Construction
Rob McManamy
DEWALT shifts to solve jobsite WiFi woes

Yesterday, DEWALT, accompanied by Procore, announced their new WiFi Mesh, which promises to increase wireless connectivity on the jobsite. We talked to two DEWALT executives about the new product — here's what they had to say.

DEWALT shifts to solve jobsite WiFi woes
Architecture + Design
Rob McManamy
Data-driven design propelling collaboration

"Data-driven design" suggests an impersonal, robotic process that replaces human creativity with cold numbers. But at our latest BuildIdeas Breakfast, we learned from IBM Watson and Detroit Mercy Hospital that it can mean greater customer satisfaction.

Data-driven design propelling collaboration
Business
Rob McManamy
Hawaii, Vermont, RI see clean energy surge

Despite wavering venture investment, the clean energy market is still growing from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Here, the annual Clean Energy Trust Challenge gives us a welcome opportunity to check in on multiple, vibrant efforts to implement power innovation.

Hawaii, Vermont, RI see clean energy surge
Cities
Rob McManamy
Cities, data drive BW Summit conversations

If cities will yield the richest data upon which tomorrow's most consequential decisions will be based, then it is no surprise they were a recurring topic at last week's BuiltWorlds Summit. To see some of the actionable insights that were shared, read on.

Cities, data drive BW Summit conversations
Architecture + Design
Rob McManamy
Obamas unveil Presidential Center design

Just days after the former First Lady urged architects not to neglect inner cities, she and her husband came home to Chicago this week to reveal their vision for a $500-million community hub that they hope will reinvigorate a long-struggling community.   

Obamas unveil Presidential Center design

Cities

Virginia to build $500M 'smart city in-a-box'

Virginia to build $500M 'smart city in-a-box'

Get Smart: Some 30 miles NW of DC, a high-powered team of designers, developers, builders and technologists is forming to create a $500-million, 2.5-million-sq-ft, 'Smart City In-a-Box' platform they expect will be transferrable all over the world.

IoT: Connected world faces benefits, threats

IoT: Connected world faces benefits, threats

The 'Internet of Things'. By now, it's a term we have all heard, but what does it really mean? And what does it mean for business? Technologist Burcin Kaplanoglu takes a deep dive into the mind-boggling promise and personal privacy concerns of Big Data.

Olympians leave with medals. Cities left with debt.

Olympians leave with medals. Cities left with debt.

As the global spotlight fades in Rio, and athletes, families, fans and media return to their home countries, Brazilian city must now ask the question that all former and future host cities confront: Are the Olympics really worth it?

Reach for the skies! Downtown LA growing up

Reach for the skies! Downtown LA growing up

The City of Angels — the expansive web of avenues and enclaves synonymous with urban sprawl — suddenly is standing shoulder to shoulder in its own downtown. It's been years in the making, but LA now has a thriving central district, with more to come.

High hurdles: Olympic Village another Rio fiasco

High hurdles: Olympic Village another Rio fiasco

The 2016 Summer Games start tonight in Rio de Janeiro. But for many of the athletes, their first trials came when they tried to move into an “uninhabitable” Olympic Village. At press time, workers are still trying to fix and finish the massive P3 project.

Reverse sprawl? Cities lure back suburban stars

Reverse sprawl? Cities lure back suburban stars

From Boston and Seattle to Chicago, San Diego, and points in between, the urban exodus that saw U.S. businesses and residents flee to suburbia in the latter half of the 20th century is now at and end. (Thanks, millennials!) John Gregerson reports.  

76 yrs later, county reboots transportation plan

76 yrs later, county reboots transportation plan

1940. Just think how much our world has changed since then. Global population, alone, has more than tripled. Incredibly, since that year, the nation's second most populous county had not updated its long-range transportation plan. Until now. Read on...

4 Tips from Flux's Emerging Architects Jury

4 Tips from Flux's Emerging Architects Jury

We all know cities are growing exponentially. That's why Flux recently hosted an Emerging Architects Design Competition to channel next-gen ingenuity into mounting urban challenges. Flux's Jen Carlile polled the judges afterward to gather their insights. 

Blame it on Rio? Olympics builders in frantic race

Blame it on Rio? Olympics builders in frantic race

Barring a miracle, the first Olympic Games ever to be hosted in South America appear fated to be a disaster on multiple fronts. Thirty days out, contractors in Rio de Janeiro now are still woefully behind on their schedules for fully completing many venues.

Ohio on a Roll: Columbus claims Smart City prize

Ohio on a Roll: Columbus claims Smart City prize

Just days after Cleveland OH saw the 52-year championship drought for its professional sports teams mercifully come to an end, another Ohio city now has won another big national prize. USDOT just named the winner of its $40M Smart City Challenge.

Cities' gravitational pull grows for firms, people

Cities' gravitational pull grows for firms, people

Rise of the City. It's more than just urban renewal. The era of Global Cities is upon us and a recent, high-level forum in Chicago focused on how to address human needs in the new, data-driven metropolis. Author and urban planner Alan Mammoser reports.

Ten Memorable Quotes From Global Cities Forum

Ten Memorable Quotes From Global Cities Forum

When one major media company puts on a public forum, no matter how compelling, it's a good bet that its journalistic rivals will steer clear. (More room for us!) Read our take on the mind-bending second annual Financial Times' Forum on Global Cities. 

Not So Fast: Will The Hyperloop Fly in the U.S.?

Not So Fast: Will The Hyperloop Fly in the U.S.?

Excited about the Hyperloop? BW's John Gregerson is, but here he wonders how the U.S. can honestly expect to embrace supersonic transit pods after it spent decades dithering over high-speed rail. Maybe some nostalgic competition with the Russians can help.

Global Forum To Harness Metropolitan Might

Global Forum To Harness Metropolitan Might

With global cities continuing to grow, the world has never seemed smaller. London, New York, Shanghai, Dubai, Tokyo, all are digital neighbors with extraordinary influence. Global thought leaders this week are in Chicago strategizing for the coming whirlwind.

Arup, Rockefeller Launch City Resilience Tool

Arup, Rockefeller Launch City Resilience Tool

Last week in London, after years of joint research and testing, global engineering giant ARUP and the Rockefeller Foundation jointly unveiled a new City Resilience Index, a "pioneering tool for cities to understand and assess their resilience." 

IIT Design: What Touring the World Taught Us

IIT Design: What Touring the World Taught Us

After months of fact-finding visits to the far-flung trenches of the global maker movement, IIT's Institute of Design is back home this week, hosting a World Strategy Tour Conference to share lessons learned from Hong Kong, Mumbai, Detroit, and San Francisco.

Fact-finding World Tour Fuels Maker Conference

Fact-finding World Tour Fuels Maker Conference

Where there's a will, there's a way. That age-old theme is the driving mission behind the global maker movement, which Chicago's IIT Institute of Design will advance this month by presenting the results of its six-month, four-city Strategy World Tour.

Earth Day 2016 Makes History, AEC Voices Support

Earth Day 2016 Makes History, AEC Voices Support

Generational: Holding his grandchild, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change Friday at the UN, joining more than 170 other nations. But this is only the beginning, writes USGBC's Elizabeth Beardsley.

Flint Update: Criminal Charges Just the Beginning

Flint Update: Criminal Charges Just the Beginning

Drip, drip, drip... The Flint Water Crisis continues to unfold as a most unnatural disaster. This week, the Michigan Attorney General announced that three state and city officials now face felony charges that include evidence tampering with water samples. 

Google+ Google+