Industry professionals from across the U.S. donated their time and expertise to help ENR identify and honor the pinnacle achievements in design and construction, reviewing projects completed in the U.S. and Puerto Rico between June 2013 and June 2014. Over 700 project teams submitted their best work to ENR's regional "Best Projects" competitions. For each of the ten regions, our editors assembled an independent panel of industry judges to home in on the winners in 19 categories. The winners of the regional contests moved on to the national competition.

A new, national jury of independent industry individuals (listed below) was assembled to examine the regional winners to distinguish the "Best of the Best" in teamwork, safety, success in overcoming challenges, innovation and quality. A separate jury of industry safety experts chose the "Excellence in Safety" 'award-winning project.

Any judge who's firm worked on a project in a given category was assigned to a different category.

ENR thanks the judges for their dedication and hundreds of hours of time they collectively devoted to examining the entries. The awards would not be possible without the efforts of these volunteers.

Brent Darnell, President/Owner

DARNELL

Brent Darnell International

Brent Darnell, a mechanical engineer and a graduate of Georgia Tech, is a leading authority on emotional intelligence and a pioneer in its use in the construction industry. Since 2000, Darnell has helped to improve the social competence and leadership skills of thousands of people in over 70 companies in more than 20 countries around the world. He is an adjunct professor at Auburn and Penn State, and his book, The People-Profit Connection has received rave reviews. His Tough Guy series of books have also made a real impact industry wide. He was recently named one of the Top 25 Newsmakers for 2012 by Engineering News-Record. He believes in a holistic approach to personal development, creating fundamental and lasting change.

John F. Dewar, Vice President, North Texas Transportation

DEWAR

John Dewar is a vice president with Freese and Nichols, Inc. in Fort Worth, Texas, and leads the firm’s North Texas Transportation Group. With almost three decades of experience, Dewar has a range of experience with civil and structural projects for both public and private clients. Dewar is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and the University of California, Berkeley.

Greg Douglas, Vice President, Design-Build Services

DOUGLAS

Greg Douglas has more than 30 years of design and construction experience and serves as the Vice-President of Design-Build Services for Miron Construction Co., Inc. Miron is listed among the top 100 general contractors in the United States by Engineering News Record (based on posted revenue of $685 million for 2013) and provides innovative pre-construction, construction management, design-build, industrial and general construction services. Greg is a member of the American Institute of Architecture. He is the past president of the AIA Northeast Wisconsin Chapter, former board member of AIA Wisconsin, and remains an active AIA member. He is also a LEED AP BD+C.  In addition, he serves as a Northeast Wisconsin Technical College Architectural Program Advisory Committee Member.

Dan Dumke, Vice President

DUMKE

Balfour Beatty

Daniel Dumke is Vice President for Balfour Beatty Construction, where he is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations and work acquisition efforts in the greater Los Angeles and Orange County areas. He has over 33 years of experience directing company operations and managing significant projects, such as the $300-million design-build Central Plant for Los Angeles World Airports at LAX, the $270-million Scripps Cardiovascular Institute at the La Jolla Medical Center and the $220-million Walt Disney Concert Hall in downtown Los Angeles. Dumke has been an active member of the Los Angeles Associated General Contractors association, having served on its Board of Directors. 

Carl Heinlein, Senior Safety Consultant

HEINLEIN

American Contractors Insurance Group

Carl Heinlein joined ACIG in February 2002.  Prior to coming to work for ACIG, he worked as the director of construction services for FDR and Associates in Nashville, Tenn.  He is also the past National Safety & Health Director for the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America. Heinlein holds a Master's degree in Safety & Environmental Management from West Virginia University and the ARM, CPEA, CRIS, CSHM, CSP, OHST and STS safety, health, environmental and risk management certifications and designations. Heinlein is a member of the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) Construction Sector. He is a recipient of the Distinguished Service to Safety Award by the National Safety Council, the group’s highest honor.

Mike Holland, President/CEO

HOLLAND

American Council for Construction Education

Mike Holland is a construction executive with over 30 years of progressive professional growth in large and small general contracting and construction management companies, he is also president of a $50 million/year subcontracting and manufacturing company working nationally and internationally. As president and CEO of the American Council for Construction Education in San Antonio, Texas, he is responsible for the day to day affairs of the Council, a non-profit organization promoting quality construction education and accrediting programs in post-secondary institutions.

Ken Kubacki, Vice President/Director, Construction & Engineering

KUBACKI

Granite Construction Co.

Ken Kubacki, vice president and director of construction and engineering at Granite Construction Co., has 24 years of construction experience, specializing in alternative procurement for large, complex transportation projects. He has been directly involved in the project management of $1.3 billion in design-build and CMGC contracts in the Western U.S., including the Mountain View Corridor, the largest CMGC contract in Utah DOT history to date. He has used his knowledge of alternative procurement to mentor regional offices in CMAR and CMGC. Collaborative by nature, he is a proven team builder and five-time winner of the AGC Marvin M. Black Excellence in Partnering Award. Kubacki is active in the AGC, and currently serves as Chairman of the Contracting Forum in AGC’s Highway & Transportation Division.

Gary Meggison, Vice President

MEGGISON

RJM Construction

Gary Meggison has more than 35 years of experience in the Colorado construction industry and offers an influential network of relationships among commercial construction leaders.  He provides deep and broad expertise from initial deal development through full-cycle project management of major commercial construction projects.  His experience and relationships with vendors and subcontractors leverages his industry expertise bringing great value to the clients he works with.  He has direct responsibility for procuring and managing in excess of $40 million of construction projects per year attesting to his ability to initiate, develop and negotiate a variety of projects in office, industrial, healthcare, interiors, retail and parking facilities.

Robert Matthew Noblett, Partner

NOBLETT

Behnisch Architekten

Robert Matthew Noblett (Matt Noblett), NCARB, AIA is Partner of Behnisch Architekten, Boston. Born in 1971 in Cleveland, Ohio, he received his Bachelor of Science in Architectural Studies in 1994 from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a Master of Architecture in 1997 at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, MA. Matt has worked in a variety of architectural firms, including Rafael Viñoly Architects PC in New York, NY, where he served as project manager for large-scale and significant projects, in both Boston and San Francisco. In 2006, he joined Behnisch Architekten, Boston, where he has been leading as executive partner since 2009. Noblett also has taught at institutions of higher education in Boston, and has lectured extensively worldwide on topics pertaining to sustainable architecture and design excellence.

Dorri Giles Raposa, Senior Vice President

RAPOSA

HDR

In her role at HDR, Dorri Giles Raposa is responsible for strategic growth and service expansion of HDR’s Transport business. Raposa previously served as HDR’s east region director of marketing, responsible for more than $300 million in fees derived from the region’s 30 business units. She has been involved in the design and construction industry for more than 30 years as a strategist, communicator and facilitator. Raposa served as the Founding Executive Director of The Engineering Center Boston, representing ACEC/New England (now ACEC/Massachusetts), the Boston Society of Civil Engineers Section/ASCE and the Massachusetts Association of Land Surveyors and Civil Engineers.

Ken Schacherbauer, Vice President

SCHACHERBAUER

Tutor Perini Building Corp.

Ken Schacherbauer has been employed with Tutor Perini for over 35 years and has been involved with many of the company’s most notable projects, including Glendale Arena, Chase Field, U.S. Airways Center, The Sheraton Phoenix Downtown Hotel, Grand Canyon University’s Events Center in Arizona,  and The Ritz-Carlton at Lake Las Vegas, and Trump International Hotel & Tower in NV.  He is currently assigned to the Hudson Yards project in Manhattan NY. 

Paul Schwer, President

SCHWER

PAE

Paul Schwer leads a talented group of engineers as the President of PAE and is a thought leader in the industry. He has worked with some of the most forward thinking architects, owners and contractors across the country to design beautiful, high-performing buildings. The proof is in his projects which range from the Bullitt Center, a previous ENR Best of the Best winner, which is expected to be the largest commercial Living Building in the world, to the Rocky Mountain Institute’s new headquarters, which is seeking to go beyond Net Zero Energy, to his favorite project, the Net Zero tree house he built in his backyard with his sons. PAE has offices in Portland, Seattle and San Francisco.

Leslie Shoemaker, President, Infrastructure Group

SCHOEMAKER

Tetra Tech

Leslie Shoemaker is the president of the infrastructure group at Tetra Tech, managing its global operations in water and civil infrastructure across North America. In this role she leads a practice that provides interdisciplinary and resilient solutions to water quality and supply management, flood protection, and civil infrastructure needs. Dr. Shoemaker has over 25 years’ experience in the management of watershed and NPDES program support, green infrastructure/stormwater management, large scale watershed studies, modeling and systems development, and sustainability planning and facilitation. Her technical specialty is in the development of analysis systems and model applications for watershed management, green infrastructure in communities addressing stormwater and TMDL implementation. Shoemaker has supported municipalities across the United States in developing their integrated watershed management programs, aligning multiple program objectives, and designing sustainability reporting. She holds a BA in mathematics from Hamilton College, a master of engineering from Cornell University, and a Ph.D in agricultural engineering from the University of Maryland.

Howard S. Wertheimer, Director, Capital Planning and Space Management

WERTHEIMER

Georgia Institute of Technology

Howard S. Wertheimer, a Fellow in the American Institute of Architects and a LEED Accredited Professional, is the Director of Capital Planning & Space Management at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where he has strategic oversight of the Campus Master Plan, Landscape Master Plan, Historic Preservation Plan and campus-wide sustainability initiatives. As part of the Space Management portfolio, Howard has strategic oversight of almost 15 million square feet of space in 200 buildings on 400 acres, including more than 165 centrally scheduled classrooms and instructional spaces on campus. Prior to joining Georgia Tech in November 2006, Howard was a partner and principal at Lord, Aeck & Sargent Architects where he focused on the planning, programming and design of technically sophisticated college and university facilities. He is a frequent lecturer and presenter, and has been an active participant in numerous community and professional organizations, including AIA, SCUP, AASHE, AUA, NACUBO and Leadership Atlanta.

David Wessin, Vice President, Safety & Loss Control

WESSIN

Coastal Construction

David Wessin is a highly respected safety professional in the construction industry with over 30 years’ experience in developing and managing effective safety and loss control programs. Wessin works extensively with Coastal’s team of 20 Safety Managers to closely monitor all projects for regulatory compliance and risk exposure.  Part of Coastal’s commitment to safety includes all trade contractors submitting detailed site specific safety plans for each project.  Several years ago, he implemented contract language requiring everyone working on a Coastal project to have a current OSHA 10-Hour certification.  Coastal has been recognized nationally in by the Associated General Contractors of America and Willis Insurance, and awarded the construction industries most prestigious safety award, the Safety Excellence Award.  Coastal has been awarded the Sunshine State Safety Award several times from the University of South Florida and is a partner in the OSHA/AGC Strategic Partnership Program. Wessin currently serves as president of the Safety Alliance for Excellence (SAFE), an organization he founded in the Miami area and serves nationally on the AGC Safety Committee.

Paul Woolford, Senior Vice President/Director of Design

WOOLFORD

HOK

Paul Woolford is a Senior Vice President/Design Principal for HOK San Francisco and is responsible for some of HOK’s most complex and creative buildings. As Design Principal for the firm, Woolford leads an interdisciplinary team comprised of architects, engineers, land planners, interiors and landscape designers. His designs and practice have been honored with numerous awards including: ENR’s California Design Firm of the Year; Regional, State and National AIA Design Excellence Awards; Research & Development Magazine’s “Laboratory of the Year Award”; and various accolades from the USGBC for LEED Platinum and Gold certified projects. Woolford earned his Bachelor of Architecture at Cornell University with honors. He has been active in the American Institute of Architects at the state level and national levels, and was named an “Outstanding Young Architect of the Year.” He has both chaired and been a juror for numerous AIA design awards. Additionally, Woolford has taught design at the University of California, Berkeley; Cornell University; and Savannah College of Art & Design. He lectures around the world on environmental and design issues.