Case Studies Green Building

As companies grow larger, there is often a danger that employees will feel disconnected with upper management. “I think everyone needs something that motivates them to come to work and be part of an organization,” says Stan Sugden, president of Ruekert & Mielke Inc. (R/M), a 71-year-old civil engineering firm with offices throughout Wisconsin and […]

Increasingly popular, fitness trackers allow people to monitor, among other things, how many steps they take in a day. In many cases, simply by accounting for their steps, people are encouraged to walk more. What if we could bring that idea to, say, recycling? And get companies and institutions to track and increase their recycling? […]

When people think of a construction job they usually don’t imagine stacks of paper, but in reality that’s what it takes to get something built. On top of the hundreds of full-sized blueprints, a large commercial project—such as a hospital or department store—has at least 50 or more additional half-sets scattered around the site. All […]

Radon is not just odorless and colorless, it is wide-ranging and, next to tobacco, the leading cause of lung cancer. Left unattended to, it can also be bad business. So warns the leader of a Canadian company at the forefront of raising awareness and providing advanced technology measurement and mitigation solutions to deal with the […]

Sam Wainer discovered his niche in the sustainability movement as a student at the UC Davis Graduate School of Management in 2010, when his department’s main building, Gallagher Hall, earned a LEED Platinum certification. While giving a tour of the new facility to the university’s board of regents, Wainer realized how nice it would be […]

Standing on the manicured lawn of the Brightview senior living development in Canton, Massachusetts, it’s hard to imagine that just a few years ago, the same plot of land was a pit of sand and gravel. Today, a stately, three-story, 167,000-square-foot building stands there, surrounded by carefully landscaped grounds, courtyards and a quarter-mile walking path […]

What do a beach-front kitchen, a tigers’ den at a public zoo, a college dorm room and a biology lab have in common? They’ve all benefited from Werever cabinetry. Since 2001, Werever has been manufacturing durable, waterproof cabinetry ideal for outdoor environments and rough indoor customers. It’s found a home for its wares in places […]

For a business to cover all of Texas is an impressive feat. Never mind the added competition that comes with different markets, but most customers aren’t willing to wait up to 10 hours for a crew to cross the state’s deserts and plains. Then again, it can be worth it. “My customers understand that even […]

Looking at the marketing material, or the 326 homes closed last year, you wouldn’t guess that Dunhill Homes is just six years old. One might draw a similar conclusion from its aspirations. The Dallas, Texas-based home builder expects to close 450 homes in 2017, and it has made the list of fastest-growing companies in the […]

For 10 years, David Ward installed and maintained HVAC systems in commercial buildings throughout Portland, Oregon, but he was often frustrated by how frequently design engineers overlooked his recommendations for design improvements. “Working in the field, I knew when there was a better way to do something or else tell them that [the design] just […]