NAHB Unveils Key Players In Model Green Home Building Guidelines Development Source: NAHB.org 

March 15, 2004 - The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) along with the NAHB Research Center unveiled the names of the 59 key industry players that will be instrumental in the development of voluntary Model Green Home Building Guidelines today at the 2004 National Green Building Conference. Development of the guidelines, which was initially announced at the 2004 International Builders Show in Las Vegas, marks the first effort to provide a nationally recognized baseline for determining minimum thresholds for resource-efficient, cost-effective home building.

     "Home builders nationwide have been building ‘green’ for more than thirty years, but never before have those practices evolved into a single, written set of criteria for what actually is green building. Through NAHB’s leadership, the guidelines will ensure that all builders are following the same path to building green," said Ray Tonjes, NAHB Green Building Subcommittee chair and home builder from Austin, Texas. "Through their participation, each of these industry leaders has signaled their commitment to ensuring that all builders have the necessary tools and guidance to create resource-efficient, environmentally sensitive homes."

     For more on this story, including a list of the leaders, visit the NAHB On-line Press Room.

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Source: ABC.org

     ABC is providing advice on how contractors can protect their businesses from the skyrocketing cost of construction materials and supplies made from steel. The recent volatility of the steel market has triggered drastic increases in the cost of such products as nails, rebar, cables, fasteners and drywall studs. ABC is encouraging contractors to evaluate what products will be affected by the increasing costs of steel and retain competent legal counsel with construction contract experience to review all current and future contracts.

     Additionally, ABC has developed an advisory that provides guidance on the issue and includes a sample price escalation clause and a sample clause that protects contractors against damage claims for unavoidable material delays. Click here to download the advisory.

     ABC notes that these documents do not constitute legal advice and contractors should seek competent legal counsel regarding their rights and obligations under contract and public procurement law.

"ABC member companies are caught in a pricing squeeze, between their steel suppliers that have imposed ‘surcharges’ on their products and the construction purchasers that often negotiate fixed-price contracts in their bid specifications," said Kirk Pickerel, ABC president and CEO. "Generally, steel suppliers are only guaranteeing the price of their steel for five days. We have heard from some members who have had their steel prices change every other day. This uncertainty in steel price quotes is making the bidding process for ABC members extremely difficult and financially dangerous."

     ABC urges contractors to review contracts for construction first. For fixed-price contracts, counsel should identify any provisions, such as changed circumstances and equitable adjustment clauses, that could be relied upon to justify contract price changes. Second, quotes or other contract documents from vendors setting fixed prices of supplies and materials should be analyzed. All new contracts should be negotiated to anticipate price volatility and delays.

     ABC also encourages members to educate both public and private owners about the current steel crisis. Additionally, subcontractors should educate general contractors on the implications of the steel price increases for construction materials.

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Answer: Both structures have BauGrid® Welded Reinforcement Grids in them

39-story Paramount Building (L) and 42-story St. Regis Museum Tower (R) in San Francisco - Question: What do these buildings have in common?  See bottom of left column - Photo by James Irwin, courtesy of BauTech® Inc.

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Architects Ramping Up the Design Power of Photovoltaics  Solar power is on the rise, and designers are using it to make a statement  By Peter Fairley

Source: archrecord.construction.com

March 19, 2004 - Solar power got a shot in the arm last year when an off-the-grid housing complex in Santa Monica won a merit award from the AIA Los Angeles chapter. Berlin architect and jury member Matthias Sauerbruch said that Colorado Court, by Pugh + Scarpa, was the first architectural application of photovoltaic (PV) panels that actually looked good. A national architectural jury agreed with him. Colorado Court went on to garner a 2003 AIA Honor Award [RECORD, May 2003, page 135], and soon the design world buzzed with admiration for its five-story-high walls of brilliant blue PV panels.

Ever since its nascent years, solar power has gotten a bad rap. In the 1970s and 1980s, clunky-looking (and often poor-performing) panels were tacked onto buildings as little more than an afterthought. The design-conscious railed against them; manufacturers responded by developing building-integrated PV products, which sought to disguise solar-powered materials in facades or roofs. But projects like Colorado Court and The Solaire, a new high-rise in Manhattan’s Battery Park City, do just the opposite: They embrace, even celebrate, the look of conventional PV technology. In the process, they’re defining a new aesthetic for green buildings—one that’s well-established in Europe but still struggling for life in the U.S. 

The use of solar power is growing rapidly. PV installations in the U.S. jumped 53 percent in 2002 and rose another 30 to 40 percent last year, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association. Not surprisingly, economics is driving demand. States like California are offering tax rebates and other incentives for using solar power. When combined with high energy prices, the payback period for investment in PV can be as little as four years. For the complete story, see the article.

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Prototype Shows that Buildings May Someday Be Constructed By Robots

By Margaret Wertheim

Source: Alameda Times-Star

In a laboratory in Los Angeles early this year, a robot armed with a concrete pump built its first wall. Just a small wall, about a yard wide, a foot high and an inch thick, but beautifully formed in a graceful oval sweep.

The robot would give a professional builder a run for his money -- which is precisely the idea. Its inventor, Dr. Behrokh Khoshnevis, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California, envisions houses and apartment buildings being built entirely by machines, saving time and money and reducing human costs such as injuries.

The first robot workers sprang into existence in the 1970s. Since then they have been making cars, vacuuming living rooms and exploring Mars. But this is the first one to automate the building process.

It looks nothing like the gleaming humanoids of science fiction. A computer-controlled gantry, the robot builder has a 6-by-6-foot metal frame and a steel cylinder of concrete whose motion is controlled by a laptop computer. It moves back and forth, squeezing out inch-thick layers, building walls from the foundation up.

In theory the robot's descendants will be able to construct not only right angles but also compound curves, as shapely as those in Frank Gehry's Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain.

"Our goal is to completely construct a one-story 2,000-square-foot home on site in one day, without using human hands," said Khoshnevis, the lead scientist on the project, a joint effort by the university's engineering school and its Information Sciences Institute. With a hoped-for budget of about $5 million, it has been financed so far mainly by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Naval Research.  For the complete story, see the article.

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New Jersey Builder Uses Insulated Concrete Forms With Great Success 

By Matthew Power

Source: BUILDER Magazine

March 15, 2004 -

Ed Trinkle hasn't found an insulated concrete form (ICF) angle he can't work. This custom builder from Blockwood, N.J., has been constructing high-end custom homes in the area exclusively with ICFs for four years—and he can't keep up with demand.

“Before I built with block, I used the Timberstrand framing system,” notes Trinkle. “I've always been interested in building super-efficient homes. I have high standards. I will only deal with people who want quality.”

Of course, many builders talk that talk and with various degrees of success, but Trinkle has an intensity that makes you take him seriously. And his projects speak for themselves. He builds in the $500,000 to $1 million range, with an emphasis on the latter, so he can afford to do things right.

“I have several homes in various stages of development right now,” he says, “and I'm working on a big project that will either be nine or 70 homes, depending on whether the the financing comes through.”

In each township of New Jersey that Trinkle has built ICF homes, he has had to present the system to local building officials. He shows them specifications and code details, and he makes them feel comfortable about the material.

Jim Niehoff, with the Portland Cement Association (PCA), points out, “There has been a dramatic increase in the number of developers who are constructing small-and medium-sized subdivisions that feature ICF walls exclusively.”

As a result, PCA expects ICF systems to claim 8 percent of the residential market by 2006. Despite the industry's bright future, Lyman adds, “Training, awareness, and best practices remain top priorities of the industry—to ensure that ICFs are properly used in the design phase and on the jobsite.”  For the complete story, see the article at BuilderMagazine.com

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The American Iron and Steel Institute's (AISI) 112th General Meeting will take place May 2-4, 2004, in San Francisco, Calif. AISI will be meeting in conjunction with the Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) for the second consecutive year to discuss critical issues for producers and service centers to succeed in the global marketplace.

Against the backdrop of one of the most dramatic and far-reaching transformations the North American steel industry has undergone in its history, the General Meeting provides an opportunity for steel producers and service centers to strengthen relationships, share ideas and work together to improve the competitiveness of North American manufacturing.

This year's meeting will focus on: