Deep water cooling
Keeping interior spaces cool in summer is much less energy- and carbon efficient than heating them in winter. For this reason, most of the CALGreen provisions for making buildings energy […]
Infrastructure
What’s in the infrastructure bill?
On 15 November, President Biden signed a $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill. So what’s in this infrastructure bill, and why is it important for the United States? According to John […]
What else can solar panels do?
We’ve all seen arrays of solar panels on rooftops. They convert the sun’s energy into electricity, lowering the homeowner’s electric bill—and maybe even adding power to the grid. On a […]
Eisenhower’s interstate highway system
Throughout the United States, many interstate highways carry the name “Eisenhower” to honor the president who promoted the concept. But Eisenhower’s interstate highway system is showing its age. President Biden […]
Hedonistic sustainability: sustainability can be fun
In the Middle Ages, alchemists sought in vain to turn base metals into gold. Now all that remains of alchemy is some laboratory equipment. But imaginative urban planning offers a […]
Green stormwater infrastructure
With increasing urban development and a changing climate, city governments need to consider new ways to manage stormwater. “It’s not easy being green,” a recent paper from the University of […]
Resilient engineering for climate change
Resilient engineering is design of infrastructure to withstand and recover from such major hazard events as earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and wildfires. It goes beyond design for life safety. It also […]
I-91 Brattleboro Bridge relied on MacDonald’s expertise
Beton’s Kevin MacDonald designed the concrete mixture proportions and performed thermal control modeling for the I-91 Brattleboro Bridge in Vermont. The bridge took First Place in the Infrastructure Division of […]
Design for resilient infrastructure
While it may seem that natural disasters are becoming more frequent and more severe, it isn’t necessarily so. However, more people are moving to areas that are exposed to flooding, […]
Supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) helped make the St. Croix Crossing a case study in sustainability
The St. Croix Crossing received a Bridge Design Award of Excellence from the Portland Cement Association. The award is based on five criteria: structural design, function, aesthetics, sustainability and economics. Michelle […]