Published January 2006

Construction Briefs

LEED training course available online
The U.S. Green Building Council has launched its first Web-based training course designed to educate building industry professionals about LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Professional Accreditation requirements.

LEED Accreditation enables industry professionals to demonstrate their understanding of integrated design and green building practices and principles, and ensures that they have the knowledge and skills needed to successfully steward a building project from design to LEED certification.

The three-hour Web-based course titled “Essentials of LEED Professional Accreditation” includes selected case studies, interactive learning exercises and a practice exam with questions similar to those encountered on the LEED Professional Accreditation exam.

The cost of the course is $150 for USGBC members and $200 for nonmembers. After purchase, the course is accessible for 60 days.

For more information about the Web course, contact USGBC at 202-828-7422, send e-mail to workshop@usgbc.org or go online to www.usgbc.org.

AAA Kartak Glass & Closet
marks gold anniversary this year
AAA Kartak Glass & Closet turns 50 this year, and the Everett-based company plans to celebrate “all year long,” said Kevin Kartak, whose father, Jerry, started the company in Seattle in 1956.

“My father has always been a man of vision, and this is an accomplishment Dad, myself and our entire team are very proud of,” the acting chief executive said in a news release.

The company, which designs, engineers and installs shower doors, closets, mirrors and storefronts, experienced 30 percent growth in business last year, but plans to grow at a more moderate pace in 2006, Kevin Kartak said.

“Too fast of growth is not in our customers’ best interest, nor ours, especially when it comes to maintaining the best value for service and quality,” said Kartak, an officer for the Master Builders Association of King & Snohomish Counties.

Along with serving its customers, AAA Kartak has made it a point to serve its community over the past five decades. This will be the second year the company has participated in “Extreme Makeover,” and it regularly sponsors several children’s sports teams, Kartak said. Through Master Care Foundation, the company recently helped construct and refurbish several local shelters.

“We are very thankful for the people of Western Washington, and always glad for the opportunity to give something back to the community that has given us so much these past 50 years. We are eagerly looking forward to the next 50,” he said.

Union Slough Mitigation
expansion complete
After three months of construction, the Union Slough Restoration Site expansion project is complete and has re-opened to the public.

The expansion project, which is located north of Everett along Highway 529, added approximately 4.6 acres to the existing 19.3-acre site to provide mitigation for the construction impacts of the Port of Everett’s 12th Street Marina project, now named the 12th Street Yacht Basin.

“The beauty of the Union Slough Restoration site as a mitigation site is that we know it works because we have done it before at the same site,” said Jon Houghton, marine/fisheries biologist with Pentec Environmental.

This expansion project further increased the shallow brackish water habitat for native fish, shellfish, tiny shrimp-like animals and shorebirds in the area. Overall, the Union Slough site has exceeded all the productivity criteria set forth by the port’s mitigation plan since February 2001 when the site first opened up to tidal circulation, Houghton said. The initial 19.3-acre mitigation site was restored to offset construction impacts of projects at the port’s existing marine terminals and marina facilities.

The Union Slough site is dedicated to the memory of Jack Olson, who served as the Port of Everett director of engineering from 1990 to 1998, and the director of engineering and planning from 1998 to 2001.

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