The "Costimator" adds a new dimension to the 2011 Solar Decathlon

The big buzz word in Washington, D.C., these days is budget. In the solar village at West Potomac Park, cost savings are top of mind for the decathletes as well.
This year, the Affordability Contest was added as one of the 10 contests that make up the Solar Decathlon. It replaced the Lighting Design Contest, which is now evaluated as part of other contests.
Teams can earn the 100 possible points in the Affordability Contest by achieving an estimated construction cost of $250,000 or less. A sliding point scale is applied to houses that cost between $250,000 and $600,000. Houses that receive a cost estimate of more than $600,000 receive zero points.

Matt Hansen reviews each team’s design drawings and construction specifications to estimate the total construction cost of its house. (Credit: Alexis Powers/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

Matt Hansen, a professional cost estimator (affectionately known as “The Costimator” around the village), has been working with teams since March 2010 to put a price on every nut, bolt, fixture, and appliance used in the houses. Matt and his team used RSMeans to find exact or close matches to the materials and methods indicated by the teams’ construction documents. The final cost estimate includes labor as well as any heavy equipment—such as cranes, lifts, or loaders—used to build the houses on the competition site.
http://www.solardecathlon.gov/blog/archives/1694

LHAA and Takeoffs Construction Estimating Team With NREL on Solar Decathalon 2011

The Solar Decathlon is a competition in which students compete to design, build, and operate the most attractive, efficient, and affordable solar-powered house. The next Solar Decathlon competition will take place in the fall of 2011 and will be held in Washington, D.C. The U.S. Department of Energy, National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and several other private-sector partners are sponsoring the competition. There are 20 university teams participating.

LHAA and Takeoffs Construction Estimating's primary job is to ensure that each of the competing Solar Decathlon teams’ designs is judged fairly and consistently on the basis of construction cost. 

Additionally we are advising on the architectural quality of the documentation, compiling the product directory database, coordinating discrepancies between the teams design documents and the build home, and assisting with formulation the guidelines for the affordability competition. 

White House Invites Ric Licata, FAIA

Community Leaders Briefing Series:

Ric Licata, FAIA has accepted an invitation to Nevada Day at the White House on July 22nd.  Senator Reid will also be hosting a luncheon for the participants on July 23rd.  

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This summer the White House will open its doors to community leaders from around the country to take part in our Community Leaders Briefing Series.  Nevadans are invited to join top White House aides on Friday, July 22nd and to join Senator Harry Reid for lunch on Saturday, July 23rd.  

The briefing series is a unique opportunity for grassroots leaders to come to Washington to hear directly from White House officials on the issues that are affecting Nevadans and learn more about the President’s priorities and initiatives from the people that work on them every day. In return, Administration staff gets to hear what’s going on in Nevada directly from those on the ground.  

You have been invited because we’re looking for those that can bring their successes, challenges, and ideas directly to the White House to help us improve the conversation between the grassroots and Washington.

Thank you,

Megan Jones

Nevada Liaison to White House Office of Public Engagement 

DandiniWinds Turbine Deployment

It is LHAA’s vision to place the Desert Research Institute (DRI) and Truckee Meadows Community College (TMCC) as the wind energy flagships of the west and at the forefront of wind energy research and workforce development.

Our mission is the deployment of two utility scale wind turbines in support of TMCC and DRI education and research activities by Fall 2012.

The two turbines will be located above the campus and are projected to produce in excess of 43 million kilowatthours per year supplying approximately 33% of the DRI’s Maxey Building and 40% of the TMCC Campus’s power. Upon completion, 60% of the institutions electrical needs will be fulfilled with green energy produced on site.

Placer County Supports 8 Worlds of Tahoe

MEMORANDUM

OFFICE OF THE

BOARD OF SUPERVISORS

COUNTY OF PLACER

TO: Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM: Jennifer Montgomery, Supervisor District 5

Thomas M. Miller, County Executive Officer

DATE April 12, 2011

SUBJECT: RESOLUTION - Approve a Resolution in support of the "8 Worlds of Tahoe" Geotourism project in Lake Tahoe.

APPROVED, The Placer County Board of Supervisors supports this project.

BACKGROUND

Lake Tahoe is one of the most beautiful places in the Sierras. It attracts hundreds of thousands of tourists nationally and internationally every year. People come for the multiple recreational opportunities, gaming and natural beauty of Lake Tahoe. As good stewards of the natural resources available at Lake Tahoe and concern to maintain the clarity of Lake Tahoe, the "8 Worlds of Tahoe" Geotourism collaboration project was formed. It is composed of an alliance between Sustainable Tahoe and Licata Hansen Associates Architecture (LHAA), community members, state, local and federal government agencies, associated green businesses, educational institutions and other Tahoe preservation groups.

The "8 Worlds of Tahoe" Geotourism project hosts an interlinking system of tourism in Lake Tahoe that protects the natural resources of Lake Tahoe while stimulating the local economy through educational programs and planned transportation around the area. The educational programs will change the "story" of Lake tahoe and the mindset for transportation throughout the area. The program embraces the conservative wisdom of the Native American Washoe families that inhabited the area 10,000 years ago and valued the sensitive balance that allows human beings to live in harmony with nature while maintaining the natural beauty of the area that attracts so many people who live and visit Lake Tahoe today.

Ric Licata, FAIA works with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

One of Ric Licata’s most significant efforts in connecting the community, education and the knowledge the AIA provides, has been as advisor to Senator Harry Reid. In August 2008, after Senator Reid convened the National Clean Energy Summit he created the Blue Ribbon Panel on Clean Energy. Since that time Licata has been an active member of this task force advising Senator Reid and working closely with his staff helping to develop policy and providing knowledge from his and the AIA’s expertise. At an AIA ArchiPAC fund raiser in Miami Beach AIA President George Miller, FAIA said of Licata’s position as a Reid advisor,” ….Ric Licata can pick up the phone and have the ear of Senator Reid at a moments notice.”

Reid Press Conference-Invited speaker at a Press Conference hosted by Senator Reid in the US Capitol on clean energy and job creation, at the State of the Union Address by President Obama, January 27, 2010.

US Capitol-Addressed Senate leadership and staff on Capitol Hill in the new Capitol Visitor Center on the AIA’s Rebuild and Renew America program, along with AIA President George Miller, FAIA and the Architect of the Capitol Stephen Ayres, FAIA, February 2010.

TCA Properties - West 4th Street Development

Licata Hansen Associates Architecture is developing a Master Plan to amend the McQueen Neighborhood changing 27.71 acres of Residential land to General Commercial land. The existing McQueen Area Plan Land use designations of Mixed Residential and Single Family Residential are not appropriate uses considering the property is physically connected to the freeway and the direct access provided by the Robb Drive interchange make the proposed designation of General Commercial more appropriate. The proposed plan will provide for orderly physical growth of the City, enhance the urban core and foster safe, convenient and walkable neighborhoods and shopping districts.