Are you struggling with the aesthetic and functional challenges of expansion joint covers in architecture? These essential components require careful integration and understanding to ensure they meet project needs effectively. This can be quite challenging, which is why many architects don’t like them. However, with the proper guidance, you can transform this challenge into an opportunity for innovative design and effective functionality.
In our recent webinar, we delved into the complexities of expansion joint systems, offering insights and practical solutions for architects and builders. If you missed the live session, don’t worry — the recording is available for you to watch at your convenience.
Once again, we had the pleasure of hosting Matthew Fisher, the Senior Product Manager for the Expansion Joint Systems division at Inpro. Fisher, with his extensive 25-year experience spanning architecture, construction management and building materials management, brings a wealth of knowledge and practical insights. His expertise is particularly invaluable considering his background as a practicing architect and his deep understanding of both the design process and the on-site construction dynamics.During the webinar, Fisher covered a range of critical topics, helping participants to:
Examine common floor joint oversights regarding blockouts, concentrated loads and coverplate specification;
Discover the types of interior wall expansion joint systems and how to accommodate obstructions, changes in directionand functional requirements;
Examine and compare building envelope joints and recognize the importance of proper detailing for transitions;
Identify the types of expansion joint fire barriers and the dangers to life safety when seams and intersections installations are not assembled to specifications.
These topics were not just theoretical discussions but were backed by real-world scenarios and practical solutions, making the webinar an insightful learning opportunity for anyone in the field.
Don’t miss this chance to broaden your understanding of expansion joint systems and their critical role in architecture. Access the webinar now and equip yourself with the knowledge to tackle one of the most nuanced aspects of building design.
Author: Kalina Prelikj
A jack of all trades and a soon-to-be Master of Architecture, Kalina enjoys embracing her creative side and has dabbled in everything from marketing to design to communications. However, her main interest lies in architecture, as she loves to explore how it shapes our communities and transforms our daily experiences. With a deep appreciation for the art of puns, Kalina is constantly on the lookout for opportunities to craft clever wordplay.
High-density, low-rise urban housing is the key to accommodating another three billion people over the next 80 years without costing the Earth, writes architect and urbanist Vishaan Chakrabarti.
By the year 2100 there will be 11 billion people on the planet, according to the United Nations – three billion more than there are today. You might rightfully ask how we can house an additional three billion people when nations around the globe are struggling to provide adequate accommodation for those in need today.
Meanwhile, the world is already experiencing the extreme impacts of anthropogenic climate change, as well as an omnipresent energy crisis fuelled by the war in Ukraine.
A surging population risks putting an even greater strain on the environment
A surging population risks putting an even greater strain on the environment and comes with even more demand for energy. No one, particularly not in the West, has the right to wish these newcomers away or deny them the housing, mobility, technology, food, and yes, the energy, they will need to live their lives.
How can our housing needs be part of the solution rather than part of the problem? How can we use today’s technologies to design new housing that is not only sustainable, not only low in embodied energy, but also truly carbon negative?
We simply don’t have the technology today to build carbon negative towers
We can conserve where we can, such as by adaptively reusing some of our existing building stock, particularly older office buildings made obsolete by the pandemic. But this alone won’t make a dent in our impending housing needs – we must build, and we must build better.
I for one am tired of hearing about solutions that don’t have a chance of widespread, affordable, global adoption for decades, even the great technology of mass-timber skyscrapers made from carbon-sinking, environmentally friendly and fire-retardant wood.
I love a good skyscraper, but we simply don’t have the technology today to build carbon negative towers.
We’re also decades away from realising clean grids in our existing cities, where most global population growth will occur, because of challenges ranging from inefficient transmission lines to the fossil fuel lobby’s chokehold on our governments.
The tyranny of today’s challenges demands a widely attainable answer now. We cannot wait until 2050.
Goldilocks-scale housing would enable us to house everyone while drastically reducing the emissions impact of our homes
The answer is hiding in plain sight: a “Goldilocks” type of high-density, low-rise urban housing that sits between the scale of sprawling single-family houses and large-scale towers, advocated by many architects and urbanists for decades.
From the hutongs of Beijing to the rowhouses of Boston, this scale of housing has created some of our most beloved urban neighbourhoods.
If adopted en masse, it would enable us to house everyone while drastically reducing the emissions impact of our homes.
Importantly, at two to three stories – but no higher – under the international building code this low-rise housing is required to have only one communal stair if wheelchair accessible units are provided at grade.
That allows for less concrete, lower building costs, and more community connection by dispensing with elevators and the banal experience of double-loaded corridors, while small shops and workspaces can also occupy the ground floor.
It is also, based on research my own studio conducted alongside engineering firm Thornton Tomasetti, the maximum scale possible for carbon negativity with today’s technology.
In most sunny climates, which is where we anticipate the most population growth, this Goldilocks prototype hits the sweet spot between the number of residents it can house and the amount of roof area needed for enough solar panels to supply more energy than these residents need.
Solar panels, which are decreasing in cost while gaining in efficiency, could also be supplemented with existing state-of-the-art battery systems that level out solar supply and user demand to provide a constant energy source.
Because of its structural simplicity, Goldilocks housing can be built by local workers in accordance with local climates
Air conditioning and heating can be provided through electric pumps that are readily available today. These can create thermal storage by producing ice or hot water off-peak for use on-peak, enough at the Goldilocks scale to offset their energy use.
Additional sustainability measures, such as systems to compost food scraps and solid waste, can also be implemented with today’s technologies and can be self-contained within Goldilocks housing unlike in large towers where much more space is required.
The footprint is compact, leaving room for substantial tree and ground cover, decreasing stormwater impacts, reducing the heat island effect, and lowering the demand for air conditioning.
Because of its structural simplicity, Goldilocks housing can be built by local workers in accordance with local climates and customs out of simple local materials, like wood or brick, both of which have relatively low embodied carbon compared to concrete and steel.
We need not fear new neighbours
Goldilocks housing could finally provide affordable, communal, equitable housing for communities in dire need of it.
Architects can work with communities to make this low-rise housing appealing, visually and socially, integrating it into the lives of existing neighbourhoods.
When woven into the fabric of our cities, the Goldilocks scale is dense enough, at almost 50 units per acre, to support mass transit, biking, and walkability, connecting people with jobs, schools, parks and other daily destinations in an environmentally friendly way.
This isn’t rocket science. It is advocacy for simple, small-scale housing with solar panels above, transit below, known technologies throughout, all organised into affordable green, mixed-use neighbourhoods.
If the entire world lived at this scale, all 11 billion of us in 2100 would occupy a land mass equivalent to the size of France, leaving the rest of the world for nature, farming and clean oceans.
According to the International Energy Agency, the Goldilocks model offsets so much carbon that it would effectively cancel out the emissions of every car in the world if we all lived this way. The impact would be staggering.
We need not fear new neighbours. We can accommodate 11 billion people without being beholden to autocrats and fossil fuel companies who continually threaten our collective existence.
We don’t have a lack of land or technology. We just have a lack of vision and will, because the answers are hiding in plain sight.
Vishaan Chakrabarti is an architect, urbanist, and author focused on cities and sustainability. He is the founder and creative director of global architecture studio Practice for Architecture and Urbanism. He served as director of planning for Manhattan under former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg, working on the rebuilding of the World Trade Center and the preservation of the High Line. He has presented multiple TED Talks, with the most recent on Goldilocks-scale housing.
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Spotted: Ear infections are caused by bacteria and fungi that become trapped in the ear canal. This can happen for a number of reasons and earbuds can exacerbate the problem, especially when they aren’t consistently cleaned. However, instead of causing infection, what if earbuds could detect early signs of infection? Researchers from University at Buffalo have found a way to make this possibility a reality.
The system is called EarHealth and it functions by sending a chirp through a healthy user via bluetooth earbuds. EarHealth then records how the chirp reverberates throughout the ear canals and creates a unique profile of each user’s ear. Geometries arising from subsequent chirps can be compared to the original profile to detect whether the ear canal’s geometry has changed.
In a study, which was published in June by the Association for Computing Machinery, the researchers reported that the AI-backed earbud system was 82.6 per cent accurate in spotting common ear infections caused by earwax blockage, ruptured ear drums, and otitis media.
Each of these three causes of ear infection have a unique audio signature that the EarHealth system can detect with fairly accurate results. Thus, the system is also capable of detecting the specific type of infection. The technology could be especially beneficial for children, who are more susceptible to ear infections than adults.
Springwise has spotted a number of innovations focused on using tech to detect health issues. These include AI-powered tools that can screen for chronic kidney disease using retina photos and a browser-based solution that provides more than 30 different health measurements by analysing selfie clips.