EGGER will invest $700 million to build its first U.S. manufacturing facility

In order to better serve the North American market, EGGER, a wood-based material supplier for the furniture, wood construction, and flooring industries, will invest $700 million over the next decade and a half to build its first U.S. manufacturing facility.

The facility, which will be built in North Carolina’s Davidson County, will be a particleboard manufacturing plant that will enable EGGER to better serve customers in North America and improve access for architects and designers. The new plant is expected to create 770 jobs and will kick off with the first phase of development over the next six years. During this phase 400 jobs will be created with an initial investment of $300 million.

In addition to the jobs the new facility directly creates, it will also provide a benefit the greater Piedmont Triad region as it will work with local wood suppliers to acquire wood byproducts from regional sawmills and work with a wide range of suppliers for additional services.

Construction on the project’s first phase is expected to begin at the end of 2018 with production slated to begin in 2020.

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.