The International Builders Showcase takes place in Orlando this week. In addition to having the largest display of building products in any location, it is a great opportunity to learn what is new, and more importantly, what we can look forward to in the coming months in our industry.
IBS runs from Wednesday to Saturday at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. More than 100,000 industry professionals and 1,900 exhibitors are scheduled to attend, and there will be 290 educational sessions, as well as great opportunities for networking at hundreds of special events.
With IBS as close as it is, you should make every effort to attend. The 2009 IBS will be in Las Vegas. While it may be more tempting to go there, it will be far less practical.
As Building Edge continues to grow, we felt that we needed to expand our coverage. You have seen over the last five-six months our coverage has expanded to include Columbia County. We started with featuring Isaac Bratkovich and Isaac Construction on the cover in October. We felt that it made sense to take it to the next step and have joined the Columbia County Builders Association. We continue to strive to be the advocate for the construction industry in North Central Florida, and that includes Columbia County. Look for more features and more spotlights to include CCBA in coming months.
There is an "interesting read" below from Cindy Swirko. While I will never be accused of being a Cindy Swirko fan, and believe the article is somewhat slanted, I do like that at least attention is being given to some of the new mixed-use developments going up around town. Groups like Brice Business Group have worked so hard to bring Brytan to us, that any attention that will bring is potential customers is a postive...even if the spin is somewhat slanted.
On a more somber note, we mourn the passing of Richard Inks, who died last week. Many of us knew Inks as the owner of Richard Inks Plastering Corp. in Gainesville. Our thoughts are with his wife, Barbara, his daughters, Sheri and Cynthia and the rest of his family. Richard was successful in North Central Florida, working with the building industry for over 30 years. |
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www.BuildingEdgeMagazine.com
The February issue of Building Edge is online, and should be in your mailbox in the next few days. Our cover story is on Sparks Construction. The National Feature is on Surfaces & Finishes: Countertops, floorcoverings, walls & ceilings. Look for this issue to arrive around Valentine's Day. If you would like to view this issue before hand, please visit BuildingEdgeMagazine.
Our March issue is now in production. The cover story is on Jay and Randy Robinson with G.W. Robinson Remodeling, LLC. The National Feature will be on Windows: Style, efficiency, architecture, and glass technology.
Our April issue, with its annual spotlight on the Builders of the Parade of Homes™, is now open. The National Feature is on kitchens. We will be covering the Parades in Alachua and Marion counties.
In May we will feature, The Enclave Apartments developed by Collier Enterprises, and constructed by Davis and Sons Construction. The National Feature will be on Outdoor Living: decking, landscaping, fencing, outdoor lighting, retaining walls, outdoor kitchens, fireplaces. In June, we return to Ocala, and feature Claeys Construction. The National Feature will be on Doors: entry, interior, patio and overhead.
We are excited about these issues, and look forward to your participation.
Our Winter 2008 Commercial issue, featuring Trunnell Construction, is online, and should be arriving in the mail shortly.
The Spring 2008 issue of Commercial Building Edge is now open. Paul Stentiford and Stentiford Construction Services will be on the cover. Early response on this issue has been phenomenal. We are also in the process of developing a website for Paul and his team with a hopeful launch date right around the time this issue is published. Please call us for details.
In the Summer, we will feature Nathan Collier and Paradigm Properties.
HOME™: Living in the Heart of Florida:
Our winter issue is now available. Distribution is at over 400 locations, including the Gainesville Chamber of Commerce, Ocala Marion County Chamber of Commerce, Newberry/Jonesville Chamber of Commerce, Williston Chamber of Commerce and the Gainesville Regional Airport. The cover story is a feature on Sister Hazel'sAndrew Copeland. If you would like to view the issue online or subscribe to the magazine, please view us at www.LivingintheHeartofFlorida.com . We hear regularly that our magazine is seen everywhere. One person told us she went in to get her car tag renewed and saw a room full of people reading HOME. That is music to my ears.
We are now working on the Spring issue, and are very excited about our cover story. Paige Beck, of WCJB TV20, has been keeping us well informed about news in our area for some time. For more information, please email us at info@advantagepublishinginc.com or call us at 352-372-5854. If you have not seen our first issue, please visit our website at www.livingintheheartofflorida.com.
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Gainesville OKs 3-Year LED Sign Ban
After a year and a half of discussing a moratorium on outdoor electronic LED signs, the Gainesville City Commission decided Monday night to allow a previously approved ban on the signs to take effect on April 14. However, the language of the ordinance specified the ordinance be considered again in three years by the commission. Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan expressed frustration over the amount of time that has been dedicated to the issue, saying it had been blown out of proportion. She then suggested that a more extensive study be conducted that could allow LED signs in the future with more limitations. The issue that has been drawn out for so long is the use of LED (Light Emitting Diode) signs that can be found in front of various businesses in Gainesville and on the University of Florida campus. The LED or electronic signs often use the technology to display text messages that can be changed quickly and easily. Commissioner Craig Lowe argued that the electronic signs, which often use colored text to display messages, are distracting to drivers and harm the attractiveness of the city. Three options were presented to the City Commission Monday night by city staff. The first was to make no change to the existing code, allowing an April 14 ban on electronic signs to take effect.
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Ocala City Council to Institute: Let's Make a Deal
Hoping to seal a deal with a high-tech company seeking to purchase the downtown library site, City Council members say they may back off some financial safeguards that were included in the original contract. The Institute for Human and Machine Cognition, a Pensacola-based nonprofit research group that studies how technology can enhance human performance, has been working with the city and county to expand to Ocala for about three years. The city is still negotiating with the institute over the library and plans to submit a new proposal to the nonprofit by the beginning of next week. The institute did not agree to the purchase contract originally drawn by city attorneys. The organization had concerns with some of the agreement's "clawbacks," said City Attorney Jimmy Gooding during Tuesday night's meeting. In December, the council voted in favor of selling the city-owned building to the institute for $1.2 million. The deal also included a $300,000 grant to fund renovations to the building. Members also wanted to make sure the contract included "teeth" - assurances that the city's assets would be used in the agreed-upon manner. At Tuesday night's meeting, Councilman Charles Ruse likened these contractual "teeth" to signing a prenuptial agreement before marriage. You hope everything works out, but at the same time it's important to be fiscally responsible, he said.
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Ocala County Official File to Run Again
Four county elected officials with more than 40 years combined experience - Supervisor of Elections Dee Brown, Clerk of Courts David Ellspermann, Property Appraiser Villie Smith and Tax Collector George Albright III - have filed to run for re-election. In office since 1986, Brown was one mainstay that local Democrats had in county office as the Republicans wrested control of local politics during the 1990s. This time around, Brown is running as a Republican. An elected official running for a partisan office, Brown would not comment on her reasons for switching parties, except to say they were personal. "No, I really don't care to," Brown said when asked if she would elaborate. "It's personal." County Commissioner Barbara Fitos and Sheriff Ed Dean are now the only Democrats holding county office. "It's certainly disheartening" to lose Brown, said Bruce Seaman, chairman of the Marion County Democratic Executive Committee. "But it's the same person who has been doing the job for a long while. I'm hopeful the integrity of the office will remain."
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Harn Expansion to be Funded with $10M
A $10 million donation made to the University of Florida will fund an expansion to the Harn Museum of Art that will house Asian collections, UF officials announced Wednesday. The gift was given by Dr. David Cofrin and his wife, Mary Ann Cofrin. Mary Ann Cofrin's father, Samuel Harn, is the museum's namesake. The 22,000-square-foot expansion, covering two stories, is planned on the northwest side of the museum near the corner of SW 34th Street and Hull Road. The new construction will create space for Asian art galleries and a mezzanine suite on the upper level for museum activities. An Asian garden will be placed on the west side of the new wing. The Asian collection at the Harn contains nearly 1,300 works. The collection's greatest strength is Chinese art, according to museum officials. The Cofrins have given a number of large gifts to UF in recent years, including $3.2 million that allowed for an 18,000-square-foot addition known as the Mary Ann Harn Cofrin Pavilion. "Mary Ann and I believe in the Harn's mission and support its commitment to sustain and transform the museum facilities and grounds," Cofrin said in a news release. "Our gift for an Asian art wing will continue to make the Harn a place where art inspires and educates people of all ages and backgrounds."
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Students Learn Linemen's Skills at MTI's Power Academy
Most Fridays, the 17 students in Marion Technical Institute's Power Industry Academy take their learning experience outside the classroom. One day, they learned how electrical meters are built at Ocala Electric Utility. Another, they helped install a pole and power lines on the school's field. This is MTI's newest academy, where students learn about the electrical company industry - and perhaps apply for a job come graduation time. Three local power companies help guide the program and, while one reason is to help local public school students explore a career, another is admittedly more selfish: they have jobs they need to fill. "We see a need for people to enter our industry in all facets," said Jim Sochacki, general manager for the north coastal region of Progress Energy and a member of the program's corporate advisory board. The board includes representatives from Ocala Electric Utility, Progress Energy and Sumter Electric Cooperative. Whether the power industry jobs are in construction, power plants or working electrical lines, the need will continue to grow as current employees retire. The average age of linemen is 49.
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Fire Codes Thwart Bid to Cut Cost of Ocala Schools
School Board member Steve Hering's dream of reducing construction costs for five new school wings by replacing classroom fire escape doors with fire escape windows was dashed Thursday. Hering was shocked when School District officials learned that if they eliminated the doors, they would have to add a sprinkler system in each of the new wings, and that would increase the cost by $500,000, or roughly $100,000 per school. State fire codes state that classrooms without an emergency door to the outside must have a sprinkler system. For one reason, officials said, it takes more time to get a wheelchair-bound student out through a window. After Hering complained about the sprinklers requirement, School Board member Ron Crawford said he thought student and faculty safety was the priority. "I think we add them [sprinklers]," Crawford said. "It's something you have to do that's necessary to preserve and protect." "I'm just trying to save the School District money," said Hering, who added that he does not think it is fair that the School District is held to higher fire code standards than the private sector.
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East Side Tops Commission Agenda
The first of four Gainesville district meetings Tuesday night gave the public a chance to tell city commissioners their thoughts on public and private developments and budget priorities. The meeting began with a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart announcing that the Supercenter on Waldo Road and NE 12th Avenue will now open on May 7. Spokeswoman Quenta Vettel outlined many new features in the store, including skylights and freezer lights that only come on when a shopper walks by. Vettel also thanked the public for their patience and apologized for the delays. Originally, the store had a target date of opening in January 2008, and recently that date had been pushed back to April. I know the road work has been very difficult for people who live in that area, and we still have a little road work left," Vettel said. Both Gainesville Mayor Pegeen Hanrahan and Commissioner Scherwin Henry sung Wal-Mart's praises as a business partner with the city.
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Does New Urbanism Work?
More than 500 residents signed a petition last year stating concerns over the traffic that would be created by the proposed new urbanist Newberry Village - 900 residential units and 240,000 square feet of commercial space in the congested Newberry Road/I-75 area. Meanwhile, rerouting a portion of SW 75th Street at Archer Road through the future town center of Brytan has neighboring residents barraging Alachua County Commissioners with e-mails and packing meetings to say that the narrow, parking-spot lined Brytan streets are unsafe. And now residents in the Tower Road/SW 24th Avenue area are raising both traffic safety and aesthetic issues over the new urbanist Tower 24 development there. Alachua County now encourages what is generally called "new urbanism" - mixed-use development that blends homes and shops together and features design elements such as narrow streets and sidewalks.
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Gainesville Regional Airport Embarks on Noise Study
Sitting on his screened back porch, Kevin Claney seemed to barely notice the helicopter, large commercial planes and small jets that roared over his home over the course of a recent morning. "The issue is not the noise itself - it's that the airport is not doing its best to avoid flight patterns that are buzzing our community," he said. Claney lives in the Ironwood Golf Course Community, about 8,000 feet from the end of a Gainesville Regional Airport runway. He said he's never really worried about aircraft noise in his nine years living there, but he has recently been upset about a perceived increase in noise from military aircraft and the airport's expansion plans. The airport is embarking on a noise study aimed, in part, at avoiding conflicts with Claney and other neighbors. The study comes as a developer plans to build nearly 1,200 homes nearby and the airport seeks to attract a jet maintenance facility or other aviation businesses that could mean more planes.
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Lake City Real Estate Could Have Global Ownership
The current lull in the real estate market has forced many real estate agencies to look elsewhere for sales. The Daniel Crapps Agency hopes it can find a niche next weekend when several members of the group will attend the International Property Show in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The real estate agency will be one of four U.S. companies represented at the trade show, which featured more than 300 exhibitors last year. More than 27,000 visitors are expected to attend this month's show. The 2007 annual show saw more than 18,000 visitors and resulted in billions of dollars in property sales spanning the globe. Daniel Crapps, Maston Crapps and Chuck Davis, along with their wives, will attend the three-day show, which begins Feb. 17. "We saw it on the Internet and thought it would be a good opportunity to reach out to the world market, which seems to be where the people who are currently investing are," Davis said. Davis and Maston Crapps both said that there are buyers in the world economy that aren't affected by the U.S.'s economic struggles, especially in the housing market.
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Alachua County Building Plans Get Lift From Costs
Timing is on Alachua County's side with several new building projects. Two years ago, construction costs were rising faster than walls at an old-time barn raising. But now, with a depressed worldwide construction market, costs have stabilized or declined. That brings joy to county Facilities Manager Charlie Jackson, who is overseeing the construction projects. "We are seeing a decline in the cost of many of our materials and supplies. Some materials are standing fast, but some are starting to taper off," Jackson said. "The slump on the residential side is helping. One of the biggest things that is helping is what's happening in China, India and Pakistan. They are slowing down a little bit. It's a shocker. Alachua County is in a great position to move forward with these projects now, and I believe based on our current environment we can save the taxpayers millions."
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MCBIA Calendar of Events
BANCF Calendar of Events
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USGBC Heart of Florida Chapter
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Fla. Home Sellers Hope Tax Rate Cuts Spark Housing Rebound
Martha Rodriguez's four-bedroom, 1,500 square foot house has plenty of space, but lately it's left her feeling a bit trapped. For more than a year, Rodriguez and her husband have been seeking a buyer for the south Tampa home they bought in 1978 and where they raised three children. For more than a year - through open houses and price drops - they've waited. Now Rodriguez, 56, hopes that last week's passage of Amendment 1, which is supposed to reduce property taxes, will lead a buyer to her doorstep. So are plenty of other Floridians, many of whom have been stuck in a real estate market that went from unprecedented to pedestrian nearly two years ago. Amendment 1 and the Federal Reserve's lowering of interest rates has sellers and real estate agents wondering - is the market ready to rebound? Home prices have been declining in many parts of the country for two years, and Tampa and Miami have been among the metro areas to see the steepest drop.
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Allstate Policy Cuts Get Scrutiny
When Allstate Floridian proposed shedding 95,000 high-risk homeowner policies in Florida in 2005, state regulators understood - even if customers didn't. Allstate, long one of the state's biggest homeowners insurers, wanted desperately to cut some of its billion-dollar exposure in Florida after the destructive and costly 2004 storm season. So customers were dropped - or non-renewed, in insurance jargon - up and down the coast, especially in areas such as Palm Beach County. Three years later, however, it appears that having auto coverage with Allstate may have been all that separated those who were dropped from those who were retained. State regulators - and possibly lawmakers in hearings that begin today - want to know whether Allstate, in its haste to cut its losses, broke Florida law by dropping weather-beaten homeowners who didn't also have other profitable coverage such as auto or life with the company. State law prohibits "tie-in" insurance sales, or selling one type of policy coverage based on whether a policyholder has another. Although Allstate officials acknowledge that a majority of the 95,000 customers dropped in its first wave of cancellations in 2005 and 2006 were homeowners-only customers, they deny the company did anything wrong.
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Impact Fees May Spike Cost of Homes
The cost of homes built in Martin County likely will rise after county commissioners agreed Tuesday to increase development fees to help pay the cost of new schools. They voted 4-1 to boost the school impact fees charged to developers by about 22 percent - from about $4,555 to about $5,567 for a 2,000-square-foot home. The increase is needed because the cost of building schools has gone up, and the school board needs about $23,000 per new student from developers to provide space, said James Nicholas, a consultant hired by the county. Martin County's school impact fees, which will take effect Oct. 1, will be higher than the statewide average of about $4,200 and higher than Palm Beach and St. Lucie counties' fees. The county's impact fee review committee, which advises the commission on fees, recommended approving the school increase. But its chairman, Richard Towne, told commissioners that Nicholas' report is "seriously flawed" and that the increase is far too low to cover costs. He said current taxpayers will get stuck with the bill for new schools because impact fees will not raise enough money.
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Economist Fails to See a Recession
Who's afraid of the big bad "R?" Hank Fishkind's not. Downplaying the recession risk to the economy, the Orlando economist gave an upbeat speech Tuesday to a packed house of Tampa-St. Petersburg real estate types. While growth won't be spectacular - and employment will just putter along - the economy should avoid a recession this year thanks to the Federal Reserve's panic-soothing interest rate cuts, Fishkind said. "I think the economy's a little better than the numbers would tell you," he said. Fishkind spoke at the invitation of the Bay Area Real Estate Council, a group of real estate attorneys. Foreigners and out-of-staters will continue to flock to Florida, but Fishkind admitted his crystal ball was murky when it came to exact numbers. The University of Florida, a main source of population estimates, has recently exaggerated population growth by mistakenly assuming thousands of investor-owned houses were occupied by families. The miscounting was worse in Pasco and Hernando.
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PSL Impact Fee Case on May Court Docket
The county and Port St. Lucie will spend two days in court in May presenting arguments about how the county collects impact fees within the city. Circuit Judge Ben Bryan, who is presiding over the case, set the dates of May 22 and 23 with the two sides during a hearing Wednesday. The issue first landed in the court system in late 2005 as the county attempted to get the state's permission to pay for $43 million worth of bonds - for work on Midway Road, the jail and South County Stadium - using impact fees, or money collected from developers to pay for the effect they have on roads, parks and county services. The city, which collects its own impact fees, has said the county fees are doubly charging developers and has questioned how the county determines the amount of money to collect. Several developers and builder organizations joined the case, but the county has now settled with all of them, with the final settlement agreement set to go before county commissioners Tuesday.
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Insurance Conflict: Reduce Premiums or Reduce Risk?
After taking in more than 19 hours of testimony from insurance companies, a special Senate panel now will recommend possible law changes. But agreeing on the best solutions to put forth won't be easy. ''I'm afraid there will be vast disagreement on the committee. Some members believe the most important thing to do is to reduce premiums. Some other members want to reduce the exposure of the state in case we face a catastrophic storm,'' said Sen. Steve Geller, a Democrat from Cooper City who is co-chairman of the Senate committee. ``The two positions are inherently in conflict.'' The Select Committee on Property Insurance Accountability was set up in January to investigate why insurance rates hadn't declined as much as expected after lawmakers passed a massive insurance reform bill a year ago. But the risk the state took on -- to make the lower rates possible -- wasn't far from the minds of the 20 senators on this panel, which concluded two days of hearings earlier this week.
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Business Groups Lobbies for Cap on Government Spending
Now that Florida voters have mandated property-tax relief, they want to cap government spending, the state's largest business organization said Thursday. Gov. Charlie Crist thanked the Florida Chamber of Commerce for its support of his constitutional amendment in the Jan. 29 primary. Crist said he will work with the business community in the 2008 legislative session on further tax relief, insurance rate protection and economic development incentives. "As soon as the House and Senate do the implementing bill, we're off to the races," Crist said of the property-tax amendment. Traveling the state in the referendum campaign, Crist said, he sensed a big victory was at hand - even though polls showed the amendment was in trouble, or might barely make the 60 percent requirement for passage. It wound up getting about 64 percent.
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Developer Offers to Fund Roads
When the developer of Heritage Harbour proposed paying $3.1 million up front for roadways, Manatee County Commissioner Amy Stein said the offer showed the initiative and seriousness that could move a project forward. It is "a pretty significant thing that hasn't been done to date," she said. As the home builder Lennar goes forward with the next phase of Heritage Harbour, which includes extending its Stoneybrook subdivision east to Upper Manatee River Road, it has agreed to also fund the extension of Port Harbour Parkway to Upper Manatee River Road. The parkway, which starts at Kay Road, would run through the planned Stoneybrook II and parallel to State Road 64 and would help alleviate S.R. 64 traffic, county officials say. Also, part of the Heritage Harbour's next project is a planned lifestyle center at S.R. 64 and Interstate 75 that would be nearly 600,000 square feet. The mixed-use development by LNR Property Corp. is to be called The Landing at Heritage Harbour and is to include a 300-room hotel, retail shops and offices. That project is expected to start this summer and will be completed in about 21/2 years.
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Radical Property Tax Cut May Not Get on the Ballot
A radical proposal promoted by House Speaker Marco Rubio to cap all property taxes is going to get a hearing in both the House and Senate when the lawmaking session begins in March, but there is no guarantee it will make it to the November ballot. The proposal to cap annual taxes at 1.35 percent of a property's taxable value will be written up as a constitutional amendment and heard in legislative committees. But the idea, patterned after Proposition 13 in California 30 years ago and currently the subject of a citizen petition drive, is neither endorsed by Senate President Ken Pruitt nor supported by the business groups that fuel many of the campaigns of the Republican-led Legislature. Senate sponsor Mike Bennett, a Bradenton Republican, calls it a fairness measure needed to offset the inequities locked into the state Constitution with the passage of the Amendment 1 property tax cut last week.
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2008 International Builders' Show to Showcase the Industry's Largest Product Display
Housing professionals from across the country and abroad will convene at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 13-16 for the 2008 International Builders' Show (IBS), the housing industry's largest annual trade show and exhibition. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) event, held in one of the largest convention centers in the country, will feature the most cutting-edge designs, technologies, products and services in the industry. More than 1,900 exhibitors will be on display across more than one million net square feet of exhibit space. Suppliers span more than 300 product categories ranging across every aspect of the residential and light commercial construction fields.
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A Place That Feels More Like Home
With an emphasis on homelike environments, retirement buildings have undergone a revolution in the past 15 years. The long, narrow hallways reminiscent of a hospital have been replaced by open floor plans. Many newer buildings have multiple living-room areas and communal kitchens where residents can gather. Larger private apartments also have become the norm. And the next generation of retirement projects will bring more advances, designers and architects say. New buildings will have more places for family members and staff. The latest technologies will make life better for residents, and new features will connect the buildings to the wider community. The Chicago architecture firm of Perkins Eastman recently completed a project in Texas that incorporates the latest thinking on building design. Similar principles are being used to redesign a retirement campus in north suburban Deerfield, Ill. The Texas project, in Amarillo, is Childers Place, a two-story nursing and memory-care building that opened last May in Amarillo, and its design has won awards.
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Georgia Loses Major Water Ruling on Rights to Lake Lanier
A federal appeals court on Tuesday threw out an agreement that Georgia reached with the Army Corps of Engineers for water rights to a major federal reservoir outside Atlanta, handing Alabama and Florida a major victory in the states' years-long water wars. The 2003 agreement with the Corps would give Georgia about a quarter of Lake Lanier's capacity over the coming decades and is the foundation of Georgia's long-term plans for supplying drinking water to the rapidly growing Atlanta region. Alabama and Florida challenged the pact, arguing that Georgia doesn't have any legal right to the federal reservoir, which was initially built for hydropower. The withdrawals would dry up river flows into their states that support smaller municipalities, power plants, commercial fisheries and industrial users like paper mills. A district court earlier ruled in Georgia's favor, but the U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington overturned that decision Tuesday, saying that the agreement constituted a major operational change at the reservoir that requires congressional approval.
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Turned Green by a Twister
The tornado that hit Greensburg on May 4 took its time, rolling up Main Street like it was on a Sunday walk to church. Ron Shank, the owner of the Kansas town's only General Motors dealership, hid with his wife beneath a quilt in the basement, but they heard the storm rip their home from its foundations. Marvin George, a pastor at the Baptist church, sheltered in his closet. "We just knelt and prayed," he says. "I wasn't scared until the next morning, when I saw the carnage." The tornado had measured EF5 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, the highest possible rating, and it left hardly a single wall standing. "I could only think of Hiroshima," remembers Lonnie McCollum, then the town's mayor. "Big strong men looked at what was left and were damn near in tears." Over 1,000 people - more than two-thirds of the town's population - were left homeless. Despite the help that poured in over the following weeks from FEMA, from charities and from nearby towns, residents feared their town had suffered a deathblow. Like many rural Midwestern towns, Greensburg had been losing population for years. Jobs had grown scarce, and few in the town's shrinking high school classes stayed on after graduation. Why rebuild a dying town? "We were barely making it before the tornado," says Wylan Fleener, whose century-old furniture store was reduced to a pile of bricks by the storm. "I thought about leaving every day."
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In Many Communities, It's Not Easy Going Green
This urban suburb of Washington seems well-prepared for a leading role in the green revolution embraced by hundreds of the nation's cities, counties and towns. For decades, Arlington County's development has been consciously clustered around its subway line. There is abundant open space to plant thousands of trees. Residents also seem eager to cut back on their own energy use. Jose R. Fernandez, who moved here last year and works at the nearby national headquarters of the National Guard, chose to settle in Arlington because he does not need a car. "I can go anywhere on the bus," Mr. Fernandez said, "or I can ride my bike anywhere." But even in Arlington, county officials are reckoning with the fact that though green is the dream, the shade of civic achievement is closer to olive drab. Constraints on budgets, legal restrictions by states, and people's unwillingness to change sometimes put brakes on ambitious plans to cut carbon dioxide emissions. Emissions are stubborn things. In Arlington, emissions per capita are now 15 tons annually and rising. In Sonoma County, Calif., the figure is close to nine tons. Arlington is not alone in bumping up against obstacles.
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Rebates Pass - Now It's Up to Consumers
One part of the rebate remedy passed by Congress on Thursday is clear: About 136 million Americans will get tax money back in May, $600 for most people. What's in doubt is the other part: whether most of them will spend the money and spur the reeling economy. President Bush said he would sign the bill, which will yield $600 to qualifying individual taxpayers, $1,200 to couples and $300 to more than 20 million low-income seniors and disabled veterans. Families with children will receive an additional $300 per child. The full rebate is available to individuals with adjusted gross incomes up to $75,000 and families with taxable incomes up to $150,000. Partial rebates will be available to families with incomes between $150,000 and $186,000. ''This bill will help to stimulate consumer spending and accelerate needed business investment,'' Bush said of the stimulus plan, which will cost $168 billion in the first two years.
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AGC's Husband Says to Be Wary of the Upcoming Legislative Session
Warren Husband, the Governmental Affairs Director of the Associated General Contractors of Greater Florida (AGCGF), told an audience of AGC members last week that there is reason to be very concerned about the upcoming legislative session in Tallahassee. Speaking at the AGCGF monthly membership meeting in Jacksonville, Husband said that the state's financial situation will occupy much of the time of the elected officials when they assemble in March. Of a budget that runs at about $70 billion, the legislature cut about $1.5 billion this year, and likely needs to cut an additional $2 billion next year. "Right now, the state's budget is in the worst shape it has been in since the 1970s," he said. "Taking care of that will occupy much of the legislature's time, and it will be a major challenge. Usually, when there is money in the budget that is a good thing. It avoids mischief. But when you have to start cutting, we often see weird ideas coming out of Tallahassee."
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Florida's Associated General Contractors Wins Second Consecutive National Award
The Associated General Contractors of Greater Florida (AGCGF), has won the 2007 Best Overall Public Relations Campaign Award for excellence in communicating with members, marking the first-ever back-to-back wins in AGC history. The award is given by the Associated General Contractors of America in Washington D.C., and is awarded to the best of 93 AGC chapters nationwide as judged by commercial general contractors from around the nation who also serve on the AGC of America National Board of Directors.
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UF trustees OK building for $15M
A statewide budget crisis has public agencies on edge, but that's not stopping the University of Florida from laying more bricks and mortar. UF plans to borrow money to construct a $15 million building on its east Gainesville campus, and officials say it should be open by 2009. "We're going to continue to grow," said Ed Poppell, UF's vice president for business affairs. "We hope this (budget crunch) is just a down cycle and we're coming back." The down cycle, however, may last for several years to come, according to state officials. The new UF building will be used for administrative space, which Poppell says is desperately needed. Because of the space needs, UF has been leasing some 50,000 square feet off campus, spread across more than a dozen buildings, Poppell said. "We're dying for space," he said. "That's the killer on this campus." Space needs across the State University System are very real, according to a recent report from the board that oversees universities. In late 2006, the Board of Governors reported that $3.4 billion in construction and maintenance funds were needed by 2012 just to keep up with projected enrollment growth. UF has a list of major building projects that are slated to receive state dollars, but this new building isn't one of them.
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Plans Unveiled for New Lake City Hotel
Construction of a new five-story hotel will begin soon and groundbreaking on the facility will take place in less than two weeks, according to officials. Hotel moguls Nick and P.J. Patel will construct a new Comfort Suites hotel at the site of the old Guesthouse Inn and Suites, which was torn down in 2005. "We bought this land a couple of years ago and we wanted to build a new hotel here, so we're very excited that this is going to happen," Nick Patel said Friday. Nick, who along with his uncle P.J. Patel, own Lake City's Hampton Inn and Suites and Country Inn and Suites, along with two other hotels in Gainesville and Valdosta, Ga. He said that Jim Dix from Dix Construction of Flagler Beach is the project manager and that work has already begun on the site. An official groundbreaking will take place on Feb. 22.
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ABC Urges Senate to Open Training for Green Construction Jobs
ABC Feb. 4 joined with four other leading construction trade associations to urge the U.S. Senate to change language in the Green Jobs Act to ensure that all accredited training organizations can participate in a new federal grant program that funds renewable energy and energy-efficiency workforce training. Signed into law as part of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 (H.R. 6) in December, the Green Jobs Act establishes a new program under section 171 (Demonstration, Pilot, Multiservice, Research and Multistate Projects) of the Workforce Investment Act that will provide $125 million in grants for programs that train skilled workers for energy efficiency and renewable energy projects. However, the act stipulates that in order to receive the grants, nonprofit entities must include the "equal participation" of labor organizations, effectively excluding the 86 percent of the private sector construction workforce that chooses to work merit shop. "The energy efficiency and renewable energy fields are extremely important to the growth of our nation's economy," the Feb. 4 letter stated. "We need to ensure that the workforce for these growing fields has the skills it needs to be successful. The Green Jobs Act is a good start in providing more opportunities for the American worker, but the program must be improved upon.
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The Green Lending Debate
While a few small lenders are beginning to offer specific financial incentives to LEED or EnergyStar certified projects, larger lenders are taking a couple of different approaches. One is to incorporate sustainable design strategies into their own facilities. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. based in Pittsburgh, for example, is a staunch supporter of green building and boasts 42 LEED-certified buildings, including its operational facilities in Pittsburgh and Wilmington, Del., as well as 40 individual bank branches. A second initiative is to promote education among loan officers and the larger lending industry on the unique differences of sustainable buildings, and more importantly, how to incorporate those nuances into underwriting practices. Wells Fargo & Co. to date has provided more than $1.5 billion in financing for LEED-certified green buildings with loans ranging from $10 million to $225 million for properties such as offices, apartments and schools. "Our green building program is not really a separate activity from our overall approach to the business. It is part and parcel of our mainstream lending practice," says Paul Brumbaum, a senior vice president in the commercial real estate group at San Francisco-based Wells Fargo. One of the key issues lenders are grappling with is the concept of understanding - and underwriting - the value of green buildings. By definition, green buildings are more energy efficient structures that produce lower operating costs. In theory, the benefits of that energy efficiency will flow to the bottom line cash flow of a project, which in turn should create a more valuable asset.
http://www.usgbc.org/News/USGBCInTheNewsDetails.aspx?ID=3588
USGBC Doubles Funding to Green School Research
There is a school in Montgomery County, MD, that experienced zero turnover last year among its teachers. It also happens to be one of the growing number of US schools designed to Gold LEED standards. Rachel Gutter, the US Green Building Council's Schools Sector manager believes the latter has something to do with the former, but she can't necessarily prove it, yet. USGBC has doubled its funding commitment for green building research grants to be awarded in 2008 to $2 million. Of that additional $1 million, $500,000 has been allocated for K-12 school facility research related to occupant impacts. Or in other words, it will be used to develop solid data on the concrete benefits, as well as costs, of going green for schools. "There are a lot of benefits that, if we can quantify, we could make an excellent case for green school development," Gutter tells GlobeSt.com. Much like the case for LEED designed office, hotels and industrial buildings, the benefits for green schools make intuitive sense--that is, the energy efficiencies and resulting health benefits pay for the costs of retrofitting or designing from the ground up to these standards. But there are other, less quantifiable reasons as well that USGBC would like to investigate. Teacher turnover is one. "If teachers are happier in the schools they will stay there," Gutter says. "The number one reason why teachers call in sick is because they have strained their voice. A healthier building can prevent that."
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Gutman Legal Filing is Incomplete
Jorge Gutman recently responded to the foreclosure suit the city filed against his company in August, but much like the downtown City Walk & Shops project for which he is responsible, the reply was incomplete. The much-anticipated outdoor restaurant and shopping complex has been stalled since ground was first broken a year ago. Gutman reportedly has experienced financial difficulties and has also had legal trouble with contractors. In June, Ocala officials said his JJH Investments had violated its developer's agreement with the city, and in July, he missed a mortgage payment. In response, the city filed two lawsuits against Gutman in August, one over the development agreement and one alleging he had defaulted on a $1.5 million loan from the city.
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AGC of Greater Florida Calendar of Events
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