Adaptive Reuse for a Sustainable Future
Consider this: three-quarters of the infrastructure that will exist by 2050 has yet to be built, according to the United Nations. That rate of building is equivalent to adding an entire New York...
Tiny Homes for Sustainable Construction
Back in 2007 in the peak of the housing boom before the whole financial system almost came unraveled, people were living large in what were often called “McMansions.” These were massive and often...
Women Needed in Trades
Say the words “carpenter” or “electrician” and you might picture a white van pulling into your driveway—a man gets out (maybe in a baseball cap), slides open the van door, and takes out a toolkit...
Transforming Architecture and Design
For almost as long as people have been putting up buildings, they have been drawing up plans for those buildings. This was especially true as building design became more elaborate and ornate. The...
NYC’s Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education, and Innovation
While architecture can truly wow us, it also often fades into the background as we go about our lives. We stroll in and out of buildings all the time and we may not think much about how building...
Blade Air
Look around your workplace and consider what most affects your comfort and productivity—lighting, temperature, noise, and maybe a great spot nearby to grab lunch. But, when you think about a...
Greener Methods and Materials
At the University of British Columbia in Canada, a 60-member student team came together to build a new teaching and learning space that was designed to be near-zero embodied carbon. Called Third...
Dinoflex
Driving—it’s something that most of us do, and let’s face it, where would we be without it? But we also know that it comes with downsides for our environment. The emissions are the obvious part, but...
Facing Up to What’s Facing Construction
When you think of the world’s largest industry, perhaps agriculture or energy come to mind—but it turns out they’re not the biggest. No, the largest industry in the world today is construction,...
Innovations for Greening Construction
There is no question that concrete is a strong and enduring cornerstone of the construction industry. Just consider the Pantheon and Colosseum in Rome, testaments to the durability of one of man’s...
Greener Interior Design
Gleaming countertops and ample storage space aren’t the only things on people’s minds when they’re looking at buying or renovating a home. While the aesthetics of nesting are important, the new...
Forever Homes
It’s one story that never gets old. A family moves from one country to another, works very hard, and finds success that’s passed on to the next generation. North America may have a prouder history...
Planning for Greener, Walkable Communities
For many urban dwellers and planners, the ideal state is to design, build and organize for people. In a dream world, that could mean having swaths of a city dedicated to pedestrians, with expanded...
The Future of Health Care Is Flexible
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, it caught our society flatfooted. Not one sector was left untouched or unscarred by the pandemic. And if you had to rank the impact among industries, you would be...
Rescue and Rebuilding
In the devastation of a natural disaster, the people of the construction sector are critical to recovery. The stakes are high, and human lives are on the line. Recently this has been made evident by...
Blade Air
Coming through three years of a pandemic has made us all more sensitive to things we would otherwise take for granted. One of the biggest of these is the air that we breathe—especially in our...
Women in Architecture
Women have been a part of architecture from the time the first stones were stacked on top of each other to create shelter. The concept of architecture has come a very long way since those early...
Building and Celebrating a Diverse Workforce
Rick Perin, co-founder of DPI Construction Management in Toronto, Canada has a lot of good things to say about his senior leadership team and the women who make it stand out, like Jessica Child,...
Welcome to the New Age of Construction
There’s a lot going on at any given construction site. Even before a shovel hits the ground, there’s a great deal of lead-up and planning to design the building, and then the procurement organizing...
Stock Ownership
The pandemic has changed many things, but perhaps one of the most unexpected outcomes of COVID has been “The Great Resignation” wherein people took a hard look at their working lives and made...
Designing for Happier, Healthier Workspaces
It was 1893 in Chicago and the city was buzzing. The World’s Fair had brought massive numbers to the city to be part of this event on the cusp of a new century and take in the latest technology....
Building for Better Density
The pandemic has redefined how we think about many things. One of the biggest is our living spaces and local neighbourhoods. Over the past two years, the rooms in our homes have doubled as offices,...
Women in Trades – and Corner Offices
Often, when the conversation starts about how to attract more women to the workforce, it trends toward eliminating glass ceilings, how to increase the numbers of C-suite executives or adding female...
Thomas Jefferson’s Famed Rotunda
The University of Virginia was founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1819, including his Academical Village, a series of Greco-Roman-inspired interconnected buildings. And at the center of it all is the...
The Beauty and Value of Heritage Buildings
Practically every county in the U.S. has a heritage building. In fact, we probably drive by one or more regularly without giving it much thought. But, in many ways, these historic buildings and...
Dév Méta
Dév Méta Inc., a Montréal-based residential development company, is embarking on some unique undertakings. The company has put its stamp on a number of boutique developments, including the recently...
Building the San Francisco Public Library
A library can say a lot about a city. It can be bold and modern, historic and rooted in classic architecture principles from the past – or even a combination of all these, reflecting both where a...
New Spaces, New Roles for Public Libraries
For many of us growing up, our first experience of being part of a larger community beyond our friends and family started with the local public library. The library is one of the first places you...
Jordan & Skala Engineers
Green building, net zero emissions and stewardship of resources require a whole new mindset in the construction industry. And it’s one that will be important for generations to come. For Aaron...
Lagging Productivity Cements Construction’s Move to Digital
If you did any summer commuting you likely encountered the delays, detours and reduced travel lanes of road construction. It’s no surprise that The Economist says 90 percent of global infrastructure...
Turning Homes into Sanctuaries
For many people, the COVID pandemic turned how they lived and thought about their homes inside-out. Up to that point homes for many were a place to come back to after work to eat, sleep and repeat....
Paradise Exteriors
When a call to customer service begins with, “Hello, Welcome to Paradise” – you know it’s a sign that the company delivers a great experience and feel-good vibes. That’s a welcome boost these days...
Entuitive
There’s a strong case that can be made for building green. Sale prices of commercial and residential green buildings that are certified to environmental rating systems can be up to 30 percent higher...
Burnaby Blacktop
You’re driving on a worn city street, trying to avoid the potholes, and then see the line where the smooth new pavement starts. You relax your grip on the wheel and cruise along the fresh blacktop,...
Designscapes Colorado
Wouldn’t you like to step outside to cool off in your pool and lounge by the relaxing greenery? Maybe cook up something fabulous in the outdoor kitchen and have friends over for a meal and a...
Crafting Earth-Friendly Materials and Techniques
We’re not expecting the internet to suddenly go dark or electricity to fail – but there’s certainly a growing interest in living more self-sufficiently. People are planting vegetable gardens, using...
Asphalt Specialists Inc.
What happens when you spend your high school summers getting up at 4:30 a.m. to go to work for a civil engineering contractor and learn the ropes of putting in underground utilities like water mains...
What Would a City Designed by Women Look Like?
True story: two female real estate developers turned the site of a former strip club in Toronto into a nine-story, 197-unit condo building named Reina, which is the Spanish word for queen. In a...
Canadian Home Builders’ Association (CHBA)
What’s the one bill you dread seeing the most every month? For many, it’s their heating bill. If your house is a bit on the drafty side, you often need to crank up the thermostat – but that ends up...