Industry News

Ground was broken in December of 2009 on the Wind Technology Testing Center (WTTC) in Boston. Operated in partnership with the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the facility will be the first in the nation capable of testing blades up to 90 meters long. The research and development center will support testing of commercial wind turbine blades to improve design and reduce cost. The project is supported by $25 million from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, as well as $28.5 million in additional funding.

M. D. Anderson Banner Cancer Center officially broke ground in December of 2009 on a 120,000-sf outpatient cancer facility in Gilbert, Ariz. The $107 million project is slated for occupancy in fall of 2011.

The University of Georgia has awarded Art’s Way Manufacturing a $1.3 million contract to provide 6 modular swine facilities. Housing breeding, gestation, nursery, and finishing operations, the complex will support swine production research and training. The sustainably-designed project will utilize methane gas produced at the site to fire boilers used to treat animal waste. Exhaust fans connected to a biofilter will improve air quality and rainwater will be collected and recycled for cleaning and irrigation.

Eastern Illinois University broke ground on a biomass-fueled energy plant in Charleston in November of 2009. Reducing the university’s consumption of electricity by 6.2 million kilowatt hours annually and reducing output of carbon dioxide by 20,000 metric tons each year, the $55 million project is being constructed by Honeywell International. The plant will begin operations in fall of 2011.

Irvine Valley College dedicated the $19 million Business Sciences Building in Irvine, Calif., in November of 2009. The 53,000-sf, two-story building houses nine classrooms, seminar rooms, computer centers, and a media resource suite.