Monthly Update: July 2019

Sidewalk Labs, a subsidiary of Google parent company Alphabet Inc., recently revealed plans for Sidewalk Toronto, a transformational development plan for the 12-acre Quayside area on Toronto’s eastern waterfront. Sidewalk Labs envisions turning Quayside into a global model for sustainable, inclusive, and inventive growth, with all structures—including ones as tall as 30 stories—built of mass timber. Skywalk Labs is deliberately prioritizing mass timber thanks to its cost-efficiency in production and assembly, asserting that mass timber can help Quayside to meet its ambitious affordable housing goals while still meeting its equally ambitious sustainability goals. The master plan goes so far as to propose the creation and capitalization of a mass timber factory close to Toronto to jump-start the industry and meet demand. Mass timber pioneer Michael Green Architecture was among those consulting on and lending expertise to the project.

The proposal comes nearly two years after Sidewalk Labs won the mandate to build the community with Waterfront Toronto, a public corporation created to revitalize formerly industrial land along Lake Ontario. The total investment is estimated at $980 million. Sidewalk Toronto will soon enter a public comment period, while the development team continues to work with the Canadian government to gain approval.

Read more about Sidewalk Toronto here and here.

Grist, a nonprofit e-magazine covering energy and environment, recently explored how cross laminated timber (CLT) and tall wood buildings can together create a climate solution. In its video primer, Grist notes how tall wood buildings are slowly but steadily gaining traction in the United States, following the lead of Europe and, more recently, Canada.

Grist notes that while timber production requires sound and diligent management, especially for timber sourced from some international markets, CLT used in tall buildings, if done right, the buildings themselves could be a climate solution.

Watch Grist’s video here.

The Rural Utilities Service (RUS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, recently updated its bulletins that outline construction standards and specifications for wood utility poles, anchor logs, solid and laminate wood crossarms, and pole keys. These bulletins apply to systems constructed by electric and telecommunications companies that borrow federal funds.

Many changes are administrative in nature, and nearly all are intended to keep RUS standards current with technology advances and consistent with industry best practice. Manufacturers of structural glued laminated timber using southern pine, coastal region Douglas fir, Hem fir, and other species of similar treatability for electric power and communication structures are most likely to be affected.

RUS is accepting comments on changes until August 2, here.

The AIA’s Architecture Billings Index (ABI) score, which tracks demand for design services, was 50.2 in May, down slightly from 50.5 in April. The ABI is a leading, monthly economic indicator to assess business conditions and predict and track the non-residential construction market. Any score above 50 indicates an increase in billings. AIA’s project inquiries and design contracts indexes also softened in May but remained positive at 56.2 and 50.9, respectively.

May marks the fourth consecutive month that billings have been flat or decreased. AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, notes that this is “the longest period of…sustained softness since 2012.” Coupled with the softening of new project inquiries and the value of new design contracts, Baker believes that this may be “another sign that the amount of pending work in the pipeline at firms may be starting to stabilize.”

Mark your calendar for the upcoming Metrostudy 3Q19 Quarterly Housing Forecast Webcast, which will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 13, from 2 to 3 p.m. EST / 1-2 p.m. CST. Metrostudy is a leading provider of market information for the housing and residential construction industries. Its Q3 webcast will include an update on the current state of the U.S. housing market and offer an in-depth look at markets in the Rocky Mountain and Desert metro areas.

Click here to register and/or send your questions, comments, and feedback to: hknutson@metrostudy.com.

Massachusetts’ Office of Public Safety & Inspections recently announced that it will develop the state’s 10th edition building code using the 2021 International Codes as a template, with an effective date of Jan. 1, 2021. Previously, the state had intended to use the 2018 International Codes as the basis for its 10th edition. This shift will enable Massachusetts’ revised code to reflect forthcoming changes allowing the expanded use of mass timber, as included in the IBC 2021.

Read more here.

At the recent annual AIA Conference on Architecture, the architecture and building community voted overwhelming in favor of an AIA Resolution for Urgent and Sustained Climate Action as a critical health, safety, and welfare issue; the final vote was 4,860 yes to 312 no.

The resolution calls for AIA’s 94,000 members worldwide to “exponentially accelerate the decarbonization of buildings, the building sector, and the built environment.” The resolution also calls for a multiyear strategy for education, practice, advocacy, and outreach targeting its membership, clients, policymakers, governing bodies, and the public in order to build support for climate action and the acceptance of zero-net-carbon buildings as standard practice.

Read the full resolution here.

The Nature Conservancy (TNC) recently celebrated the opening of the Oregon Conservation Center in Portland, Ore., its 15,000-square-foot state headquarters that was recently re-envisioned by Portland-based LEVER Architecture.

LEVER was intentional in designing and renovating the space to better reflect TNC’s mission of environmental conservation. LEVER’s design integrates softwood lumber and other natural materials and plantings reminiscent of TNC’s conservation work across Oregon. The building’s exterior includes sustainably harvested juniper siding and cedar decking.

Read more about TNC’s new building here.

Architectural Record recently profiled Radhaus, a new beer hall designed by Berkeley-based architecture firm, Envelop A+D, which occupies one of several landmark buildings in a former military port in San Francisco. The 125-seat, 1,350-square-foot eatery occupies an old warehouse built using steel trusses and concrete blocks and offers expansive views of the Golden Gate Bridge and a marina. The Envelop A+D team relied on wood to add warmth to the interior, using two salvaged 300-year-old Ponderosa pines to create a 30-foot-long bar and a large bench that provides communal seating.

Read more here.

Architect Magazine’s A+ Session series recently explored the role design plays in reducing negative effects during construction in an interview with Carl Elefante, 2018 AIA President, principal at Quinn Evans Architects, and a nationally recognized expert on sustainability.

Elefante notes that, to truly assess impact, architects need to consider the individual footprints of each material used in their project and weigh this information when specifying. Elefante cites wood as having inherent carbon advantages compared with other materials due to its sequestration ability—as long as the wood exists, its carbon is stored. This is in contrast with concrete, for example, which requires considerable energy in its production and literally releases carbon in the process.

View the full excerpt of Elefante’s interview here.