Winston Huff, plumbing and fire protection project manager at engineering design and facility consulting firm Smith Seckman Reid, has been appointed to represent the American Society of Plumbing Engineers on the International Green Construction Code Committee. In his new role, Huff will work in the areas of water resource conservation, rainwater collection and distribution systems and used water recovery.
Circuit of The Americas has hired Edgar Farrera, AIA, LEED AP as its director of sustainability. With 20 years of experience in green building and environmental stewardship, Farrera will oversee the development of environmental initiatives and programs associated with construction, maintenance and operation of the Grand Prix facility. He will establish its sustainability efforts and will work in collaboration with the City of Austin’s Sustainability Office on air quality, green transit, green tech research and development, alternative energy events and sustainable on-site development.
TEMPE, Ariz. — First Solar, a Tempe, Ariz.-based producer of thin film solar modules, is closing an alternative photovoltaic technology project rumored to employ the same technology as Solyndra, though the company is not disclosing the details of the research.
First Solar and Solyndra are among a group of Western panel makers undercut by cheaper competition from Chinese manufacturers such as Suntech Power Holdings Co., the world’s largest, according to Bloomberg Reports.
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Oates Associates, a civil and structural engineering and architectural design firm, announced that Barb Anderson, AIA, NCARB, was elected as chair of the Advocacy Committee for the U.S Green Building Council. Anderson has served on the Advocacy Committee for the past five years and will now serves as chair for 2012-2013. As the committee chair, Anderson will promote LEED certification and the benefits of sustainable buildings.
WASHINGTON — With capital spending activity among restaurant operators trending upward in recent months, nearly half of operators said they made a capital expenditure for equipment, expansion or remodeling during the last three months — the highest level in five months.
WASHINGTON — As part of a presidential effort to help U.S. businesses create jobs and strengthen their competitiveness, the Department of Energy announced a pilot initiative to reduce some of the hurdles that prevent companies from working with national laboratories by speeding up the transfer of federal research and development from the laboratory to the marketplace.
FORT BLISS, Texas — The U.S.