Clif Bar & Co. reports that its Emeryville headquarters has been awarded LEED platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. Related Links: Clif Bar Headquarters Wins Award of Merit Located at 1451 66th St., Clif Bar’s 115,000-sq-ft office space is the first building in Emeryville to achieve LEED platinum certification in the commercial interior category. The firm is a maker of organic foods and drinks.The general contractor/construction manager on the project was DPR Construction and the architect was ZGF. The project, which won an Award of Merit in last year’s ENR California’s Top Projects competition in the Office category,

Stanford University Medical Center’s goal of reaching $1 billion in donations to fund its expansion project reached the half-way point this month and site prep and utility work are now under way. Preston Top Grade (a joint venture with Preston Pipeline and Top Grade Construction), Sandis engineers and AECOM landscaping are working on the Welsh Rd. utility improvement project, which replaces utility services and information technology infrastructure along Welch and Quarry roads. The project also includes the widening of Welch Rd., one of the main arteries into the medical center campus, and the replacement of sidewalks, planting of new trees, installation

As California Department of Transportation Construction Manager Douglas Coe tells it, the key to success on a very complicated seismic retrofit of the Antioch Toll Bridge is the mastering of the three B’s – birds, bearings and bracing. Rebuilt in 1978 from the original 1926 edition, the steel-plate girder, 1.8-mi bridge spans the San Joaquin River from the East Bay city of Antioch in Contra Costa County to the Sherman Island wildlife refuge in Sacramento County along State Route 160. It has one lane in each direction with bicycle and pedestrian access and traffic numbers about 15,000 vehicles a day.Though

The American Institute of Architects, San Francisco chapter, has named 25 projects as winners of its annual Design Awards competition. Related Links: Winning projects are featured online at AIASF's website. Projects were honored in Architecture, Interior Architecture, Energy & Sustainability, Historic Preservation, Unbuilt Design and Special Achievement categories. Each award was divided into three subcategories – Honor, Merit and Citation.The winners were revealed last week at a gala held at the Julia Morgan Ballroom in San Francisco. Craig Dykers, senior partner and director at Snøhetta, led the evening as master of ceremonies.Award highlights in the architecture category this year include:Honor Award:

McCarthy Building Cos. is converting a 1960s-era Clarion Hotel property adjacent to the San Francisco International Airport into a “next generation” business/boutique property. Aloft, Starwood Hotels & Resorts’ newest brand that launched in 2008, now has 87 locations worldwide, including three in California: This current under-construction property in Millbrae, in Ontario-Rancho Cucamonga and, opening next year, in Cupertino.Aloft SFO, designed by Jonathan Nehmer + Associates, Rockville, Md., will have 253 rooms, a 5,102-sq-ft lobby with the brand’s signature hang-outs (the w xyz bar and re:fuel by Aloft eatery), 672 sq ft of meeting space and a detached pool. The whole

Photo courtesy of UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering Researcher preps specimen's base-isolation system for the shake test. Photo courtesy of UCSD's Jacobs School of Engineering The five-story building featured a fully equipped intensive-care unit and surgery suite. In the first of a series of seismic shake-table tests to gauge the effects of major earthquakes and fire on a hospital’s non-structural components and systems, a five-story specimen and its contents came through with flying colors. The excellent performance on April 17, attributed to the specimen's base-isolation system, came as no surprise to researchers at the University of California, San Diego, who

Construction is at the halfway point on the $1-billion Green Build expansion project at San Diego International Airport. Photo courtesy of San Diego International Airport Terminal-side construction is under way. The project, which is aiming for LEED silver, is on schedule and within budget, according to airport officials, and is moving toward a summer 2013 completion.Construction crews are currently working on the dual-level roadway, which will relieve curb-front congestion in front of Terminal 2 when complete, according to airport spokeswoman Katie Jones. Concrete decks have been poured, and in the coming months, two new pedestrian bridges will be installed, reaching

In the first of a series of seismic shake-table tests to gauge the effects of major earthquakes and fire on a hospital’s non-structural components and systems, a five-story specimen and its contents came through with flying colors. The excellent performance on April 17, attributed to the specimen's base-isolation system, came as no surprise to researchers at the University of California, San Diego, who are conducting the tests. Photo courtesy of UCSD The five-story specimen building sits on a base-isolation system. Photo courtesy of UCSD A Jacobs School engineer works on the base-isolation system. The tests simulated shaking from the 1994

Social media platforms are influencing AEC firms in ways that are transforming their practices. That was one theme among many participants explored at the "KA-Connect: Building Knowledge" two-day conference, held in San Francisco April 11-12.Major design firms, such as SOM, Rutherford & Chekene, Psomas, HOK, and T.Y. Lin, shared tales of interoperability successes and pitfalls. As many of them have discovered, the more interactive the social media tools, the better.Take design firm Arup's blog and tweet platform (http://thoughts.arup.com). Carmen Whitelock, head of Arup's online strategy, says the effort goes beyond the traditional web homepage, which for many firms acts as

Even though there was a handshake deal on a term sheet agreement for the financing, construction and operation of the nearly $400-million Entertainment and Sports Complex made in February between the Sacramento Kinds owners (the Maloof family) and the city of Sacramento along with AEG (the ESC operator), the deal has apparently fallen apart. According to news reports, the Maloof family, lawyers and consultants met with National Basketball Association owners and commissioner David Stern in New York this week and presented a “historical analysis of the transaction,” which basically says the city’s financing scheme and other obstacles show problems with