Congress Promotes Green-Building Practices with Financial Incentives

Also, safety efforts protect workers, pay off for companies statewide.

Congress wants to increase incentives for green-building practices with the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009, informally known as the Waxman-Markey bill.

The bill passed in the U.S. House of Representatives on June 26 and was headed for the Senate at press time. All indicators point to its passing, perhaps with some tinkering by the Senate.

The energy and climate legislation provides incentives for building while accelerating the benefits of sustainability and environmental performance. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 includes several initiatives such as:

• The Retrofit for Energy and Environmental Performance program, which supports the creation of retrofitting initiatives throughout the country for residential and nonresidential buildings. The variety of incentives includes credit enhancements, interest rate subsidies and initial capital for public revolving loan funds.

• The GREEN, or Green Resources for Energy Efficient Neighborhoods Act, which provides incentives to lenders and financial institutions to provide lower interest loans and other benefits to consumers who build, buy or remodel their homes in ways that improve energy efficiency. The bill also increases energy efficiency standards for Department of Housing and Urban Development and assisted housing.

• The Building Energy Performance Labeling Program, which directs the Environmental Protection Agency to create model building energy performance labels for new construction while establishing a meaningful and consistent basis for evaluating the energy performance of residential and commercial buildings.

• EPA’s WaterSense program, which receives permanent authorization to designate products as water efficient, as well as funding for state incentive programs for use of water-efficient products.

• Extension of power purchasing authority for federal agencies that allows the federal government to enter contracts for the purchase of renewable power for a period of up to 20 years.

“This legislation, specifically the Retrofit for Energy & Environmental Performance program, will help accelerate the commercial real estate market’s update of green buildings by offering enticing incentives like credit enhancements, interest rate subsidies and initial capital for public revolving loan funds,” Ashley Katz, spokesperson for the U.S. Green Building Council, told Texas Construction. “The financial benefits that will be offered as part of the REEP program will help make green building even more affordable. This legislation will also help make our nation’s vast existing building stock greener.”

Katz says buildings in the United States are responsible for 39% of carbon dioxide emissions, 40% of energy consumption, 13% of water consumption and 15% of gross domestic product per year, making green building a source of significant economic and environmental opportunity.

“Greater building efficiency can meet 85% of future U.S. demand for energy, and a national commitment to green building has the potential to generate 2.5 million American jobs,” Katz adds.

Members of the construction industry see it as a plus, too, according to Bill Brady, vice president of estimating for Cadence McShane in Houston.

“I would think this would have a pretty positive impact,” Brady told Texas Construction. “Right now, the new building market is down because of financing problems. For people to stay where they are, they may see opportunities to upgrade their facilities and get these relief programs to stay put.”

Brady says the biggest benefits will go to the various submarkets of construction in these situations.

“You’ll see lot of work for roofers as building owners go with a white roof or a green roof with vegetation growing on the roof. Air-conditioning people will be putting in more high-efficiency units or solar panels. Window people will be replacing glass,” he adds. “You may see buildings go from asphalt to concrete paving in their parking lots.”

“In the long run, I think this will be attractive to owners, especially if there is some sort of tax incentive,” he says.

Adolfson & Peterson Marks Safety Milestone, Earns ABC Award

Dallas-based Adolfson & Peterson Construction surpassed the milestone of three million man hours with no lost time due to accidents. A&P also earned safety credentials including the selection as a Merit winner in ABC’s 2009 National Safety Award competition. Additionally, the firm has an industry leading EMR of .53 and a recordable rate of zero.

The company achieved its safety milestone with the combined efforts of more than 670 employees working on numerous projects nationwide.

Rider Appointed to Industrialized Building Code Council

Jesse Rider of Tyler was appointed by Texas Gov. Rick Perry to the Industrialized Building Code Council for a term that will expire on Feb. 1, 2010. The council oversees the inspection of industrialized housing and buildings to ensure that state standards are enforced.

Rider is owner of Tyler-based Rider Homes Inc. and Rider Construction Inc. He is a member and past president of the Tyler Area Builders Association Board of Directors, and a past member of the City of Tyler Planning and Zoning Commission. He is also a past board member of the National Home Builders Association and Texas Home Builder, as well as a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity and the East Texas Food Bank.

Corrpro Houston Crew Earns Safety Excellence Award

The Houston-based crew of Corrpro Cos. Inc., a subsidiary of Insituform Technologies Inc. of Chesterfield, Mo., was recently honored with the Houston Business Roundtable Gold Award in Safety Excellence.

The Houston Business Roundtable has been recognizing Greater Houston area industrial contractors for their outstanding safety performances for more than 20 years. Nominations for the award are accepted only from client/owner companies and are evaluated throughout a six-month process that often includes field audits.

It is the second year in a row that ExxonMobil has nominated the Corrpro crew for its work at the ExxonMobil Baytown facility in the “Specialty Contractor Soft Crafts/Environmental Small” award category.

The Corrpro crew received the bronze award from HBR during last year’s award presentation. This year, in addition to receiving the HBR Gold Award, Corrpro was one of the few contractors selected to participate in a field audit.

Field audits are conducted by teams of client/owners and contractors at the nominee’s jobsite. Such audits allow team members and nominees to share safety practices.

Former Austin District Engineer Hired by Williamson County

Williamson County recently hired retired Texas Department of Transportation’s Austin District Engineer, Bob Daigh, as its infrastructure chief starting in September. The newly created job utilizes Daigh’s expertise in highway planning and construction.

Daigh, who worked previously as director of TxDOT’s Turnpike Authority Division before assuming his Austin District job, presided over a multi-year effort to create three Austin area toll roads. He also worked with the Central Texas Regional Mobility Authority to create its U.S. 183A toll road

His new job is to assure Williamson County’s road program effectively uses bonds already issued, passes through toll money and coordinates a 2011 bond election to create and execute road construction projects.

Daigh stepped down from his TxDOT job in April after six years directing the activities of the 11-county district which includes Williamson County.

TCEQ Names M.D. Anderson New Clean Texas Member

The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston has been named a platinum level member in the TCEQ’s Clean Texas program, which is designed to reward organizations whose environmental performance goes beyond compliance with environmental laws.

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center joins more than 90 organizations in Texas that are committed to environmental improvements in their communities. Through Clean Texas, members volunteer to protect Texas’s air, water, land and to conserve its resources.

M.D. Anderson Cancer Center works to reduce and better manage hazardous and nonhazardous waste; reduce water and energy use; and organize local litter cleanups. It also contributes to environmental education and the donation of medical equipment.

Tellepsen Launches New Brand to Mark Anniversary

Fourth-generation Houston commercial and industrial builder Tellepsen celebrates its centennial anniversary this year with the launch of a new brand: A Cornerstone of the Community.

The brand is designed to reflect the company’s continued support of building industry and local community. The brand logo, which features a new bold “T” embedded in a red cornerstone with the “Cornerstone of the Community” tagline, bridges the company’s past 100-year building legacy and its move into the next century. Accompanying these brand changes is the launch of a new Web site, tellepsen.com.

Mike Kress, VP With The Bayou Companies in Houston, Dies On May 27, Mike Kress, vice president of sales and marketing at Houston-based The Bayou Companies Inc., a subsidiary of Insituform Technologies Inc., died. He was an active member of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America Foundation and the Southern Gas Association, where he served as chairman of the Associate Members’ Managing Committee and on the SGA Board of Directors for three terms. His knowledge of Bayou and the energy and mining industry were invaluable to Bayou during Insituform’s acquisition of Bayou. Kress was preceded in death by his son Kenneth Eugene Kress, and is survived by his wife of 46 years, Judy Duncan Kress, and daughter Pamela Kay Kress.