Built Environment Blog - Technological University Dublin Library

Copenhagen's plan to become carbon neutral

2020-04-28T02:40:00.001-07:00

Copenhagen plans to become the world's first carbon neutral capital city by 2025. This short film outlines the elements of the plan to make that happen.
This video is provided by The B1M which is the world's most subscribed-to video channel for construction. Over 11 million construction related videos are viewed each month.

If you have any library related problems or queries you can contact Bolton Street Library at library.bst@tudublin.ie

Do not worry about overdue fines...

2020-03-13T04:49:00.000-07:00

Library closure

2020-03-12T10:02:00.002-07:00

Changes to library opening hours at Bolton Street next week

2020-03-11T04:12:00.000-07:00

Talks about conservation at TU Dublin Bolton Street

2020-03-11T04:09:00.001-07:00

Smithsonian open access

2020-03-06T03:29:00.002-08:00

The Smithsonian Institution has released 2.8 million high resolution images to its open access platform, Smithsonian Open Access. It plans to release another 200,000 throughout 2020 as it continues digitising its collections.
The 2d and 3d images cover everything from arts and humanities to science and engineering and are being released under a Creative Commons Zero license meaning there are no copyright restrictions.
You can read more here or alternatively just go straight to Smithsonian Open Access and start searching.

Grafton Architects awarded 2020 Pritzker Prize

2020-03-04T03:24:00.002-08:00

UTEC Lima Campus. Courtesy of the Guardian. Photo: Iwan Baan

Grafton Architects have been awarded the 2020 Pritzker Prize for architecture. The company was founded in 1978 by Yvonne Farrell and Shelley McNamara.

Among their many projects is the UTEC University Campus in Lima, Peru (pictured).

You can read more about them and their projects at:

Grafton Architects or the Pritzker Prize website.

RIBA exhibition uses multimedia to examine architectural styles

2020-02-28T03:30:00.000-08:00

Image courtesy of the Guardian

Freestyle - Architectural adventures in mass media is an exhibition currently being held at the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).
It uses VR, architectural models and graphics on the carpet and walls to examine architectural styles from the Renaissance through to postmodernism.

You can read more at RIBA or the Guardian.

COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus)

2020-02-25T03:03:00.000-08:00

You can get the most up to date information on COVID-19 (Novel Coronavirus) by going to the HSE website at: https://www.hpsc.ie/a-z/respiratory/coronavirus/novelcoronavirus/?fbclid=IwAR26m6SmjvTJCRH0sY-GYds6sa4y2gV_YWbtUa0rp9A2fi0cKxIKmiAjA2w .

Also, follow the advice below to minimise the risk of transmission.

Reducing waste and pollution in construction

2020-02-18T03:53:00.001-08:00

The construction industry has consistently been identified as one of the worst industries for waste and pollution.
In the UK it is responsible for creating a third of all waste and generating 45% of CO2 emissions (The Guardian).
An article in the Guardian looks into how these figures can be reduced by reusing more of the materials used in construction.
It also talks about the Madaster database in the Netherlands which aims to catalogue all the materials used in every public building.
Read the full article here.

The Biodiversity Heritage Library

2020-02-11T04:10:00.000-08:00

This image is courtesy of The Biodiversity Heritage Library on Flickr.

The Biodiversity Heritage Library is the world's largest open access resource for biodiversity literature, images and archives. It provides free access to hundreds of thousands of volumes from the 15th to the 21st centuries.
This resource is complimented by a collection of over 100,000 images on Flickr.

TU Dublin Architecture nominated for Local Project Challenge People's Choice Awards

2020-01-30T06:33:00.001-08:00

The architecture school at TU Dublin has been nominated for the Local Project Challenge People's Choice awards. The nomination recognises the work the students and staff have done to embed sustainable development goals into the education curriculum for professional architects.
If you wish to vote for the project you can see all the projects nominated by clicking here.
The TU Dublin Architecture project can be found here.

RTE 1: Eco Eye

2020-01-28T03:06:00.002-08:00

We saw in articles from the Irish Times in December the misery being visited on Irish commuters. People told how their public transport experiences were affecting their mood, their happiness and their physical and mental health.
Eco Eye on RTE 1 tonight deals with "planning matters" and looks at lengthy commutes, inadequate public transport, lack of green space and the planning mistakes of the past and whether anything will change in the future.

The case for 'dumb' not 'smart' cities

2020-01-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

The Eastgate building in Harare, Zimbabwe. Image courtey of Mick Pearce Architects.

There seems to be a tendency for humans to believe that if a job can be done with technology then that is the best way to do it. We all realise it's not the case when we try to explain a complicated situation to an automated phone operator or we have an unexpected item in the bagging area.
One of the latest trends has been the idea of smart cities which would monitor everything from traffic flow to the contents of rubbish bins with sensors.
But technologies age fast and sensors fail. Recently there has been a bit of resistance to this notion with the idea that maybe ancient technologies have something to teach us.

This article in the Guardian examines this notion with examples such as the Eastgate building in Harare (pictured) which has no heating or air conditioning but combines ancient indigenous masonry and cooling techniques used in termite mounds.
This opinion piece by Shoshanna Saxe in the New York Times also looks at the same idea.

Website dedicated to Douglas House

2020-01-09T10:20:00.000-08:00

Image courtesy of douglashouse.org

Douglas House is a 3,000 square foot house on the shores of Lake Michigan. Designed by Richard Meier and Partners Architects it was completed in 1973.
The house is considered a masterpiece of late twentieth century architecture. It's current owners have established a foundation to look after the house and want it to be available for study by architects and students. As part of this they have developed a website for the house which you will find at douglashouse.org.

Christmas opening hours at Bolton Street library

2019-12-04T05:27:00.002-08:00

IT interruption from 5pm Tuesday 3rd December

2019-12-03T06:13:00.000-08:00

Trial access to some journals until 31st January

2019-11-22T07:34:00.004-08:00

TU Dublin City Centre Libraries have secured another trial of some useful journals from Henry Stewart Publications.
The trial will include both on and off campus access and will run until January 31st 2020.
Titles of particular interest in Bolton Street will be:

Journal of Supply Chain Management, Logistics and Procurement
Journal of Airport Management
Corporate Real Estate Journal
Journal of Urban Regeneration and Renewal
Journal of Building Survey, Appraisal & Valuation

Access is through the "Henry Stewart Journals" link on the databases page or just click here.

NASA's 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge

2019-11-18T10:00:00.000-08:00

In an attempt to garner public interest in their programmes and initiatives, NASA created the NASA Centennial Challenge Program. The programme sees outside, non-governmental funded groups compete for a cash prize, all trying to outdo one another in an attempt to produce the most innovative solutions to problems of interest to NASA and the public. The latest challenge is the 3D-Printed Habitat Challenge for deep space exploration. This challenge aims to design sustainable housing for Earth and beyond using advanced construction technology.

Phase one – Design competition

Phase two – Structural member

Phase three – on-site habitat construction broken down into five levels (three construction and two virtual using Building Information Modeling, BIM).

The final challenge saw teams printing a 1/3 scale version of their architectural design in 3D, over 30 hours. The competition was split over ten hour increments in front of a panel of judges. The buildings were constructed using robotic construction techniques in order to limit human intervention. The winners were New York based group AI. SpaceFactory who successfully finished their building using materials that can be found on Mars and mission-grown materials. See their YouTube page which contains more detailed videos on the project at AI. SpaceFactory.

Also see a YouTube video of the team SEArch+/Apis Cor's project, who won the Phase 3 : Level 4 software modelling stage.

Read more about NASA's Centennial Challenge Programme here.
Read more about AI. SpaceFactory's project on the NASA website and Space.com

Student rate-your-accommodation site

2019-11-14T09:11:00.000-08:00

A new website, called CribAdvisor, has just been launched in the UK giving tenants the opportunity to anonymously rate their accommodation, landlords and letting agents. Students can post anonymously but they do need a valid student email address to sign up to the site. Student, Natasha Hopewell, in a bid to give back control to students renters, created the site. The site also provides information on renters’ legal rights and offers simple guides explaining how to enforce them.

The site hopes to provide students, who are mostly first time renters, with the means to rent safely and fairly, and bring to light abuses carried out by rogue landlords. If the site is a success in the UK, we might hopefully, see something similar pop-up in Ireland.

See the full article at the Guardian

Check out the site at CribAdvisor

Transport Planning Day Wednesday 20th November

2019-11-08T01:08:00.001-08:00

Subject resources at Libguides

2019-11-05T04:18:00.000-08:00

If you want to access a focused list of resources tailored to your subject of study you can access our libguides directly by using the following urls:

dit.libguides.com/architecture … Architecture

dit.libguides.com/BEng … Building Engineering

dit.libguides.com/Civil … Civil Engineering

dit.libguides.com/Construction … Construction

dit.libguides.com/GeneralEng … General Engineering

dit.libguides.com/Research … Getting started with your research

dit.libguides.com/LitReview … Literature Review

dit.libguides.com/Mechanical … Mechanical Engineering

dit.libguides.com/Planning … Planning

dit.libguides.com/RealEstate … Real Estate

dit.libguides.com/Structural … Structural Engineering

Planning week 2019

2019-10-31T09:51:00.001-07:00

New York Times

2019-10-31T05:46:00.002-07:00

TU Dublin Library currently has a free trial for the New York Times which will run until January 16th 2020. This also includes access to the New York Times inEDUCATION section.
Please note, the trial is for on-campus access only.

October Bank Holiday

2019-10-21T07:59:00.003-07:00