Researchers from the University of Freiburg’s Plant Biomechanics Group are looking at the tropical fruit to find better ways of constructing buildings that can withstand earthquakes. Read more
An Australian company is bringing a handheld soil scanner to North America which can detect total petroleum hydrocarbon contamination at levels as low as 68 ppm in 20 seconds. Read more
Over five years a Kelowna contractor spent $300,000 to invent a system that prevents birds from drilling holes into buildings. Using his 15 years of experience as a stucco contractor, Keith Eisenkrein took his new technique and launched EIFS (exterior insulation and finishing system) Armour. His patent-pending, licensed product has already been applied to almost 200 structures, mostly in B.C.’s Okanagan, where the Northern Flicker and other woodpecker species have been “beaking” havoc. Read more
Helen Goodland, Brantwood Consulting principal, and an advisor to the BC Construction Association on innovation and sustainability, says the increasing use of work place technology will bring more change to the Canadian construction industry. Read more
New construction technologies and materials and new ways of working together can make the design and construction process faster and more efficient for project owners, designers and contractors, say experts. Read more
Canada’s biggest pension funds are prepared to finance the construction of major new federal government infrastructure projects, according to senior fund sources, marking a shift from their traditional strategy of avoiding development risk. Read more
The wildfire that rendered the heart of oilsands country a charred and ashy mess is estimated to be the costliest disaster in Canada, worrying evidence that extreme weather events have increased in frequency and severity, the Insurance Bureau of Canada said Thursday. Read more
Construction projects, like anything else in life, are subject to change. Design blunders, unanticipated revisions to building codes, an owner-driven switch in material selection — all of these events can lead to changes that add a few dollars or create a significant addition to a project’s scope and cost. Read more.
The value of building permits issued in Nova Scotia increased by 77.3per cent in April, reversing from the 44.2 per cent gain decline in May. Both residential (54.5 per cent) and non-residential (149.9 per cent) permit values increased. Compared with May 2015, NS building permits are up 26.0 per cent, with increases in both residential and non-residential permit values. Although monthly results for building permits are highly volatile, there has been a downward trend in residential permits since early in 2015. Read more.
Halifax’s building boom has a way of getting in your face, whether you actively avoid the sidewalk closures, or not. Cranes are towering, drills be drillin’, and neighbourhoods are being modified and developed. Whether it’s all the result ofdensifying urban plans or an artificially-propped up real estate market remains to be seen. In any event, it’s giving the peninsula a facelift. Here are some details on what’s to come.