Photo by Mike Verzella, Courtesy of L.F. Driscoll/Structure Tone Penn Medicine has allocated $1 billion in improvements to meet demand projections. Related Links: After Sandy, Hospitals Rethink Where to Put IT and Other Systems After Sandy: Rethinking, Recovering, Rebuilding Two separate conferences held in Manhattan recently emphasized two major themes in hospital and health-care construction: Project teams must be flexible as client demand evolves with changes in the marketplace, and hospitals themselves must be made more resilient to major weather events, such as Superstorm Sandy."The future is in ambulatory care," Gary Acord, executive director of planning, design and construction at
The ongoing shift to bring health care services to the masses wherever they live has helped to ignite demand for new construction of ambulatory care centers nationwide. Even old, established institutions including the University of Pennsylvania Health System (UPHS)—which includes the 263-year-old Pennsylvania Hospital—are heavily investing in outpatient satellite centers. The trend, one of several affecting the hospital and health care sector, calls for project teams that can remain as flexible with demand, schedules and costs as their clients, said speakers at ENR New York’s The Future of Healthcare Construction conference, held Feb. 26, in New York.While institutions remain committed
It took several months after Superstorm Sandy's devastating blow for the hardest-hit New York and New Jersey shorelines to become usable by the public again as tons of debris were removed and emergency repairs were made. The October 2012 storm robbed significant amounts of sand from beaches, destroyed or severely compromised berms and dunes and increased flood risks to local communities. But a new phase of post-Sandy work to make the shores more resilient to storms will begin as early as this fall and focus on roughly $2.77 billion worth of projects in the region that were federally authorized before
While still grappling with issues resulting from Superstorm Sandy's devastating blow, water and wastewater treatment plants in New York and New Jersey have made a slew of emergency and interim repairs in the last 16 months to keep operations online and systems running. Industry executives say that further work needs to be done, however, to make more permanent repairs and improve resiliency at these plants, most of which are low-lying and highly vulnerable to flooding in severe storms like Sandy. Related Links: Bay Park Set to Start $35.7M Project in May Pumping Station Repair Work Expected at PVSC To that
It could be argued that 2013 was the year that Superstorm Sandy made state and local governments along the Eastern Seaboard take a closer look at alternative energy systems. Thousands of tristate households lost power due to the storm, a situation that some of those same households faced in major prior-year storms. Even as Congress continues deliberations over long-term tax reform, which may include certain alternative energy subsidies, analysts say that Sandy has given a significant boost to programs aimed at finding ways to make sure the lights stay on when adverse weather hits. Photo Courtesy of AWEA Related Links:
Related Links: Production Tax Credit Extension Boosts Wind Sector Is Energy Tax Policy the Way to Drive the U.S. Climate Change Fight? Once again, uncertainty reigns over whether the federal production tax credit (PTC), which expired on Dec. 31 for wind and several other alternative energy industries, will be renewed.The credit, which has a long history of being temporarily renewed after expiration, pays 2.3¢ per kilowatt hour of generation to wind, geothermal and cloosed-loop biomass energy companies, and 1.1¢/kWh to municipal solid-waste and certain other alternative power firms. The payment period generally applies to the first 10 years of operation.
Critics say "good riddance" to the expiration late last year of a federal production tax credit (PTC) that paid wind, geothermal and biomass energy generators 2.3 cents per kilowatt hour (kWh) for as long as 10 years. They contend that the wind market, in particular, has been around for decades and that it should not continue to be supported by the PTC if it is not yet self-sufficient. Photo Courtesy of AWEA Wind Worries: If Congress does not renew the PTC, say those who stand to benefit from it, the future of new projects and investment in these technologies is
While October 2012's Superstorm Sandy dealt its most powerful blow to the Eastern Seaboard from Maine to Virginia, it also affected regions as far south as Florida and as far inland as the Great Lakes region, according to a new study from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). But risk-reduction measures completed before the storm at several of the Corps' coastal projects helped to mitigate damage at those locations, the study finds. Photo By Dan Desmet/USACE New York District Fact-Finding Mission: In the days following Superstorm Sandy, Corps workers assess the impact of the storm on a beach at
Further details were released in the last week on three separate but major NYC projects—Hudson Yards; 3 Hudson Blvd.; and the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island. Rendering Courtesy of The Moinian Group Elegant Twist: Once completed, the tower will provide 360 degree views of the Hudson River, High Line, Hudson Blvd. Park, Central Park, Times Square, and the Empire State Building. Rendering Courtesy of Kilograph Technologically Advanced: The entire Cornell Tech campus is scheduled for completion in 2043 and aims to become of the country's leading applied sciences schools. The biggest in contract value of these comes from Tutor
New York State Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) has made $30 million in funding available for solar and biogas projects in New York City and the Hudson Valley that generate more than 200 kilowatts of power. The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority is seeking proposals for these projects by Dec. 30. Projects must be installed, interconnected to the grid and operational by April 30, 2015. The funding can be used to provide financing for half of total installed costs of systems and is capped at $3 million per project and $6 million per applicant. The funding is