Awards

ENR's Best of the Best Projects 2021

VA Project — The U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs health care facility in Omaha, Neb., cited by ENR as a regional Best Project winner, represents a different approach to providing care, the agency said.
*Photo courtesy of Leo A. Daly Inc.*

The 20 projects recognized here are the result of a nearly yearlong effort by ENR editors and roughly 100 construction industry members who judged contest entries at various stages.

Representing the pinnacle of U.S. design and construction achievements among those completed between May 2020 and May 2021, this year’s award winners show the industry at its best, with teams overcoming an array of challenges to deliver impactful community assets.

Responding to ENR’s initial call for entries in March 2021, more than 800 project teams submitted entries. In each of ENR’s 10 regions, editors assembled judging teams to pick winners in 20 categories, listed on the opposite page. Of those regional winners, almost 200 moved up to the national competition.

A new group of judges (below) examined each to determine the best of the best in terms of teamwork, safety, overcoming challenges, innovation and quality. Three projects were shortlisted as Project of the Year nominees, with the Omaha Dept. of Veterans' Affairs Ambulatory Care Center cited as Project of the Year.

Join ENR to celebrate these leading projects at the Award of Excellence gala in New York City March 31-April 1. For more information, visit ENRAwardofExcellence.com.

The Winners

The Judges

Nicholas M. DeNichilo
Mott Macdonald NA
President and CEO (Retired)

K. N. Gunalan
AECOM
Senior Vice President

Alvaro J. Piedrahita
NV2A Group
Advisor

Steve Zimmerman
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates Inc.
Regional Director, Unit Manager and Associate Principal

Keith A. Douglas
The Whiting-Turner Contracting Co.
Executive Vice President

Steven Halverson
The Haskell Co.
Chairman and CEO (Retired)

Jacqueline Vinkler
John A. Martin & Associates Inc.
Partner

Bart Eberwein
Hoffman Construction Co.
Executive Vice President (Retired)

Joan McDonald
Westchester County, New York
Director of Operations

Carole Wedge
Shepley Bulfinch
Principal

Robert W. Ferris
SfL+a Architects/Firstfloor
CEO/President

Barbara Mullenex
Perkins Eastman
Principal and Executive Director

Edgar Westerhof
Arcadis
Director for Flood Risk & Resilience, North America

Excellence in Safety Judges

Carl W. Heinlein
American Contractors Insurance Group
Senior Safety Consultant

Rick Zellen
Zurich Resilience Solutions | Risk Engineering
Assistant Vice President, Principal Construction Risk Engineer

Excellence in Sustainability Judges

Erin McConahey
Arup
Principal

Jeffrey L. Stanton
SmithGroup
Vice President

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Scott Judy is ENR’s Managing Editor. His roughly 34 years as a construction journalist began with an 11-year stint visiting and writing about construction projects in the Midwest region of Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Then, in 2000, Judy helped launch ENR Southeast, now known as ENR Texas & Southeast. After all these years, Judy says his favorite part of being an ENR editor is visiting job sites and learning how—and reporting on—a team’s approach to overcoming the project’s design and construction challenges. And Judy says he never turns down an invitation for a project visit.

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