The New York City Department of Buildings recently launched an initiative to investigate the safety of supported scaffolds and sidewalk sheds.

The investigation took place over a 30-day period in March and proposed inspecting more than 1,500 New York City properties. DOB said the buildings inspectors had zero tolerance for structures that failed to meet the requirements. Non-compliant scaffold and sheds will receive stop work orders, fines of up to $2,000 and court summonses.

“Recent incidents have demonstrated that proper design standards and installation techniques for supported scaffolds and sidewalk sheds have not been consistently followed . . . we are significantly stepping up enforcement of these requirements and putting developers, contractors, and workers on notice: scaffolds and sidewalk sheds must be up to code, or we will halt your work until you comply,” said DOB Commissioner Patricia Lancaster.

The 30-day investigation marked the beginning of the DOB’s new Safety Analysis and Field Evaluation Scaffold & Shed Initiative—which is a program aimed at increasing enforcement, launching operational and regulatory initiatives and making design improvements to increase safety.

The design improvements will be monitored in collaboration with the Department of Design and Construction and the Department of Citywide Administrative Services.

The data gathered from the inspection was released to a task force composed of construction industry members, organized labor teams and immigrant advocacy groups to create and implement additional safety regulations.

Skanska USA Building recently sponsored High Performance Buildings: Post Occupancy, at which industry experts gathered to discuss energy-efficient buildings.

The lecture is the second in the four-part Mixed Green Series organized by The New York Academy of Sciences, Physical Sciences and Engineering Division.

“A broad variety came to the event this year,” said Beth Heider, senior vice president of Pre-Construction at Skanska. “The series focuses on the nexus of science and building, bringing theoretical together with the pragmatic.”

Dave Hewitt, executive director of the New Building Institute and Vivian Loftness, professor of architecture at Carnegie Mellon University were both invited to speak at the lecture moderated by Noel Morrin, Skanska AB senior vice president/sustainability.

Hewitt said his organization is developing a contract with US Green Buildings Council to obtain energy data on LEED Buildings, utilizing a new grant from the Environmental Protection Agency to extract more data from energy bills and metering, and developing a steering committee to get better feedback for the program.

Loftness defined high-performance buildings as “least-cost” buildings and explained how sustainable design can promote health and productivity. Air, light, thermal control, privacy and interaction, ergonomics and materials, access to nature as well as land use and mobility are the most important factors in building attributes, she said.

Through numerous case studies, she explained how floor-based ventilation, operable windows and increasing natural air flow would maintain the health of building inhabitants. Temperature, lighting and pollutant source control in addition to radiant ceiling panel systems, she said, are keys to increasing productivity.

“Science is cool again,” said Heider. “The focus hasn’t been on the contribution science can make and the green building initiative puts a bright light on science. [The lectures] will hopefully bring ideas, appreciation and attention to the sciences within the industry.”

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced eliminating the use of tropical hardwoods in construction projects will help erase the area’s carbon footprint.

“New York, like many other cities, uses tropical hardwoods—in our case, for park benches, ferry landings, our extensive beach boardwalks, and also for the walkway on the world-famous Brooklyn Bridge,” he said. “The physical properties of these hardwoods, especially their durability and resistance to rot, make them ideal for such uses.”

At a recent conference at the United Nations, the mayor explained that erecting green buildings is not enough to change the color of city. “We’re working to green our buildings, not just to cut carbon emissions, but also because it will allow us to redirect billions of dollars a year it now takes to heat and cool these buildings, often inefficiently, to better purposes,” said Bloomberg.

New York City, as one of the largest consumers of hardwoods in North America, purchases more than $1 million a year in tropical hardwoods, according to the mayor’s Tropical Hardwood Reduction Report, which is a recent study performed by city agencies over a 60-day period.

Bloomberg, who believes curbing tropical deforestation will slip the city into a greener pasture, has proposed a new strategy to reduce specific use in construction.

“Our city’s agencies will immediately reduce their use of tropical hardwoods by 20%. . .by specifying domestic wood, recycled plastic lumber and other materials in the design of park benches and other construction projects,” he announced. “We are also going to undertake serious, long-term studies of the design of our boardwalks and ferry piers to see what alternatives we can use when these structures have to be replaced.”

As for the possibility of pushing the requirements outside the city agencies, “right now, the mayor is focusing on the purchase of tropical hardwoods over which he has direct control, said Jason Post, spokesperson for Mayor Bloomberg’s office. “He does encourage people to use more sustainable materials but at this point we are focused on getting our own affairs in order and reducing the use of tropical hardwoods where we can.”