Beyond Green Award of Merit for a High–Performance Innovation January 2017 – VaproShield’s Two Component Air Barrier System™ received the 2016 Beyond Green™ Award of Merit for a High–Performance Innovation by the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC). This unique award recognizes the innovations that shape, inform, and catalyze the high-performance building market, as well as the real–world application of high–performance design and construction practices. Hosted annually by the National Institute of Building Sciences Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC), the Beyond Green™ Awards honor innovations that best exemplify the eight design objectives of a high-performance building: sustainability, accessibility, aesthetics, cost-effectiveness, functionality, productivity, historical sensitivity, and safety and security. Beyond Green juror David Underwood, ASHRAE past president and founder of Isotherm Engineering Ltd, noted "VaproShield identified a need to deliver high-performance building enclosures while addressing challenges with the availability of a skilled technical workforce, providing a safe work environment and meeting green building program requirements. Their approach to facilitate achievement of high-performance buildings led to us recognizing them with an Award of Merit for High-Performance Innovations. In fact their product (VaproShield) was used on the Brock Center, winner of the Honor Award" VaproShield received their award on January 12th at a special Beyond Green™ Awards Luncheon, to be held during The National Institute of Building Sciences Fifth Annual Conference and Expo: Building Innovation 2017, the week of January 9–12, in Washington, D.C. The Two Component Air Barrier System will be published as a case study on the Whole Building Design Guide® website and be announced in The National Institute of Building Sciences newsletter.

Transformative building technologies and innovations in wood building and design among topics at inaugural Vancouver conference (February 10, 2017) - Leading-edge expertise in wood design, construction, finishing and building science will inform and inspire British Columbia’s building and design professionals at the upcoming 2017 Wood Design & Construction Solutions Conference on Tuesday, February 28 and Wednesday, March 1 at the Vancouver Convention Centre – East. The conference is presented by Wood WORKS! BC and the Canadian Wood Council, and is part of Wood Week BC, four events happening over 10 days on the latest trends and topics on wood design and construction with a range of educational and networking opportunities. Building and design professionals from BC and across the continent will converge in Vancouver for what is expected to be the largest conference on wood design and construction in North America. Current trends and important new topics will be highlighted over two days, including mass timber and hybrid system design, transformative building technologies, recent innovations, off-site prefabrication, sustainability and fire and acoustic performance. Distinguished speakers will be coming from across Canada, the U.S. and from around the world, including Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand, Australia and the U.K. Among the speakers are Hubert Rhomberg, CEO, Rhomberg Holding, Austria, whose firm has received accolades throughout the building and design world for its timber hybrid project, LifeCyleTower (LCT ONE) – eight storeys in height, and assembled in eight days; and Boris Iskra, National Manager, Codes and Standards, Forest and Wood Products Australia, Melbourne, Australia who will discuss the significant benefits of mid-rise timber buildings, which can now be built up to eight storeys in height under the revised building code in Australia. "Climate-friendly and technologically advanced wood products and systems are recognized as significant game-changers in our future built environment. It is wood that’s playing a leading role in ground-breaking and distinctive structures in BC and beyond," explained Lynn Embury-Williams, Executive Director, Wood WORKS! BC. "Wood WORKS! BC is pleased to support BC’s building and design community with renewed learning and collaboration opportunities at the Wood Design & Construction Solutions Conference." For full program and registration information please click on the READ MORE link below.

Three employees bring added expertise from the architecture, entertainment and landscape design industries Columbia, Md. (February 2, 2017)—The crux of global design and BIM software developer Vectorworks, Inc.'s philosophy has always involved leveraging input and implementing product feedback from practicing architects, landscape designers, landscape architects and lighting designers, among other design professionals. To further this commitment, three new industry experts will be joining Vectorworks’ ever-growing product marketing team: Luc Lefebvre, senior architect product specialist, Jim Woodward, senior entertainment product specialist and Brian Nicholson, senior landscape product specialist. Led by Jeremy Powell, senior marketing director at Vectorworks, the broad team of industry experts acts as advocates for customers and the industry relating to the marketing and development of products. They provide one-on-one demonstrations of product capabilities, participate in professional association committees and visit firms in the field as a means to generate current insights for industry-specific tool development, as well as act as fountains of industry knowledge for other internal teams. Regarding the new additions, Powell said, “We are elated to welcome Luc, Jim and Brian to the Vectorworks family. With their diverse backgrounds and histories of excellence and service to the advancement of design within the architecture, landscape and entertainment industries, I'm sure they’ll make an immediate impact as champions of our software. And, as recently practicing designers, they’ll bring additional perspective to our team to ensure our products speak to the needs of designers.” Delve deeper into these new industry experts’ skills, backgrounds and career plans.

GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete) can help realize wide range of concrete design possibilities not easy to achieve with traditional concrete. Advanced Architectural Stone (February 02, 2017)—Concrete has enabled architectural design for buildings for hundreds of years. GFRC products have pre-engineered, built in connections that simplifies the onsite installation. The reasons are: •Unique potential to mold the stone pieces or cladding layers in highly intricate shapes and design details •GFRC is hollow from inside leading to much lighter weight •With unique materials technology of today’s age coupled with pre-designed, pre-engineered connections and structural support it is still much stronger compared to other decorative concrete elements •The look and feel of GFRC can match other cast stone products, terracotta, or even natural lime stone. To learn more about GFRC design possibilities and ease of installation, and to see video of an installation at the SMU Delta Gamma Sorority House project, please click on the Read More button to visit the Advanced Architectural Stone website.

Houston company brings innovative solutions to 62,5000-square- foot, three-story nightclub’s impact on environment in Sawyer Yards Arts District Houston, TX - Jan. 6, 2017 . . . TRUEGRID, a trending Houston-based company that manufactures eco-friendly permeable pavement, is providing sustainable support toClub Nomadic, the ultimate entertainment experience traveling to marquee events and destinations across the U.S. The 62,500 square foot Club Nomadic will make its Houston debut by turning the city’s Sawyer Yards Arts District into the epicenter of entertainment featuring world-class performances leading up to next month’s big game while remaining eco-friendly. TRUEGRID installed a 58,000 square foot, 250-space parking lot in 10 days for the massive three-story venue being built in 60 days. With the addition of permeable pavement, Club Nomadic’s site avoided emission of 353 tons of carbon dioxide, recycled 77,300 pounds of post-consumer plastic and can currently detain roughly 350,000 gallons of water in case of flooding. That’s the equivalent of planting 74,000 trees and recycling almost 600,000 milk jugs. Due to its detention capacity, the development plan saved costs since a detention pond was no longer required while staying sustainable. "TRUEGRID saves clients like Club Nomadic in terms of both time and land costs," said Barry Stiles, developer, founder and CEO of the local manufacturer. "It’s a maintenance-free alternative to concrete and asphalt and other impervious surfaces. My love of Legos® inspired my creating the grid, a permeable building block that’s environmentally-friendly and also easy and accessible for everyone to use." Club Nomadic will serve as the epicenter for world-class entertainment leading up to the big game with a three-night concert series beginning Thursday, Feb. 2 and through Saturday, Feb. 4. The structure has been under construction since November utilizing the services of many local Houston businesses. TRUEGRID Pavers offer a sustainable alternative to traditional pavement in the form of interlocking plastic grids made from 100 percent recycled plastic. The grids are filled with gravel that allows water to filter into a crushed rock detention base under the parking surface, cleansing the water for hydrocarbons and other pollutants naturally before it returns to local aquifers. Due to its low-impact development perks, the company has found success in the national market. Companies such as Whole Foods Markets, Google and NASCAR have utilized the grid on their sites for projects such as parking lots, distribution centers and fire lanes. The grid also has aided the U.S. National Park and Forest Services for handicap walkways. Up and coming green communities have utilized the product for roadways, driveways and ground stabilization. "We are a purpose-driven company," Stiles said. "Our system is super eco-friendly from manufacture to end use and it makes a true impact on every project."