CIC Blog

The question of how to create more efficient, practical, and structurally sound buildings is one that architects and engineers have sought to answer throughout history. Today, with the aid of automation, Doctors Yuxiang Chen and Carlos Cruz-Noguez at the Construction Innovation Centre are working to find a solution. Although technologies such as automation and innovative materials have begun to be incorporated into building design and construction processes, these advancements often target a single performance aspect, such as energy efficiency or productivity. This project seeks to develop an innovative, lightweight, robot-friendly building block with integrated features that will allow for better movement [...]

HVAC stands for “heating, ventilation, and air conditioning”. HVAC systems can be found everywhere from in single-family homes to offices to submarines! HVAC systems provide better air quality for indoor spaces and remove moisture, smoke, odors, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, carbon dioxide, and other gases as well as providing temperature control and oxygen replenishment. In today’s global landscape, with the COVID-19 pandemic still not wholly behind us, the need for efficient HVAC systems that not only help filter allergens like dust and harmful gases like carbon dioxide out of the air in our workplaces and homes, but that assist in mitigating [...]

Founded by Reza Nasseri in 1977, Landmark Homes strives to be at the forefront of innovation in house construction. The company’s commitment to building Net Zero homes that are affortable and energy efficient has led to it winning multiple awards, including 17 awards from the Canadian Home Builders’ Association in the past five years alone. Landmark Homes works alongside ACQBUILT, North America’s leading state-of-the-art offsite construction facility, to create floor panels, walls, decks and verandas, stairs, roof trusses, and even install windows to ensure meeting the highest standard of accuracy and efficiency during construction. Offsite construction means that Landmark’s building components [...]

The construction industry and industries that support construction (such as manufacturing and supply) are characterized by the high risk associated with projects. In 2020 alone, according to the Association of Worker’s Compensation Boards of Canada, the construction industry had the highest number of fatalities across the industries tracked; and trades, transport, and equipment operators and related occupations saw the highest total lost time claims in Canada at over seventy thousand. The construction industry is complex, hazardous, and dynamic in nature, which contributes to the frequency of safety incidents. In response to the inherent risk present in construction projects, many companies have [...]

Incorporated in 1965, the Masonry Contractors Association of Alberta (MCAA) was created to serve as a venue for contractors in the masonry industry to have a forum through which they could have input into the direction of Alberta’s masonry industry, as well as a place where professionals in the field could socialize and both exchange and learn new technological information regarding innovations and changes occurring in the masonry industry. The objectives of the Masonry Contractors Association of Alberta are to create a community that allows individuals working in the masonry industry are supported in their search for safety on the job, [...]

Founded by William Lede in 1947 as Leduc Construction, Ledcor has grown into a diversified company made up of teams of people who work to design, build, transport, operate, and maintain projects all over North America. As a company, Ledcor is committed to putting the values of integrity, accountability, quality, and customer service first. The Ledcor Group of Companies operates in a wide range of industries including building, environmental, forestry, infrastructure, mining, transportation, power, properties, oil and gas, and communications. Responsible for building several of Canada’s large-scale construction projects—including The Bow building in Calgary in 2012, and the Shangri-La hotel in [...]

Many people will be familiar with the regular variety of lumber, also known as “dimensional lumber”, which is wood that has been processed into conventional beams, planks, or boards through a process that begins with logs that are cut down into various sizes. Engineered lumber—also known as engineered wood, mass timber, composite wood, man-made wood, or manufactured board—is any manufactured wood product in which the strands, particles, fibres, veneers, or boards of wood are bound or fixed together with adhesives or some other method of fixation to form a composite material. Engineered lumber products can be used to create joists and [...]

PCL has collaborated with the University of Alberta’s Construction Innovation Centre (CIC) for several years and has partnered with CIC researchers in several NSERC partnership programs. It was also one of the sponsors for the 2022 CIC Forum and currently has representation on both of the CIC’s industry steering committees. Founded in 1906 by James Martin and Ernest Edward Pool, the company began as Martin and Poole Construction and was based in Stoughton, Saskatchewan. Poole and Martin returned to their homes in PEI in the winter of 1906, and Martin retired in 1907, leaving Poole to return to Saskatchewan and [...]

Exoskeletons, also known as exosuits or wearable robots, are structures that can be attached to the human body to augment and reinforce user performance. Exoskeletons can be made from rigid material (e.g. metal or carbon fiber) or soft and elastic materials. Exoskeletons can support the entire body, just the upper or lower extremities, or just a specific body segment such as the lower back. The main function of an exoskeleton is to augment a user’s strength through the use of motors, or to transfer loads from a user’s weaker muscles and joints to stronger ones. Active exoskeletons, or powered exoskeletons are [...]

Carry Steel, a division of C.W. Carry Ltd., has been established for over 60 years, specializing in the supply and fabrication of structural and miscellaneous steel for oil and gas refineries, heavy oil extraction plants, chemical plants, pulp and paper mills, and commercial, institutional, and industrial buildings. The company is a full line steel service center offering a wide selection of carbon steel products from a large onsite inventory, as well as value added services (bevel, break, cut, cope, drill/punch, form, roll, shear, stamp, thread and more). Carry Steel also provides complete structural, miscellaneous, and custom steel fabrication supply (project management, [...]