The city of Houston will receive a $423,069 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency grant to advance greenhouse gas reduction activities as part of the agency’s Climate Showcase Communities initiative. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The city’s funding aims to reduce transportation-related emissions through development of electric vehicle and bicycle infrastructure. The proposal calls for the city to develop an electric vehicle charging infrastructure to be used by both city and commercial or residential vehicles, implement a bike-share program and improve the existing bike infrastructure by using solar-powered LED lighting on bike paths. The project has the potential to reduce greenhouse
Houston-based Fretz Construction Co. and architect David Morris broke ground on a new 3,000-sq-ft multipurpose space and extensive renovations at Holy Ghost Church in Houston, originally built in 1964. Unique program requirements regarding the design of the addition included using similarly laminated wood arches, matching textured brick and stucco. Photo: Lourdes Cuellar Holy Ghost groundbreaking. L to R: Win Haggard; Ronald Clary of Fretz; David Morris, architect; Greg May, pastor; Daniel Perez, Cindy Schultz, Marcial Orellana and Rodolfo Ramirez. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras"
Dallas-based Barnhart Balfour Beatty will serve as construction manager-at-risk for a LEED-gold-targeted, $104-million apartment village to house more than 800 students at the University of California, Riverside. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The 350,000-sq-ft project will begin in June with completion set for July 2013. Sasaki Associates of San Francisco is the architect. Parent company Balfour Beatty Construction of Dallas, in partnership with Fort Lauderdale-based Cummings General Contractors, was awarded a $100-million contract to manage the Terminal 4 Gate Replacement at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. The construction is part of a $1-billion expansion program. Preconstruction for the project began
Baylor Medical Center at Garland’s emergency department expanded with an extensive renovation of its existing 20,300 sq ft and the addition of 4,300 sq ft to accommodate three radiology rooms, one trauma room with seven critical-care treatment rooms, a new triage unit and 18 treatment rooms. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Dallas-based t. howard + associates served as architect. THA’s design and project management team worked around columns hidden behind walls, outdated infrastructure and other design complications. Dallas-based MEDCO Construction was the contractor for the project.
Dallas-based Beck Technology Ltd. released the latest version of DProfiler, the company’s flagship macro building information modeling software. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" With the DProfiler Site3D Module, users can introduce topography to their model that will allow rapid creation of site plans. The new module makes it possible to review construction cost, site cost and energy cost simultaneously in a single application. Also, The Beck Group added four names to its list of managing directors across national operations, including Matt Williamson as Central and South Texas managing director. With the addition of architectural services to its Austin operation,
One outcome of the deadly 2007, rush-hour collapse of the IH-35W bridge crossing the Mississippi River in Minneapolis has been a re-newed focus on bridge safety nationwide. Photo: Stan Williams/courtesy of TxDOT The Spur 98 Bridge spanning the Guadalupe River in Kerrville was completed in August 2006, extending the spur to FM 1338. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" In Texas, the state departments of transportation and public safety work together to ensure that the state’s bridges are safe, Mark Cross, TxDOT spokesman, tells Texas Construction. TxDOT oversees more than 50,000 bridges, including those maintained by state or other governmental
Construction activity in South Texas has fallen off, mirroring other parts of the country. “We are seeing stuff that we were chasing and thought would definitely be going this year pushed back into March of next year,” says Marty Massey, vice president of operations for Skanska USA Building in Harlingen. Skanska is working on the $22-million Texas A&M University Kingsville Citrus Center in Weslaco, set to wrap up in December, and a $25-million, 110,000-sq-ft Texas Dept. of Public Safety headquarters building, also in Weslaco. Rene Capistran, South Texas president for SpawGlass in Harlingen, adds that activity is slower than last
Texas 2010 design rank: No 55 Green rank: No. 23 “We’re in a down economy, and sustainability is still in demand,” says Edgar Farrera, LEED AP, director of sustainability at Marmon Mok, founded in 1953 and focusing on education, health care and public projects. “Clients and owners are educated about this topic. They see it deals with bottom-line issues and environmental ones.” Photo: Marmon Mok Architecture div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Farrera expects green building will become standard practice and be part of building codes. Recognizing that, the firm has invested in educating its professional staff about LEED, and
Texas 2010 design rank: No 18 Green rank: No. 16 Drawing on a decades-long commitment to sustainability, the architecture and engineering firm Parkhill, Smith & Cooper of Lubbock ranked 16th on the Texas Construction Top Green Design Firm listing. Photo: Parkhill, Smith & Cooper div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" “Most of our clients in West Texas have always been sensitive to the environment,” says Mary Crites, a principal with the firm that was founded in 1945. “When LEED came along, it was easy for us to embrace. We look at the best value for the client.” The firm focuses
When an ambulance rushed fatally wounded President John F. Kennedy to Parkland Hospital in Dallas in 1963, the facility sported the latest equipment and a skilled team of clinicians. Image: HDR+Corgan. An exterior design rendering of the Parkland Hospital, designed by HDR and Corgan. Image: HDR+Corgan. An aerial view of the massive Parkland replacement hopsital project, to break ground this fall. Even today, the 54-year-old hospital continues to excel in care delivery, but with the passage of time, the physical plant has struggled to keep up with changing technologies, codes and an increasing numbers of patients. But that’s about to
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