San Antonio animal hospital earns LEED Platinum certification

Middleman Construction Company has built the San Antonio?s first commercial building to earn the highest recognition for energy efficiency and sustainability – LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. The project is the Eagle Veterinary Hospital in Olmos Park, Texas.

Through various measures, the energy savings at the building are close to 50% compared with a conventional building. Features include tubular daylight systems for lighting; solar panels generating more than 30% of the electricity for the building; three 3,100-gallon cisterns to collect rain and condensate water for non-potable use inside and outside the building; a majority of the building components were manufactured from recycled materials. BD+C

Before you get your shorts in a knot, I have nothing against science, technology, engineering, or even mathematics; to the contrary, I love all four “STEM” disciplines (I’m lying about the math). But I question whether we need to be building K-12 schools that overly emphasize or are totally devoted to STEM.

| Mar 3, 2014

Negotiate your way to success

There are few business skills as important as negotiation. Many successful businesspeople pride themselves on their ability to turn a deal in their favor. Here are a few key negotiation principles to ensure you’re generally getting a good deal.

| Mar 3, 2014

5 ways to gain clients you actually like

Gaining more clients is one thing. Gaining more clients that you actually like is something else entirely. Here are some tips to perfect the art of attracting and retaining clients that you enjoy working with.

| Mar 3, 2014

Engineering and construction CEOs are cautiously optimistic about the global economy, says PwC

Firm leaders remain leery about the availability of skilled workers, the state of government debt and deficits, and rising material prices, according to PwC’s 2014 Global CEO Survey.