Photo Courtesy of SHP Leading Design New international sustainable schools initiative involves 30 nations. Related Links: Global Coalition for Green Schools U.S. Green Building Council World Green Building Council Underwriter Laboratories With the recent launch of the Global Coalition for Green Schools, the U.S. Green Building Council and the World Green Building Council are putting a stronger-than-ever emphasis on supporting the design, construction and operation of sustainable schools. The coalition will work to reshape schools and "fundamentally change" the way students learn about the world around them, says the USGBC."This is not just about energy efficiency" but about the whole
Related Links: Ohio Senate U.S. Green Building Council American Chemistry Council Ohio Senate hearings on a non-binding resolution to ban the use of the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design green building rating system on public projects will likely take place early next year. If passed by both houses of the Ohio General Assembly, the resolution would recommend to the Ohio Facilities Construction Commission a ban on the use of LEED.On Oct. 31, Ohio state Sens. Joe Uecker (R-Loveland) and Tim Shaffer (R-Lancaster) introduced Ohio State Concurrent Resolution 25, which recommends banning the new LEED Version
Photo by AP Wideworld Collapse Kills 54 in Latvia The city council of Riga, Latvia, has announced the names of the 54 people killed on Nov. 21 by the roof collapse at the Maxima supermarket in the city's Zolitude district. Investigations are focusing on the construction of a garden on the store's 4,000-sq-meter roof, according to the store's locally based main contractor, S.I.A. Re Re.Since opening two years ago, the roof had supported snow loads "substantially" greater than the soil being placed, according to the contractor. The roof was inspected by independent engineers two days before the collapse, the company
Kiewit Offshore gas-extraction platform used at the Tamar gas field was built at a Kiewit modular site in Texas. Related Links: Israel Seeks First LNG Terminal Builder Offshore Infrastructure Projects Loom in Israel With natural gas set to fuel 80% of Israel's power production by 2020 following the discovery, in 2009, of two large fields off its Mediterranean Sea coast, the country now is pushing to expand storage and transportation infrastructure, both offshore and on land. Despite environmental opposition, billions are set to be invested.Israel's National Planning Commission on Nov. 11 cleared two projects in central and northern Israel to
Courtesy Georgia Power Unite 4 concrete mat will serve as the foundation for all of the nuclear island structures, including the containment vessel and the shield building. Related Links: Vogtle Nuke Plant Builders Face Rising Cost Pressures Vogtle Suppliers Continue to Miss the Mark for Quality Control Workers at the Plant Vogtle nuclear expansion project on Nov. 21 completed placement of basemat structural concrete for the nuclear island at Unit 4, according to plant owner/operator Georgia Power. The utility called the placement "a significant accomplishment in the construction of the project."Georgia Power, which owns 45.7% of the two planned 1,117-MW
Israel Electric Smokestack removal was a condition for building a new natural-gas-fired powerplant at the site of a 60s-era oil-burning power station in Haifa. In a first of a kind operation in Israel, two 80-meter-high smokestacks at a Haifa power plant built in the 1960s have been dismantled by utilty Israel Electric Corp.The facility was replaced by a $750-million combined cycle plant supplied by Siemans that came on line last year. Its two units are 370 MW each.The oil-burning smokestacks at the original 140-MW Haifa Power Station were, for decades, among the most visible landmarks in the skyline of the
Rosatom The Russian Federation hopes its nuclear-building efforts, such as its Baltic NPP reactor near the Lithuanian border, will help support a new era of infrastructure. Related Links: Russian Rail Link to North Korea Rebuilt Worldwide Workflow Is Growing As An Industry Project Norm Global Best Projects Winner, Power Industrial: CCPP Yajva State District Powerplant, Perm, Russia Twin Spans Set a New Pace in Russia's Far East Relentless scrutiny of troubled projects for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and efforts to grow Russia's energy exports have resulted in the country forming, on Nov. 5, a national Construction, Housing and Utilities
Photo courtesy of Partnerships BC Replacement for the 65-year-old John Hart Generating Station will be partially underground to protect fish habitat, boost seismic safety and improve power reliability. Despite recent criticism of exorbitant rate increases tied to its building program, Canadian provincial utility company BC Hydro awarded a $900-million contract to the design-build team of Montreal-based SNC-Lavalin and Argentina-based IMPSA to replace the 65-year-old John Hart Generating Station on Vancouver Island.The project involves the construction of a replacement water intake at the John Hart Spillway Dam, replacement of the three penstocks with an approximately 1.2-mile-long tunnel, construction of a new
Photo courtesy of wikimapia. Angola LNG says its plant has a capacity of 5.2 million tons (6.8 Bcm) per year; 360,000 cm of full-containment LNG storage, LPG and condensate storage; and a loading jetty sized to accommodate ships up to 210 cm. Related Links: Ernst & Young Report on Opportunties for Natural Gas Development in Africa IGU World NLG Report 2013 Africa hopes to ramp up its liquefied natural gas (LNG) capacity by an additional 88.7 metric tonnes per year by 2020, despite the withdrawal of leading U.S. energy company Chevron Corp. from one of the largest liquefaction plants on
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