Related Links: New WEF Chief Outlines Key Priorities WEFTEC Convention website Finding solutions to the intractable challenges facing the health of the nation's waters "must be rooted in innovation and technology," said Lisa Jackson, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency administrator, at the Water Environment Federation's annual conference.Speaking at the WEFTEC gathering, held from Sept. 29 to Oct. 3 in New Orleans, Jackson noted that the U.S. is a global leader in terms of environmental technologies and innovations. Getting countries to share knowledge and helping them access American know-how will address global water challenges, she said. To that end, Jackson and Francisco
Related Links: WEFTEC Offical Website WEFTEC Opening Day Schedule The Water Environment Federation has put innovation and reaching out to the global community at the center of its new strategic direction, says Cordell Samuels, the association's incoming president. SAMUELSSamuels says that, over the past two years, the association's leaders have taken a hard look at the group's strategic plan and decided "to strengthen some of the things we have always done and to craft new initiatives going forward."Association officials planned to outline the new strategic direction for WEF at the group's annual WEFTEC convention, set for Sept. 30-Oct. 3 in
Related Links: Amid PPP Slowdown, India Turns to Cash Contracts Green Building Booms in India The American Institute of Architects and the Commerce Dept. are gearing up for a trade mission, which will begin on Oct. 14, to major cities in India. The aim is to promote the services of U.S. design and architecture firms in India and Sri Lanka.The trip, which comprises Chennai, Calcutta and Bangalore, is the first of three such missions planned over the next three years. All of the trips will be financed by a recently announced Commerce Dept. grant to AIA as well as the
Related Links: Construction Users Roundtable EPA's Stormwater Pollution Prevention for Construction Activities Owners, contractors and other industry participants joined in Washington, D.C., to preview and debate market prospects and how risk-taking and value creation are key connections for the the industry's future.Michael Shapiro, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deputy assistant administrator of water, emphasized to the Sept. 11-12 conference, sponsored by ENR and owners group Construction Users Roundtable, the agency focus on sustainability. Infusing traditional infrastructure techniques with green steps can help build "21st-century urban stormwater management systems … to achieve the most sustainable use of water," he said.Rayola Dougher, senior
Related Links: Link to text of Romney's energy white paper Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney’s energy plan, released on Aug. 23, seeks a dramatic increase in domestic oil, gas and coal production, which he said would create jobs in construction, manufacturing and other sectors.In his plan, Romney calls for North American energy independence by 2020, with a prime focus on increased exploration for fossil fuels in the U.S. He also pledges to approve the controversial Keystone XL crude oil pipeline project, and expand offshore oil and gas drilling, particularly off the coasts of Florida and Virginia.In perhaps the most
The Top 200 Environmental Firms managed to grow revenue in 2011 despite economic uncertainties around the world and tightening infrastructure budgets in the public sector, traditionally a mainstay for this group. But where one window closed, a door opened for providers of environmental services on the 2012 list. Overall revenue was up 5%, to $54.1 billion, a slower rise than the 6.2% of the previous year but buoyed by increases in non-U.S. work and private-sector activity, which each exceeded 20%.The domestic market still made up a major share of firms' revenue base, but completed projects and changing public-sector spending patterns
The latest employment statistics from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, released August 3, showed a slight increase in jobs overall, but also an increase in the unemployment rate.Total non-farm payroll employment edged up by 163,000 jobs in July, but the unemployment rate ticked up slightly, from 8.217% in June to 8.254% in July.Alan Krueger, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers, said in a statement that the report provides further evidence “that the U.S. economy is continuing to recover from the worst downturn since the Great Depression.”But those numbers are giving the construction industry little to cheer about. Construction employment
Construction union leaders released a 165-page report on May 31 aimed at discrediting market penetration claims of their longtime open-shop nemesis, the Associated Builders and Contractors. The report, produced in four months by the AFL-CIO-funded National Labor College, comes in an election year amid growing ABC activism against mandated project labor agreements."ABC is particularly aggressive in [its] attempts to block familysupporting PLAs," said Laborers' union General President Terry O'Sullivan. It intends "to drive down wages, undermine training and skirt safety standards, while contractor profits increase at the expense of taxpayers and workers." The report claims, among other things, that ABC's
Photo By Bruce Buckley Building-trades President Sean McGarvey gives his first major union address since taking over after the sudden death of his predecessor on April 8. Photo By Bruce Buckley President Obama told union members that Congress should pass transportation funding legislation "right away." Job creation in an election year was the top priority for speakers and attendees at the construction unions' annual legislative conference in Washington, D.C., on April 30. Members of the AFL-CIO's Building and Construction Trades Dept. looked for signs of optimism not just from keynote speaker President Obama but also from newly elected President Sean
Augmented reality is a technology that overlays new text and graphics onto a single live view, generally in real time, on a device’s viewfinder (ENR 4/9 p. 17).BRPH Architects-Engineers Inc. (No. 309) has become one of the first design firms to test augmented reality as a design tool, says Cris Vigil, BRPH senior vice president. While special-izing in complex facilities, BRPH was searching for a way to draw on the expertise of its various offices, he notes. How could the firm best take advantage of building information modeling in a collaborative environment across its five offices?BRPH uses augmented reality in
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