Remember how bluebirds helped Snow White tidy up an abandoned cottage in the Disney classic? Meet Spider Drone, a quadcopter that weaves structures out of steel cables and can operate at heights unreachable by ordinary building equipment.

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Tags: Biomimicry, Civil Engineering, construction, drones, quadcopter, Robotics, spider drone

To get a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) platinum certificate, a building must cut energy use to about half that of a typical structure. That’s tough. What’s tougher? The Living Building Challenge (LBC).

According to Time magazine, the LBC was created six years ago, and to win certification a building must use half the energy of a LEED platinum building and have net-zero energy and water systems. So far, only three buildings have managed that feat, and they’re quite small. However, a six-story, 4,600-square-meter office building will open this fall in Seattle that’s aiming to meet the LBC requirements.

The $30 million Bullitt Center will house the Bullitt Foundation, whose president is Denis Hayes, a former staff director who worked with Earth Day founder Former U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson.

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Tags: Architectural, Bullitt Center, Civil, construction, Denis Hayes, Design, Electricity, Energy, Environmental, Green Technology, LDC, LEED, Materials, recycling, solar power, toilet