The four U.S. groups representing the interests of about 40,000 structural engineers have formed a coalition to promote structural-engineer licensing—a somewhat controversial subject among professional engineers. To date, 11 states have some form of SE licensing, which the structural groups maintain is critical for public safety."It is very important for us to really speak with one unified voice on the issue," said Sam A. Rihani, the 2013 president of the American Society of Civil Engineers' Structural Engineering Institute (SEI), at the group's 2013 Structures Congress, held on May 2-4 in Pittsburgh and attended by
The BIM Forum of the Associated General Contractors has released for public comment a draft specification for levels of development of building information models. Interested parties have until June 7 to comment on the draft, which has been under development for two years by a committee of about 20 people.The 132-page document defines and illustrates characteristics of model elements of different building systems at different levels of development. It is intended as a reference to enable practitioners to specify “with a high level of clarity” the content and reliability of BIMs at various stages in the design and construction process.
Photo by Nadine Post/ENR Vacca (left) spent March 27 offering advice to a future structural engineer, Lehigh University graduate student Megan A. Toumanios. Related Links: Main Feature: Industry Women Weigh In on the New Normal The Harman Group Inc. Aquinas Realty Partnership As structural engineer Jan Vacca stopped in her office to grab coats and bags before heading to a jobsite in Philadelphia, she apologized for the clutter to graduate student Megan A. Toumanios—Vacca's "shadow for a day." Clutter aside, the eye-catcher in the office that morning was the desk wall, which is papered with pithy sayings.VACCA"Angry people do not
Related Links: ASCE Metrolpolitan Section City of Hoboken The mayor of Hoboken, N.J., supports region-wide storm-surge resistance in the long term but is pushing for added local protection in the short term. Experts at a recent forum on Superstorm Sandy's impact in the New York-New Jersey area agreed: Plan regionally but act now locally."There has to be protection on a local level plus a regional approach," said Dawn Zimmer, Hoboken's mayor since 2009, at the "Impact of Sandy's Storm Surge on NY/NJ Infrastructure" seminar, sponsored by the ASCE Metropolitan Section and held in Brooklyn, N.Y., on April 8-9.The densely populated
Photo Courtesy of NREL Building that will explore ways to integrate renewables into the grid is up and running. The Research Support Facility may soon produce as much power annually as it uses. Related Links: NREL Energy Systems Integration Facility NREL Research Support Facility 2011 Award of Excellence Winner: Jeffrey M. Baker: Conservation Crusader Though more than six months late, the U.S. Dept. of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo., flipped the switch earlier this month on the final section of its nearly 2.5-MW photovoltaic system to power DOE's ultra-energy-efficient Research Support Facility. Turning on the 1.1-MW PV
Image Courtesy of Stanford University Passive rooftop nanostructure would be only tens of microns thick and could eliminate active cooling, say Stanford University researchers. Related Links: Stanford University School of Engineering Stanford University researchers are counting on prototype testing of a nanotechnology-based passive solar cooler to demonstrate that their analytical computer model is more than just smoke and mirrors. If brought to market, the rooftop daytime cooler, which would keep temperatures down in buildings and single-family homes bathed in full sunlight, might eventually make chiller-based air-conditioning systems a thing of the past."It is hard to say when [the cooler] will
Related Links: Building Owners and Managers Association A $100,000 study sponsored by building-owner interests has concluded there is no positive correlation between mandatory building-energy labeling and energy use. The six-month project was a response to increased interest among cities in passing legislation mandating energy scores and energy-efficiency programs."The biggest surprise to me was that we found, in what was a … comprehensive review of [labeling studies], no empirical evidence that these mandates have any effect on energy use," says Robert N. Stavins, co-author of "An Economic Perspective on Building Labeling Policies" and a professor of business and government at Harvard
Related Links: $2.1B United Nations Renovation Complicated by Working Within Operational Campus United Nations Architectural Record: Revival of an Icon It's not always easy to be a copycat. The team that recently replaced the curtain wall of Manhattan's United Nations Secretariat Building knows that from experience.At first, the mandate from the U.N. sounded simple enough: replicate the wall so it would look exactly as it did in 1950, when the 39-story office tower opened.The original wall was designed by a team that included the Swiss-born architect Le Corbusier. The recent project, completed last June, "was basically a chance to work
Related Links: Enhancing Performance of UN Secretariat Building Curtain Wall Was No Easy Task United Nations Architectural Record: Revival of an Icon The United Nations executives leading the $2.1-billion renovation of the U.N. headquarters on Manhattan's far East Side are known for commanding military-style control over the high-profile, closely scrutinized project. The approach seems to be working.The project's leaders, charged with overhauling 2.5 million sq ft of space within an active 17-acre campus, have about one year to go on the six-year project. To date, though the work is 12% over budget, they have managed to keep a low profile
Courtesy of CTLGroup Gene Corley (right) probes debris at site of World Trade Center after terror attacks in 2001. Structural engineer led numerous probes of major building failures in a 50-year career. Related Links: CTLGroup CorleyProminent structural failure investigator W. Gene Corley, whose career spanned 50 years, died March 1 at age 77, after a battle with cancer.Corley was perhaps best known for leading teams that studied the collapses of Oklahoma City's Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building, bombed on April 19, 1985, and the twin towers of Manhattan's World Trade Center, attacked on Sept. 11, 2001."Solving problems with structural
