Environmental responsibility has been an increasingly sought-after attribute of new building construction and renovations. This has driven and had been driven by the development of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED is a rating system; points are awarded for design elements that reduce the environmental impact of the building. There is even a rating system for homes as a result of the demand for green building practices in new homes. Continue reading “How to Use Recycled Materials in Your Project”
What Everyone Should Know About Earthquakes and Structures
This post was originally published on the Richard J. Driscoll, Consulting Engineer blog and has been edited for length. The original can be found here.
Most people understand that earthquakes can produce catastrophic damage to the built environment. However, given that large earthquakes are relatively rare, and that the television news cameras typically move on a few days after any disaster, a lot of people’s understanding of the effects of earthquakes may be shaped more by bad disaster movies than reality. Continue reading “What Everyone Should Know About Earthquakes and Structures”