Hawaii announces completion of $375 million wastewater project

Designed by Brown and Caldwell, an environmental engineering and construction firm, Hawaii’s largest ever wastewater system upgrade has been officially completed.

The upgrade improves Windward Oahu’s sewage collection and treatment system by connecting the Kaneohe Wastewater Pre-Treatment Facility (KWWPTF) to the Kailua Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant (KRWWTP) via a three-mile long, 10-foot diameter gravity sewer tunnel. Wastewater flows via gravity from a depth of 39-feet below ground level at the KWWPTF to a depth of 77-feet below ground at the KRWWTP. The route travels under the Oneawa Hills in order to avoid Kaneohe Bay and any sewage overflows into the environmentally sensitive public resource.

Kaneohe Kailua Wastewater Conveyance and Treatment Facilities project aerial view

Brown and Caldwell also designed a 45 million gallons per day Tunnel Influent Pump Station to lift wastewater to the surface for treatment at KRWWTP. The project also includes a new 15 million gallons per day replacement for the existing Kailua Influent Pump Station, a generator and headworks buildings, and odor control facilities.

Because the new tunnel system conveys wastewater via gravity rather than pressure, three upstream pump stations and a three-mile long force main (all potential community overflow points) were able to be eliminated.

While green data centers will continue to be a trend within the industry, technology is also driving infrastructure upgrades that have never been seen before, according to the 2011 Data Center Technical Market Report from Environmental Systems Design. The report also includes an overview of the national data center market, construction costs, blackouts and disaster prevention, and site selection.

| Jan 4, 2011

Grubb & Ellis predicts commercial real estate recovery

Grubb & Ellis Company, a leading real estate services and investment firm, released its 2011 Real Estate Forecast, which foresees the start of a slow recovery in the leasing market for all property types in the coming year.

| Nov 29, 2010

Data Centers: Keeping Energy, Security in Check

Power consumption for data centers doubled from 2000 and 2006, and it is anticipated to double again by 2011, making these mission-critical facilities the nation’s largest commercial user of electric power. Major technology companies, notably Hewlett-Packard, Cisco Systems, and International Business Machines, are investing heavily in new data centers. HP, which acquired technology services provider EDS in 2008, announced in June that it would be closing many of its older data centers and would be building new, more highly optimized centers around the world.

| Nov 3, 2010

Public works complex gets eco-friendly addition

The renovation and expansion of the public works operations facility in Wilmette, Ill., including a 5,000-sf addition that houses administrative and engineering offices, locker rooms, and a lunch room/meeting room, is seeking LEED Gold certification.

| Oct 12, 2010

The Watch Factory, Waltham, Mass.

27th Annual Reconstruction Awards — Gold Award. When the Boston Watch Company opened its factory in 1854 on the banks of the Charles River in Waltham, Mass., the area was far enough away from the dust, dirt, and grime of Boston to safely assemble delicate watch parts.

| Oct 12, 2010

Building 13 Naval Station, Great Lakes, Ill.

27th Annual Reconstruction Awards—Gold Award. Designed by Chicago architect Jarvis Hunt and constructed in 1903, Building 13 is one of 39 structures within the Great Lakes Historic District at Naval Station Great Lakes, Ill.