuWall offers the durability of composite concrete construction without the need for steel rebar. The product comes with a water and vapor barrier, and it is dust free, impervious to mold, and unappealing to termites. Each HercuWall kit is computer generated and precision cut to meet product specifications, including casings for windows and doors. Upon delivery, block masons and framers can quickly and easily assemble the prefabricated panels—each weighing 40 pounds or fewer–without any modifications on the site. Builders can enjoy less mess, no wasted materials, and reduced worksite clutter. Completed HercuWall products came in a range of insulation value ratings, including R-20, R-29 and R-33. When supported with energy efficient windows and adequate HVAC units, HercuWall can reduce energy costs by 40-60 percent. The performance of the product does not diminish over time, resulting in long lasting durability and comfort. Now for the information that you’ve been waiting for: HercuWall is competitively priced with block and wood framing. The prefabricated kits make it quick and easy to assemble, reducing the labor and time needed. HercuTech cites that a 2,400 square-foot production house can be installed in 2.5 hours and concrete placed in two more hours with a crew of five. According to the HercuTech website: “Experts predict that this type of construction will have higher resale value than conventionally built structures.” Live Applications There are several completed residences in Arizona as well as the Meritage Homes reNEWable Living Home, a partnership with BUILDER Magazine. The reNEWable Living Home showcases groundbreaking products in sustainable building....

Yardi Construction Management is adding features to address project management tasks. A new, customizable dashboard permits users to access subsets of the core data available in Yardi Voyager. Penny Bailey, Project Manager, Construction at Yardi explains several new functionalities that further improve the efficiencies and interface of the software. Document Organization Whether it’s an essential contract or a quick side note, the planned enhancements to Construction Management make it easier for project managers to stay organized and in control. When project managers need to access documents created in Yardi Document Management, they can now click a link on the Construction Management dashboard. “With jobs, there are thousands of documents and drawings and contracts. It’s a pain to get docs in an accessible, central repository. The link to Orion permits multiple users see documents related to that specific job without bouncing between programs,” says Bailey. Construction Management capitalizes on Yardi Document Management’s advanced search capabilities. Users can search document texts in entirety rather than titles or identification numbers alone. Sometimes, it’s the small things that have a major impact. “We’ve added a quick note icon that floats on the right side of the screen,” says Bailey. “Project managers can make notes and then quickly slide the note aside.” With this feature, users can effortlessly add, edit, and delete notes without using a separate application or uploading multiple documents. Budget On the dashboard, users can now see a real-time budget summary for multiple jobs at once. “Quick access to the current budget and actual cost numbers at a glance is invaluable in determining the status of a project,” says Bailey. The integration for Construction Management and Yardi PAYscan is now more seamless than ever. Project managers can issue approvals for contracts, address change orders, revisions and...

The National Association of Home Builders reports 200,000 unfilled construction jobs in the United States. That is an 81 percent increase in unfilled positions since 2014. The lack of skilled labor has contractors turning to creative solutions. A Growing Problem The shortage of construction workers hit hardest in July 2016. Sales for new construction reached the highest peak in nearly a decade. Builders scrambled to find crews to help meet demand. Construction delays led to appraisal delays, which led to closing delays and a series of increased costs, lost time, and damaged customer satisfaction scores. “There was frustration all around,” says Manuel Cabrera, Branch Manager with CalAtlantic mortgage. “The shortage of workers affects every facet of our business.” Single-family isn’t the only sector feeling the pressure. In multifamily, a lack of skilled construction workers creates a similar strain. Two factors surface as the main culprits of the labor shortage. The median age of construction work crews is 40. Contractors have had a difficult time replacing aging workers and attracting young talent. Changes in immigration policy also effect labor sources. “The shortage of workers comes up at every meeting. The demand is great for business, of course, but when you’re short on skilled labor to fulfill that demand, then what?” asks Cabrera. The dilemma will intensify. Contractors  project higher labor costs in 2017. Sun Sentinel reports that 73 percent of construction firms in the US plan to expand their payrolls this year, increasing pay and extending training for employees. Creative Solutions To mitigate costs hikes, contractors are exploring labor-efficient equipment and technologies. Building information modeling (BIM) and other construction software improve the precision of project planning and management. Yardi Voyager Construction Management facilitates worksite management in a mobile-ready platform. Construction Management provides transparency and accuracy...

United States Green Building Council (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program may be losing clout as the leader of sustainable building certifications in America. Developers seek alternative certification methods to cut capital costs while keeping buildings green. When JDS Development Group CEO Michael Stern spoke at a recent real estate summit in New York, he didn’t mince words: “I think the LEED criteria is totally arbitrary and LEED has basically devolved into a self-sustaining revenue machine for LEED consultants without actually moving the bar that much,” he said. “You can have a LEED project basically anywhere near transportation. You qualify for enough points if you pay enough money.” Others on the panel shared his sentiments. Dissatisfaction with the cost of certification questions the data LEED shares on the costs of eligible projects. According to the Dodge Data & Analytics and United Technologies Corporation, about 70 percent of respondents quote high perceived cost as the biggest challenge to sustainable building. A Health Facilities Management report claims that LEED certification capital costs can exceed 10 percent of conventional construction. Conversely, LEED’s report, “Perspectives on Capital Costs Premiums and Operational Benefits” suggests that the capital costs of hospitals exceeding 100,000 square feet barely reach 1 percent of conventional costs. A US News editorial asserts that LEED credentials on government buildings do not add value. Moreover, taxpayer returns are lower than promised. The article suggests that, in spite of the costs, regulations are unlikely to change since governments reap millions of dollars in permit fees. Fortunately, the cost discrepancies have not turned LEED cynics away from sustainable construction. Developers are investing in alternative accreditations or use LEED as a guideline without paying for the certification. Builders have several green building certifications from which to choose.  The newest...

Traditional sustainable building standards focus heavily on resource conservation and waste management. The effect of building materials on plants and animals receives less scrutiny. Such oversight has lead to the growing presence of imidacloprid in construction, a known hazard of the already dwindling honeybee population. Imidacloprid is a pesticide commonly found in construction materials such as sealants, vinyl siding, polystyrene insulation, and pressure treated wood. Most pressure treated wood carries at least 11 parts per million (ppm) of imidacloprid. Some brands of plywood use up to 300 ppm. PVC siding can contain about 10,000 ppm. Only .025 parts per billion is toxic to bees, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Their recent report states that even at very low levels of exposure, imidacloprid is deemed “very highly toxic” to honeybees. Though the adverse effects of the chemical’s use are widely publicized, the EPA continued to approve additional uses of the pesticide. Six major manufacturers are known to used the chemical, including Lanxess, Viance, Arch Treatment Technologies, United Phosphorus, Willowood, and Zelam. Building materials leach imidacloprid into water and soil. Plant roots absorb the pesticide and ultimately siphon it to plants’ pollen and nectar where it is consumed by bees. The insects are again exposed to the chemical when they encounter standing water that has been tainted with imidacloprid. Lastly, bees use treated sawdust in the construction of their hives, piling the poison directly into their abodes. Honeybees preference for an imidacloprid-infused diet exacerbates their dilemma. A study conducted by Nature reveals that honeybees demonstrate a growing dependency on the toxin. “Free-flying honeybees prefer to collect sucrose solutions containing low concentrations of nicotine,” the report states. “Remarkably, the preference occurred even when bees consuming these solutions were more likely to die.” Imidacloprid is one of...

One common pain point for renters is noise control. Sharing walls entails a lack of privacy and the potential tension amongst residents. Innovations in building materials are now making units quieter, giving prospects yet another reason to love renting. Road noise (or the horrid violin practice of the kid next door) are no longer deal breakers for your prospective renters. Pennsylvania-based manufacturer CertainTeed has developed SilentFX QuickCut noise-reducing gypsum board. It is emerging as a fast and effective method of noise control within multifamily installations. The product is much easier to install than resilient channel or double layer wallboard. Installation techs can learn the process quickly, a winning feature for any new product. A traditional drywall knife and nails are all that techs need to install the boards. The product can be installed over steel or wood framing, making it a versatile product for residential and mixed used applications. Unlike boards with channels, SilentFX QuickCut will not decouple or short circuit. The integrity remains intact during and after installation. The leads to fewer call backs and complaints to your front office. The ease of installation and durability are attributed to the boards’ composition: two dense gypsum boards are filled with a viscoelastic polymer. The outer layers are covered with a recycled paper product that resists mold and mildew, ultimately contributing to indoor air quality. Fire resistant boards are also available. The gypsum board is designed for construction projects that require a sound transmission class rating of 50 and higher. SilentFX QuickCut smothers a wide range of frequencies, including airborne and impact sounds. For your renters, this mean optimal noise control. Finally, a product that can drown out the squawking of children’s toys, blenders, and the thud of an unsuccessful yoga practice. That alone is...

The 3D printing technology continues its adventure, conquering industry after industry. Among the latest highly debated upon is the construction industry and the upgrades 3D printing brings to it. It’s no surprise as construction is a $1 trillion industry in the United States ($8.5 trillion worldwide) and accounts for 8-10% of the U.S. GDP. Startup Branch Technology of Chattanooga, Tennessee, led by visionary Platt Boyd, came up with a new approach inspired by nature. The company announced at GIGTANK, a boutique accelerator for startups developing high-bandwidth business applications, that it is the first company to successfully construct building walls at scale using the world’s largest freeform 3D printer; they are the winners of the Investor’s Choice Award. Branch’s mission is to simplify the work of architects by giving them more freedom to incorporate new geometries into their designs, inspired by nature. Like bones in our body or trees in the forest, optimized geometries are made strong and functional by the material filing the matrix. After that, the interior and exterior skins can be finished in any way. To achieve that, Cellular Fabrication™ (C-Fab™) was designed as Branch’s patented freeform 3D printing process. It turns the question “how much can we build?” into “how little can we build?” Freeform printing in open space is freed of the slow, layer-by-layer build process of traditional 3D printing. They’ve came up with an algorithm which creates both the geometry and robotic motion to construct complex geometries in open space, saving on the use of support materials and on highly controlled build environments. The technology uses a 12-and-a-half-foot Kuka robotic arm which travels on a 33-foot rail to build a simple lightweight scaffolding made out of ABS plastic reinforced with carbon fiber. Then, using the same tools that contractors...

Modular single-family homes are old news in the United States. Modular multifamily, however, is just catching on. American multifamily firms are experimenting with modular apartments—and they love the results. Residential modular construction in the US has increased by 32.8 percent since 2007 according to the Modular Building Institute. The boost in projects comes as builders begin to realize the benefits of off-site construction. Benefits include: shorter cycle time since units are built in a controlled environment with fewer unexpected delays and setbacks improved energy efficiency minimal-to-zero material cost overrun lower labor costs consistent finished products Tricorp Hearn Construction of Sacramento experienced these benefits firsthand with its most recent multifamily project. Tricorp chose a modular construction plan for its Eviva Midtown complex. The finished product will be six stories high, including 118 units, each at 12 x 64 feet and weighing 35,000 lbs. The pre-fabricated units will rest atop 5,000 square feet of retail space and an underground parking garage. The project is slated for completion in spring 2016. Total production time for the modular complex is just 18 months. That’s notable savings over the 24-month estimate used for conventional construction. So far, the project is on schedule, on budget, and already piquing the interest of apartment seekers. Modular construction does have its disadvantages. Disadvantages include: increased lead time as much as 150% more resource usage, since units do not share walls, floors, or ceilings high product transportation costs lack of skilled labor, as few architects and contractors have experience with large-scale modular projects and fewer laborers know how to combine units For most developers, the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. Since modular buildings have faster cycle times, they can begin earning rents faster. This can result in greater profits than their site-constructed counterparts. Equity Residential’s...

Building a house is nothing like ordering a pizza over the phone. But maybe it should be. With few exceptions, restaurants order ingredients and supplies in advance. They create a menu of offerings and then take orders over the phone based on the menu listings. Substitutions are made when the order is placed. Once the staff ensures that they have what’s needed, the order is filled. What if contractors took the same approach? It has happened before with a high success rate. Rosie Romero offered “the impossible promise” that projects would come in on time and on budget, or they would be free. Jeb Breithaupt of JEB Design/Build in Shreveport, La. reports to Builder Online that he’s making a similar offer to his clients.  Both offer the promise by mimicking the pizza process. The design/build firms spec out the project, like creating a menu and pricing. Clients then make selections and customizations as needed. Once the availability of materials is verified, the orders are placed. Homeowners view and approve the orders and then ground breaks on the project. Clients can’t go back and make changes to the order. The contractors aren’t surprised by changes in price or the availability of materials after the fact. It’s all arranged before the first shovel juts into the ground. This process makes so much sense. “That’s what my company tries to do on custom home projects. I’ve also tried it on a couple of design/build jobs, and believe it or not, it’s making our process smoother and our clients happier,” says Breithaupt. The pizza process has notable benefits. It saves time: No more waiting for materials to arrive or delaying progress because of scheduling problems with subcontractors. Everything is available when and where you need it because it...

The uptick in green affordable housing continues as Habitat for Humanity embraces passivehaus design. Passivehaus, or Passive House, is a rigorous German building standard that emphasizes air-tight envelopes, optimized solar gain, and decreased dependence on mechanical heating and cooling. Such stringent standards and cost assumptions have discouraged many affordable housing developers, yet Habitat for Humanity teamed up with BarlisWedlick Architects to look at passivehaus through an affordable lens. Dennis Wedlick of BarlisWedlick admits that he had his reservations about the project, though they weren’t rooted in costs or standards.  “We were concerned about how much training it was going to take for the volunteers so they could achieve what custom builders and their subs normally achieve on a project like this,” he says. “But there was no problem.” Columbia County townhouses were born, each costing about $125,000 and 4,000 volunteer hours to build. The results are well worth their efforts. Each 1,200-square-foot home achieved an air tightness level of less than .6 air changes per hour, and an R-value of 50-60 for the walls and roof, thanks to glorified newspaper insulation (weatherized cellulose insulation to be exact). Columbia County townhouses use less than 90 percent of the energy required to run a conventional home of the same size. The efficiency of passivehaus construction loses value if residents do not receive the proper tutorials on how to optimize the home’s features. Owners were taught the ins and outs of daily operation and maintenance, simple pointers such as closing the blinds during the hottest time of day and running the recovery ventilator nonstop. Time will tell if the houses and their residents live up to their greatest potential. Yet even with a margin for human error, such green building techniques offer three-fold benefits to those who need it most....

There’s more good news for the multifamily construction sector from the National Association of Home Builders rental market survey results, released this week. Paul Emrath, VP of Survey and Housing Policy Research for NAHB, recently released a video summarizing the results of the national Multifamily Market Survey. You can watch the video here: To summarize, the overall multifamily vacancy index (MVI) increased to 36, a tremendous improvement over the recent high of 70. While 36 is not a record low, it is a significant improvement on recent history and shows that the vacancy rate for existing properties is headed in the right direction. Class C properties, which had been lagging behind, have experienced improvements that bring performance up to par with Classes A and B. In the multifamily production index (MPI), new multifamily construction starts are up to 54. As investor confidence grows,  expect to see more new developments take shape in the form of apartments and condos. Market rate rental continues to hover above 60, and for low rent units, MPI crested 60 for the first time ever. To date, multifamily starts have increased to 200,000 a year, a notable improvement compared to previous years, though not back to the 300,000 average seen before the economic downturn. Though the market shows overall signs of fortification, the recovery has not been as evenly geographically distributed as builders and economists might hope. Texas has risen as the leader in new construction, both single family and multifamily. All four of its major cities—Dallas, Houston, Austin, and San Antonio—topped the US Census Bureau’s growth charts. Washington D.C. and New York were also strong performers. Conversely, Detroit, Chicago, and Cleveland continue to lag in new building permits. Unsteady economic growth could pose future challenges, but Emrath’s optimism is...