Colorado Dept. of Transportation Executive Director Don Hunt and Bud Wright, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) unveiled on Jan. 11 the new National Operations Center of Excellence. The NOCoE is a comprehensive technical services center and website that will help transportation professionals utilize state-of-the-art, real-time proactive management techniques to improve safety and combat congestion, leading to greater system reliability. The launch was made during the annual meeting of the Transportation Research Board in Washington, D,C. “I am very proud that AASHTO and our partners conceived, planned, funded and launched the center in
A $2.5-million grant from the U.S. Dept. of Energy to a coalition of organizations, including the University of Colorado Boulder, will be used to help improve wind-energy forecasting in mountain and valley regions. The grant is led by Vaisala, an international company based in Finland with offices in Louisville, Colo., which specializes in environmental and industrial measurements. The research will target ways to improve the wind energy industry’s weather models for short-term forecasts.According to CU-Boulder project leader Julie Lundquist, an assistant professor in the Dept. of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, better forecasting will help integrate renewably generated electricity into the
The Dodge Momentum Index rose in December, increasing 4.0% from a revised 123.8 in November to 128.7 in December, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. The Momentum Index is a monthly measure of the first (or initial) report for nonresidential building projects in planning, which have been shown to lead construction spending for nonresidential buildings by a full year.The Index is currently at its highest reading since February 2009 and is 17% higher than one year ago. The increases seen in the index in 2014 are a signal that the construction recovery will continue into 2015.The December rise in the
The confidence of Colorado business leaders has increased slightly going into 2015, according to the Leeds Business Confidence Index (LBCI) recently released by the University of Colorado Boulder’s Leeds School of Business. The index is more stable than in has been its 11-year history. “We’ve gone seven quarters with very low volatility quarter to quarter after having very high volatility quarter to quarter for the previous run of the entire survey,” said economist Richard Wobbekind, executive director of the Leeds School’s Business Research Division, which conducts the LBCI. “When business people are assessing the environment they’re seeing it as really
A year full of new programming and record attendances, 2014 defined and expanded the mission of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Colorado chapter. Two new events, the Commercial Real Estate Forum and the Holiday Awards Gala, nurtured commercial real estate’s commitment to green building. The chapter’s signature Rocky Mountain Green and Green Schools Summit events saw record attendances. “There is enormous support behind green building in Colorado,” said Sharon Alton, executive director, USGBC Colorado. “People in both urban centers and rural communities want to grow the state sustainably. This starts with the spaces we build and re-imagine.”USGBC Colorado predicts the
Shailen Bhatt will be the next executive director for the Colorado Dept. of Transportation. He will begin at CDOT in mid-February. The announcement was made by the governor’s office on Jan. 5. Photo courtesy of CDOT Shailen Bhatt will begin his tenure at CDOT in mid-February. Bhatt most recently served as cabinet secretary for the Delaware Dept. of Transportation (DelDOT), where he directed nearly a billion-dollar budget and managed 2,800 employees in the state’s transportation system. During his term, Bhatt delivered $2 billion in infrastructure investments, managed the disaster recovery of two hurricanes and strengthened the financial stewardship of the department
The Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, which had declined in November, improved in December. The index now stands at 92.6 (1985=100), up from 91.0 in November. The Present Situation Index rose to 98.6 from 93.7, while the Expectations Index decreased to 88.5 from 89.3 in November. Consumers’ appraisal of current conditions was considerably more favorable in December. Those saying business conditions are “good” was unchanged at 24.8%, while those claiming business conditions are “bad” decreased from 21.8% to 19.6%. Consumers were also more positive in their assessment of the job market, with the proportion stating jobs are “plentiful” increasing from
Construction firms added jobs in 38 states and the District of Columbia between November 2013 and November 2014 while construction employment increased in 26 states and D.C. between October and November, according to a recent analysis of Labor Dept. data by the Associated General Contractors of America. Association officials noted that the list of states gaining jobs has varied significantly from month to month as the market remains extremely variable. “Construction job growth remains positive overall but volatile,” said Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist. “Although more than three-quarters of states have added construction jobs from year-earlier levels throughout 2014,
The Alliance Center in Denver will begin using the LEED Dynamic Plaque, a revolutionary building performance monitoring and scoring platform from the U.S. Green Building Council that helps change human behavior through dynamic data. It will be one of the first buildings in Colorado to utilize this technology. The LEED Dynamic Plaque empowers landlords, tenants and guests to view energy, water, waste, transportation and human experience on an ongoing basis through electronic display screens located in buildings.In collaboration with USGBC, data from The Alliance Center will upload to an online system that generates an up-to-the minute LEED performance score. The score will enable building users to see how their actions affect the
At a seasonally adjusted annual rate of $677.8 billion, new construction starts in November climbed 13% from the previous month, according to Dodge Data & Analytics (formerly McGraw Hill Construction). Nonresidential building had a particularly strong month, lifted by the start of several unusually large projects, including two massive manufacturing plants and an airport terminal redevelopment. The nonbuilding construction sector also contributed to the latest month’s surge, boosted by a liquefied natural gas facility. Meanwhile, residential building retreated in November, as multifamily housing settled back from its brisk pace in October. For the first 11 months of 2014, new construction
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