Articles

The recent and tragic building collapse in Surfside, Miami, is just one of a number of high-profile building-related catastrophes we have seen in recent years. From the 23-story Grenfell Tower fire in London, UK, in 2017 to the partial collapse of a 15-story building in Houston, Texas, in 2020, to a spate of similar tragedies […]

Investment in Smart Glass Startups are Accelerating the Adoption of Building Integrated Photovoltaic (BIPV) Technology.

While still seeming strange and unofficial to many, cryptocurrencies have now become an established part of the world economy. These blockchain-based virtual currencies have become hugely popular for a wide variety of people around the world, from mom and pop investors to billionaires such as Elon Musk, who recently began accepting Bitcoin as payment for […]

Our buildings have felt the unprecedented effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. While offices, schools, and retail outlets have seen months of zero occupancies, our residential buildings have played the role of home and workplace as hundreds of millions were locked down for extended periods over the past 14-months. However, perhaps no type of building has […]

When you look across the urban landscape you realize that one material stands out above all others, be it commercial and residential facilities, bridges, tunnels, or roads, our modern cities are built with cement. The total volume of cement production worldwide amounted to an estimated 4.1 billion tons in 2020, almost three times more than […]

Shiny new smart buildings are wonderful. They have energy efficiency built in to provide cost-saving and reduce environmental impact, they apply lighting and environmental controls to ensure all occupants are comfortable and productive, and they offer a wide variety of health, safety, and security benefits. These buildings offer a glimpse of our high-tech future with […]

Any commercial building technology that launched just before March 2020 is bound to have had a strange start to life. These products and services would have been designed for normal activity in buildings but, as the COVID-19 virus became a pandemic, would have soon found commercial buildings empty as the world was turned upside down […]

Green buildings are nothing new. In fact, the energy efficiency of a wide range of building systems and operational practices have been hallmarks of the smart building movement that has been evolving over the last few decades. However, the sustainability of buildings is about more than just operational efficiency, they must also incorporate environmentally responsible […]