Minecraft Game Wants to Turn Teens into Future Construction Managers

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Lego has long been lauded by architecture geeks as a childhood gateway drug into the world of designing and building. Now, the UK wants to use a similar idea to hook teens on the fun of construction management. The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has developed a four-part construction curriculum played within Minecraft—the wildly popular (and vaguely Lego-like) computer game in which players build things out of blocks. Read more.

Virtual Reality Steps into The Construction World

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Architects, designers and engineers are learning what “gamers” have known for some time: Virtual Reality (VR) has a place in the modern world. Read more

Future Roads May Contain 100% More Pig Poop

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A team of researchers at North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University is testing a substance made from pig manure to use as an asphalt binder to replace petroleum-based products, according to a report by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Read more

How Coconuts Could Help Build Earthquake-resistant Buildings

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Researchers from the University of Freiburg’s Plant Biomechanics Group are looking at the tropical fruit to find better ways of constructing buildings that can withstand earthquakes. Read more

Point, Click and Evaluate Site Soil Contaminants

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An Australian company is bringing a handheld soil scanner to North America which can detect total petroleum hydrocarbon contamination at levels as low as 68 ppm in 20 seconds. Read more

Preventing Birds from ‘Beaking’ Havoc On Buildings

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Over five years a Kelowna contractor spent $300,000 to invent a system that prevents birds from drilling holes into buildings. Using his 15 years of experience as a stucco contractor, Keith Eisenkrein took his new technique and launched EIFS (exterior insulation and finishing system) Armour. His patent-pending, licensed product has already been applied to almost 200 structures, mostly in B.C.’s Okanagan, where the Northern Flicker and other woodpecker species have been “beaking” havoc. Read more

Emerging Technology Changing Construction Site Workflows

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Helen Goodland, Brantwood Consulting principal, and an advisor to the BC Construction Association on innovation and sustainability, says the increasing use of work place technology will bring more change to the Canadian construction industry. Read more

Innovation and Risk: The Best of Frenemies

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New construction technologies and materials and new ways of working together can make the design and construction process faster and more efficient for project owners, designers and contractors, say experts. Read more

Canada’s Pension Funds Eye Greenfield Federal Infrastructure Investments

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Canada’s biggest pension funds are prepared to finance the construction of major new federal government infrastructure projects, according to senior fund sources, marking a shift from their traditional strategy of avoiding development risk. Read more

Fort McMurray Fire Costliest Disaster on Record, Insurance Bureau of Canada

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The wildfire that rendered the heart of oilsands country a charred and ashy mess is estimated to be the costliest disaster in Canada, worrying evidence that extreme weather events have increased in frequency and severity, the Insurance Bureau of Canada said Thursday. Read more