House Passes Energy Efficiency Bills for Schools and Federal Buildings

In a voice vote on June 23, the House approved legislation that would increase energy efficiency in schools and federal buildings. One of the bills, H.R. 4092, would establish an office within the Department of Energy for coordinating federal, state, and local programs that would help increase energy efficiency in public schools. Schools currently spend $6 billion per year on energy, lawmakers say, but this could be reduced with better efficiency and use of renewable energy. If signed into law, the bill is expected to make it easier for schools to navigate the programs within one office. The second bill, H.R. 4801, would direct the Department of Energy to conduct a study on how thermal insulation impacts energy and water use in federal buildings. This could provide useful data on thermal insulation for the federal government and private sector.

First Hurricane Watch of 2014 Issued for Atlantic Coast: America Needs a Natural Disaster Mitigation Strategy Now

As Tropical Storm Arthur picked up steam along the Atlantic Coast during the July 4 weekend, the BuildStrong Coalition renewed its call for Congress and the White House to move quickly on a series of bills that would fortify the nation against hurricanes and other natural disasters. BuildStrong is encouraging policymakers to approve the following four bills: the Safe Building Code Incentive Act of 2013 (H.R. 1878 & S. 924) that provides additional disaster relief assistance to states that adopt and enforce strong building codes; the Disaster Savings Account Act (H.R. 3989 & S. 1991) that provides a $5,000 tax deduction for money deposited into a savings account to offset disaster mitigation costs; the Disaster Savings and Resilient Construction Act of 2013 (H.R. 2241) that provides tax credits to homeowners and contractors who utilize modern building science when constructing and/or renovating homes and buildings; and the National Windstorm Impact Reduction Act Reauthorization of 2013 (H.R. 1786) that authorizes funding for increased research into reducing the economic and human toll of windstorms.

"Hurricane season is upon us. Weather experts are predicting three to five hurricane events this year. As the first named storm of 2014, Tropical Storm Arthur provides a stark reminder of the importance of promoting common sense mitigation legislation that will better protect property, save lives and ultimately reduce taxpayer exposure to natural disasters," said Jimi Grande, Chairman of the BuildStrong Coalition.

FEMA Offers Course on Residential Coastal Construction

The Federal Emergency Management Association (FEMA) is offering a four-day course from August 18-21 in Maryland on residential coastal construction to train participants on FEMA's Coastal Construction Manual. This manual is the primary, state-of-the-art reference for planning, designing and constructing residential structures in the various coastal environments. Intended for engineers, architects, floodplain managers and building code officials, the training will help attendees understand the basic principles of designing in coastal environment; the differences in design requirements and expected performance between coastal construction and inland construction; the significance and "lessons" of historical events at the coast; the minimum requirements and "best practices" for coastal construction; the coastal hazards at potential building sites and how to identify where to obtain pertinent information; how to calculate design loads and conditions; the continuous load path principle; and how to identify siting, design, construction and maintenance defects that result in vulnerable buildings.

Smart Irrigation Systems Slash Costs

Multifamily developers and owners talk about water and monetary savings seen after installing computerized irrigation systems at various properties.

Metal Wall Comparison: Panel Possibilities and Core Characteristics of Today's Metal Walls

There are many possibilities and core characteristics of today's metal walls. Single skin panels, insulated metal panels, aluminum composite material panels and metal composite material panels are the backbone of metal wall construction. This article's charts highlight some of their attributes.

Global Residential Construction to Reach 61.3 Million Units in 2018
Worldwide construction of new housing units is forecast to reach 61.3 million units in 2018, according to a new report by market research company The Freedonia Group. Annual growth in the residential construction sector would average +2.9 percent over the forecast period. Although global population growth is expected to decelerate over the forecast period, declines in average household size would support +1.6 percent annual growth in the number of households, which would in turn boost demand for new housing. Changes in population distribution, mainly due to rural-to-urban migration, are also expected to bolster demand for new housing, particularly in urban areas.

Rural-to-urban migration will be particularly strong in the two most populous regions (the Asia-Pacific and Africa/Middle East) and those new urban residents will boost demand for multifamily housing in urban areas. Worldwide, construction of new multifamily units will increase +3.2 percent annually through to 2018 with nearly 90 percent of growth taking place in the Asia-Pacific and Africa/Middle East regions. However, in those regions, and worldwide, single-family dwellings will continue to make up the majority of new housing units.