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  |  Channel: Mobility

State DOTs Connecting Specialized Transportation Users and Rides Volume 2: Toolkit for State DOTs and Others

RB’s National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP) Report 832: State DOTs Connecting Specialized Transportation Users and Rides, Volume 2: Toolkit for State DOTs and Others assists agencies and organizations with the process of designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating linkages that connect customers of specialized transportation services and programs with rides. The stand-alone toolkit directs lead agencies and partners through the decision process for their state, region, or county, and factors in budget limitations. Design decisions and evaluation criteria tailored to each functionality level are also provided.

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  |  Channel: Material Performance

Fly Ash in Concrete

There are tradeoffs to everything; there is no perfect material. Using fly ash as recycled content in concrete solves one problem (how to dispose of a hazardous industrial by-product), but is it perpetuating the justification of burning coal as a fuel source?

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  |  Channel: Material Performance

Healthy Environments: A Compilation of Substances Linked to Asthma

A compilation of data on substances in the built environment that may cause or aggravate asthma, a disease of high and increasing prevalence and major economic importance. This is a valuable resource for identifying asthma triggers and asthmagens, minimizing their use in building materials and furnishings, and contributing to our larger goals of fostering healthier built environments.

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  |  Channel: Building Technology, Labs, Material Performance

Mass Timber High-Rise Design, Cost and Schedule Research: Competitive Advantages of Wood over Concrete

Mass timber high-rise construction is gaining momentum in the United States. Developers are finding that along with its beautiful aesthetic and sustainable appeal, mass timber is a cost competitive and schedule-advantaged structural material. Using the mass timber and concrete designs presented by Timmers et al in the report Mass Timber High-Rise Design Research: Museum Tower... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Building Technology, Labs, Material Performance

Mass Timber High-Rise Design Research: Museum Tower in Los Angeles Reimagined in Mass Timber

This study demonstrates a design of a code-compliant, highrise mass timber apartment tower in Los Angeles. Using the existing reinforced concrete Museum Tower Apartment building in downtown Los Angeles as a basis, the study demonstrates architectural, structural and fire performance improvements and trade-offs of the mass timber design compared to the reinforced concrete design. The... Read more »

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  |  Channel: Design Process, Education, Energy, Labs

Bi-directional Thermo-Hygroscopic Facades: Feasibility for Liquid Desiccant Thermal Walls to Provide Cooling in a Small-Office Building

ABSTRACT: The paper will discuss the design of a bi-directional thermo-hygroscopic façade as a dedicated outdoor air system to cool and dehumidify outside air. The system is a variant of dedicated outdoor air systems to separate dehumidification and cooling in air-conditioning equipment and locates components within the building envelope. The integrated hybrid-building envelope relies on... Read more »

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Contribution
  |  Channel: Design Process, Education, Energy

Practical Energy and Cost Optimization Methods for Selecting Massing, Materials, and Technologies

ABSTRACT: Available energy analysis and optimization methods do not produce fast and accurate enough results to provide guidance to professional design teams making massing and technology decisions. This paper proposes two methods using the reduced-order Energy Performance Calculation (EPC) toolkit with parametric building models and optimizers in Rhinoceros, Grasshopper and MATLAB to provide rapid feedback... Read more »