Lighting Science Group Receives $20 Million Investment

Lighting Science Group Corp. recently announced it closed a $20 million preferred stock financing plan led by affiliates of Pegasus Capital Advisors, L.P., with participation from Riverwood Capital Partners, L.P. These companies are LSCG's two largest shareholders. Lighting Science Group received $17.4 million of the funds at the closing of the financing and has received a commitment to fund the balance of $2.6 million. The funding will be used to finance the company's growth, with a strong focus on technology platforms and product innovations.

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Robots on Jobsites? Not So Far Fetched

MIT research scientists insist that the future of home building lies in technology which includes smart machines that can perform construction functions. A professor at USC has invented a fabrication process that operates on the principles of 3D printing. Software able to read blueprints guides a large mechanical arm suspended from a mobile scaffold. The arm extrudes liquefied concrete in patterns that form exterior and interior walls into any shape and height. Electrical, plumbing, flooring, and other finish work can be installed during the process, which operates nonstop until the structure is completed.

In the not so distant future, more and more activities will be operated by software. Instead of Teamsters, there will be robotic trucks. Where there had once been miners, there will be mining robots. Instead of factories, there will be 3D printers in your home.

But, robots on jobsites?

"Yes," says Dr. Khoshnevis, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California, who is betting on home building becoming part of that continuum.

Since 2002, he has been perfecting "Contour Crafting,” a fabrication process that operates on the principles of 3D printing.

Details like cutting window and door openings still are being refined. Khoshnevis has been soliciting investment capital for a startup company to sell the technology. He sees Contour Crafting as being suited for constructing affordable housing in areas where supply is short or where houses have been destroyed by natural disasters. He predicts the technology would reduce jobsite injuries, leave a smaller carbon footprint, and be cost-competitive with stick-built or modular construction after equipment and cycle times are amortized.



His invention might have residual benefits, too. Khoshnevis is working with NASA on a robotic system that could build structures on the moon and Mars using indigenous raw materials such as volcanic sand, which is common on the moon. That’s gotten the state of Hawaii—where volcanic sand abounds—interested in the process for producing cement.

How many years away do you think this technology is to being on jobsites?

Stacks on Stacks: Apt Building Rises in 19 Days

Prefab construction has made a spectacular entrance in New York City. Nineteen days. That is all the time it took to put up a 28-unit, seven-story apartment building in the Inwood section of Manhattan this summer. This summer, prefab is yielding its first real fruits. The secret? Modular construction. The Stack, a 38,000-square-foot project comprised of 56 modules, was constructed on a 50x150 foot lot at Broadway and Academy Street, and is one of more than 17 modular projects underway in the city.

Working Monday through Friday from June 20 to July 18, a crew of just eight iron workers, a crane operator, and half-a-dozen helpers installed the 56 modules that make up the apartment building at 4857 Broadway.

Each 12-foot-wide prefabricated box was easily guided by the workers with a slight push, as it was suspended from a crane.

In a bow to the property's innovative construction technique, the building is to be known as The Stack. It was created by a partnership of developer/builder Jeffrey M. Brown Associates and Gluck+ architects.

Despite the touted economy of off-site, prefabricated housing, the methodology has made limited inroads in New York, stunted for decades by bureaucracy and a public that preferred flashy condominium projects.

Recently, interest in modular construction is catching on in a big way. That interest grew more urgent after Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of the city, leading officials to re-examine prefab disaster-housing schemes.



Part of modular construction's appeal of is that by building in a factory, the modules—as well as carpenters, plumbers, electricians and others building them—are protected from the elements, which helps ensure quality control and quicker construction. Door bells, lights, switches, bathrooms, tiles, kitchens, everything's in there already - even the first coat of paint.

And when it comes time to put the pieces together, a building can blossom in just a few weeks.

In the case of The Stack, it only took a few months to prepare the site and lay the foundations, and all the while crews were busy building the modules at a factory in Pennsylvania. The small modules do mean low ceilings, however—necessary, in part, to make it across the bridge to the city.

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Why Skanska Dropped its Membership in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

On July 9, Skanska resigned as a member of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to protest the organization’s backing of a chemical industry-led initiative to effectively ban the future use of LEED for government buildings. The initiative, linked to the lobbying efforts related to the Shaheen-Portman Energy Efficiency Bill , threatens to halt years of progress in energy-efficient and environmentally responsible construction.

Sustainability is one of Skanska’s core values. And we will not be a part of an organization that supports the American High-Performance Building Coalition (AHPBC), which harbors the American Chemistry Council and opposes the implementation of a new, stronger LEED certification program.

LEEDv4 encourages transparency in reporting the chemical composition of building materials, something we at Skanska think is essential for anyone wanting to build responsibly.

The LEED program is the most recognized and widely used green building program globally. It is maintained and implemented by the independent U.S. Green Building Council through a public and transparent comment and balloting process engaging a diverse group of nearly 13,000 members, who voted last week in favor of LEEDv4.

We have asked the Chamber to reconsider its support of the chemical lobby, whose anti-LEED stance would:

• Significantly undermine the LEED program
• Impact more than 196,000 LEED Accredited Professionals
• Cripple the progress of environmentally responsible construction across the country.

The Chamber is on the wrong side of this issue, and its support of the AHPBC is misplaced as well as misguided. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce was created to advocate for pro-business policies that create jobs and support our economy. The numbers prove that LEED and green building do just that. Because a few companies don’t like the current LEED program, they want to involve the government and create an entirely new system for government buildings. This is exactly the kind of redundancy and bureaucracy that we pay the Chamber to fight.

Michael McNally
President & CEO
Skanska USA

$300M Condo Soon To Grace Downtown Miami Skyline

    

One Thousand Museum, a $300 million condo tower designed by world renowned architect Zaha Hadid, will soon be gracing the Downtown Miami skyline.1000 Biscayne Blvd in downtown Miami will ideally display the new 62-story tower. Offering super spacious full floor plans, the tower will be set between 900 Biscayne and Ten Museum Park, taking over a prime spot now occupied by a gas station.

Preconstruction

With only 83 residences ranging from 5,400 to 11,200 square feet, each residence will have 3 parking spaces assigned plus its own helicopter landing pad which is the only residential tower in Miami with this feature.

Prices for the luxury apartments are expected to start between $4 and $12 million for a half-floor unit, rising to $30 million for a full floor. The two top floor 5-BR/ 7-Bath duplexes units are being offered at more than $50,000,000 each.

All units will be offered fully-finished, including flooring, custom closets and high-end lighting. Construction is expected to be completed in 2016.

The Developer

1000 Museum is an amazing project designed by internationally renowned architect Zaha Hadid. Pritzker Award winner, Stirling Prize winner, and appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth, her architecture is very distinctive, futuristic and recognized around the world.
Her firm has built mostly in Europe, Asia and Middle East. One Thousand Museum is her first American project and highly anticipated by the super-wealthy from around globe.

	Click images to enlarge

Features

• Sun deck with a billiards room, a cardio room, a screening room
• Rooftop event spaces, a cigar lounge, a relaxation lounge
• Oversized hot tubs, hot and cold plunge pools, spa
• Indoor pools, outdoor pools, sauna, steam room, cabanas
• Three restaurants and a nightclub
• The first residential building with a helipad

Contact ElectricWeb-Southeast for more details on this project.

Contractors Selected on Howard University Projects

Power Design, Inc. has been named as the electrical contractor on Howard University’s newest student housing development located in Washington, D.C. 

The development will accommodate more than 1,000 students and will help establish a residential neighborhood for them.

Power Design recently started construction on another student housing project that will include approximately 1,360 beds in 700 units.

The new residence halls will feature two-person semi-suites, a communal social and study lounge, and game rooms.

Electrical Contractor: Power Design, Inc. 11600 Ninth Street North St. Petersburg, FL 33716           Phone 727.210.0492 Fax 727.210.0503

General Contractor: Clark Construction Group, LLC 7500 Old Georgetown Road Bethesda, Maryland 20814 Phone (301) 272-8100 Fax (301) 272-19283

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Howard University Interdisciplinary Research Campus

Howard University and Turner Construction Company, will break ground on a new Interdisciplinary Research Building at 2201 Georgia Ave., NW, Washington, D.C.

It is a cornerstone of the University’s academic renewal initiative, and its prominent gateway location on the Georgia Avenue Corridor is a public expression of Howard’s commitment to 21st century research.

The new 81,000 square-foot mixed-use academic building will support and promote interdisciplinary research and educational collaboration.

The IRB is designed as an energy-efficient (LEED) facility which will incorporate cutting-edge technology and the latest educational, environmental and research standards.

It will include wet and dry laboratories, instructional space, research support space, ground floor retail, and centralized offices for faculty, students and academic staff.

The Interdisciplinary Research Building is slated to open in the Fall of 2014.

General Contractor:
Turner Construction Company
1110 Vermont Avenue NW, Suite 200
Washington, DC 20005
Phone: (202) 789-0770

E-J Electric Flying High at JFK’s Terminal 5

E-J Electric Installation Company is in the midst of a multiyear project for Turner Construction at New York City‘s John F. Kennedy Airport. The contractor is wiring the newly constructed $875 million, 635,000-square-foot JetBlue Airways terminal, which includes 26 gates.
The terminal has begun servicing 360 flights in and out daily. E-J Electric is providing the electric installation, including switchgear, feeders, low-voltage data and fire safety, and supplemental power from three generators. 

The Y-shaped Terminal 5 building connects to JetBlue’s previous location, Terminal 6, once the Trans World Airlines Flight Center used by TWA. T5 offers modern facilities and room for growth, as the airline continues to expand its operations and both domestic and international flights.

JetBlue, JFK’s fastest growing airline, started flying in and out of the airport a decade ago with just one gate for a handful of flights. Since then, JetBlue grew a gate at a time, reaching the 13 gates maximum that were available to it at Terminal 6.

In 2005, the airline added seven temporary gates in a separate facility, requiring passengers to take a JetBlue bus to access their planes. As a result, the airline needed a permanent space and began planning T5, making allowances for continued expansion.

The airline’s architect designed T5 to include 26 gates, with 13 on each end of the Y and room for 10 more. The company’s T5 master plan included up to 20 security lanes, the departure and arrival gates, free Wi-Fi access throughout the entire terminal, 22 restaurants and food outlets, retail stores, and large children’s area.

JetBlue hired Turner Construction as general contractor, and Turner employed a total of 80 subcontractors, including E-J Electric for the electrical portion.

E-J Electric and Turner already have completed numerous projects together, including Yankee Stadium, Jazz at Lincoln Center, Interfaith Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center.

E-J Electric, whose electricians have worked at JFK for years, was selected to do electrical wiring tasks, including both normal and emergency power in addition to low voltage.

Since E-J Electric’s workers already had considerable experience in airport work, getting them to comply with Federal Aviation Administration and Port Authority regulations was fairly straightforward. For instance, each electrician must gain security clearance on a job-by-job basis. This project required all workers to take a safety training class before starting work on the project. They also had to carry a picture ID badge at all times.