The Arizona Builders Alliance has reported that Randy Eskelson, the long time ABA life director and president and COO of Schuff Steel Management Co. SW,  was admitted to ICU on August 20 for medical complications that may include a series of strokes.  

 

Eskelson is recovering from the episode and as of August 24 is off life support and speaking, according to his wife Connie Eskelson.

 

Connie Eskelson spoke out after concern that “lots of misinformation” appeared on social media. In a press release from the ABA, she stated that her husband is “making great strides every day and has no doubt he'll be back to join us all soon!”

 

The Golden Gate Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas has recently completed a major expansion project that includes a casino floor that has been nearly doubled in size, a new art deco entryway, and an extension of its outdoor bar.

 

The casino floor now encompasses 5,000 sq ft. Golden Gate’s OneBar was expanded by 20 feet.

 

The renovation also included upgraded back of house space, including a large cooler for keg storage and a liquor room.

 

The renovation featured a design from Dez Motif and architecture by MOSER Architecture Studio.

 

The 111-year-old Downtown Las Vegas property  “is an important landmark in Las Vegas’ narrative and it was our responsibility to revere its past,” says CEO and owner Derek Stevens in a press release. “So many prominent figures have walked down Fremont Street Experience and into Golden Gate throughout the last century, so we intend to respect and relish its history, while introducing amenities suited for today.”

 

The Golden Gate last underwent a renovation in 2012. That project featured the addition of a five-story luxury hotel tower, new lobby, and exterior that was also overseen by Stevens.

 

A team of building professionals helped Arizona professional soccer franchise Phoenix Rising FC meet an aggressive construction timeline in order to complete construction on a 6,200-seat pop up stadium near the borders of Tempe, Scottsdale and Mesa on the Salt River Pima-Maricopa Indian Community.

 

The team included JLL’s Project Development Services team, Kitchell Contractors as general contractor, DLR Group as architect, Trademark as the stadium and complex signage vendor, and T&B Equipment.

 

With a month timeline that went from Feb. 1 to March 25, the team successfully built the stadium on a a 15.84-acre dirt lot. The complex features three VIP suites, an owner’s suite, locker rooms and an adjacent, soccer-specific training field that, like the main stadium, has natural grass. It is part of 48 acres that the club has secured within the SRPMIC.

 

“The results speak for themselves,” JLL Managing Director and founding co-owner of Phoenix Rising FC Mark Detmer says in a press release. “This is a beautiful facility that is just the first step in our long-term goal of a permanent soccer-specific stadium. We’ve now retained Goldman Sachs as the structuring agent for the financing of a permanent stadium that will be built on this same site.”

 

The goal of Phoenix Rising is to replace its pop-up facility with a permanent facility in the same location by 2020. Other key development will also be happening at this intersection, including a possible amusement park and high-tech office and retail space.

 

“From an owner’s perspective, this was a gold star achievement,” says Detmer.

 

The first Tiny House Community in Arizona celebrated its groundbreaking on August 19. Called Micro on Madison, the community features tiny homes that will measure in at about 280 sq ft and include a kitchen, bath, and bedroom.

 

The project is a collaboration between Build us H.O.P.E. and ASU EPICS, Green Light Solutions, and the Development Team.

 

The Tiny Home Community is intended to represent the new direction in conscious living, sustainability, and pride of ownership and will be used to educate people about options for more affordable, sustainable housing solutions.

 

The groundbreaking will make way for two homes. The Gable Home was designed by Robert Crosby Stickle and the Micro on Madison Home was designed by Linderoth Associates Architects, Inc.

 

The houses will be powered by solar panels and includes many other sustainable features such as an edible community garden.

 

Micro on Madison is intended to be the model homes used for future replications including the next tiny home community build, The Village at 13th Avenue, a community for homeless veterans.

 

“I love the tiny home concept because I believe it can create sustainable housing where people can live independently within their means, Director of Operations at Singleton Community Service, Inc., Elizabeth Singleton says in a press release. “These houses are a fast build option so people can get off the streets and into their home quickly.”

 

The Fulton Schools Residential Community at Tooker House will house  undergraduate engineering students at ASU’s Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering this upcoming school year. The dorm features an array of technological tools and was built with engineering students in mind.

 

The seven-story, co-ed community was built by American Campus Communities on ASU’s Tempe Campus. The residence hall features a 525-seat dining facility, Bluetooth-enabled laundry rooms that notify you when your clothes are dry, advanced green building technology, and enough high speed internet bandwidth to accommodate multiple devices per resident.

The facilities feature on-site digital classrooms and makerspaces complete with 3D printers, laser cutters, and design tools needed for a broad range of engineering courses and projects.

 

The building features “the maker lab,” which gives students a place to work on school projects.

Architectural firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz’s  worked on the building and used desert architecture concepts and incorporated materials that will resist fading or degradation from sunlight.

 

The building features hundreds of vertical perforated louvers on the south façade that accomplish more than providing a unique aesthetic. They are positioned according to an algorithm to provide daytime sunlight control unique to each window’s location. Efficient glazing allows for significant shading capacity and daylight without affecting thermal performance.

 

This dorm is named for Diane and Gary Tooker, both graduates of Arizona State University. Gary Tooker is a former engineering student at ASU who went on to become CEO of Motorola. Diane Tooker, an alumnus of ASU’s Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College, is a former teacher and a business owner.

 

The Tookers endowed the Diane and Gary Tooker Chair for Effective Education in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

 

Sundt Yates Construction and Harrah’s Ak-Chin Casino celebrated the completion of out of a new 12-story hotel tower in August. The tower is part of a larger renovation project that will conclude next summer.

 

In addition to the 230-room hotel tower, the project will add an 18,000-square-foot banquet and meeting space and 730-car parking garage as well as a pedestrian bridge spanning Ak-Chin Parkway that will connect the conference center addition with the Ultra Star Family Entertainment Center.

 

A white paper published by New Buildings Institute (NBI) in June examines how the federal rule structure for appliances and HVAC equipment raise costs and limit improved energy performance.

The white paper, entitled “Federal Preemption as a Barrier to Cost Savings and High Performance Buildings in Local Energy Codes,” explains that federal preemption rules present a major roadblock when it comes to achieving high levels of energy efficiency in buildings. The paper goes on to say that decades-old federal laws that set national standards for appliance efficiency hinder states and cities from setting their own, updated standards.
 

“Cities and states find themselves hamstrung when they try to use energy codes to help meet energy and climate action plan goals. Preemption won’t allow them to prescribe higher appliance and HVAC efficiency even though products with high levels of efficiency already dominate their markets,” says NBI Director of Codes and Policy Jim Edelson, who is an author of the paper, in a press release. “Moving to lift this barrier also would give policymakers the opportunity to provide additional paths to meeting energy and carbon reduction goals.”

Buildings account for about 40% of carbon emissions in the United States and up to 75% in cities. Local jurisdictions have found that raising standards over the three-year model energy code development cycles offers an effective strategy to help reduce carbon emissions and meet climate or energy policy goals.

The paper explains that innovation in building design and effective energy code development have made way for higher levels of efficiency from windows, walls, lighting, etc., but studies estimate 78% of energy use in residences and 59% of energy use in commercial buildings was delegated to equipment fully preempted by federal standards. Potential natural gas savings are likewise limited in local energy codes because nearly all natural gas-using equipment is preempted.

The paper explains it’s clear that preemption places a hard limit on how far codes can go to meet community and state efficiency goals.

Says Edelson,“This unfortunate result of an outdated law not keeping up with the innovations in the HVAC and water heating industries is creating unintended costs to consumers and local governments to accommodate the least efficient types of systems in energy codes. Given the significant energy and cost saving opportunities identified, now is the time to act and bring sensible reform to these outdated policies.”