Interesting paper: “Comparison of life cycle assessment databases: A case study on building assessment”

I am trying something new: From now on, whenever I come across an interesting publication, I’ll post a link to my blog. Abstract Comparability of life cycle assessment (LCA) results based on different background data has long been debated. This is one of the main issues in building LCAs since buildings are complex products, which […] Read more..

How Feasible is Tall Wood?

A recently-published report entitled “Summary Report: Survey of International Tall Wood Buildings” investigates various aspects related to the feasibility of tall wood buildings. This report, published by Forest Innovation Investment and the Bilateral Softwood Lumber Council, summarizes findings from surveys and interviews with key personnel involved in the creation of ten worldwide buildings, all of which are […] Read more..

“Urban Timber” Exhibit at the BSA Showcases Contemporary Wood Architecture

Yesterday was the opening of the exhibit “Urban Timber: From Seed to City” at the BSA Space of the Boston Society of Architects. Located close to Boston’s waterfront, this exhibit runs through the end of September 2014. So if you are in the area, don’t forget to drop by and check it out. I was […] Read more..

SketchUp 3D Basecamp 2014 Recap

Now that the semester is winding down, I can finally look back and post about the great SketchUp 3D Basecamp conference that happened 4/14-4/16 this year in Vail, Colorado. As in years past, this was a meeting of SketchUp users, plugin authors, technology vendors, and, of course, all the makers of SketchUp. What was especially […] Read more..

Trimble announces the SketchUp Visiting Professionals Program for Higher Education

Trimble just announced an exciting program where universities can invite a SketchUp expert for free for a one-day visit. This program allows students to learn from professionals in the field and hear what SketchUp book authors have to say. So if you are at a university, consider inviting any one of us to drop by […] Read more..

Fire-resistance of Cross-Laminated Timber

  Canadian researchers recently put Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), a somewhat new building product, to the test to determine fire-resistance properties. Their findings were: The tests demonstrated that CLT assemblies can achieve significant fire resistance that is close to three hours in some cases with even unprotected CLT under full loading conditions. The failure modes were […] Read more..

My SketchUp Book is Out!

This is an exciting week! My book “Architectural Design with SketchUp” is now available from all of the online booksellers and should be in stores soon, too. After a year of writing and a few months editing and finalizing, it feels really good to see the final product now on store shelves and on Amazon’s […] Read more..