The Jennie Smoly Caruthers Biotechnology Building on the University of Colorado Boulder’s East Campus has earned LEED-Platinum designation for new construction from the U.S. Green Building Council. The 336,800-sq-ft facility houses more than 60 faculty and 500 researchers, staff and students from various science, humanities and engineering disciplines. Photo courtesy of JE Dunn Construction The Jennie Smoly Caruthers Building at CU Boulder supports life-changing research for a variety of health issues. The Jennie Smoly Caruthers building is 30% more energy efficient and 40% more water efficient than similar, code-compliant research buildings that have been recently built. Designers maximized energy efficiency in many
The Utah Dept. of Transportation has completed the Utah County I-15 Corridor Expansion project. Construction was finished in an unprecedented 35 months, making I-15 CORE the fastest billion-dollar public highway project ever built in the United States. I-15 CORE reconstructed 24 miles of freeway from Lehi to Spanish Fork. Photo courtesy of HDR I-15 CORE reconstructed 24 miles of freeway from Lehi to Spanish Fork and widened the freeway by two lanes in each direction. The project widened the freeway by two lanes in each direction; replaced the original asphalt with new 40-year concrete pavement, extended the Express Lane from Lehi’s
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined slightly in November, posted another decrease in December. The index now stands at 65.1, down from 71.5 in November. The Expectations Index declined sharply to 66.5 from 80.9. The Present Situation Index increased to 62.8 from 57.4 last month. However, consumers’ assessment of current conditions improved in December. Those stating business conditions are “good” rose to 17.1% from 14.6%, while those stating business conditions are “bad” decreased to 27.3% from 31.2%. Consumers’ appraisal of the labor market was mixed. Those saying jobs are “plentiful” edged down to 10.3% from 11.0%, while
As it did in October, the Credit Managers Index (CMI) from the National Association of Credit Management slipped again in December, from 55.2 to 54.9. The most dramatic movement was in sales, which plummeted to 56.7, a low last seen in December 2009 and almost a full point lower than in October 2012. According to NACM, the decline reinforces the notion that business stalled at the end of last year in anticipation of what could have happened with spending and taxation. There was some cautious optimism last fall, but that optimism has evaporated, the association said.The other favorable factors did
The Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), which reports economic activity from 25 companies representing a cross-section of the $725-billion equipment finance sector, showed that the industry’s overall new business volume for November was $6.4 billion, up 3% from volume of $6.2 billion in the same period in 2011. The companies’ volume was down 16% from the previous month, and their year-to-date cumulative new business volume increased 15%. Receivables over 30 days increased for the first time in six months to 2.0%, up from 1.7% in October, and they were unchanged when compared to the same period in 2011.Charge-offs were up
After the board of directors for Denver’s Regional Transportation District approved moving forward with a FasTracks Internal Savings Account to help fund FasTracks projects that are not fully funded, RTD staff will begin the process of implementing the plan. The savings account is comprised of eight items that are expected to generate nearly $300 million by 2017. The funds would be used to build the North Metro Line to at least 72nd Avenue in Westminster and complete RTD’s commitment on the U.S. 36 Bus Rapid Transit project, a partnership with the Colorado Dept. of Transportation. The RTD board has been
Colorado business leaders’ optimism is modest going into the first quarter of 2013, with uncertainty surrounding the country’s political and economic environments, according to the most recent quarterly Leeds Business Confidence Index, or LBCI, released Jan. 2 by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. For the first quarter of 2013, the LBCI, conducted by the Leeds School’s Business Research Division, posted an overall confidence reading of 51.3, down slightly from 51.6 in the fourth quarter of 2012. A reading greater than the neutral mark of 50 indicates positive expectations and one less than 50 indicates negative expectations
Construction spending dipped from October to November, but resolution of the uncertainty regarding federal taxes for 2013 should unleash more private construction investment, according to an analysis of new federal data recently released by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials warned, however, that unresolved issues about federal construction spending, including storm relief for northeastern states, will hold down public construction spending. “Preliminary data from the Census Bureau for November shows overall construction spending slipped 0.3% from October’s total after seven months of steady gains,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “The more significant comparison, however, is with
It was a year that many had hoped would mark a distinct end to the recession and the return to better times. However, political uncertainty prevented a dramatic recovery in 2012; instead, the Southwest saw recovery in fits and starts. While the housing market returned and helped spur private development, large government projects were wrapping up and new ones weren't coming online to replace them. For every two companies doing well, there were four that were still struggling. Related Links: How Ahern Rentals Landed in Bankruptcy Intel Begins Construction on $300M R&D Facility at Chandler Campus Groundbreaking Date Set for
Some buildings take longer to construct than others, but few people expected it would take two decades to create a new federal courthouse in Salt Lake City. Related Links: Engineering News Record Architectural Record The process to upgrade or replace the city's aging Frank E. Moss Courthouse on Main Street began in the early 1990s, well before tighter security requirements for federal buildings were put into place after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Not only did the old courthouse not meet new blast-proof and perimeter security standards set by Congress in 2001, it also did not allow for the separate
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