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Enhabit offering deal on Nest model that cuts heating and cooling costs

Want to cut your energy bills and carbon footprint?

Local nonprofit Enhabit is offering a discount for Portland-area residents interested in getting a "smart thermostat" in their home, which have been proven to cut home energy bills.

Enhabit, formerly known as Clean Energy Works, has funds to install 500 Nest smart thermostats in homes in Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties for $299 each. That covers the hardware and installation, which normally retail for about $450, plus a 100-point home performance check and Home Energy Score.

A Nest thermostat pays attention to your home heating and cooling patterns and automatically adjusts to be more efficient.

"Studies show they end up saving, on average, between 15 and 20 percent on heating and cooling costs," says Stephanie Swanson, Enhabit vice president for communications.

Ordinarily, the Nest thermostat and installation costs from $400 to $500 from a private contractor, Swanson says. The Energy Trust of Oregon provided funds to help subsidize the first 500 thermostats.

In addition, Enhabit will conduct the 100-point home performance checks, which generally take up to two hours, evaluating insulation, air seals, carbon monoxide monitors, indoor air quality, and seismic retrofits, among other items. Homeowners will get free LED light bulbs and faucet aerators, also courtesy of Energy Trust.

The home check also will result in a Home Energy Score, which will be required by the city of Portland starting in January for homes put on the market.

To sign up or get more information: https://enhabit.org/smart/

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Get big discount on a smart thermostat - Portland Tribune

A rendering of the Tilt49 office project and the adjoining AMLI Arc apartment tower. (ZGF Architects Rendering) The Tilt49 project under construction in Seattle. (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop)

Amazon has inked a lease for another new office building in Seattle, the latestsign that the online retail giant hasno intention of slowing its growth despite building out a huge new campus north of downtown.

This time around, Amazon has taken Tilt49, a 306,000-square-foot office building under construction at 1812 Boren Ave. in the Denny Triangle neighborhood, just a few blocks from the new campus. The site is also only a block from another recently-leased Amazon building, Midtown 21.

An Amazon spokesman confirmed the lease for the entire office building and said employees will move in early 2018.The $85 million office building is being developed by Touchstone, which has worked with Amazon before on the Troy Blocks project, designed by ZGF Architects and built by Mortenson.

An adjoining 390-unit apartment project, that was originally part of the Touchstone project and later sold off, is set to open this year, giving employees working out of the new building a close option for housing.

Amazons rapid expansion in its hometown comes amid unprecedented of growth for the company worldwide. Amazonlast month reported that it has surpassed 341,000 employees globally, an increase of 110,000 in just the past year, not including temporary or seasonal staff. Amazon employs 40,000 people in Washington state, including about 25,000 people at its Seattle headquarters.

Amazon is filling out a puzzle of Seattlereal estate with its latest moves. Amazon played a key role in the development of the South Lake Union neighborhood, and now it is doing the same for the Denny Triangle, a neighborhood in between South Lake Union and downtown, and one of the last places in town with an ample supply of land for developing high rises.

Just last month, Amazon filed for permits to build a 17-story office building at 2205 7thAve., the site of a former Days Inn hotel. The project would represent Amazons fifth block of space in the neighborhood. In 2015 it completed itsfirst building in the neighborhood, the 36-story Doppler Tower.

That was followed by therecently opened Day One tower, and another building across the street that is under construction now. On anotherfull-blocksite, formerly home to the Hurricane Cafe, Amazon plans to build a 23-story building and an 8-story building in the future.

By 2022, Amazon has saiditcould occupy 12 million square feet across 40 buildings in Seattle, up from 8.5 million square feet as of the middle of last year.According to a new report from the Downtown Seattle Association, Amazon is well on its way to that 12 million square feet number.

DSA reports that Amazon in 2016 added 1.7 million square feet in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods. With another 3 million square feet under construction, Amazon will have a footprint of 10 million square feet in and around downtown by 2019, according to the report. That figure leaves outthe big new Bellevue officeAmazon is setting up.

Amazon and its fellow tech giants are juicing Seattles construction industry, according to the DSA report. In downtown, nearly 12 million square feet of office space is expected to be built between now and the end of 2019. That number is equivalent to theamount of office space built in and around downtown over the last 12 years combined.

All these office workers need somewhere to live as well. More than 14,000 units have been built in downtown and surrounding neighborhoods since 2010, increasing the housing stock by about 32 percent. Another 18,000 units are expected to be completed between now and the end of 2019, according to the report.

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Amazon scoops up yet another Seattle office building as it continues ... - GeekWire

This is the fourth article in a Handy Reference Guide series that has previously highlighted ConstructConnects construction starts statistics for roads, hospitals and educational projects.

This time it is office building work that is under the microscope with the accompanying table setting out results for all states in the U.S. and almost all the provinces of Canada. The findings for the four jurisdictions on Canadas East Coast Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are combined in the Atlantic Region.

The left-hand side of the dividing line in the table sets out annual average volume levels for the six years from 2010 to 2015, as well as average annual percentage changes. The right-hand side shows results for the most recent year, 2016, both with respect to dollar volume levels and year-over-prior-year improvements (or deteriorations).

The volumes in the table are the summations of private offices and government offices. The former usually accounts for a larger percentage of the whole in the U.S., ranging from a low of just over 50% to a high of about 70% over the past seven years.

In Canada from 2010 to 2015, the private component of total offices recorded greater variability, swinging from 40% to 80%. Within the context of a poor economic climate north of the border in 2016, due largely to weak commodity prices, especially for oil the private-to-public split last year was an abnormal 33% to 67%.

The problem can be easily perceived when one considers the following circumstance. According to several major commercial real estate research firms, the office vacancy rate in Calgary home to the second highest (i.e., behind only Toronto) concentration of head offices in Canada has presently skyrocketed to 25.0%.

A figure of 10% is usually taken to be a good benchmark for when office supply and demand are in reasonable balance, although the yardstick for suburban space is almost always looser (i.e., plus 300-to-500 basis points, where 100 basis points = 1.00%) than for downtown cores.

Returning to the results in the table, total U.S. office building construction starts grew at an average annual rate of +5.9% during the six years from 2010 to 2015. In 2016, they more than doubled that pace, increasing to +14.3% year over year.

What about the geographical distribution of starts? On average from 2010 to 2015, the largest dollar volume of office building construction starts occurred in the South Region ($8.4 billion USD), although both the Northeast ($6.9 billion) and the West ($6.7 billion) stayed in the hunt for top spot. The Midwest ($3.6 billion) was a laggard relative to the frontrunners.

With respect to annual average percentage changes, the Northeast did best from 2010 to 2015, at +22.3%, with the West in second place, +11.0%. The Midwest (+4.2%) made minor headway, but the South (+0.3%) was caught in a standstill.

The South made amends in 2016. Its office building starts last year compared with 2015 were a marvelous +65.1%. Its dollar volume of office starts in 2016 ($13.7 billion) was almost double what was rung up by the region that was next best, the West ($7.0 billion).

The Midwest also had an outsized percentage gain in year-over-year office starts in 2016, +35.1%. The West, at -0.1%, stayed flat and the Northeast slipped by an amount approaching one-third, -29.9%. After a prolonged period of major project initiations in the City of New York (+88% per year on average, 2010 to 2015), office groundbreakings in the Big Apple took a big pause to regroup in 2016 (-60.5%).

Canadas total office building starts soared by +16.9% per annum, on average, from 2010 to 2015. But in 2016, they fell into retreat nation-wide, -41.6%. The rout last year was most severe in Alberta, -80.6%, although British Columbia which had managed to achieve a +42.1% performance on average from 2010 to 2015 also stumbled badly, -73.4%.

Two provinces achieved upticks in 2016 relative to 2015: Manitoba (+196.9% or a tripling of its office starts volume) and Ontario (+33.9%). The large percentage gain in Manitoba was mainly a mathematical anomaly. 2015s base level (i.e., as the standard for comparison) was so low as to be almost insignificant.

According to CBRE Research, Toronto currently has the tightest office vacancy rate in its core district, 4.4%. Vancouver and Winnipeg also have limited empty cubicle space, at 7.7% and 8.9% respectively.

Again as reported by CBRE, Oakland (4.1%), parts of Manhattan (6.3% to 9.3%), Austin (6.7%), San Francisco (6.9%), Boston (7.2%), Charlotte (8.2%), Seattle (8.4%) and Portland (also 8.4%) are the urban centers in the U.S. with the least room to wander around their downtown water coolers.

Table 1: ConstructConnect's Office (Private + Government) Construction Starts United States ($ volumes are in billions USD)

Canada ($ volumes are in billions CAD)

Data source: ConstructConnect Insight. Table: ConstructConnect.

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Handy Reference Guide to Office Building Construction Starts, US and Canada - Daily Commercial News

A total of 68 major projects were underway from Sodo to South Lake Union at the end of 2016, the most since records began in 2005.

Seattles historic building boom somehow keeps soaring to new heights, and probably wont slow down anytime soon.

Last June, the Downtown Seattle Association found a record number of buildings were under construction, at least since it began counting in 2005.

But that mark didnt last long. In its newest tally, released Thursday, the group found 68 major buildings under construction in the greater downtown area at the end of 2016, a new high-point from at least the previous 11 years.

The construction nearly doubles the number of buildings under way at the end of 2015, and is up slightly from the 65 projects counted last spring. At the peak of the previous building cycle, before the recession hit, the downtown region had 51 major buildings under construction; during the downturn, there were just 12.

Development is expected to remain steady or perhaps even increase slightly this year, based on plans submitted to the city. And developers have a vision to keep up that pace through at least 2019, though many of those future projects exist mostly on paper and could still fall through if the current boom goes bust.

The semi-annual report covers the full core of the city, spanning from Sodo to South Lake Union, and from Lower Queen Anne to Capitol Hill, with projects most tightly packed in South Lake Union. It doesnt chronicle the full construction frenzy spanning the entire city but Seattle as a whole has the most construction cranes of any city in America.

So what is everyone building here? Apartments, mostly.

About two-thirds of the buildings under construction are residential, and while a couple here and there are condos (which are homes for ownership), nearly all will be rental units. Greater downtown can expect about 6,000 new units to open this year, 66 percent more than any year since at least 2005. Seattle as a whole is expecting nearly twice as many apartments to open this year than in any year in the citys history.

The current total of 47 residential developments downtown easily tops the previous year-end high of 34 in 2014. During the recession, there was one point when only four residential buildings were underway.

Most of the other big buildings are offices and you can probably guess which company theyre mostly for. Of the 2.5 million square feet of new workspace added downtown last year, an amazing 69 percent was for Amazon. The behemoth is on pace to top 10 million square feet in Seattle by the end of the decade.

By the end of the year, downtown as a whole had 5.4 million square feet of office under construction, which was actually down a tick from the year before, although there is another 6.5 million square feet in the pipeline for the rest of the decade. Google and Facebook are expanding downtown while Weyerhaeuser just moved in last year.

Lastly, hotels are making a bit of a comeback downtown, with a couple big new projects underway and a total of 6,000 rooms planned after very little activity earlier in the decade.

The construction continues to be an ever-present flashpoint for Seattleites.

Plenty of people like it since the work creates more apartments (which, in theory, could help finally ease soaring rents) and more offices for the regions growing workforce. But plenty of people hate that it represents a rapidly changing Seattle that is transforming into more of a big-city metropolis not to mention the constant headaches trying to get around construction roadblocks.

A recent poll of Millennials in Seattle found they were evenly split with half saying the growth was a good thing, and half saying the construction should slow down.

Another point of animosity is the sense that developers are getting rich at the expense of neighborhood character. The downtown report found developers were putting up $4.4 billion worth of buildings at the end of 2016, also a record and up 27 percent from the pre-recession high.

The most expensive project to finish up last year was Amazons $250 million Day One tower in South Lake Union. The priciest one still under construction is The Mark, a $450 million office and hotel tower scheduled to open in a few months on 5th Avenue.

The biggest development in the pipeline is the $1.6 billion expansion to the Washington State Convention Center, which could break ground as soon as this year.

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Record construction frenzy sweeps downtown Seattle; more building to come - The Seattle Times

The future 51,850-square-foot two-story building is already more than 50 percent pre-leased.

Henderson, Nev.Stable Development recently announced the construction of a 51,850-square-foot building in Henderson, Nev. The project will house a combination of retail, medical and professional office space. The developer plans to break ground in the second quarter of 2017. The two-story structure will be known as the Seven Hill Plaza Building IV.

Located at Seven Hills Drive and St. Rose Parkway, on 2.5 acres, the development will afford access to theeastbound lanes of St. Rose Parkway, the largest and most traveled east/west highway in Henderson. Seven Hill Plaza Building IV will be within walking distance of the St. Rose Hospital, Sienna Campus, the upcoming Costco location, as well as many neighboring restaurants and shopping areas. The new project will feature a two-story concrete covered parking structure.

More than half of the new building has been pre-leased.

We are delighted to not only announce the Henderson project, but the fact that it is already over 50 percent pre-leased reflects the quality of the project. Stable Development is expanding its unique business model to new markets, including California, Texas, Kansas and New York, said Lance Bradford, founder of Stable Development, in a prepared statement.

Seven Hill Plaza Building IV is scheduled for completion by the end of 2017.

Images courtesy of Stable Development

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Stable Development to Break Ground on Nevada Office Building - Commercial Property Executive

MARSHFIELD, MA, >> Dream Additions & Sunrooms, the premier installer of custom sunrooms in Massachusetts, is pleased to announce the addition of LifeRoom by Four Seasons to its extensive product line.

Custom-built to fit any home or budget, the indoor-outdoor room solution offers both standard and luxe patio cover models, featuring a slim, flexible and modular design to accommodate a wide range of home and architectural styles. It also offers motorized one button screens and provides a refuge from bugs, allergens and harmful UV rays.

Enhancements such as radiant heaters, solar sensors, projection capability, recessed and ambient LED lighting are also available with LifeRoom. The motorized screen walls can be opened to ease access into the yard or closed to provide privacy and comfort. With the screen walls closed the outdoor view is visible, but they provide privacy from the outside. They are also available with skylights.

Technology upgrades include a CoolMist Climate system, soft breeze technology or radiant heaters. LifeRooms screens can be used to watch movies, TV shows and sporting events right in the backyard.

The LifeRoom is a new alternative to the extremely popular sunroom. The New England climate has made the sunroom a popular choice for enjoying the sunlight and feel of the outdoors within the comfort of home.

Were excited to add LifeRoom to our roster of offerings, said Paul R. Townsend, President and CEO of Dream Additions & Sunrooms. We have every confidence that this outstanding product, which allows families to enjoy the outdoors and their favorite activities year-round from the comfort of their indoor outdoor room, will be popular among our present and future clients.

SNE Products, Inc. d/b/a Dream Additions & Sunrooms specializes in home additions with a combined 20+ years of experience. Based in Marshfield, Massachusetts they provide quality and affordable sunroom extensions in the region. They are staffed by dedicated professionals who work to provide turn-key solutions based on the unique needs, budget and style preferences of their clients. A second company, Mod-Tech Homes LLC is also located at 600 Plain Street, Route 139, Marshfield, MA 02050. That company specializes in new homes on either a raw land or a teardown/rebuild. Their team executes the entire project from feasibility to design, permitting, financing and complete construction. Mod-Tech Homes works with several modular home factories to provide their customers with the largest and most diverse choice of homes. Owner Francine Townsend has been building since 1981 and manages day to day operations.

For more information please visit their websites http://www.dreamadditons.com at http://www.mod-techhomes.com or call 800-696-1234.

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LifeRoom by Four Seasons brings new family outdoor living to New England - West Hartford News

NorthcentralPa.com

Obit: Beverly A. "Bev" Scott NorthcentralPa.com She also enjoyed hooking rugs, playing the accordion, bird watching from her sunroom and was an avid walker. Surviving in addition to her husband are her brothers, Donald Roupp (Maryanne), of Marietta, Ga., James Roupp (Judy), of Ocala, Fla., Rick ...

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Obit: Beverly A. "Bev" Scott - NorthcentralPa.com

Serge Ibaka, Toronto Raptors

Maybe he was just disinterested while playing for a losing team, but Serge Ibaka didn't produce much to write home about while with the Orlando Magic. His rebounding continued to decline from the levels he'd previously reached for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and he failed to stand out in any singular facet of the game.

Ibaka was a positive on both ends of the floor for the Magic, but only barely.

Since joining the Toronto Raptors, he's been in for a rude awakening. Though his three-point stroke has returned with aplomb, his rebounding has continued trending in the wrong direction, and his ever-growing turnover figures negate much of what he does on offense. Even his defensive positioning has been poor as he adjusts to his new surroundings.

During his brief time with his new squad, Ibaka grades out as a negative on both ends in TPA. That's likely to change, but not by enough to overcome his lackluster numbers with the Magic, thereby relegating the Congolese power forward to an honorable omission.

Deron Williams, Cleveland Cavaliers

Don't fall victim to the hype created by prominent names from the past.

Deron Williams may well develop into a solid backup point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, but he hasn't done anything in 2016-17 to indicate he's still an above-average player.

The relatively solid offensive numbers he produced for the Dallas Mavericks prior to his release were more than negated by his defense. ESPN.com's defensive real plus/minus, for example, lists the 1-guard as the No. 63 stopper at his position, with a score so negative it more than cancels out his offense.

Three games into Williams' Cleveland tenure, he's been even worse. Not only does he continue to struggle defensively, but he's also shot just 35 percent from the field and misfired on all six of his three-point attempts.

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NBA Metrics 101: Ranking Late-Season Additions by Biggest ... - Bleacher Report

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Royal Caribbean's next ship, Symphony of the Seas, will be slightly bigger than sister vessel Harmony of the Seas, shown here. Harmony currently is the biggest cruise ship at sea.(Photo: Michel Verdure)

A new cruise ship from Royal Caribbean coming in 2018 will be the biggest ever built.

Royal Caribbean Wednesday revealed that the fourth vessel in its record-breaking Oasis class series, scheduled to debut in April 2018, will measure about 230,000 tons, eclipsing the current size leader by about 3,000 tons.

Royal Caribbean also announced the name for the ship, which already is under construction at a shipyard in France: Symphony of the Seas.

In addition, the lineannouncedthe vessel willsail to the Caribbean out of Miami starting in November 2018. It'll move to the city after spending its first few months operating voyages in the Mediterranean.

"It's slightly longer, and it's a tad wider" than earlier Oasis Class ships, Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley said of Symphony during a conference call with cruise writers. He promised a vessel with attractions both familiar and new that was"packed full of adventure."

"It will boast all of the innovations that are so well known with (the) Oasis Class, and then of course, because we have to have a whole new set of features ... there are additions that we are not going to talk about today."

The new details about the ship cameas Royal Caribbean preparedto break ground Wednesdayon a new terminal at the port of Miami that will be able to accommodate ships as big as Symphony.

In addition to Symphony, the new terminal will be home to a second Oasis Class ship, Allure of the Seas, which will move to Miami from its current home in Fort Lauderdale in late 2018, Royal Caribbean also announced Wednesday.

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In becoming the world's largest cruise ship, Symphony will be dethroning the third vessel in the Oasis Class series, Harmony of the Seas. Unveiled just eight months ago, Harmony measures 226,963 tons and can carry up to 6,780 passengers.

Five things to love about Royal Caribbean's new Harmony of the Seas

Symphony will share many of the same features as Harmony, whichis about 1,700 tons larger than the first two Oasis Class ships, Oasis of the Seas and Allure,and offers attractions that aren't on the earlier vessels. Among features that were new on Harmony that will be debuting on Symphony, too:Ultimate Abyss, which has been heralded as the most thrilling attraction ever conceived for a cruise ship.

Comprised of two swirling slides, Ultimate Abyss drops ninestories from near the top of the vessel down to one of its lowest decks (scroll through the carousel at the top of this story for a look at everything Harmony has to offer).

See what it's like to slide down the Ultimate Abyss on the world's largest cruise ship, Royal Caribbean's Harmony of the Seas. USA TODAY

Symphony also will have a multi-deck water slide area, something Royal Caribbean just begun adding to ships in 2016, and a Bionic Bar where the drinks are served by robot bartenders a concept that first debuted in 2014 on Royal Caribbean's Quantum of the Seas.

While remaining mostly mum on new and updated features planned for Symphony, Bayley said the vessel's forward-facing Solarium area wouldbe "quite a lot" different than the ones on the earlier Oasis Class ships. In addition, Symphony willhave 28 more cabins than Harmony.

Royal Caribbean's Oasis Class vessels have made waves in the cruise industry since they began debuting in 2009. All three of the Oasis Class ships currently at sea are in excess of 225,000 tons more than 30% larger than the next largest cruise ships.

With the arrival of Symphony, Royal Caribbean will have 26 ships.

The vessel's first voyages will openfor bookings Wednesday.

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New Royal Caribbean Symphony of the Seas cruise ship will be the world's largest - USA TODAY

NetherRealm Studios releases its newest story trailer today for Injustice 2! The trailer is the second part of a series being called Shattered Alliances, and really highlights the escalating conflict going on in the DC Universe. Check it out below!

As you can see in this trailer, the tension is rising between Supermans well intentioned regime and Batmans freedom fighting resistance. Batman needs assistance from an increasingly large group of unlikely teammates, as theyface threats from all sides. Something that is very interesting in the trailer is that we see characters that have yet to be revealed as fighters for the game.

Thats right! We definitely saw fighting gameplay for the Green Lantern. Besides the green Guardian, Green Arrow also had gameplay. But there was also a hidden hint for Captain Cold. So maybe all three are headed to the roster.

The game already boasts an impressive line up of heroes and villains. So far it includes:Doctor Fate, Swamp Thing, Cyborg, Batman, Blue Beetle, The Flash, Harley Quinn, Superman, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Deadshot, Gorilla Grodd, Aquaman, Robin, Cheetah, Brainiac, Bane, Poison Ivy, Catwoman, Black Canary, and Atrocitus. That puts us at 21 characters, and would be 24 if the appearances in the trailer make it in.

The game will be available for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One onMay 16, 2017. There was also arecent confirmation that the game will have a mobile version! If you have not seen the first part of the Shattered Alliances series, check it out here. Stay tuned in to COGconnected for more incoming Injustice 2 news!

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New Injustice 2 Trailer: Shattered Alliances 2 Shows New Roster Additions - COGconnected (press release)