What we're reading, following & covering

Tall buildings group to study high-rise fires in wake of Grenfell inferno

Sept. 7, 2017 | CTBUH Online

The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat will look at tall-building facades and related fires in the hopes of developing new prevention solutions and providing recommendations and guidelines for the next generation of tall buildings. read more >>>

New single-family homes getting smaller

Aug. 25, 2017 | NAHB Now

Bigger isn’t always better. In fact, when it comes to the average and median size of new homes, smaller homes could mean more sales. read more >>>

New silica rules go into effect Sept. 23

Aug. 24, 2017 | OSHA

Now is the time to be prepared as enforcement for the silica rule in construction is currently scheduled to begin on Sept. 23. read more >>>

Mastodon bones unearthed at Michigan construction site

Sept. 6, 2017 | Grand Rapids News

Experts from the University of Michigan have been called in to investigate the discovery of prehistoric mastodon bones at a work site south of Grand Rapids. read more >>>

Officials say Oroville Dam's design and construction caused spillway failure

Sept. 6, 2017 | The Mercury News

The state likely could have found faults in the spillway if dam managers had used contemporary engineering standards to inspect the 50-year-old structure. read more >>>

D.C. is the world's first LEED Platinum city

Sept. 6, 2017 | WAMU

The nation's capital has more projects per captia certified through the U.S. Green Building Council's sustainability certification than does any other state. read more >>>

Construction employment has strongest month since February

Sept. 1, 2017 | US Dept of Labor

Job growth has been largely volatile throughout the year, though August's report falls in line with data pointing to strength in the U.S. labor market. read more >>>

OSHA proposes delay of crane operator rule to November 2018

Sept. 1, 2017 | OSHA

The second extension since 2014 intends to give the industry and government officials more time to review the regulation. read more >>>

Tesla plants seeds of solar power in low-income neighborhoods

Sept. 5, 2017 | Clean Technica

Tesla Energy recently donated a mix of 569 kW of solar panels that will be installed on the rooftops of low-income homes. The donation unlocks 15,000 hours of hands-on training and shows Tesla's focus on making as large of an impact as possible on the transition to sustainable energy generation. read more >>>

FEMA releases new Hazus Estimated Annualized Earthquake Losses for the United States

Sept. 5, 2017 | FEMA

The Hazus tool provides a method for quantifying future earthquake losses. It is national in scope, uniform in application, and comprehensive in its coverage of the built environment. The new study has integrated site soil effects for a more accurate estimate of hazard influences to the losses. read more >>>

Construction firms struggle to find workers

Sept. 6, 2017 | Washington Post

Construction firms are having a hard time finding workers and expect the situation to persist over the next 12 months. That’s the finding of a survey released last week by the trade group Associated General Contractors of America and Autodesk. read more >>>