Industry News

The University of Miami was awarded $15 million in stimulus funding in July of 2009 by the National Institute of Standards and Technology to build the $44 million Marine Technology and Life Sciences Seawater (MTLSS) Research Building in Miami, Fla. To be constructed at the University’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, the facility will house state-of-the-art seawater laboratories and multidisciplinary research facilities dedicated to two major areas of coastal studies—the destructive power of hurricanes and the biology of coastal waters.

Intel Corp. is engaged in a $2.5 million upgrade of the Fab 11X manufacturing complex in Rio Rancho, N.M. The facility will house a 400,000-sf cleanroom and will begin producing 32 nanometer chips in fall of 2010. The building includes a central computer control room to monitor the plant’s advanced manufacturing equipment. Fab 11X was completed in 2002 and was renovated in 2007.

Fort St. John Hospital broke ground on a $298 million healthcare campus in July of 2009. Located on 40 acres in Fort St. John, B.C., Canada, the $298 million project is comprised of a 55-bed acute care hospital and a 123-bed, 54,000-sf residential care facility. The replacement hospital will feature an expanded emergency department, two new operating rooms, an endoscopy suite, and maternity care rooms. LEED Gold sustainable design certification will be sought for the project, which is slated for completion in spring of 2012.

West Cumberland Hospital has selected Laing O’Rourke as the general contractor for an extensive redevelopment of its hospital campus in Hensingham, U.K. Groundwork will begin in late 2009 on the £100 million project with construction commencing in 2010. The sustainably-designed facility will include an emergency department, surgical suites, inpatient care, and an outpatient clinic.

Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group announced in July of 2009 that it will spend W4.1 trillion on sustainable car manufacturing projects. The company will invest in R&D and facilities construction to create a mass production system for ecological cars by 2012. Hyundai-Kia is also investing W500 billion to reduce carbon emissions at its existing factories. Hyundai Steel is building an integrated steel mill in Dangjin, which will benefit from an additional W23 billion in funding to hasten completion.