Seventy percent of of architects say client demand is driving green building, and owners and developers are demanding greener buildings to reduce operating costs, according to the third annual Green Index. The survey of green building practices by Autodesk, Inc. and the American Institute of Architects looked at the motivations and acceptance of nearly 350 practicing architects in the United States.

According to study results published in Building Design + Management, less than half of architects were incorporating sustainable design practices into their projects five years ago. Today, 90% of architects expect to incorporate some sustainable elements by 2012.

Source: Building Design + Management

More than a third of the 200 construction project and program owners surveyed by the Construction Management Association of America said they have used Building Information Modeling (BIM) on one or more projects. BIM is being adopted at an accelerating rate, according to a survey published in Building Design + Construction.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) refers to the use of digital information on a building project, such as cost, schedule, fabrication, maintenance, energy, and 3-D models. BIM is used for design decision-making, production of high-quality construction documents, predicting performance, cost estimating, construction planning, and managing and operating the facility.

Source: Building Design + Construction

The University of Missouri St. Louis (UMSL) has purchased a $2.7 million, 56,000-square-foot laboratory facility and will renovate it for use as a new tech incubator and supercomputing center.

The building, across the highway from Lambert-St. Louis International Airport, had been renovated for use as a lab by Incyte Genomics, a Wilmington, Delaware-based pharmaceutical company. The facility comes equipped with a 3,000-square-foot central computing chamber and peripheral office/lab spaces. These niche improvements were attractive to UMSL for their IT Enterprises, a new business incubator set to open at the end of 2007.

UMSL plans to invest several million dollars in IT Enterprises, which will house a supercomputer and up to 12 startup companies. UMSL hopes the supercomputer will attract researchers and financial grants, which in turn will vitalize the business incubator. The building would have required significant interior renovation had it been sold to a traditional office user.

Source: Midwest Real Estate News

A survey of mayors across the United States shows that most cities are adopting policies to encourage sustainable construction and energy efficiency in municipal buildings. The survey results were released at the 75th anniversary meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors held in June.

The City of St. Louis is keeping pace, according to Mayor Francis Slay’s office.

“We have an ordinance which requires that all newly constructed buildings meet LEED Silver standards,” Barbara Geisman, the City’s deputy mayor for development, told AEC St. Louis.

The St. Louis ordinance also requires that LEED principles be included in LEED-New Construction, and that LEED-Commercial Interiors and LEED-Existing Buildings principles be applied during retrofit and renovation projects of current standing facilities, whenever practicable. Sponsored by Alderman Fred Wessels, the ordinance was signed into law by Mayor Francis Slay in 2006.

Three St. Louis public buildings currently under development that will meet at least LEED Silver standards include two new recreation centers and the Animal House, one of the first “green building” animal shelters in the nation. The Lambert-St. Louis airport renovations will incorporate LEED principles for existing buildings wherever possible, according to the Mayor’s office.

Nationwide, nearly nine in 10 of the cities require that new city government buildings be more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable, or anticipate making that requirement in the next year. Ninety seven percent are using more energy-efficient lighting in public buildings, streetlights, parks, traffic signals, or expect to by next year.

Wellspring Development Company has announced Rock Hill Trails, a new sustainable 170 acre residential development in Madison County, Illinois near Edwardsville and Wood River. All homes in the development will conform to the “Green Building Guidelines” of the National Association of Home Builders and will be eligible for LEED certification.

According to Wellspring, the development will feature “high performance homes,” open spaces with trails and nature corridors, and neighborhood amenities. The homes will be built in clusters that offer privacy as well as open space, interconnected walking paths and trails, community gardens, a community center and common space where neighbors can gather.

Lots will be designed to allow homeowners to add energy-saving and conservation features such as geothermal heating and cooling systems, cisterns to capture rainwater for irrigation and solar voltaic panels.

The lead builder is Belcher Homes, engineer is SMS Engineers and the architectural consultant is Answers Inc. Architects.

On Friday, the St. Louis Business Journal featured the partnership of three St. Louis companies - The Lawrence Group, SG Blocks and Alberici - to develop extremely sturdy homes and residential developments from recycled shipping containers.

According to Lawrence Group principal Dan Rosenthal, quoted in the article, the finished homes are stronger than conventional construction because they resist “lateral loads” — those seen in hurricanes and earthquakes — and because steel is basically welded to steel.” The homes also are energy efficient. “When the appropriate coatings are installed, we have an envelope that reflects about 95 percent of outside radiation, resists the loss of interior heat, provides an excellent air infiltration barrier and does not allow water to migrate in. Because of the superior roof structure, it is easier to incorporate ‘green’ roof systems,” Rosenthal said in the article.

The article is available online to St. Louis Business Journal subscribers.

Source: St. Louis Business Journal