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How your next construction project could draw down carbon This design concept by Sidewalk Labs ally Michael Green Architecture contemplates a series of interconnected timber towers accommodating ample greenery-rich public spaces. | Image Credit: Michael Green Architecture Residential and commercial buildings contribute to almost 30 percent of the United States’ total greenhouse gas emissions. That breakdown includes both general building operations and the embodied carbon of materials used to build the structure itself — the sum of all greenhouse gas emissions generated as a result of mining, processing, manufacturing, transporting and installing the materials. As more corporations are held accountable...

Six Sustainable Building Materials to Look for in 2021 As contractors begin to plan future projects, be on the lookout for these seven sustainable building materials in 2021 and beyond With society becoming increasingly environmentally conscious, more and more project owners are looking for sustainable building materials to include in their properties. Not only do eco-friendly buildings substantially increase the resale value of a property in a forward-thinking market, but they can help save on utility and maintenance costs as well. As contractors begin to plan future projects, be on the lookout for these six sustainable building materials in 2021...

Sustainable Construction & Building Materials What does sustainable mean? There is no universally agreed definition of sustainability. In fact, there are many different viewpoints on this concept and on how it can be achieved. Etymologically, the word sustainability comes from sustainable + ity. And sustainable is, for instance, a composition of sustain + able. So if we start from the beginning, to <sustain> means “give support to”, “to hold up”, “to bear” or to “keep up”. What is sustainability, then? Sustainable is an adjective for something that is able to be sustained, i.e, something that is “bearable” and “capable of...

Puerto Peñasco’s Tallest Beach Condominium Reaches 24 Floors Encántame Towers is adding extra amenities, storage units, heated lazy river, and the first-ever adult only Skytop Pools and hot tubs Puerto Peñasco, Sonora, Mexico (October, 2020) –  Encántame Towers, a modern luxury condominium development being built on Puerto Peñasco’s Playa Encanto Beach has completed the framing of the first 24-story beach front tower and multi-feature development in Puerto Peñasco, also known as Rocky Point. The first tower, named Velero (or ‘Sailboat’ in Spanish), will be flanked by two additional 23-story towers, Verano (Summer) and Viento (Wind), each of which will have...

5 ways to future-proof a building  Get your daily dose of good news from Grist Subscribe To The Beacon Ever since workers strung the wires of the first electrical grid in 1882, buildings have been gobbling up energy. But what if that relationship were upended so that buildings fitted with solar panels produced more electricity than they consumed? Turns out, that’s already well underway: The number of buildings constructed so ingeniously that they sometimes feed energy to the grid has nearly doubled in the last two years. The nonprofit New Buildings Institute keeps a list of these “zero energy” offices, schools, and libraries. In 2018,...