The Prince of Wales has formally launched a construction college, the Dorset Construction and Training Centre, in Poundbury. Poundbury, developed in 1993, is an urban extension to Dorchester built on the principles of New Urbanism. It was built in pursuance of greener lifestyles and is currently home to 1,500 people. It is expected that the town will house 5,000 people by 2025. The college admini....

The largest construction project in the history of the American National Park Service, a $81 million project to restore fresh water flows to the Everglades has now commenced in the Tamiami Trail. The Tamiami Trail is a filled roadbed that cuts across the Everglades and obstructs water movement and wildlife. The planned bridge intends to modify the roadway to allow more fresh water inflow through ....

Nepals Minister for Tourism and Civil Aviation Sharad Singh Bhandari inaugurated the construction of an international airport in Pokhara city, located 200 km west of the capital, Kathmandu. It will be constructed as an alternative to the Tribhuvan International Airport in Kathmandu. While the total cost of construction around NPR 50 million, preliminary surveys and grading work would cost around ....

The Thai Council of Economic Ministers has given in-principle approval to a proposal by the Transport Ministry to develop the railway system. This envisages a budget of about 100 billion baht. The plan covers an upgrade for the nations railway tracks, the purchase of new locomotives and rolling stock as well as the hiring of more staff. The Transport Ministry and National Economic and Social Deve....

Construction has commenced on Beijings first public rental housing project in Liyuan Town, Tongzhou District. Expected to be completed in April 2011, the project will offer more than 1,000 housing units one-bedroom apartments of about 40 square metres and two-bedroom apartments of about 60 square metres. Liyuan Town is fast developing as a residential and commercial area, which makes it a perfect....

Electricity is more than just aconvenience; it is an essentialprerequisite to conducting business.With financial advancement and agrowing preference for green buildingtechnologies, the design landscape in India isfast changing.Buildings play a key role in our impact onthe environment. Going greenusing naturalresources wisely, while reducing the impact ofhuman activity on the environmentmeansmore ....

With increased industrialisation, useof technology in agriculture andurban irrigation, energyconsumption is an ever expandingphenomenon. A study conducted by EnergyInformation Administration (EIA), USDepartment of Energy, indicates that there is avisible trend across the globe indicating that thegrowth rate in total energy consumption hasbeen greater than the population growth rate.In developed c....

If all the railway tracks in the world were joined end to end, we would have three different track-routes between earth and the moon. Around the world, huge investments have gone in building such a mammoth infrastructure base and the annual expenditure to maintain these resources is staggering. We spend more than $10 billion annually just to maintain the global network of tracks. Increasing the c....

Adecade ago, Gachibowli was aninvisible village in the outskirts ofHyderabad, known only as the homeof Hyderabad Central University.Today, however, Gachibowli is on its way tobecoming one of Indias most prominent businesshubs, welcoming a host of major Indian andinternational companies as well as becominghome to the fourth and newest US consulate inIndia. As the latest step in Hyderabads business....

Wind farm operator Indian Energy has tied up with Chennai-based turbine manufacturer ReGen Powertech to construct a 49.5-MW wind farm at Theni, Tamil Nadu. A 20-year power purchase agreement with the Tamil Nadu electricity board for the sale of power from the project has been considered. Land for construction has been secured and work on the first phase is expected to start in December 2009, with....

The real estate arm of Godrej Group, Godrej Properties Limited (GPL) plans to launch Indias largest and first green township project, Godrej Garden City (GGC), in January 2010. Located in proximity to the Nirma University on Sarkhej- Gandhinagar Road, the project will be developed in a joint venture with local company Siddhi Group on about 225 acres of land. To be completed in phases over the nex....

Nuclear Power Corporation of India (NPCIL) will commence the development of its 4X700 MW nuclear power project in Haryana. Slated to be a green project with zero emissions, it will pose no health hazard from radiation. To be set up at a site between Kumharia and Gorakhpur in the Fatehabad district, the project, which is worth Rs 12,000 crore, will be based on an indigenous technology of pressuris....

The Steel Authority of India (SAIL) plans to reduce the price of flat-steel products sold in the spot market. In response to the rising supplies of low-cost imports, costs will be reduced by up to 3 per cent or Rs 800 per tonne. More precisely, SAIL is looking to cut flat-steel prices by Rs 500800 per tonne. The change is congruent with international steel prices that have dipped to $450500 per t....

Nagarjuna Construction Co Ltd bagged orders worth Rs 7.22 billion for various construction, water supply and sewerage projects. The first order, which will fetch in Rs 3.28 billion for the company, involves a water supply and sewerage project in Bengaluru. It is to be executed over a period of 26 months. The company further confirmed a second order for constructing a bituminous road in Bihar. Thi....

The Haryana government has launched a mega project spanning 1400 acres in Gurgaon. The project, expected to come up in the southern reaches of Gurgaon (Sector 58115), will house about 70,000 residential units. The Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA) will develop 1,000 acres, while the remaining will be developed by private developers such as Emmar-MGF and DLF. The project will be completed....

After a fire broke out at Lucknows Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Science (SGPGI) this month, the hospital administration decided to bring on board experts from the Central Building Research Institute (CBRI) to upgrade the buildings fire-fighting measures. A special committee constituted by the hospital administration to examine the incident submitted its report, recommending st....

Green Education Services (formerly named LEEDTeacher), a support services provider for Sustainable Design and LEED, launched its LEED Green Associate Flashcards, now available on the iTunes Store. The company is known for providing LEED and sustainable design education to building developers, architects, interior designers, planners, engineers, commercial real estate brokers and construction indu....

The Board of Directors of the American Institute of Architects (AIA) voted for Pugh+Scarpa Architects to receive the 2010 AIA Architecture Firm Award. The decision has considered the firms 18 years of experience, cultural and community involvement, attention to sustainable principles as well as nurturing of in-house talent. To be presented on June 12, 2010, the awards previous recipients have inc....

Scotlands new nationalist government has launched a campaign to restore some of Indias finest buildings with hopes of reviving Kolkatas heritage structures. Attention will first be granted to buildings such as the Duff College, named after Scottish missionary Alexander Duff. Scotlands culture and external affairs minister Michael Russell told a leading daily that the need to preserve these buildi....

Designed by international architecture firm Kohn Pedersen Fox (KPF), the Mandarin Oriental, Las Vegas, is now officially unveiled. A 67-acre resort by MGM Mirage and Infinity World Development Corp on the renowned Las Vegas Boulevard, the Mandarin Oriental has 392 rooms and 225 condominiums. Spread across an excess of a million square feet, the buildings podium is made of zinc, titanium, granite ....

Lutron Electronics Co Inc,headquartered in Pennsylvania, USA, isa leading designer and manufacturer oflighting controls and architecturallighting control systems for residential,commercial and institutional applications. Thecompany that invented solid-state dimming nowoffers its products in more than 80 countriesglobally. Lutron promotes saving energy withlighting control systems that allow reduc....

Living in Style, a Mumbai-based vendorof merchandise for the home andoffice, has introduced an innovativebedroom seriescor Collectionwith chromotherapy attributes that use colourand light to balance a persons physical,emotional, spiritual and mental energies.Exclusively imported from Italy, this collectionhas been manufactured by Camel Group.The bedroom series includes beds, nighttables, dressers....

Affordable housing is todays buzzword,with developers increasingly eyeingthe lower-income and middle-incomesegments. After ruling the realtybusiness for many years, lavish and expensiveapartments have now taken a back seat to smaller,more affordable housing. Consider the fact thateven players who traditionally catered to theaffluentRaheja, Unitech, Tata, Hiranandaniand Puravankara Projectsare now....

Scientists at Green World Crete,LLC, a Florida-headquartered green construction technology company, have invented a low-carbon emission cementitious product—Geo-Green Crete. This invention is poised to provide the global construction sector with a high-performance and cost-effective green alternative to Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC). Geo-Green Crete, a zero-Portland-based cement is formulated using post-industrial waste and naturally occurring aluminoscilicate materials, which are available in abundance. It is produced in an environmentally-friendly process.
The Problem With Portland

Portland cement has been the mainstay of all
cementitious construction since its invention in
the 1800s. However, right from the early days of
its discovery it was seen that the chemistry
associated with Portland cement invited many
environmentally detrimental problems. The
Portland cement manufacturing process, which
involves....

Astrand jack is a specially configured
Strands

Strands are vitally important to strand
jacks. Generally, these are 18 mm in
diameter (some companies use 15 mm)
and are comprised of seven wires. The wires
(one core or king wire and six external wires)
are wound together to form a helix.
After winding, they are drawn through a die to
compact and harden them. The resulting
strand has a....

Saint-Gobain Gyproc India Ltd is a part ofthe $43.8 billion Saint-Gobain Groupand has been a market leader in itsspace in India for over two decades.Saint-Gobain Gyproc provides innovativebuilding solutions and state-of-the-art productsbacked by world-class technical and servicesupport. On the lines of expanding its productrange, Saint-Gobain Gyproc plans to introducevarious new products in the I....

A revolutionary outcome of the growing awareness towards global warming and climate change, sustainable building techniques are coming of age. Studies suggest that in comparison to regular buildings, green leads to an overall 50 per cent saving in energy consumption for air-conditioning and 80 per cent saving in lighting. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC), a premier agency propagat....

The
real estate and infrastructure
industries can most accurately be
described as high-risk, but high-return,
thanks to their long project completion
and gestation periods. Since the cycles are long,
the industries face challenges regarding the
consistent availability of funds, raw material price
fluctuations, the unavailability of technical
workers, environmental issues, legal requirem....

In the wake of the recent terror attacks, securing critical infrastructure like airports, railway stations, monuments, ports and sea-links has become a matter of prime importance. Airports are the entry and exit point for travellers and are important for trade and tourism. They are often a target of terrorist activity and other forms of crime, and inadequate security at airports can pose a threat....

Many forces are reshaping theworld of architecture, construction,manufacturing and civilengineering in India today. Theneed for designing new products, services andeven entire business models to cater to theseunique needs is necessitating innovations thatcan serve as cutting-edge tools of competitiveadvantage not only within India but across otheremerging economies and indeed, the developedworld.....

For the past year and a half, the recessionhas played havoc with almost everyindustry. In India, the real estate,infrastructure and ancillary marketswere severely affected. The Index of IndustrialProduction (IIP) was at an all-time lowand inflation was still negative. Supply stockexceeded demand and developers weredesperately trying to hold on to their margins.Real estate companies saw their sale....

Dow Europe GmbH has introduced newtop-coat and adhesive polyolefinmaterials for three-layer steel pipecoating systems. DOW HDPE12110G, a black, high-density polyethylene(HDPE) top-coat material, as well as AMPLIFYGR 320 Functional Polymer, a grafted adhesiveresin, can be used to coat steel pipes. The mostbeneficially applicable areas are oil and gasoperations, where the coatings can be usedto pre....