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BUSINESS NEWS THORNTON TOMASETTI SUSTAINABILITY CONSULTING HELPS HISTORIC SAN FRANCISCO CITY HALL GET LEED PLATINUM CERTIFICATION Thornton Tomasetti (New York, NY), an international engineering firm, announced that the century-old San Francisco City Hall, for which the firm provided sustainability consulting as part of a larger renovation, has achieved LEED for Existing Buildings: Operations and Maintenance Platinum certification. The 516,484-square-feet Beaux Arts building, with the fifth tallest dome in the world, is the oldest in the United States to achieve platinum, the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest rating. Retained by kW Engineering , the commissioning agent, and EnerNOC , the project manager for the project, Thornton Tomasetti managed the LEED certification process, which included providing sustainability strategy recommendations to the design team, tracking compliance with LEED during the performance period, and reviewing and submitting documentation to the Green Building ❚ ❚ Thornton Tomasetti facilitated an analysis and field survey to identify low performing areas in order to improve resource efficiency goals, such as those for water, energy and construction materials. ❚ ❚ The team implemented a retro-commissioning effort to reduce the building’s energy use and identified specific hurdles to pursuing LEED certification, such as the need to separate building steam meters for district supplied steam. Certification Institute. During the renovation: ❚ ❚ Overall, energy efficiency improvements will reduce consumption by approximately 20 percent, helping to make the city hall one of the most energy efficient buildings in the country.

FIRMS ON THE MOVE BECKER MORGAN GROUP OPENS NEWARK OFFICE Becker Morgan Group (Dover, DE) celebrated the opening of its Newark, Delaware, office with a ribbon- cutting ceremony on June 18. The office is located in Rittenhouse Station, a project designed by the firm in 2009. “We’re very pleased to open our Newark office. After working in this community for years and employing many University of Delaware graduates, it’s great to have a home here where we can better serve both existing and future clients,” said Gregory Moore, the firm’s vice president.

ON THE MOVE

ESA PROMOTES NEWCOO Environmental Science Associates (San Francisco, CA), an environmental planning and design firm, announced that Brian Ramos, Ph.D., the firm’s senior vice president and Northern California regional director, has been promoted to chief operating officer. Ramos has more than 30 years of experience in environmental consulting, professional archaeology, and finance. “Brian has been successfully managing ESA’s largest region, actively engaging with staff to increase operational efficiencies, positively impacting our bottom line – qualities critical to the COO position,” said Gary Oates, ESA’s CEO and president. “His strategic approach to business, collaborative leadership, and thorough understanding of our industry make him a natural fit for our executive leadership team.” STERLING ANNOUNCES CFO TRANSITION Sterling Construction Company Inc. (Houston, TX), announced that its executive vice president and chief financial officer, Thomas Wright, has stepped down, effective July 3, for personal reasons but will remain involved with the company as a consultant. Sterling plans to launch a search for a new CFO and will evaluate internal and external candidates. Kevan Blair, the firm’s senior

More ONTHE MOVE, page 4

ZWEIG GROUP NEEDS YOUR HELP! Zweig Group is working to update its AE Job Descriptions and AE Organizational Charts publications, originally published in 2003. To help us provide readers with the most comprehensive information, please email your jobs and charts to abennett@zweiggroup.com .

38West Trenton Blvd., Suite 101 Fayetteville, AR 72701 Mark Zweig | Publisher mzweig@zweiggroup.com Andrea Bennett | Managing Editor abennett@zweiggroup.com Christina Zweig | Contributing Editor christinaz@zweiggroup.com Liisa Andreassen | Correspondent lsullivan@zweiggroup.com Richard Massey | Correspondent rmassey@zweiggroup.com

MARK ZWEIG , from page 1

and needs to be informed. How much would it cost to restart the project with another firm? Is anyone else on- deck and ready to go, if you do that? How will your firing the sub on this job affect other jobs your firm might have that organization working on? What will your fellow principals think of you if you fired him/her? Stay calm and cool and answer these questions – and more – before you act. I could go on and on with more examples, but the bottom line is this: IF you can bite your tongue, think, get some questions answered, and not act emotionally, YOU can respond to the problem the way you really want to – on YOUR schedule with the least amount of fallout. And that, my friends, is the hallmark of a great leader. MARK ZWEIG is founder and CEO of Zweig Group. Contact him at mzweig@zweiggroup.com .

you should do it for free – is there a perceived “debt” for you to work-off (in his/her mind)? How much is this client relationship worth to you? Is the marketing benefit of the free/reduced price work worth what it costs you? While it is tempting to laugh off the request or give a smart alec response, stay cool – don’t be sarcastic – and you will probably come out ahead. ❚ ❚ A subconsultant is simply not per- forming. You want to fire him/her immediately and get someone else on the job. Has this ever happened to you? I would bet it has. Once again, while it may be tempting to drop the axe, it may also be expensive. What is this sub’s relationship to your client? What will be said about you? Are you sure you are dealing with the right person in the subconsultant’s organi- zation? Maybe the principal is pres- ently unaware of the non-performance

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Online: www.thezweigletter.com Twitter: twitter.com/zweigletter Blog: blog.zweiggroup.com Published continuously since 1992 by Zweig Group, Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA. ISSN 1068-1310. Issued weekly (48 issues/yr.). $475 for one-year subscription, $775 for two-year subscription. Article reprints: For high-quality reprints, including Eprints and NXTprints, please contact The YGS Group at 717-399-1900, ext. 139, or e-mail TheZweigLetter@TheYGSGroup.com . © Copyright 2015, Zweig Group. All rights reserved.

THE ZWEIG LETTER JULY 20, 2015, ISSUE 1112

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