The Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park Nature Center is featured in the March issue of Construction Digital. Image credit: Construction Digital

I was recently invited to contribute an article for the online magazine Construction Digital. The article which focused on the design team’s use of BIM to embrace a range of sustainability initiatives to meet the client’s project goals on the Battelle Darby Creek Metro Park Nature Center was just published as part of their March issue.

Click to download the full article: Building Information Modeling Aids in the Creation of a One-Of-A-Kind Educational Facility (6MB)

The Bierce Learning Commons' Emerging Technology Lab

This post features the The Bierce Learning Commons at the University of Akron, which was recently published in the Library Design Showcase 2012: Technology Enabled’ facilities in the American Libraries Magazine. The Library Design Showcase is an annual review of the best in new and renovated library facilities. To see the online article, click here.

What do global media center, emerging technology lab, multimedia creation area, reference books, group study rooms and Einstein’s Bros. Bagels all have in common?  Visit the new Bierce Learning Commons at the University of Akron to find out! Read More …

Professional journals and industry publications are always a good source of information relevant to the A/E profession. In the June issue of Doors & Hardware Magazine there is a good article regarding use of the term ‘by others’ on contract documents. As this article points out, the words ‘by others’ should not be used on drawings and specifications. The use of similar terms such as ‘provided by Bid Package X’ or ‘included with Design Release Y’ on the contract documents can also cause confusion. Assigning the work to various trades or subcontractors is not the purpose of drawings and specifications – that’s the responsibility of the Contractor and/or Construction Manager. Read More …

Building Integrated Sustainable Features

DesignGroup’s LEED Platinum Hocking College Energy Institute is featured in the July/August Solar Today. Read More …

“Make it look weird,” is the charge that Jerry Hutton, dean of Energy & Transportation Technologies at Hocking College, made to architect DesignGroup when they were designing the school’s premier building. And they succeeded. The scene in southeast Ohio is a pastoral one, of grain silos and sunflowers, but then an angular building with corrugated steel siding comes into view. Could be any farm building in a way, if there were one with a vegetated roof, a wind generator, solar thermal panels, plus well placed daylighting. Even the sunflowers are part of the school’s mission, as they are used in biofuel research conducted at the school. Read More …