CityNews Everywhere - Vancouver | March 20, 2024
Grant Newfield, MEng, P.Eng., Struct.Eng. | Principal
With recent changes to the BC Building Code, mass timber is being increasingly touted as the building material of the province’s future.
But as cost remains a strong consideration for many looking into the carbon-storing material, one tool is helping designers come to the table with a plan, rather than a risk.
Canadian Property Management | March 2024
Evan Cambridge, P.Eng. | Project Engineer
When embarking on complicated projects, construction engineers play a critical role
As building designs become more complicated, construction engineers play a critical role in the construction process, ensuring the physical structure is built with safety and durability in mind without compromising on the architectural vision and cost implications to the contractor. In fact, according to Evan Cambridge, Project Engineer, Construction & Specialty Engineering with RJC Engineers, today’s buildings are becoming much harder to build despite improvements in technology, tools, and methods. To facilitate a safe and successful outcome, construction engineers are there to ask the ‘hows’ and ‘whys’ that correspond with each aspect of the building project.
OnSite Magazine | March 4, 2024
Kevin MacLean, BSc, MSc, P.Eng., MBA, LEED® AP | Principal
Webinar panel shares insights into how artificial intelligence is driving change in the construction sector.
Much as such technologies as computers, email and smartphones have transformed business, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is quickly emerging as a generational game-changer, and a game-changer that is already in play in the construction industry.
AZURE Magazine | March 29, 2024
Decades in the making by Reimagine Architects – and centuries in the imaginations of its Indigenous community – Métis Crossing takes wondrous shape.
Métis Crossing is a cultural space, a savvy piece of regional development and a beautiful architectural intervention in the land. Its assemblage of wood buildings, old and new, stretches along a bend in the North Saskatchewan River. As you approach the complex in Smoky Lake, Alberta, a campground of contemporary trappers cabins gives way to a collection of 19th-century farm buildings, repurposed now as interpretive spaces.
Canadian Consulting Engineer | February 27, 2024
Mark Ritchie, BSc, MSc, P.Eng. | Principal
The municipal government of Vernon, B.C., is using an integrated project delivery (IPD) model to carry out design and construction of its new Active Living Centre (ALC), an indoor recreation centre expected to open in late 2026.
With this model, facility owners, architects, general contractors and other professionals partner early in the development process, forming a team to conduct project validation, preliminary design, cost estimating and construction timing.
Sustainable BIZ Canada | February 26, 2024
Wendy C. Macdonald, P.Eng., ENV SP, LEED® AP BD+C | Sustainability Consultant
When envisioning a sustainable future, the importance of holistic thinking cannot be emphasized enough. The building industry is being called on to be mindful and accountable for our creations of people’s indoor environments affecting our global environment.
We have the power to transform buildings into remarkable structures and it is hopeful to envision buildings as contributing to our health and well-being while simultaneously being among the solutions to the climate crisis.
Fair Exchange of Rental Industry News | Special Edition 2024
Paul Fritze, BASc, P.Eng. | Principal
The return to in-office work following the COVID-19 pandemic is moving slower than the Canadian commercial real estate sector has hoped for. National commercial office vacancy rates are at an all-time high at 17.6% as of the end of 2023, according to Altus Group1. This trend has some owners and developers examining adaptive re-use of existing commercial office buildings to residential rental apartments.
Sustainable BIZ Canada | February 12, 2024
Wendy C. Macdonald, P.Eng., ENV SP, LEED® AP BD+C | Sustainability Consultant
Changes to British Columbia’s building code are geared to elevating the sustainability of buildings in the key areas of energy, materials and climate resilience, a sustainability consultant and engineer told Sustainable Biz Canada.
Canadian Consulting Engineer | February 8, 2024
Meredith Anderson, MSCE, P.Eng., Struct.Eng. | Principal
Mass timber’s role in creating lasting, sustainable community centres
Recreation and community centres are important hubs that serve many roles for an area’s residents, whether it’s playing host to weekly fitness classes, providing key social services, or acting as a shelter during an extreme weather event. Given the range of uses these large public facilities exist to fulfill, a lot goes into their planning and design.
Canadian Consulting Engineer | Jan/Feb 2024
Leon Plett, P.Eng., MIStructE, Struct.Eng., LEED® AP | Managing Principal
Leon Plett is managing principal of RJC Engineers’ structural engineering team in Victoria.
Their provincial level of designation differs from elsewhere, due to the complex engineering required to address the region’s risk of earthquakes. And as seismic codes continue to evolve to ensure new buildings are more resilient, they face the challenge of keeping costs reasonable, during a housing crisis.