Columns/Blogs

The talk in some circles in Washington, DC is turning back to a green agenda. Some have called it the “green new deal”. The effort is to eliminate fossil fuels in order to minimize or eliminate carbon emissions. So again we hear about potential global warming due to man’s use of fossil fuels. Amidst the market and politics, companies do their best to do the right things to stay in business. And, there are companies that are innovating to be superior.

Normally, I never watch CBS’s Sixty Minutes on a Sunday Evening on television. But recently I was stopped with my remote in hand when I heard that the show that night would feature people that were planning an enormous undertaking.

China has historically been mysterious to the Western world. In today’s news, China is mentioned in regard to currency and international tariffs, as well as dumping some products. What was once very closed within China is now open to the world.

This year’s Greenbuild conference and expo (held in Chicago, November 14-16) showcased the usual products, systems, and technologies developed to help to lower carbon emissions and energy usage, while also reducing water consumption and waste. In addition, the show provided education on Sustainability, Resilience and even Adaptability for roof system applications. Much of the education is done with actual case studies in the construction industry. Much of the information is applicable to the metal construction industry.

The debate on climate change continues. Recently a protester appeared on television and compared the consequences of not doing anything to stop climate change to the carnage from World War II! Let’s hope that is just one person's radical position.

Product longevity is usually a good thing. It's certainly a great selling point for metal roofing, but it's also the reason why plastic drinking straws are in the cross hairs of environmental groups and government regulators worldwide.

Environmentalists have focused on global warming caused by mankind. This has been somewhat controversial when scientists turn to graphs that show increasing temperatures of our atmosphere, especially as to whether it is caused by mankind or whether it is just a heating cycle as what took place before mankind showed up on the Earth. That’s a topic for another day.

The US Government has its Departments and Agencies that work on a wide list of topics to improve the United States of America. Many are in the news on a regular basis, which reveals the inner working of these Departments and Agencies. But some, including the Department of Energy, we don't hear much about. That is not to say, however, that the agency isn't hard at work for the betterment of not only the United States, but the entire world.

Do you remember the Architecture 2030 initiative that challenged the building industry to build or retrofit all buildings to net zero energy standards or net zero Carbon by the year 2030? This was led by architect Edward Mazria in 2002. When it was first suggested 2030 seemed a long way off. Since then, more organizations jumped on the bandwagon since it seemed to be the right thing to do. This was supported by AIA and by individual states and even some territories.

While I was attending the GreenBuild Conference and Expo in Boston last fall there was conversation just about everywhere about the potential of yet another version of LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) in the near future. The buzz was filled with speculation, rumors, fake news and even leaked information. For a moment I thought I was in Washington, DC.

This column has covered numerous topics over the years but never have I written a column on a baby. So this is something different. The baby is no ordinary baby. It is my first grandson. He was born into this world on St. Patrick’s Day. He is now representing the “Future Generation”.

Some say that creating legislation in Washington, DC is like watching how sausage is made. We may like the taste of sausage, but as a kid who was frequently taken to a butcher shop, you DO NOT want to know what goes into that meat product. And if you want to know about what goes into Scrapple (a staple for the Pennsylvania Dutch) it’s even more eye-opening.

If I would have chosen a different profession in life, I might have found myself working in the field of biomimicry. I find this field of study not only fascinating, but also important to the life of our planet.

Some believe that the topic of "Resilience" is the next movement within the design community, similar to what we have seen with sustainability over the years. There are many definitions of the term but the American Institute of Architects (AIA) defines resilience as the ability to respond to known and unknown risks and successfully adapt to changes caused by shocks and stresses in the built environment.

In 2013 the USGBC launched LEED version 4 to eventually replace LEED 9. In 2016, LEEDv4 became mandatory for new projects. The change from LEED9 to LEEDv4 was significant. The newer version moved away from single attributes and replaced them with systematic approaches toward credit points. LEEDv4 was also much more complex than previous versions. With the new version in place for four years, USGBC announced at the 2017 Greenbuild conference in Boston they will be fast-tracking development of a new iteration, LEEDv4.1.

The federal government has provided incentives to home owners and commercial building owners since President George W. Bush signed the Energy Policy Act of 2005, which changed U.S. energy policy by providing tax incentives and loan guarantees for energy production of various types and energy efficiency. That legislation paved the way for home owners to receive tax credits for installing cool metal roofing.

A quick search on Google for information on 3D printing in construction reveals a great many headlines. Developed in the 1980s, 3D printing has seen many improvements in printing equipment, increasing both the speed and complexity of the items produced. Among the industries to embrace 3D printing and its immense potential is construction. The technology has been used to produce everything from individual components to entire structures.

During my summer vacation this year my wife and I spent nine days in the southern region of Italy. For those who have never been to Italy it is beautiful in many ways. Some is natural beauty in the mountainous areas and some is man-made with buildings stacked vertically in the Amalfi coast and elsewhere in other areas.

Our nation has gone through many phases over its proud history. We had the industrial revolution when construction was booming. We’ve gone through the dawning of the Age of Aquarius. We’ve seen the space age reaching to the stars and we have enjoyed the age of digital communication. Today we are in a phase that puzzles economists with the explosion of what some refer to as the “superstar companies”.

I was reading a magazine article recently and I got progressively more angry as the article went on. It was mentioning “AR” throughout the article, assuming that the reader knew what “AR” means, but never explained what the “AR” acronym meant. Finally, after wading through the entire article, I found the meaning of “AR”. It stands for “Augmented Reality.”