After being invited in 2007 to participate in the U.S. Green Building Council’s pre-certification program for new construction, Wells Fargo spent nearly two years re-tooling the design and construction parameters for its retail banking stores to meet LEED requirements. Related Links: Springs Gets Colorado�s First LEED-Pre-certified Bank By mid-2008, Wells Fargo had been awarded pre-certified LEED-Silver designation by the USGBC based on the company’s adoption of ecofriendly design parameters. Those called for a 20% reduction in energy use and 40% reduction in water consumption, long considered pivotal benchmarks for green buildings. The bank joins more than 40 corporate members of

1800 Larimer St. is the first office tower built in Denver�s central business district in nearly 25 years and the first to achieve LEED Platinum. The 23-story building, which will be the new regional headquarters for Xcel Energy (occupying floors 3 through 16), offers 500,000 sq ft of environmentally friendly floor space. Slide Show div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" Construction began in May 2008 and was virtually complete this spring. Xcel�s phased move-in from offices in three different locations will be complete by early August. �Part of the project�s sustainable, transit-oriented appeal is the connection to the Union Station

Nearly 40 years have passed since Dick Saunders started his own company to provide himself with a retirement fund and a �little bit of ownership.� He got more than he bargained for. Saunders Construction now has more than 350 people in skilled field positions, and it consistently has ranked among the top contractors in the Rocky Mountain region. The firm also has been named Mountain States Construction�s 2010 Colorado Contractor of the Year. �Most satisfying to me is that throughout our history, the company has had a great reputation and accolades,� says Saunders, who turns 70 in August and still

For nearly 100 years, Hebgen Dam has held back the water of Montana�s Madison River, forming Hebgen Lake, a 15-mile-long, 2.5-mile-wide popular vacation and fishing spot near Yellowstone National Park. Photo courtesy of PPL Montana Pacific Pile and Marine will finish construction on cofferdams in July, allowing a total drawdown of water so workers can investigate the missing stoplogs and a 17-ft-tall hole in the dam. Photo courtesy of PPL Montana The cofferdam consists of two 16-ft-wide and 80-ft-tall steel cylinders filled with 45,000 cu yd of backfill each. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" But in the last couple

John Okland emigrated from Norway to the U.S. in the early 1900s, and the company he founded in 1918 is now one of the largest construction companies in the country. div id="articleExtrasA" div id="articleExtrasB" div id="articleExtras" The fact that Okland Construction � ranked No. 56 nationally by Engineering-News Record in 2009 revenues � continues to thrive into its fourth generation of family management is not lost on Randy Okland, current company president and grandson of John Okland. �One thing that�s been good as a family business is the fact that we�ve been able to phase in and out generations,� Randy

Today�s MKK Consulting Engineers Inc.�three bustling offices tackling a full docket of projects�is a far cry from the company that began in the 1950s as a sole practice. A lot has changed, but the values and discipline instilled by founder Jim Konkel have continued in earnest. �We like to hire around a person�s value system; it needs to match ours,� MKK President Stuart Monical says. �We�re about customer service, innovation, integrity, knowledge, passion and teamwork. You can train people in the technical aspects of the work, but it�s harder to train values. They have to have those already.� Birth of

Designed by Utah architect Richard K.A. Kletting, the $2.7-million Utah State Capitol was dedicated in 1916 and combined a neoclassical style with modern construction methods and materials, including reinforced concrete, elevators and electric lighting. But decades of interior renovations had not honored the 320,000-sq-ft building’s original design, and its mechanical systems were in serious need of upgrading, says historic renovation architect Charles Shepherd of Salt Lake City’s MJSA Architects. These issues, combined with the Capitol’s location on an earthquake fault line, set the wheels in motion for a major renovation. In 2002 the Capitol Preservation Board researched tearing the building

Related Links: All-Season Luxury 14th Street Makeover After years of planning, construction of the long-awaited 14th Street capital improvements will begin in the fall. The plan to enhance the corridor has been in the works since 2005, when Denver (city and county), the Downtown Denver Business Improvement District and the Downtown Denver Partnership began discussions with area property owners. High-profile construction and renovation projects, including the Four Seasons Hotel and Residences, the Spire Building and the Hilton Garden Inn, were a major catalyst for the streetscaping initiative, says John Desmond, vice president of urban planning and environment for the Downtown

This year will be another tough one for the commercial construction industry along the Wasatch Front. General contractors, specialty contractors and suppliers alike are having to come to grips with a market being driven almost exclusively by public, municipal and infrastructure projects, and by the fact that lending institutions still have not recovered from their collapse. Privately developed projects in all markets � retail, restaurant, office buildings and other speculative-type work � have come to a virtual halt. �It�s no surprise that the private sector is lagging, and that will continue,� says Rich Thorn, president/CEO of the Associated General Contractors

Related Links: Colorado Contractor of the Year: Understanding Relationships Intermountain Contractor of the Year: Passing the Torch This issue of Mountain States Construction features our 2010 Intermountain and Colorado Contractors of the Year. Each year the editors select a general contracting firm that demonstrates ongoing innovation and sound business practices to be the magazine’s Contractor of the Year. This year, we chose two from the Mountain States’ region. We selected Okland Construction Co. Inc. of Salt Lake City based on the firm’s consistent placement in the top 10 of our annual General Contractors rankings. The firm experiences a profitable and