Yearly Archives: 2016

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the U.S. government’s development finance institution, today announced approval of a $15 million loan to a new investment vehicle managed by SunFunder Inc. that will provide financing to companies operating in developing counties that manufacture, distribute and install solar lighting and energy systems. This project uses OPIC’s Innovative Financial Intermediaries Program (IFIP), which focuses on smaller investment funds that apply innovative approaches to address specific development challenges.

In an effort to help young people involved in the justice system find jobs and housing, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Housing and Urban Development (HUD) today announced $1.75 million for Public Housing Authorities (PHAs) and nonprofit legal service organizations to address the challenges justice-involved individuals face when trying to find work and a place to call home. 

Researchers at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) discovered single-walled carbon nanotube semiconductors could be favorable for photovoltaic systems because they can potentially convert sunlight to electricity or fuels without losing much energy.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes fell 1.5 percent in March from an upwardly revised February reading to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 511,000 units, according to newly released data by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau.

Shannar O’Connor, a freshman attending the University of Miami School of Architecture, has been selected as the 2016 recipient of the AIA/Architects Foundation Diversity Advancement Scholarship. Working in collaboration, the American Institute of Architects (AIA) and the Architects Foundation award the scholarship to high school graduates, college freshmen, and community college students from a minority background who intend to pursue a NAAB-accredited professional degree in architecture. The purpose of the scholarship is to encourage diversity in the architecture profession.

The Boulder Group, a net leased investment brokerage firm, has completed the sale of a single tenant new construction Family Dollar located at 3211 Old McDuffie Road in Augusta, GA for $1,490,000.

The Retail Contractors Association (RCA) has joined the ConsensusDocs Coalition, a unique coalition of design and construction industry associations that produces industry-standard contracts that are fair and balanced to facilitate project success

The U.S. General Services Administration’s (GSA) Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building located at 1220 SW 3rd Ave, Portland, Ore., is the honored recipient of the Top Ten Plus award by The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE). In its fourth year, the award recognizes one past AIA COTE Top Ten Project Award recipient which has quantifiable metrics that demonstrate the true impact the sustainable design has achieved. The project, designed by SERA Architects, Inc. and Cutler Anderson Architects was selected in 2014 as a recipient of the AIA/COTE Top Ten Project Award program

On Monday, April 25 through Friday, April 29, Mayor Muriel Bowser will join District officials, business leaders, and community members to host a District-wide spring cleaning campaign. Each day of the week, Mayor Bowser, District employees, and residents will highlight resources available to help DC residents remove waste; keeping homes and the city clean and healthy to live in.

Researchers at the Energy Department's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have uncovered a way to overcome a principal obstacle in using two-dimensional (2D) semiconductors in electronic and optoelectronic devices.

U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today, as part of Earth Day celebrations, announced the next phase of bridging to the Tamiami Trail, an ongoing project which provides ecological restoration benefits to Everglades National Park and the central Everglades in Florida. The new trail will raise a two-and-a-half mile section of U.S. Highway 41 in the South Florida region and is the latest milestone in the Obama Administration’s efforts to conserve the Everglades’ historic and iconic wildlife habitat and water flows.

Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC) today said the U.S. Department of the Treasury will allocate an additional $28.7 million to District of Columba residents in an effort to prevent foreclosures and help the District housing market. The Department of Treasury is allocating the final $1 billion allotment of grants under the Hardest Hit Fund (HHF), which was established in 2010 to provide targeted assistance to homeowners in the District and 18 states deemed hardest hit by the economic and housing market downturn.

Conservation groups filed suit against the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today – on Earth Day – for failing to protect water quality in the San Francisco Bay-Delta under the Clean Water Act. This failure could result in several native fish species going extinct, toxic algal blooms becoming more common, and the loss of thousands of fishing jobs in California and across the West Coast that depend on healthy Central Valley salmon runs.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced today a $1 million agreement between the Fair Housing Project of North Carolina Legal Aid and North Carolina-based Fidelity Bank to resolve allegations the mortgage lender engaged in unfair lending practices against minority applicants

NAIOP is proud to announce the 11th annual Developing Leaders Award, honoring up-and-coming commercial real estate professionals, 35 years old and under, for their valued contribution and commitment to the industry. This is the premier opportunity to establish yourself as a leader in the commercial real estate industry, and I encourage you to apply for this special recognition.

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected the top ten examples of sustainable architecture and ecological design projects that protect and enhance the environment. The projects will be honored at the 2016 AIA Convention in Philadelphia.

Senators Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and Charles Schumer (D-NY) were joined by New York City Housing Development Corporation President Gary Rodney, New York State Homes and Community Renewal Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer James Rubin, and other New York Housing Credit stakeholders for a rally today in support of expanding the Housing Credit at a New York City Credit-financed supportive housing development for young people aging out of foster care.

The House Appropriations Committee approved by voice vote this week a fiscal year (FY) 2017 Energy and Water Appropriations bill totaling $37.4 billion, $259 million above the enacted FY2016 level and $168 million above the President’s budget request.  The bill includes the following funding allocations for federal-state regional commissions:

GSA project highlighted as example of reducing operating costs, saving tax payer money and providing healthier work space for a federal agency. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) and its Committee on the Environment (COTE) have selected the U.S. General Services Administration Region 10’s (GSA) Edith Green-Wendell Wyatt Federal Building in Portland, OR, as the recipient of the Top Ten Plus award. In its fourth year, the award recognizes one past AIA COTE Top Ten Project Award recipient which has quantifiable metrics demonstrating the true impact the sustainable design has achieved

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) today issued the following statement after the U.S. Senate passed S. 2012, the Energy Policy Modernization Act. The legislation repeals targets for reducing fossil fuel consumption in federal buildings contained in Section 433 of the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which was passed by Congress and signed into law by then-President George W. Bush.