Dimensions

Architect Doug Margaretta reviews a recent course that offered an engaging and practical overview of Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs), Health Product Declarations (HPDs), and the importance of these documents in the new LEED v4 rating system scheduled to go into effect this fall.

Today, USA Architects held an in-house seminar and hands-on demonstration of the accessibility regulations. Several of us spent time in a wheelchair, attempting to navigate around our office. The results were both awkward and eye opening.

A library with no books normally would be considered vacant, but for Elizabeth Public School District this is the way of the future. At the John E. Dwyer High School students can expect to walk into a new Multi-Media center in the Spring of 2012 void of the traditional aisles of dusty texts. Instead, they will find comfortable couches, study carrels, and technology covering every inch of the space. The faculty at Dwyer is taking the leap into the 21st century and moving all of the books out of the library. The faculty is already using iPads to track attendance and grades and soon the students will be able to check out a laptop or iPad instead of the old textbooks that used to line the shelves. The cost savings in using technology over updating the texts is what has lead to this great push. 'Embrace technology' is the new anthem at Dwyer - a high school dedicated to teaching students with technology about technology.