100+ Companies Salute Signing of Paris Agreement, Call For Action On Clean Power Plan

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NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. – More than 100 companies, including leading global giants, expressed their support recently for the Paris Agreement on climate change and called for swift action on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan, a proposal aimed at significantly cutting carbon pollution in the United States. The 110 companies, including IKEA, Mars Incorporated, PG&E, Salesforce, General Mills, Kellogg Company, HP and Starbucks, released a statement organized by a coalition of groups, including the nonprofit sustainability organization Ceres and World Wildlife Fund, during a teleconference. The statement comes two days before 150 world leaders gather at the United … Read more

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New Construction Guide Approved for LEED Energy Points

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Pathway for Advanced Energy Performance in Commercial Projects By Stacey Hobart As the bar rises for meeting base energy codes across the country, finding prescriptive approaches to reach and surpass that bar become more difficult. This scenario is playing out across the country with half the states requiring building standards that meet or exceed ASHRAE 90.1-2010. As a result, construction professionals are tasked with delivering on new practices, which may be unfamiliar, in a manner that fully meets design intentions. To help, the nonprofit New Buildings Institute has developed the Advanced Buildings New Construction Guide, a whole-building, prescriptive guide for … Read more

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Top Benefits Revealed in Safety Culture Report

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NEW YORK, N.Y. – A new study from Dodge Data & Analytics establishes a safety culture spectrum based on the performance of 254 U.S. contractors on 33 leading indicators of a safety culture. The new Building a Safety Culture SmartMarket Report, available for free download at http://analyticsstore.construction.com/smartmarket-reports/Safety2016.html and produced in partnership with The Center for Construction Research and Training and United Rentals, along with 12 other supporting and contributing organizations, examines the wider use of safety management practices in the construction industry and more frequently achieved benefits for contractors at the high end of the safety culture spectrum compared to … Read more

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Construction Industry Voices Concerns with Silica Rule

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WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Construction Industry Safety Coalition has concerns with the final rule on respirable crystalline silica recently released by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. It appears, upon initial review, that the 1,772-page final rule contains some of the same problematic provisions that the CISC previously identified and shared with the agency. CISC has been an engaged participant in the rule-making process since OSHA put forth the proposed rule two and a half years ago. “NAHB has long advocated the importance of the rule being both technologically and economically feasible,” said Ed Brady, chairman of the National Association … Read more

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Construction Growth Slowing, Not Stopping in 2016

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CHICAGO, Ill. – The copious growth of the construction industry in 2015 is fueling continued strong activity in 2016. According to JLL’s latest report on nonresidential construction activity, the rate of growth in construction is slowing—yet, starts continue at a strong pace. The catch: growth is expensive. While a welcome decline in prices for steel and some other materials is underway, high labor costs, glass prices and steep competition throughout the industry continue to prove challenging. “For financial viability, project sponsors will need to strike a balance between the lower costs for some materials, like steel, and the ever-increasing cost … Read more

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