Midwestern Consulting

Several of us in Michigan’s A/E community have had the same problem – how to find the annual list of community college and university capital outlay priority projects.  This list shows us what our clients and prospects have on their capital improvement “wish lists”. 

The listed projects are not private information.   They are lists of higher education projects the college or university wants funded through the State of Michigan Building Authority – our state tax dollars. 

Some colleges and universities will freely share their 5-year plans and capital outlay priority requests.  But call a certain well known University, for example, and you get the runaround.  Someone hung up on us there when we called and asked for the information.  We actually went to the legislature last year and met with Senators Scott and McManus.  They were both very nice…

So, since its tough getting details from the public institutions themselves, here’s how to find the lists as they make their tortured way through the legislative and appropriations process:

• Go to www.senate.michigan.gov/sfa
• State Budget tab
• Capital Outlay link
• Scroll down to Other Budget Information to find the Universities and Community College links.

As far as we know there was no Capital Outlay bill in the 2011 FY budget.  We can only hope that as tax revenues increase in the state of Michigan we will see a list of funded higher education capital outlay projects this time next year.

Please leave a comment on this post.  Is there an interest in the A/E community to push the legislature to make these lists more transparent? Who will organize this effort?

This blog post discusses cool new high performance photoluminous sands and stone.

1000's of design uses from landscaping to home interiors

Ambient Glow Technology, AGT™, is a patented high performance, non-toxic, photoluminescent aggregate specially formulated and manufactured in the USA for the Decorative Concrete, Cement, Terrazzo, Stucco and Floor Epoxy trades.

AGT™ allows interior/exterior concrete, cement, stucco or epoxy projects to illuminate for over 12+ hours after being exposed to a light source for only 10 minutes and requires NO ELECTRICITY!!!

The self-emitting light technology transforms interior and exterior projects into unique, safety-conscious, alternative light sources which actually decrease the use of ambient electrical lighting by 80%.

AGT™ can be can be integrated into any type of design or structure which utilizes – cement, concrete, stucco, epoxy or resins.

Typical uses include pools and spas, architectural landscaping, patios, patio stones and walkways, outdoor tables and benches, or driveways and curbing

Life span: AGT™ will continue to function in a cementitious or resin-epoxy matrix for 15+ years.

Non-toxic: AGT™ is a non-toxic, non-radioactive photoluminescent aggregate.

Color in daylight or when lights are on: AGT™ aggregate is off-white/light yellow in color allowing it to blend seamlessly into surfaces.

Glowing color at night or when lights are off: green/yellow, aqua blue, and royal blue.

AGT™ is produced in the following formats: 3 different meshes of sand, 1/4 inch stone and 1/2 inch stone. It can be applied by various methods ranging from hand-broadcasting & GFRC to integral finish-coat batch mixing. It’s ease of application does not add to labour costs or training time.

Earl Ophoff, LSA is a senior associate at Midwestern Consulting, LLC in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  Earl loves a spa glowing in the dark and other funky design elements.  Contact Earl at 734-995-0200.