Ted Williams Joins College of Fellows of ACEC

Ted C. Williams, P.E., FACEC, principal and EVP of LandmarkJCM, has been inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Council of Engineering Companies, an elite group of engineers who have made significant contributions to the engineering profession through their experience, knowledge and networking abilities.

Ted (second from right) was reconized by (from left) David Raymond, President and CEO of ACEC, Everett Cowan, Chairman of the Committee of Fellows, and Terry Neimeyer, Chairman of ACEC, during their Fall Conference held October 19-22, 2011 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada. Ted currently serves as ACEC Chairman-Elect and will succeed Terry Neimeyer, who began his one-year term as ACEC Chairman in March, 2011.

ACEC is the voice of America's engineering industry. Council members – numbering more than 5,000 firms representing more than 400,000 employees throughout the country – are engaged in a wide range of engineering works that propel the nation's economy, and enhance and safeguard America's quality of life. The Council's mission is to contribute to America's prosperity and welfare by advancing the business interests of member firms.

Federal Government Refuses to Pay Storm Water Fee

From the NAHB Environmental Issues Committee Newsletter:

http://nahbenews.com/nahbehs/issues/2010-07-02/3.html


The Federal Government (EPA) has mandated that the District of Columbia, reduce the amount of storm water run-off.  In response, DC has mandated a storm water fee to be paid by all property owners.  The problem:  The Federal Government owns 20% of the land area of DC and refuses to pay the fee.

Jim McCulley of LandmarkJCM serves on the NAHB Environmental Issues Committee which meets again in September in New York City. 

Green Building at National Mall, Washington, DC

Yesterday I worked at an NAHB booth in Washington DC at EPA's National Sustainable Design Expo on the National Mall. There was also an adjacent Earth Day on the National Mall event with a concert and speakers and LOTS of people. There were many environmental science-minded enthusiasts at the Expo and lots of green minded people in general. We were surrounded by high level college presentations. Some of the college competitor project titles: Fuel Production from Coffee Wastes”; “A Sustainable Irrigation Ram Pump for Community Gardening in South Africa”; and A Process for Biological Nitrogen Removal from Dairy Wastewater in Constructed Wetlands”.

I was there along with several NAHB staff members and some local homebuilders and remodelers. We had a number of interested people coming up to inquire about green building and we explained it all. They were impressed that the home building industry has taken the intiative to build green and had a program to provide independent verification of the green certification. An interesting, but long day.

Submitted by Jim McCulley -

Yesterday I spent the day in Washington DC with several Delaware Builders as part of the NAHB Legislative Conference. In the morning we were given a briefing about the issues affecting Home Builders throughout the country and then we went to Capitol Hill to meet with Congressmen and Senators to discuss these issues.

We stopped in several offices and discussed Green Building Issues with staff for Mitch McConnell and Bob Casey.

In the afternoon we met with Congressman Mike Castle and his staff in his office, Senator Tom Carper and his staff in his office and Senator Ted Kauffman and his staff in Joe Biden’s old office (Senator Kauffman is in a small temporary office and Biden’s old office is unused presently).

We made sure to get the message out that the NAHB has an approved Green Building Standard that is ANSI Certified and ICC Endorsed and that this represents the only Green Building Standard in the Country. We discussed that any legislation that addresses Green Building should include reference to the NAHB Standard and should avoid setting unrealistic goals that are not based on the Standard. We also had the opportunity to discuss the issue surrounding Construction Lending and the problems in banking right now as well as the budget and stimulus packages.