A new 1-MW solar power plant is being planned for Arizona State University’s Polytechnic Campus in Mesa, Ariz. The project will be built as a partnership between the school, Phoenix-based utility Salt River Project and San Jose, Calif.-based SunPower Corp. Photo courtesy SunPower SunPower's C7 Tracker technology is designed to concentrate the sun's power sevenfold by combining single-axis tracking with rows of parabolic mirrors. SunPower will engineer, construct, operate and maintain the plant on the southeast corner of the ASU Polytechnic campus. SRP has agreed to buy the entire output of the solar plant, and ASU will purchase an equivalent

The annual World of Concrete show opened its doors in Las Vegas this week with better moods and traffic. The estimated attendance of 50,000 was an improvement over 2011, but 10% less than just two years ago. Photo by Tudor Van Hampton Attendance at this year's World of Concrete is expected to reach 50,000, slightly higher than last year's 48,554. Photo by Tony Illia While some longtime large exhibitors were missing this year, smaller independent dealers picked up the slack. "There is a tinge of optimism," said Ed Sullivan, chief economist for the Skokie, Ill.-based Portland Cement Association, on the first day of

Barry Bartle BARTLEhas been named president at Phoenix-based NAI Horizon and will lead the strategic repositioning of the Property Management Division to help the commercial real estate firm grow its management portfolio to 10 million sq ft. With a career spanning 30 years, Bartle has led property management divisions for such firms as RREEF, Cushman and Wakefield and Pacific Office Properties, directing more than $2 billion in real estate investments for more than 100 clients.  Anthony Jeffers has been hired as a project manager for Johnson Carlier, Tempe, Ariz. Jeffers has more than a decade of experience in construction management,

Ahern Rentals Inc., the 58-year-old family-owned equipment rental giant that filed for voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Dec. 22, prided itself on not selling out. Now, at the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Reno, Nev., Ahern's Chapter 11 proceedings unfold on the heels of an announced merger between the construction industry's two largest rental companies—United Rentals Inc. and RSC Holdings Inc.—which for more than a decade have been chipping away at independents like Ahern through roll-ups, volume purchasing and price competition. Tudor Van Hampton for ENR Don Ahern is a fixture at equipment shows such as World of Concrete. Photo by

An audacious plan is under way to build as many as 24 new schools in key markets across the U.S. solely through corporate funding, donated materials and volunteer labor. Image courtesy Stantec The 6,291-sq-ft Safari building at Roadrunner Elementary School in Phoenix will be built by donated labor and materials. Image courtesy Stantec Stantec architect Annette Zacherson designed the project to maximize natural light through clerestory windows, light shelves and shaded light wells to boost student learning. Dubbed the Green Schoolhouse Series, the idea sprung from father-and-son team Marshall and Jeff Zotara, co-founders of Cause and Effect Evolutions, a Carlsbad,

Mayo Clinic broke ground for a cutting edge cancer therapy facility at its Phoenix campus, with Hunt Construction Group, Scottsdale, as general contractor and AECOM, Minneapolis, as architect. The $182-million facility will house Mayo Clinic's Proton Beam Therapy program. Image courtesy Mayo Clinic Rendering of Mayo Clinic's new Phoenix facility, to house new proton beam therapy treatment equipment. As part of the integrated program, Mayo Clinic will build facilities on Mayo's campuses in Minnesota and Arizona. The Arizona proton beam therapy program will be located east of the Mayo Clinic Specialty Building on the Phoenix campus at 56th Street and

SnapShot  November 14, 2011 Submitted By: Marsha Crockett, Brand Communications Manager, DLR Group, Phoenix Uplights wash a wing-like canopy in blue light to harmonize with the dusk desert sky at West-MEC Aviation Technology Center, a specialty high school in Glendale, Ariz. The facility’s design was inspired by Luke Air Force Base and the Glendale Airport, both located nearby. A metal facade reflects the fluidity of aircraft design. Photographer: Neil Koppes

Bradford Gatlin joins Lang Wyatt Construction as project manager. With a degree in civil engineering, he has 37 years of experience in planning, management, control and supervision for projects including commercial, mining, government and education. Gatlin most recently worked with Concord General Contracting for 12 years, and prior to that he was with T.L. Roof. Photo courtesy Rider Levett Bucknall Ward Simpson Sundt Construction Inc. has hired Scot Bennett as a business development representative. Bennett brings more than a decade of business development and design experience to Sundt, having previously served as a designer and then director of business development

With plans for 18 million sq ft of commercial space and 37,000 homes, Albuquerque's master-planned sustainable community, Mesa del Sol, was selected as an ideal test site for a collaborative U.S.-Japanese demonstration project to examine emerging technologies that digitally control and balance power generated by various energy sources, including renewables. Photo courtesy of Mesa del Sol Designed by Antoine Predock, Albuquerque's Aperture Center will be the site of a U.S.-Japan study of smart grid technology. Upon completion of Mesa del Sol's $6-million retrofit in spring 2012, the community's centerpiece, the Antoine Predock-designed Aperture Center, will be home to the three-year

Residents of two rural Southern Arizona towns are celebrating the reopening of a freeway bridge that had been severely damaged earlier this year after two semi-trucks caught fire during an accident. The bridge over Interstate 10 was demolished and rebuilt in only six months, alleviating a 10-mile detour for residents on either side of the freeway. Photo courtesy ADOT Crews install a new concrete box girder on the Mescal Road/J-Six Ranch Road Bridge over I-10 in southern Arizona as lighning lights up the night sky. Photo Courtesy ADOT The fire-damaged bridge was demolished just 24 days after the fire. Crews