Australia – SpecNews

Teaching Students the Value of BIM > ENGINEERING.com

The event was designed to enhance the students’ understanding of various BIM concepts and scenarios.
Recently, 24 university students from three different universities in Singapore, Australia and Columbia had the opportunity to take part in a five-day 5D BIM Immersion and Competition.
The immersion featured a number of hands-on training sessions on 4D and 5D BIM concepts using a variety of software such as ARCHICAD and Synchro.
For more information on the 5D BIM Immersion and Competition, visit the GRAPHISOFT website.
Students in the southern hemisphere have been busy learning what building information modeling (BIM) is all about.

HOIST magazine

For example, in South Australia and Tasmania a number of energy infrastructure construction projects are going ahead.
This solid performance is a consequence of high levels of investment in oil and gas and energy infrastructure projects.
Notwithstanding the aforementioned power station, it’s largely a different story in the energy and utilities construction sector, however.
However, it isn’t stalling altogether and there are still some ongoing construction projects, including in Queensland.
Meanwhile, a project to develop the rail infrastructure in Melbourne is continuing with an upgrade of the Cranbourne-Pakenham rail corridor.

Orbite Provides HPA Construction Update

Certain information contained in this document may include “forward-looking information”.
Following the dispute settlement, it was determined that working through the Québec end-of-year construction holiday (December 18th – January 3rd) would not result in commercial production prior to year-end.
MONTREAL, QUEBEC–(Marketwired – Dec 15, 2015) – Orbite Technologies Inc. (ORT.TO)(EORBF) (“Orbite” or the “Company”) announced today that a dispute, now resolved, with one of its contractors will push the end of construction of its HPA production facility and start of commercial production into Q1 2016.
In this document, words such as “may”, “would”, “could”, “will”, “likely”, “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “estimate” and similar words and the negative form thereof are used to identify forward-looking statements.
Without limiting the foregoing, the information and any forward-looking information may include statements regarding projects, costs, objectives and future returns of the Company or hypotheses underlying these items.

Urban jungle: wooden high-rises change city skylines as builders ditch concrete

Mass timber could prove to be a viable alternative to concrete and steel for mid-to-high rise buildings.
We don’t see mass timber replacing those, it just becomes another option when certain parameters and goals apply to a project.”
Called mass timber, the material is an umbrella term for large, solid chunks of panelized wood.
Out of the mass timber initiative, CLT might prove to change the construction paradigm.
Two urban building projects, in New York City and Portland, Oregon, will be changing their city’s skylines with an environmentally sustainable, cost-competitive building material.

Mortenson Construction Enters Energy Storage Market

Mortenson Construction, a recognized leader in energy and transmission infrastructure in North America, today announced it is entering the energy storage market.
The company will serve various roles in the engineering, construction and integration of energy storage systems interconnected to local energy grids and behind-the-meter commercial applications.
Driving this activity is increasing renewable energy generation, supportive policies and regulations, and growth of smart grids and energy infrastructure.
About Mortenson
Founded in 1954, Mortenson is a U.S.-based, family-owned construction and development services company.
Storage systems can provide near instantaneous injections of power to facilities and infrastructure without the inefficiencies of bringing additional power generation online.

Project Orange’s West Stow Lodge has a pared-back interior

West Stow Lodge was designed by London architects Project Orange for a family with three young children in a village near Bury St Edmunds.
To emphasise the sense of visual continuity throughout West Stow Lodge, Project Orange spaced the mullions of all the windows evenly, at 600-millimetre intervals.
Oak joinery, white-painted bricks, and concrete flooring were used to make the interior of this new house in Suffolk, England, more contemporary than its traditional pitched-roof exterior (+ slideshow).
“The interior materials echo the exterior, and are intended very much as an honest expression of the construction,” said Ash.
“Within this setting, the house can be seen as a nuanced, contemporary exploration of the domestic vernacular architecture in Suffolk,” said Ash.

NTE Energy Closes Financing for 475 MW PJM Project in Ohio

NTE Energy, a power developer and energy services provider, announced today that its affiliate NTE Ohio, LLC (“NTE”), has successfully closed $645 million in project financing for construction and operation of its Middletown Energy Center.
NTE Energy, through its affiliates, develops and acquires strategically located electric generation and transmission facilities within North America.
Capital Dynamics’ CEI team holds extensive expertise in investing, financing, owning and operating conventional and clean energy businesses globally.
NTE Energy, through its affiliates, is actively developing three projects located in West Texas, Southwest Ohio, and North Carolina as well as pursuing early-stage opportunities in several other locations.
The team executes all aspects of project development, from initial market and site evaluations and permitting to financing, construction and operation.

Top five things to see this week: The Goods Line, Arj Barker and Montaigne

In this stage show, Harbridge pays homage to the girl who inspired La Traviata, The Lady of the Camellias and Baz Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.
Her moniker was inspired by the 16th century French philosopher Michel de Montaigne, pioneer of the modern essay.
Warmer ocean conditions mean jellyfish are able to thrive better than ever before, with overfishing wiping out competitors.
Indie pop singer Montaigne, also known as Jessica Cerro, begins her national tour in Perth, following the release of her single Clip my Wings.
By spending more time in Australia than his country of birth, he’s able to present some pointed insights on what Aussies are like – jokes that he says homegrown comics wouldn’t be able to get away with.

Build New York Live are pleased to announce our official judges – Press Release Rocket

His work uses computer simulation and computer numerically controlled (CNC) hardware to generate innovative design, construction, and assembly solutions.
For more information, please visit http://www.asite.com. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_uYAJvb2rk
This is the 7th “Build Live” event in the Build Earth Live series founded to promote Collaborative BIM awareness in the AEC community.
In 2008, the same project also won an AIA New York Merit Award and a New York Designs Award from the Architectural League of New York.
Nathan was part of the BSI working group which developed the British Standards for Collaborative BIM – BS1192 and PAS1192, and co-founded the Build Earth Live series of global Collaborative BIM events in 2008.
Build New York Live, a 48hr global BIM competition organized by Asite, is the latest event in the Build Earth Live series
New technology is revolutionizing the way buildings are designed and how the public can be engaged in the process.

Bill Shorten open to ‘collaborative’ industrial relations reform

Bill Shorten has signalled he could pursue “collaborative” reform to industrial relations with an eye to boosting productivity.
At one point Michael Stutchbury, editor of the Australian Financial Review, chided summit participants for a lack of ambition.
Shorten called on business leaders to get behind an emissions trading scheme to cut carbon pollution, saying “opposition to this economic reform often borders on the hysterical”.
He said “reform” was an abstract idea but voters would respond to a conversation about boosting economic growth, which is running below trend.
The Reserve Bank governor, Glenn Stevens, advised attendees to focus on concrete steps to boost Australia’s economic growth, and make that growth sustainable.