Buildings & Design: Page 5
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What US cities could look like in 2024: 6 predictions
Safer, greener communities with more housing, greater civic participation, and diversified downtowns are what these experts envision for the coming year.
By the Smart Cities Dive Team • Jan. 2, 2024 -
Legal threats to city, state natural gas bans: A timeline
Berkeley, California’s legal battle with the California Restaurant Association comes to a close as the city agrees to repeal its first-in-the-nation ban on gas in new buildings.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Updated March 27, 2024 -
Trendline
Top 5 stories from Smart Cities Dive
From worsening climate change to a shifting transportation landscape and the housing affordability crisis, cities have their work cut out for them.
By Smart Cities Dive staff -
NYC releases second set of final rules for Local Law 97 implementation
The rules define what a good-faith effort to decarbonize is, create a framework for retroactive enforcement, limit the use of renewable energy credits and more.
By Nish Amarnath • Dec. 20, 2023 -
$530M in building code technical assistance grants available from DOE
The grants will support a wide range of energy code and building performance standards activities, including workforce development, by state, local and tribal governments.
By Joe Burns • Dec. 20, 2023 -
To be truly net-zero, buildings must buy 100% renewable energy, global council says
A globally consistent definition of net-zero buildings is needed, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development says, while market commentators decry carbon compliance ambiguities.
By Nish Amarnath • Dec. 18, 2023 -
Sponsored by Rubicon
Cities: Our time is now
In recent years, cities have faced myriad challenges. Technological advancements in government operations and significant federal investment into cities are driving transformative change.
Dec. 18, 2023 -
More climate-friendly housing, faster, is the goal of NYC proposal to speed environmental reviews
Each eligible housing project could save an average of $100,000 and two years of review time, the city estimates.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Dec. 14, 2023 -
Seattle requires large buildings to zero out greenhouse gas emissions by 2050
As building performance standards gain traction nationwide, Seattle’s policy is the city’s most ambitious plan ever to reduce building emissions, the City Council said.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Dec. 13, 2023 -
NYC overhauls zoning to boost renewables, electrification
The “City of Yes” initiative, which took effect Dec. 11, is among the most significant zoning changes in New York City's history, the city's chief climate officer said.
By Joe Burns and Ysabelle Kempe • Dec. 12, 2023 -
Fully remote work plummets, EY finds
The move away from full-time remote work is welcome news for the corporate real estate sector, but organizations face challenges in optimizing office space for their needs, the consulting firm said.
By Nish Amarnath • Dec. 12, 2023 -
Ford, Resideo to study how EVs can power homes
The automaker and smart home product company will test how Ford’s future electric vehicle batteries can reduce home energy costs.
By Eric Walz • Dec. 12, 2023 -
Warehouse roofs house New Jersey’s largest rooftop community solar project to date
The two installations will provide more than 1,400 nearby homes with discounted solar energy.
By Joe Burns • Dec. 11, 2023 -
Existing building stock challenges decarbonization goals
New construction codes that don’t align with performance standards for existing buildings pose a “serious problem,” said Sustainable Energy Partnerships’ managing director at an ASHRAE conference.
By Joe Burns • Dec. 8, 2023 -
HUD announces new building decarbonization efforts at COP28
As the U.S. pledges to make near-zero-emissions buildings the “new normal” by 2030, the housing agency is teaming up with other departments for access to the best available data and research.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Dec. 7, 2023 -
Cooling cities while reducing emissions: 3 takeaways from UN report
Increasing air conditioning and refrigeration needs threaten to drive up greenhouse gas emissions, pushing experts to recommend more passive solutions in a Dec. 5 report.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Dec. 6, 2023 -
3 communities turning to the dark side with dark-sky retrofits
Reducing light pollution has tourism, sustainability, safety and health benefits, proponents say.
By Kalena Thomhave • Dec. 4, 2023 -
Demand for sustainable buildings outstripping supply, JLL says
Rising demand has led to an over 7% rental premium on green-certified office buildings across major U.S. and Canadian markets, with significant variations from city to city.
By Nish Amarnath • Nov. 30, 2023 -
Office construction may never return to pre-pandemic levels
Despite some massive office towers breaking ground, the chief economist for a construction analytics firm expects starts in the sector to continue to tumble.
By Sebastian Obando • Nov. 29, 2023 -
As building performance standards gain steam, noncompliant owners face business risks
Some cities respond to policy violations with financial penalties, but green lease clauses and submetering provide other levers to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, says real estate firm CBRE.
By Joe Burns • Updated Dec. 11, 2023 -
DOE releases $31M+ in grants for retrofits, infrastructure upgrades
Some cities will use the funds for resilience hubs, while others plan to conduct energy audits and upgrade facilities. Local governments can continue applying for the grants through April 2024.
By Nish Amarnath • Nov. 28, 2023 -
Without significant interventions, US building emissions will continue to increase
Federal, regional and local government bodies must collaborate to create “consistent and stringent building standards,” a new report says.
By Nish Amarnath • Nov. 27, 2023 -
How 7 cities transformed asphalt with art in 2023: photos
Bloomberg Philanthropies recently announced which 25 cities will receive Asphalt Art Initiative grants to undertake projects in 2024.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Nov. 27, 2023 -
Office-to-residential conversion costs can be 30% lower than new construction: Gensler
However, only 25% of the office buildings the firm assessed for adaptive reuse were deemed suitable for conversion, according to the analysis.
By Nish Amarnath • Nov. 21, 2023 -
Plans to get an entire block off the natural gas system take shape in one California city
Albany, California, wants to lay the groundwork for widescale adoption of this emerging building decarbonization approach.
By Ysabelle Kempe • Nov. 20, 2023 -
2 years in, infrastructure law has funded 40,000 projects
The largest portion of 2021 infrastructure law money is flowing to road and bridge construction, according to White House data analyzed by CNBC.
By Julie Strupp • Nov. 17, 2023