Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

You deal with Jim Rohan, the owner, from the moment you come in or call to the completion of your job

by: Jim Loboy

If you want to have your floors redone before the holidays begin, check out Jim Rohan Floor Covering in Liberty.

They have a great selection of flooring from hardwood to carpet and even have stone that can be used to decorate around a bar or the exterior of your home.

Jim Rohan Flooring makes it a priority to provide personal care and service to each customer that comes in.

You deal with Jim Rohan, the owner, from the moment you come in or call to the completion of your job.

I try to tell my customers, I do every job like its my house, said Rohen.

They have labor warranties on all installations. Jim stands by everything he sells.

Brands include Mohawk, Armstrong, Tarkett, Southwind Carpet, Mirage & Bella Cera, just to name a few.

You can call (330) 759-7900 or visit their store at 3100 Belmont Ave. in Liberty.

Read the rest here:
Jim Rohan Floor Covering has you covered this holiday season - WKBN.com

The sagging house on the edge of Newports East Row neighborhood looked unsafe and uninspiring to most passersby. Mark Ramler, owner of Mansion Hill Properties, looks at houses like this a little differently. He jumped at the chance to bring it back to life, uncovering unexpected treasures in the process.

This house was built before the Civil War, Ramler explained. One of the coolest things I found was a mold for casting a Union belt buckle.

He also found extra-wide wood planks originally used as attic flooring. When he and his team vaulted some of the ceilings, they used those planks to make an unusual kitchen island, range hood and bathroom vanities.

I loved repurposing the materials and keeping them in the house, Ramler said.

Other examples of creative repurposing include the installation of two interior windows that came from the building that is now Hotel Covington. Kitchen cabinets from a few different Newport renovation projects were brought together in this home and look like they have always been there. One wall of the master bathrooms shower is actually a bricked-up fireplace that was original to the house.

When Ramler opened up the ceiling in one of the bedrooms, he left part of the attic level intact, creating a loft area. It is currently used as a home office but would also make an inviting playroom.

The episode features photos of the home before the renovation and the changes are dramatic. What once was a tumbledown multi-family house is now a one-of-a-kind home for a young family, putting down roots in Newport.

Catch new episodes of Beyond the Curb: River City Living every Friday. The previous 12 episodes can be viewed here.

The Catalytic Fund is the private sector, not-for-profit organization that provides financing assistance and related services for developers of quality residential and commercial real estate projects in Northern Kentuckys urban cities of Ludlow, Covington, Newport, Bellevue and Dayton. Its mission is to accelerate Northern Kentuckys urban renaissance through targeted investments in catalytic real estate development projects in urban neighborhoods.

After and before fireplace

Before and after house

The new kitchen

The new living room

The new staircase

The new bedroom

View post:
Beyond the Curb: Creativity and vision transform a Newport house featured in River City Living - User-generated content

Fort Benning Public AffairsFORT BENNING, Ga. To his coworker watching from the forest floor, the wildlife biologist 90 feet up the tree may not look to be moving much in the gusting wind.However it may look from the ground though, the one strapped to the pine tree high above Fort Benning's sprawling woodlands knows all too well that the tree is swaying in a long arc, now 40 feet this way, now 40 feet thatSometimes too, looking into the holes in old pines where red-cockaded woodpeckers make their homes, the biologists sometimes find the occupants are no longer the birds but the bees, or maybe wasps, unregistered tenants suddenly roused. Rattlers and other venomous snakes inhabit the forest undergrowth.But such encounters with raw nature are a routine part of the steps Fort Benning has been taking for more than two dozen years to help the red-cockaded woodpecker population grow and keep growing. They often refer to the bird as the "RCW" for short. Their nests are typically referred to as cavities."In the spring of every year we go and we inspect all of the red-cockaded woodpecker cavities on the installation," said Doug Linden, a wildlife biologist with the Natural Resources Management Branch of U.S. Army Garrison Fort Benning's Directorate of Public Works.As the branch staff identifies a tree that's home to the woodpeckers, it records the position using the Global Positioning System, or GPS, said Linden."We know the location, they're all marked and tagged," he said.When the biologists check those cavities, they clear them if need be of debris, water, or anything else that might trouble the woodpeckers.The RCW has been on the endangered species list since 1970. By the 1990s, under federal conservation guidelines, U.S. military installations with large RCW populations began a set of actions to help the bird along. That's been part of a broader effort that has included various federal and state agencies and private sector organizations.Since then, the overall red-cockaded woodpecker population has recovered enough to where federal authorities recently proposed changing its status from endangered to threatened.Officials traveled to Fort Benning last month to formally announce the proposal, which is currently open to public comment, after which a decision is to be made.Since the push to help the RCW began in earnest at Fort Benning in 1996, its population here has nearly tripled, said Linden.But Fort Benning continues measures to help the woodpecker, among them a major focus on ensuring they have suitable living spaces.For the red-cockaded woodpecker that means a live pine tree, but one old enough, and therefore soft enough, for the bird to be able to pick out a living space. That usually means pines older than 70 years.The RCW is the only woodpecker species in North America that makes its home only in live pines, Linden said.It can take an RCW years to peck a big enough cavity in the body of a living pine, he said. That's partly because a live pine heals itself when injured, making it for the woodpecker a protracted labor one peck forward, two pecks back."It may take them anywhere from six months to three years to complete a cavity, depending on how often they work on it," said Linden."So it's not like where they start something in a dead tree, and they can come back to it a few days later," he said. "In a live pine tree, it's constantly trying to heal itself."So Fort Benning helps house the RCW by using box-like wooden cavities called inserts, Linden said. The inserts are about 10 inches tall, four wide, six deep. They make their own out of blocks of western red cedar they order from a local mill, he said.Most cavities at Fort Benning tend to be about 30 to 35 feet up the pine. Some are as low as five feet from the ground and others as high as 95, said Linden."One of our technicians can climb up the tree, with the chain saw, cut out the hole, put this cavity in place, and be finished in about an hour," he said."As opposed to a bird that might need a couple of years to get that cavity completed, we can go out to a stand and put in numerous cavities," said Linden. The birds may start roosting right away.It's a climb they make with safety gear and a variety of tools."We'll wear hard hats and chainsaw chaps and long-sleeved shirts and leather gloves, etcetera," said Linden.And they rely on lightweight aluminum Swedish ladders that can be added to a section at a time for the needed length. Each section is 10 feet, and the bottom section has spikes that can be sunk in the ground to anchor it.It's not ideal for those who fear heights, especially in a good wind."When you're up there, you know it's movin' 30 or 40 feet in any direction every time the wind blows," said Linden. "You know it can certainly make for a hairy time."And then we have a safety protocol, only climbing with two people present. So nobody's out there climbing by themselves," he said."Someone might check a cavity to see what the contents were and it happens to be full of bees or wasps and they come flying out like crazy."When they need to gauge how many birds are living within a particular place they sometimes draw them into the open by playing digital recordings of RCW calls.The birds hear the calls and fly out for a look.Another measure that aids many creatures, including the woodpecker, is the setting of carefully controlled fires at key points on the forest floor. Known as prescribed burns, the flames consume unwanted debris and generate chemical changes in the soil that make it ultimately richer in insects and other nutrients the RCW and other animals feed on.The RCW's population is measured not in individual birds but in breeding groups, said Linden. A group consists of, at a minimum, a male-female pair. Each group may contain two to seven individual birds typically, he said."We don't count these particular species by individual because they don't function as individuals, they function as one family group, with only one nest in that group," he said. "So even if you had seven birds, they're still only having one nest. Whereas a group that has two birds is also only having one nest."In 1996, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service set Fort Benning the goal of increasing the RCW population to 351, said Linden. At that time the number of RCW breeding groups here stood at 143. It's now 412, he said."We've surpassed that number pretty significantly," he said of the original goal.Fort Benning's abundance of live pines and its efforts to help the red-cockaded woodpecker keep a proper home has led to that outcome, said Linden.And the installation of artificial cavities has been perhaps most crucial of all for the woodpeckers being able to thrive here, he said."They have a better chance of doing that than they do of striking out on their own and then trying to create a new territory," said Linden. "Because it takes so long for those birds to be able to excavate a cavity and then to also try to defend that area at the same time. We can install those cavities in a matter of hours, and that allows them to create these new breeding groups almost immediately."

Continue reading here:
Climbing the pines, wildlife biologists put in ready-made homes to help woodpeckers thrive - United States Army

New York, Oct. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Surgical Boom Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis by Installation ; Product Type ; End-Use, and Geography" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05978103/?utm_source=GNW However, the troublesome functioning of surgical booms in hybrid operating rooms is hampers the market growth up to a certain extent.

Surgical booms, also known as equipment columns or supply heads, are installed in healthcare facilities as they provide easy access to electrical power; audiovisual data services; and medical gasses such as oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide.Booms reduce the clutter caused by the cords and thus eliminate the risk of tripping hazards.

They also have shelves that help in organizing and centralizing surgical equipment.

Surgical booms are flexible and can be conformed to various configurations as per the space availability and functional requirements.Factors such as type of surgeries performed in an operating room, layout of an operating or emergency room, and number of equipment are considered while designing a surgical boom.

The surgical booms feature multiple electric outlets for electrical power as well as audiovisual data needs, and gas outlets for medical gasses such as oxygen, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen.They reduce the clutter of cords and wires in the operating and emergency rooms, and ICUs; this prevents hazards, thereby improving staff and patient safety.

Surgical booms offer better access around the surgical table than the traditional towers.The advanced surgical booms are mobile, lightweight, and unobtrusive, and therefore, they can be reconfigured according to various operating rooms or as per different surgical procedures.

In every surgery, the booms can be custom configured to benefit surgical teams, as well as patients. The installation of surgical booms improves the efficiency of the surgical teams and, further, increases the number of surgeries performed in the healthcare facility. Thus, benefits of surgical booms such as flexibility, enhanced patient safety, and mobility favor the growth of the market.

Based on installation, the surgical boom market is segmented into roof mounted and floor mounted. The roof mounted segment held a larger share of the market in 2019, and the floor mounted segment is anticipated to register a higher CAGR of 4.8% in the market during the forecast period. The roof mounted booms are ideal for electricity and medical gas supply. The roof mounted booms allow easy provision and elimination of medical gasses according to the hospital needs.

Based on product type, the surgical boom market is segmented into equipment boom, utility boom, anesthesia boom, and custom boom. The utility boom segment held the largest share of the market in 2019, and the anesthesia booms segment is anticipated to register the highest CAGR of 5.9% in the market during the forecast period.

The World Health Organization (WHO), Food and Drug Administration (FDA), European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development are among the major primary and secondary sources referred for preparing this report.Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05978103/?utm_source=GNW

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

__________________________

Read the original:
Surgical Boom Market Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Global Analysis by Installation ; Product Type ; End-Use, and Geography - GlobeNewswire

Smart thermostats are fairly ubiquitous these days, but depending on which one youre using, you could be getting a lot more from your home heating and cooling with relatively simple DIY upgrades. The Flair Smart Vent system is one such upgrade, and though it costs a bit upfront to get going (each register is $79 to start, depending on size), you wont have to call an HVAC contractor or break down any walls to take advantage of what it offers.

Flairs system is designed around a simple idea: Controlling the airflow across individual rooms can help you be more efficient about where you direct your heating and cooling, and when. The basic ingredients Flair uses to make this happen are its Smart Vents, which fit into existing floor and wall register slots in standard sizes. The Flair designs are low profile, with all the electronics contained in casing that rests under floor level. They can be hardwired for power, but they also ship with two C batteries the provide years of power before they require replacement.

Flair advises three different approaches to determining how many Smart Vents you need to complement your existing system: If you have one room thats too cold when cooling and too hot when heating, just get a Smart Vent and Flair Puck for that room. If you have just one room that gets too little cooling, and too little heating, equip all your other rooms with Smart Vents and Pucks (or Ecobee sensors if you have an Ecobee thermostat, but well get to that later). If your HVAC is already pretty even, but you just want more control and efficiency gains, then equip the whole house as a third option.

Each room will require a Puck, which is a small round device that includes temperature control and monitoring. The first of these needs to be hardwired to power via the included USB cable, as it acts as a bridge connecting the Flair system to your home network. All the others can be powered by included AAA batteries, and theyre very power efficient thanks in part to the e-Ink display.

Flair works in a number of modes, including one thats compatible with any thermostat where you simply set the temperature for any room, and the associated vent(s) will open or close depending on whether the temperature in that room matches up. It can also work directly with Ecobee and Honeywell smart thermostats for a much more intelligent mode where they receive or send the temperature to the smart unit, and coordinate their open/shut status depending on that. Google has changed the Nest API, so Flair is working on supporting similar features on Nest systems through that in the future, but for now it works with Nest installations the same way it would with dumb thermostats.

Image Credits: Flair

Flairs Smart Vents themselves are attractive, well-made hardware. The vent covers themselves are made of metal, with an attractive grill design that will go with most decors. Theyre exclusively white, which could be an issue for dark flooring, but theyre definitely a step up from your average registers. On one side, they have an LED light strip that is used during setup for identifying which is which, and underneath, they have the battery housing, louvres and the motors that control their open and shut status.

As mentioned, the Smart Vents can be associated with a Puck, which will provide them the ambient temp information, as well as target temp, in order to set them open or shut. They can also use an Ecobee sensor to get their marching orders when set up for software integration with an Ecobee system. I installed my review units and first tried them with the Flair app providing target temp info to the Ecobee, but then switched it around so that the Ecobee determined the desired temperature, and the Flair units all inherited that info and set their open/close status accordingly.

At first, I found the Flair app a bit intimidating just because with a multi-vent system it presents a lot of information, and some degree of logic to initially set up. But once I got the Ecobee integration working, the whole Flair system just worked and worked like magic.

In this configuration, you never even have to think about the fact that the vents are smart; they just do whatever they need to in order to equalize the temperature and keep heating and cooling routing intelligently. It made an impressive difference in the amount of airflow circulating around my nearly 100-year-old house and my setup isnt necessarily ideal because there are a few non-standard, larger registers around that cant yet be Flair-equipped.

The Pucks themselves are well designed, with magnetic, stick-up and screw-in installation options, and readible, power-efficient e-Ink displays. Their bezel turns for temperature control, and they can also be placed out of sight if you really just want to use them as remote sensors.

You might think that whether a register is open or closed wouldnt make much difference to the efficacy of a house-wide HVAC system, but in my experience, the before-and-after of Flair was dramatically different. I started out with one problem spot primarily (the master bedroom) and afterwards it got to target temp much more quickly, both in heating and cooling modes.

Even if you find your central air and heating are already pretty effective, Flair seems like a wise upgrade that will provide lasting benefits in terms of consistency and power efficiency. Plus, if you use Flair as the controller, you can set different target temps for different rooms depending on individual occupant preferences.

True zoned HVAC systems can cost thousands especially if youre replacing existing ducting in walls. Flairs solution is a lot more affordable by comparison, and provides effective results with DIY installation that takes just minutes to set up.

See more here:
Flairs Smart Vent system is a big improvement for anyone looking to improve their home HVAC - TechCrunch

The City of Batavia Planning & Development Committee on Tuesday night approved a special use permit that opens the door for the creation of two apartments on the second floor of the Main Street Pizza building at 206 E. Main St.

Applicant Paul Marchese, doing business as Just Chez Realty LLC, said the $489,000 project which qualified for a Downtown Revitalization Initiative grant of $137,600 from the Batavia Development Corporations building improvement fund advances to the next stage, which is to finalize the engineering drawings and move the project into the construction phase.

Marchese said planning committee members asked whether he is looking to renovate the other half of the upstairs as well.

The plans for the other half of the upstairs have not been solidified as of yet, he said. At this point, we have acquired funding and grant sources and various things to complete phase one of our project. Phase two could be apartments or it could be something totally different depending on if we have a tenant that wants a specific build-out for up there.

Concerning apartment rental rates, Marchese said that since the project was awarded one of the grants, it is bound by a predetermined rent schedule.

As previously reported on The Batavian, Marcheses application calls for placing two apartments on the second floor and altering the buildings exterior by adding an entrance door on the south side, replacing windows, changing the nameplate on the north (front) of the building from MANCUSO to MARCHESE, and installing up lighting on that side.

Additional improvements includeremoving existing awnings and exposing the original transom windows, installing a new aluminum-clad wooden door on the north side and installing new aluminum-clad wood windows/door storefront in the center bay.

See original here:
City planners give the go-ahead for Main Street Pizza building revitalization project - The Batavian

COVID-19 disrupted virtually everything on campus last spring when BU was forced to move to remote teaching and learning. The onset of the pandemic and the impact it had on the Universitys budget (outlined in President Robert A. Browns State of the University letter sent out earlier this month) meant, among other things, that numerous summer construction projects overseen by Campus Planning & Operations (CPO) had to be reevaluated.

The Universitys ongoing construction projects had been abruptly halted in March after the city of Boston put a stop to construction in the city in an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19; emergency road and utility projects were the only work allowed during that time. In May, the city slowly allowed essential construction to resume, albeit with new safety guidelines.

The CPO team sprang into action, quickly assessing how to plan, design, and construct University projects within the confines of a global pandemic. The directive was clear: with the coronavirus pandemic still raging across the country, health officials and public health experts were pushing new measures for public spaces to ensure everyones safety. At BU, that meant the addition of new projects to protect the health and safety of the University, as well as making some major changes to buildings, classrooms, offices, and labs in order to open in September and continuing to work on important long-term projects.

So CPO turned its attention to the many campus improvement projects that would be necessary to allow for a safe reopening of campus this fallthink new COVID-19 testing facilities, improvements to HVAC systems, and classroom technology upgrades. At the same time, CPO resumed work on several crucial and major long-term academic, research, and operational projects, many that had been in their final stages when construction froze in March. Our portfolio of projects in the summer was heavily influenced by COVID-19 health and safety concerns, continuing projects that we had started prior to COVID-19, and taking on new projects related to faculty recruitments and other academic and research programs, says Michael Donovan, BU vice president for campus planning and operations. This was not a typical summer. Many of the projects we worked on were in progress already, such as the GSU Food Hall and the BU Childrens Center, which turned out to be spectacular.

Lisa Hynes, CPO Planning, Design & Construction senior project manager of annual capital projects, says she cannot stress enough the complexity and teamwork that have gone into the projects she worked on, which included overseeing Learn from Anywhere (LfA) classroom technology upgrades and renovations to the College of Fine Arts building. We were talking daily to, and coordinating with, the registrar and provost on these projects. Its been an all-hands-on-deck kind of summer.

The total cost of the summer projects is estimated at $50 million, according to Gregg Snyder, assistant vice president for informatics and strategic initiatives. These crucial projects are in addition to the daily upkeep required to maintain BUs more than 300 buildings and grounds, spread over three campuses.

Scientists and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) agree that one of the most important COVID-19 mitigation strategies employers must take is to improve building ventilation and air circulation wherever possible. Given that fact, Facilities Management & Operations (FMO) created a team that included the Universitys Engineering & Building Systems staff, in-house HVAC technicians, Environmental Health & Safety staff, and an outside firm to enhance the performance of HVAC systems across the University.

FMO did just that by increasing the airflow in indoor spaces, allowing HVAC systems in buildings to run constantly (instead of the pre-COVID 12 to 16 hours a day), and installing new filters.

Over the summer, a cross-University team comprising members from the Provosts and Registrars offices, IS&T Learning & Event Technology Services, Educational Media, and Campus Planning & Operations brainstormed with the undergraduate and graduate recovery task forces to de-densify and install technology solutions in over 600 rooms being used as classrooms for the Universitys LfA model.

The team collaborated to identify the best use of classrooms, which had to incorporate six feet of physical distance spacing. This initiative helped determine where classes are being held this fall, and utilized spaces that had not previously been used for teaching, such as the George Sherman Union Ballroom, Marsh Chapel, FitRec basketball courts, and various lounges across campus.

Teams across the University worked together to retrofit 15 million square feet of space in over 300 buildings to ensure they were in line with the evolving guidelines from the CDC, the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the city of Boston. The four-phase process started with research spaces, then academic and instructional spaces, and finally, residential and administrative spaces. As part of this process, a detailed inspection of building systems and operations was done, including review of HVAC, mechanical, and plumbing systems. At the same time, cleaning and disinfecting supplies were disseminated for use around campus. The final step in this undertaking was the installation of nearly 100,000 signs with information about social distancing, capacity limits, and other public health and safety information throughout campus.

Planning, Design & Construction oversaw the creation of five new COVID-19 test collection centers at locations and laboratory sites on the Charles River and Medical Campuses, and a major expansion of a laboratory at the Kilachand Center for Integrated Life Sciences & Engineering (the Clinical Testing Lab) for COVID-19 PCR testing.

Completed between early July and mid-August, this initiative enabled the University to collect and analyze roughly 5,000 COVID-19 tests on students, faculty, and staff on a daily basis.

When completed in 2022, this iconic 19-story building will be the tallest on the Charles River Campus. Designed to foster collaboration across data sciences, the 345,724-square-foot structure will house the departments of mathematics and statistics and of computer science, the Rafik B. Hariri Institute for Computing and Computational Science & Engineering, and the newly created Faculty of Computing & Data Sciences. Completely fossil fuelfree, the building will be one of the most energy-efficient in the state.

In its new home in a completely renovated early-20th-century mansion in Brooklines historic Cottage Farm neighborhood, the BU Childrens Center has triple its previous space at 32 Harry Agganis Way, allowing it to increase the number of children it can serve from 33 to 92 and enabling it to care for infants and younger toddlers, an important request from parents.

The 20,000-square-foot building features seven classrooms for various ages, indoor gross-motor areas, a garden studio, and an extensive outdoor playground. The project was able to consolidate the Childrens Center and the Family Resources office under one roof.

Modifications to Mugar Memorial Library were made over the summer. The old patron check-in/checkout desk was replaced with a new centralized kiosk, now operated by Mugars security staff. Patrons must swipe their BU IDs to enter through the new turnstiles. Upon departure, patrons pass through a new exit system that reads the magnetic strips in every book in the library, meant to deter theft.

Significant renovations were made to the newly renamed George Sherman Union Food Hall, improving customer flow and circulation. There are new retail venues featuring mobile ordering, on-site ordering, and convenient pickup locations. Each station received new finishes, including flooring, ceilings, and lighting.

An updated central production kitchen was also installed, with replaced plumbing infrastructure and new appliances, flooring, ceilings, and lighting. New sprinklers were also added throughout both the kitchen and the food hall.

The last major renovation of this kind at the GSU was a decade ago.

The renovations to the historic College of Fine Arts building began last summer, and the final result is visible to any passerby: substantial aesthetic improvements have been made to the street-level concrete faade, which now boasts graceful arched floor-to-ceiling windows. The renovations will allow pedestrians to peek in and glimpse students work and are designed to bring more vitality to the street. The project also includes a facelift to the Stone Gallery and the movement studio, transforming the former theater studio into a student lounge, the renovation of multiple restrooms, and the conversion of all single-stall bathrooms to all-gender facilities, as well as other building-wide improvements designed to enhance accessibility for all. The project is nearly complete, with crews now finishing restoration work on the buildings north facade.

Facilities Management & Operations led the massive electrical lighting project at StuVi II that saw the upgrading of 6,000 lights throughout the student residence. The building previously used 24- and 48-watt bulbs and these were upgraded to 6- to 12-watt LED lights, which will provide brighter and more energy-efficient spaces for residents. This project is another step towards achieving the Universitys Climate Action Plan goals, and it was done in partnership with Eversource, which worked with the University in providing the low-wattage LED fixtures at no cost as a part of the utility companys energy savings program.

The Medical Campus Facilities Management & Operations team installed new Phillips 3T wide body scanner units at the Evans Biomedical Research Center X-Building. Previous scanners had narrow doors, minimizing the amount of image captured for researchers. This was especially necessary for larger patients, such as football players taking part in the Universitys chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) research initiative.

The ultra-high-field system in these machines can image high spatial resolutions and allows researchers to form imaging studies at a nearly microscopic level. The MRI equipment was funded through a Massachusetts Life Sciences grant.

The multiyear phased expansion and renovation of the Goldman School of Dental Medicine continued this summer following the end of the city of Boston construction freeze that was in effect from March through May.

The 48,000-square-foot addition on Albany Street includes exterior work and improvements made to the existing Patient Treatment Center. While this work is still ongoing, those in the building are already able to use the new student lounge and study spaces, two new elevators, new office and patient treatment spaces, the schools Simulation Learning Center, and a 140-seat auditorium.

Read more:
What Did It Take to Reopen Campus This Fall? - BU Today

New York, Oct. 21, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Reportlinker.com announces the release of the report "Commercial Lighting Market with COVID-19 Impact Analysis by Offering, Installation Type, End-use Application, Communication Technology And Region - Global Forecast to 2025" - https://www.reportlinker.com/p05977660/?utm_source=GNW Projects related to infrastructure modernization and development, such as smart cities, across the region would also drive the demand for smart street lights, thereby propelling the growth of the market for commercial smart lighting in this region.The major restraints for the growth of the market are high initial costs and major supply chain disruptions due to COVID-19 outbreak

The new installation segment projected to hold a larger share of the commercial smart lighting market during the forecast period.The new installations segment is estimated to hold a larger market share during the forecast period, due to the increasing number of new commercial floor spaces. The rising adoption of cost-effective lighting solutions is also expected to contribute to the growth of this segment

The indoor segment to hold the larger share of commercial smart lighting marker in 2019The indoor end-use application is one of the booming application areas pertaining to commercial smart lightings, owing to the high demand in commercial space.In these applications, smart lighting is an essential element in creating a modern workspace that attracts customers with changing preferences.

It continues helping owners to create a flexible working environment, reduce expenses, improve work efficiencies, and create quality lighting that enhances the occupant experience. Hence, the adoption of smart lighting in commercial spaces is gaining more traction and has a high opportunity in the near future due to smart city initiatives by governments across the world.

Among the regions, Europe projected to hold the largest share of the commercial smart lighting market in 2019.The significant share of Europe in the overall commercial smart lighting market is attributed to the increasing awareness about energy conservation and the growing support provided by the government to deploy smart lighting solutions. The 2012 Energy Efficiency Directive and the Energy Performance of Building Directive (EPBD) for the European real estate sector has established and promotes energy conservation measures across all sectors, such as industrial and commercial workplaces.Also, various local governments in the European Union are focusing on the installation of energy-efficient streetlights. There has been an increase in investments made by governments in intelligent street lighting projects due to the number of benefits offered by this technology, such as cutting greenhouse gas emissions, reducing electricity costs, and providing safety to citizens.

Breakdown of profiles of primary participants: By Company Type: Tier 1 = 55%, Tier 2 = 20%, and Tier 3 = 20% By Designation: C-level Executives = 40%, Directors = 35%, and Others = 35% By Region: North America = 10%, Europe = 20%, APAC = 30%, and RoW = 40%

Key players in the commercial smart lighting market include Signify (Philips Lighting) (Netherlands); Legrand S.A. (France); Acuity Brands, Inc. (US); GE Current, a Daintree Company (US); OSRAM Licht AG (Germany); Leviton Manufacturing Company, Inc. (US); Lutron Electronics (US); Hubbell Incorporated (US); LEDVANCE GmbH (Germany); Schneider Electric SE (France); Ideal Industries, Inc. (Cree Lighting) (US); and Zumtobel Group (Austria)

Research Coverage:This report segments the commercial smart lighting market based on offering, installation type, communication technology, end-use application. The report gives a detailed view of the market across 4 main regions: North America, Europe, APAC, and RoW.

Reasons to Buy the Report: This report includes statistics pertaining to the commercial smart lighting market based on offering, installation type, communication technology, end-use application, and region, along with their respective market sizes Major drivers, restraints, opportunities, and challenges for the commercial smart lighting market have been provided in detail in this report The report includes illustrative segmentation, analysis, and forecast for the commercial smart lighting market based on its segments and subsegments

Read the full report: https://www.reportlinker.com/p05977660/?utm_source=GNW

About ReportlinkerReportLinker is an award-winning market research solution. Reportlinker finds and organizes the latest industry data so you get all the market research you need - instantly, in one place.

__________________________

Continue reading here:
The commercial smart lighting market is projected to reach USD 21.8 billion by 2025 from USD 8.2 billion in 2020; it is expected to grow at a CAGR of...

After four years of beautiful waterfront views, the Half Mile Handmade gift shop has relocated from its original Water Street home to a larger location on Washington Avenue in Downtown Bay City.

Gift shop owner Capri Wisniewski says that while they enjoyed their old location, they were simply bursting at the seams with new products, requiring the move to a bigger space.

Im pretty excited about the new location. Were right on Washington, which is more or less downtowns main drag. Water Street was great and we liked the waterfront, but this seems to give us more exposure, Wisniewski says.

For four years, Half Mile Handmade has offered handmade gifts and goods from its store on Water Street. Now, it's moved to a larger space on Washington Avenue.And our neighbors have been great. Everyone has been bringing us gifts, coming over to introduce themselves.

As the name implies, Half Mile Handmade exclusively sells handmade gifts and goods. Even the new interior is handmade, with Wisniewski and her family personally making and installing everything from the flooring to the fixtures, the murals on the walls, and even the cash wrap.

Work is currently underway on the supply closet, which Wisniewski hopes to finish this weekend.

This is not your average supply closet with cleaning supplies and paper towels but rather an effort to extend the joy of craft-making further into the community. Wisniewski invites people to come to the store to donate craft supplies they no longer want or need. Shell then begin selling $5 craft bags and people can fill up the bags with whatever supplies they want.

I want this to be a gateway for people to get into crafting, she says.

Wisniewskis spirit of community outreach was extended to her earlier this year during the lowest point of the COVID-19 pandemic. Unable to open her doors because of state-mandated restrictions, Wisniewski kept her business afloat by making and selling face masks.

The only reason we could stay in business was because of the community buying masks from us. Its the only reason we have a business now, she says.

Half Mile Handmade is now located at 910 Washington Ave. in Downtown Bay City.

Got a development news story to share? Email MJ Galbraith here or send him a tweet @mikegalbraith.

See original here:
Handmade gift shop makes the move from the waterfront to downtown - Concentrate

The Mission Springs Water District has three open seats this year and six candidates.(Photo: Desert Sun file photo)

Three seats on the Mission Springs Water District's five-member board of directors are up for election next month. Two will appear on the ballot andone will be automatically reseated.

Formed in 1953 to provide water to a territory covering one square mile, MSWD now serves 135 square miles around Desert Hot Springs. In June, the district approved an ordinance allowing the first election by divisions, as it and other public bodies move away from at-large elections.

Candidates fielded questions from The Desert Sun about their priorities for the upcoming term. Some answers have been edited for length and clarity.

Division 2 incumbent Randy Duncan, an insurance agent and veteran who has lived in Desert Hot Springs for more than three decades, is being challenged byLarry Przybylski, a retired technical college instructor,and Patricia Schniebs, a full-time caregiver who previously owned an art gallery and fashion boutique in Laguna Beach.

Duncan first served on the board between 2005 and 2009 and then again since 2014. He is also an alternate at the Coachella Valley Association of Governments and serves on the board of thenonprofit Urban Water Institute.

According to the county's voter guide, Przybylski has lived full-time in Desert Hot Springs for the past six years and touts his knowledge of business operations as a main reason to vote for him. "I would be honored to represent the citizens of Desert Hot Springs, as a member of the Mission Springs Water District Board of Directors, Division 2," he said in the guide, adding that it's "crucial" to maintain high water quality.

Schniebssaid her main campaign promiseis to protect against price hikes and payroll increases to the board of directors.

The Desert Sun: Where do you stand on the litigation with the Desert Water Agency over groundwater management?

Randy Duncan(Photo: Desert Sun file photo)

Duncan:I believe each agencyshould be in complete control of our respective waterand water management.I have spent over two years negotiation with (DWA board President) Joe Stuart trying to settle our dispute over water management.I would much rather talk things out with them and come to a mutual agreement and avoid any expensive legal battles.We were close to reaching an agreement, but a boundary dispute put a stop to negotiations....

Schniebs:I stand with the Water Rights Study Group. ... I strongly recommend that all voters take the time to read this publication. ...

(Editor's note: The group published a report in April 2019 after a six-week study into the issue. It recommended restoring MSWD's ability to continue managing groundwater within its service area via legislative action, taking control away from DWA's board of directors and holding a public outreach program to educate the public on the dispute. The group'sfindings are available here:https://www.mswd.org/documents/Water%20Rights%20Study%20Group%20Final%20Report%20(English).pdf.)

TDS: How should conservation fit into the district's mission?

Duncan:Conservation is always at the top of our list, whether we are in a drought or not.Our board and staff have developed several programs, along with state funding, to reward our customers for replacing grass with water-saving plants/landscaping, replacing older toilets and shower heads with water-saving ones and implemented tiered water rates, which encourages people to use less water.Our conservation efforts have made MSWD customers the lowest per-capita consumption users in the valley.

Schniebs:Conservation should definitely be a priority, as clean, potable water is our most essential need and human right.I believe this right extends to all life on Earth and as guardians of this planet we must assume responsibly. Children should be educated from an early age about theimportance of conservation, and I would encourage field trips and/or assemblies to encourage their interest.

I would also like to investigate other avenues we have in Desert Hot Springs to acquire water to refill our water catch locations that replenish our aquifers. The water that is currently being used to refill our water levels by the DWA is considered to be of an inferior quality.

TDS: In recent months, there have been reports of large hikes to water bills and register malfunctions. What needs to be done to ensure these and similar issues are fixed and preempted in the future?

Duncan:Since we have replaced malfunctioning meters with more sensitive and accurate meters, a lot has been discovered. ...

All of those (huge spikes) have proven to be a leak on the customer's property, and once the leak was fixed, the bill returned to normal.We are sending service representativesto homes and reviewing water meters and consumption with the customers. Several things are discovered: If the customer has a constant flow, then they typically have a leak. ... Quite often, the customers don't have a leak but rather have an irrigation system that runs for several hours instead of 10 or 15 minutes like the homeowner thought.

Our new meters aren't malfunctioning but rather are more sensitive and accurate than past units, which explains smaller spikes. Another reason for smaller jumps is that some customers have had their bill estimated for up to a year-and-a-half. ... When the new meters are installed, they pick up our customers new water usage habits, which are often not very conservative.If, for some reason, our service representatives can't find a leak or satisfy our customers' concerns, we are hiring a leak detection company to meet with the homeowners. ... We are working on a smart phone technology that will allow customers to control and review their water usage in real time.

Schniebs:Some forensics accounting is in order. Many consumers are doubting the word of the directors that are currently holding positions with MSWD. Ifvoted into office, I would plan or assist with any and all attempts to explain clearly and intelligibly what steps have been taken to get to where we are today. Consumers specifically want to know why theyre paying what theyre paying. The public deserves clear and concise answers.

TDS: What are your priorities, if elected?

Duncan:My main priorities deal with waste water as well as potable watergetting our regional treatment plant built and continuereplacing septic tanks with a complete sewer system.Also, we have won nine medals from the Berkeley Springs international water tasting event held annually in West Virginia, and I would like to continue protecting our water tables so we can continue to provide safe, clean, great-tasting water to our customers.

Schniebs:Communication efforts need to be addressed. There needs to be clear, open and honest conversation between MSWD and the public. Our ratepayers deserve it.

... I would encourage (conservation) education at an early age for all children in Desert Hot Springs as well as the entire Coachella Valley about the importance of lifes most precious resource through interactive field trips and assemblies. I want to see stable water rates and happy customers.

Przybylski:(Larry Przybylski did not respond to requests for comment.)

Incumbent Russ Martin is challenged for the Division 3 seat by Terressa Powell, whois running on a platform of addressing public service complaints and water rate increases. Powell is a doula by training and activelyvolunteers with nonprofits and other causes, including organizing a holiday toy drive.

Martin has served three terms as MSWD board president and four terms as vice president. He also currently serves on the board of directors for the Agua Caliente Water Authority, among various other positions both past and present with county and city governmental boards, business groups and nonprofit organizations. He worked for three decades with the Santa Monica Police Department before retiring to Desert Hot Springs.

"I have dedicated my life to serving my community," Martin said.

TDS: Where do you stand on the litigation with DWA?

Russ Martin(Photo: Russ Martin)

Martin:Approximately five years ago, under the provisions of new legislation, DWA applied to be designated as anexclusive groundwater sustainability agency with the state over the west end of the Coachella Valley. Unbeknownst to MSWD, their application not only included their boundary but ours, giving them groundwater management over our jurisdiction. ...

If not challenged, under certain circumstances, this would give them the authority to limit our pumping, restrict us from sinking a well and impose a building/development moratorium within our jurisdiction due to an overdraft that was hypothetically caused by their customers. This is unacceptable. I have been on the negotiating team and participated in court-mandated mediation and separate informal meetings with representatives of their board of directors. Unfortunately, these meetings were unsuccessful.

At this stage, I see no alternative but to pursue this matter in court.I am confident that we will prevail.

Powell:(Powell did not provide an answer.)

TDS:How should conservation fit into the districts mission?

Martin:Conservation has always been an MSWD priority.In the last 10 years, we have installed sewers for 2,000 homes, removing pollution-prone septic systems.An additional 2,400 homes have been approved for sewers, pending funding.

We work with schools stressing the importance of water conservation at home, providing projects that families can work on together. We team up with the city and developers promoting desert landscaping and have a turf rebate program. Soon, we will have a toilet rebate program that is designed to replace inefficient toilet bowls. We can only accomplish effective conservation by working with the community. For the most part, our efforts have been very effective in that the per-capita water consumption in our jurisdiction is lower than most of our neighbors.

Terressa Powell(Photo: Terressa Powell)

Powell:Water conservation education is important for many reasons here in Desert Hot Springs. First, it helps us all save money. It's most important because using less water at each of our homes and businesses allows water managers at DWA and MSWD to import less low-quality Colorado River water. ... The amount of salts added to our watershed must be minimized by importing less water to our recharge basin and ultimately to our Mission Creek Aquifer.

TDS: How would you address community concerns over high water bills and register malfunctions?

Martin:Due to the financial crisis caused by the pandemic, I support a rate rollback to that of January 2019. We recently experienced the perfect storm." In 2015, through a collaboration with a citizens advisory committee, we came up with a five-year rate adjustment to address increased district costs. Pursuant to law, we initiated a 218 process which requires an approval by ratepayers for a water rate increase. The measure passed overwhelmingly.

Approximately, two years ago we started noticing the meters were malfunctioning. During meter replacement, water usage was estimatedto an average consumer use from the preceding year, minus 3%. ...When the new meters were installed, water bills reflected actual use rather than estimated, resulting in a jump from estimated to actual.

Then the pandemic hit. Many people were forced to remain at home with kids not in school and weve had 140 days of record-breaking, triple-digit heat, all of which resulted in even more water consumption. The new meters are accurate. Those customers who have experienced significantly high water bills, have leaks verified by independent leak contractors. In the future I will oppose long range multi-year rate adjustments.

Powell:Far too many customer have experienced wildly high spikes in their water bills only to be told they have a water leak. Many customers have found no leaks, even after calling in a professional leak detection company. Where leaks have been found, the leak is to small to be responsible for the high water bill spike.

... The "guessing"/"estimating" needs to end. The customers deserve true and accurate billing. ... Customers are receiving a water bill that is hundreds of dollars higher than their most recent bill. MSWD needs to stop guessing at the expense of residents and fix this problem. It's MSWD's problem.

TDS:What would be your priorities, if elected?

Martin:My first priority is the completion of the new MSWD Water Treatment Facility in the early stages of construction. This project is necessary to accommodate future development in the Desert Hot Springs area. Next, obtaining funding for sewer installation to the 2,400 homes already approved for sewers. And last, successful outcome in our litigation with DWA. It is important for all of us to work together in cooperation to effectively manage our most important resource: water.

Powell:Any customer experiencing a water bill spike that is hundreds of dollars higher than their prior bill should have their bill frozen at the prior most recent month's rate while an investigation into the true cause is made. MSWD should provide leak detection services, at its own expense, to determine if a leak actually exists and if the size of the leak matches the amount of consumption being claimed. ... If a leak is detected that is responsible for a very high bill, MSWD should offer customers the option to have the leak repaired and the amount of the repairs spread out of two years of future water bills.

An independent company one not selected by MSWD should be hired to determine and report on the cause of the new unusually high water customer billings. ... Salaries of top management are excessive, especially for a very small water district like MSWD. ... Legal bills have also been wildly excessive. An organization with very high legal bills has a management problem, not a legal one. ...

If there is not a change on the Board of Directors, the problems at MSWD will not be fixed and instead will continue to be blamed on the water customers.I could not sit by and let that happen without being challenged.I'm running for the District 3 Board seat to ensure the water customers get representation for a change, one in their favor.

Ivan Sewell is running unopposed and will retain his seat without appearing on the ballot.He was born and raised in Desert Hot Springs and owns TOP Shop, a printing and graphic design business, with his wife. He has served on the board since 2017 and is also a commissioner with the Riverside County Flood Control and Water Conservation District.

Ivan Sewell(Photo: Ivan Sewell)

TDS: Where do you stand on the litigation with DWA?

Sewell:... I was in favor of trying to come to an agreement through mediation. We have attempted to find a solution that would work for both parties twice now and have not been able to come to an agreement. The management of our groundwater is something we have been overseeing since the beginnings of MSWD.

I believe control of our own groundwater is something our community deserves and should demand. Prior to DWA electing themselves the groundwater sustainability agency over MSWD territory, multiple meeting attempts were made by both MSWD and the city of Desert Hot Springs. DWA declined and elected itself the GSA. That action is what initiated the litigation and I believe was the only correct course of action for MSWD. It is odd that DWA is so set on managing the groundwater outside of their retail water service area, most of which is in an entirely different aquifer. Our community deserves to have complete control over the groundwater within our district boundaries. Our water will determine the future growth and prosperity of our community.

TDS: How does conservation fit with MSWD's mission?

Sewell:Education is critical to understand how to preserve and protect our water. Our population is growing and our water is becoming more precious. The state of California has set upcoming per-capita water use goals that are going to be difficult to reach.

Currently, we are working on a turf rebate program to lessen outdoor usage. We promote the use of high efficiency appliances and fixtures to lessen water use inside the home. In addition our Waterwise program in partnership with our local schools teaches students the importance of conservation through hands on activities. The students are given various assignments to complete both in class and at home, often with parents' participation. Each student is also sent home with various tools such as high efficiency shower heads and hose nozzles. Education will improve conservation both now and in the future.

TDS: How will you address reports of hikes to water bills?

Sewell:First and foremost I apologize for any issues and added stress that any of our families have experienced here in our district. If you or anyone you know is having problems or issues with your bill please call us immediately at 760.329.6448. Each property is different and speaking one-on-one with our service team is the best course to find the root of the problem. If you are not satisfied please contact me directly at isewell@mswd.org.

MSWDs previous meter manufacturer provided us with meters that failed prior to their typical lifespan. Approximately one-third of our previous meters registers failed. This failure was out of our control and our board reacted promptly. We researched and approved new meters that are produced by a different manufacturer. These new meters can be read three different ways, this redundancy will eliminate issues in the future. We are also working on a new customer portal using the new technology that will allow MSWD and our customers to see real-time water usage. This will help our community better understand and manage their water use.

TDS: What would be your priority to address this term?

Sewell:My number one priority is our customers. I will guarantee that they are provided a safe, reliable water supply for years to come. I will push for continued rate studies to make sure our rates are as low as possible. I will focus on additional grant funding to complete our Groundwater Protection Program. I will see the completion of our Regional Water Management Facility, which will protect and replenish our water supply. I will continue to be honest and respectful in all of my duties. I am determined on making the best decisions for our customers and the future of our community.

Mark Olalde covers the environment for The Desert Sun. Get in touch at molalde@gannett.com, and follow him on Twitter at @MarkOlalde.

Read or Share this story: https://www.desertsun.com/story/news/politics/elections/2020/10/20/election-2020-mission-springs-water-district-candidates-detail-priorities/3653349001/

Originally posted here:
Mission Springs Water District candidates sound off on their election platforms - Desert Sun