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- Can Miami's new high-rise buildings withstand hurricanes?
Storm surge, flooding, fierce winds and power outages can all accompany hurricanes, and newly built towers in Miami are intended to reduce those dangers. The 1450 Brickell, for instance, features impact-resistant glass from bottom to top to protect the entire building from flying debris. But some towers, rebuilt after a hurricane in 2005, were allowed to be constructed under older building codes instead of newer ones created after Hurricane Wilma. "If we ever get hit, we’ll see who was smart and who wasn’t," said Charles Danger, Miami-Dade county’s building chief. The Miami Herald (free registration)
(10/24)     
| Sustainable Development | | |
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- Report raises questions about value of LEED certification
 USA TODAY has reviewed 7,100 LEED-certified commercial buildings to see how they achieved green points. It found that the U.S. Green Building Council "has helped thousands of developers win tax breaks and grants, charge higher rents, exceed local building restrictions and get expedited permitting by certifying them as 'green' under a system that often rewards minor, low-cost steps that have little or no proven environmental benefit." The article also contends that the green benefits aren’t always in the public interest. USA Today
(10/24)
- USGBC working on revised LEED standards
The U.S. Green Building Council is working to modify its LEED certification to increase energy-efficiency requirements, as well as put a premium on low-footprint materials through a points-based credit system. Some of the "easier strategies" that helped builders achieve LEED certification will be changed. "It's going to require a much more nuanced, sophisticated measure in a whole bunch of different ways of the actual environmental performance of the building," said Nadav Malin, president of BuildingGreen. USA Today
(10/24)
- Brazil to unveil world's first net-zero-energy stadium in 2014
The Estádio Nacional de Brasília, a soccer stadium in Brazil's capital is undergoing $400 million worth of upgrades and could become the world's first net-zero-energy stadium. The 70,000-seat facility is aiming for LEED Platinum and was designed by Castro Mello Architects using Autodesk software. The stadium's roof will boast a photocatalytic membrane that collects falling air pollution, breaks down the chemicals in the pollution and takes them out of the air. FastCoExist
(10/24)
| Election 2012 | | |
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| Advancing the Profession | | |
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- Why leaders should think like physicists
Physicists know that every action brings a reaction -- and leaders should understand that their actions bring reactions from their workers, writes George Ambler. It's impossible to know precisely how your actions will shape others, so it's important to be mindful and live up to your principles, Ambler explains. "[A]s leaders, we never know when and what impact we're having on others," he writes. George Ambler blog
(10/23)
| News from ASCE | | |
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New ASCE infrastructure Report Cards issued for Florida, Los Angeles
ASCE members on the East and West Coasts urged action to improve the state of infrastructure Thursday, as the Florida Section and the Metropolitan Los Angeles Branch each issued new infrastructure Report Cards. Florida's civil engineers regrettably concluded that grades in most categories remained the same or fell, compared with their last Report Card in 2008. Among them, Coastal Areas fell from a C+ to a D-. Florida's other lowest grades went to Energy (D), Flood Control (D+), and School Infrastructure (D+). Los Angeles civil engineers gave their city an overall C grade, saying much of its infrastructure is not being adequately maintained. Compared to Los Angeles' last Report Card in 2005, grades fell for Drinking Water (C), Roads (C-), and Transit (C). Improvements were noted in Wastewater and Flood Control, now each a B+. View the 2012 Report Card for Florida’s Infrastructure at www.fla-asce.org. See a citizen's guide to the 2012 Los Angeles County Infrastructure Report Card at www.ascemlab.org. ASCE's Report Card for America's Infrastructure will be updated in early 2013.
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