Learning about trends that will affect customers and finding new options that meet their needs is a good strategy for future success. TOENJES Q: I read about wind-farm construction in a recent article. I think they’ll do little to meet America’s energy needs, but I don’t want to be closed to new ideas. I am thinking about upgrading our skills to pursue opportunities in emerging markets, but don’t want to waste time on something that’s only a passing fad. Which emerging markets do you think will be strong in the years to come and why? A: You are right in

Owners often require that contractors procure performance bonds to guarantee the contractor’s faithful performance of the contract. Statutes require performance bonds on public construction projects. MROWIEC The performance bond surety’s liability to the owner for the contractor’s failure to complete the contract is not controversial. Absent defenses, the surety must either complete the contract or pay the penal sum of the bond. But what if the contractor apparently completes the contract successfully, the standard contractual warranty passes without discovery of any defect and one is discovered during the longer period of an extended contractor’s warranty required by the contract and

Related Links: Illinois DOT Seeks $300-Million TIGER Grant for Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program Indiana Seeks $71.4 Million in Stimulus Funds for Northwest Rail Improvements Landscape Architect Society Now Offers Sustainability Guides On Line Portland Cement Association Offers Sample Ordinance For Sustainable Construction Missouri DOT Starts Work on Page Extension for Route 364 Geotechnology Awarded Contracts on Missouri Bridge Program and Army Corps of Engineers Project New International Code for Commercial Buildings will Draw on California Green Building Standards Chicago Aviation Commissioner Discusses O�Hare Modernization at North American Forum The Illinois Dept. of Transportation (IDOT) has launched a

Related Links: Illinois DOT Seeks $300-Million TIGER Grant for Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program Indiana Seeks $71.4 Million in Stimulus Funds for Northwest Rail Improvements New IDOT Web site Offers Data about all Illinois Bridges Landscape Architect Society Now Offers Sustainability Guides On Line Portland Cement Association Offers Sample Ordinance For Sustainable Construction Missouri DOT Starts Work on Page Extension for Route 364 Geotechnology Awarded Contracts on Missouri Bridge Program and Army Corps of Engineers Project Chicago Aviation Commissioner Discusses O�Hare Modernization at North American Forum The International Code Council (ICC) will use the current California Green Building

Related Links: Turner Selected for $110-Million Renovation of Dirksen Courthouse in Chicago Meridian Completes Chicago Build-To-Suit Bulley & Andrews Completes Swissotel Chicago Renovation and Expansion Need Sparks Wisconsin�s First Free-standing Emergency Center Morgan/Harbour to Complete Build-Out for the Hinsdale Orthopaedic Group Holland Construction Builds New Aquatic Center McShane Completes 294-Unit Luxury Apartment Complex Ragnar Benson Completes Office Building The new Pingree Grove Police Facility, which opened in 2008 in the Village of Pingree Grove, Ill., has recently received LEED silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Designed by the Elgin, Ill., office of PSA-Dewberry/BCA, an architectural and engineering firm,

While states and municipalities seek to adopt ordinances that require “green” or “sustainable” construction, code officials are scrambling for appropriate practices and language to include. Related Links: Illinois DOT Seeks $300-Million TIGER Grant for Chicago Region Environmental and Transportation Efficiency Program Indiana Seeks $71.4 Million in Stimulus Funds for Northwest Rail Improvements New IDOT Web site Offers Data about all Illinois Bridges Landscape Architect Society Now Offers Sustainability Guides On Line Missouri DOT Starts Work on Page Extension for Route 364 Geotechnology Awarded Contracts on Missouri Bridge Program and Army Corps of Engineers Project New International Code for Commercial Buildings

Related Links: Supplement No. 1 to ANSI/AISC 358-05 Available for Free Download Hydraulic Institute Publishes Rotodynamic Pump Vibration Measurements and Allowable Values Standard Structural Engineers Offer Seminar About Designing Aluminum Structures Nov. 18 Six Wight & Company Projects Receive LEED Gold Certification The Wood Products Council’s WoodWorks initiative and RISA Technologies have released Phase II of RISA’s building-design software. The new release incorporates a full range of wood-design features. The updated software can be used to design all-wood buildings or hybrid structures of wood and steel, concrete or masonry says Bruce Bates, president of RISA Technologies. Bates also says the

Photo: Ragnar Benson Construction A new $8.7-million office building is the first constructed in Phase One of the new Bell Valley Commons subdivision near Rockford, Ill. Related Links: Turner Selected for $110-Million Renovation of Dirksen Courthouse in Chicago Meridian Completes Chicago Build-To-Suit Bulley & Andrews Completes Swissotel Chicago Renovation and Expansion Need Sparks Wisconsin�s First Free-standing Emergency Center Morgan/Harbour to Complete Build-Out for the Hinsdale Orthopaedic Group Pingree Grove Police Facility Earns LEED Silver Certification Holland Construction Builds New Aquatic Center McShane Completes 294-Unit Luxury Apartment Complex A new three-story, $8.7-million, office building has sprung up in a former cornfield

Sheet Metal Workers� Local 36 and the Sheet Metal Workers� Joint Apprenticeship and Training Program, St. Louis, have added Steve Sneed as an apprentice instructor and coordinator of their newly developed Building Information Modeling (BIM) program. Related Links: New Textbook About HVACR Trade Basics Available ASCE Adopts New Post-disaster Assessment Manual AGC of Milwaukee Names Dairyland Electric�s Martinez as its Associate of the Year Green Building Initiative Launches Personnel Certification Programs St. Louis' Construction Careers Center Wins National Award Somerville Earns 2009 Sustainability Leadership Award Download Free Safety Publications From Power Tool Institute Web Site BIM is rapidly growing in

Wight & Company, Darien, Ill., recently earned Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold certification for six projects. Photo: Wight & Co. Though it originally targeted LEED Silver certification, Atlantic Hall No. 3 at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center, Great Lakes, Ill., actually earned the higher LEED Gold rating. Related Links: Supplement No. 1 to ANSI/AISC 358-05 Available for Free Download Hydraulic Institute Publishes Rotodynamic Pump Vibration Measurements and Allowable Values Standard Structural Engineers Offer Seminar About Designing Aluminum Structures Nov. 18 RISA Engineering Software First with Full Range of Wood Features Mark Wight, chairman, says each project’s