Masonry Magazine August 2009 Page. 36
INDUSTRY NEWS
Milwaukee Electric Tool Corp. has been awarded U.S. Patent No. 7,416,824 for a lithium-ion battery pack pro-ducing an average discharge current greater than or equal to about 20 amps. This patent protects the Milwaukee brand's newly introduced M12 and M18 LITHIUM-ION product lines as well as the industry's first V28 and V18 LITHI-UM-ION product lines. More efficient and environmentally friendly, the Milwaukee LITHIUM-ION technology is the result of many years of development by the company's engineers around the globe, representing a multi-million-dollar invest-ment by Milwaukee.
Networking Web Site for Contractors
Chiefmall.com, the networking Web site for contractors, was launched to localize all contractors worldwide on the Web. The site could be seen as a cross between Google and Facebook for users and con-tractors. Users can easily locate contractors nearby, contact them, or post jobs to them. Contractors, in return, can easily build their own Web sites with contact informa tion and picture portfolios. The Web site lays the groundwork for an international network of localized contractors, online users, and free job posts. Today, Chiefmall.com encompasses more than 420,000 licensed-contractor Web page's in nine states, including all active licensed contractors in California.
International Stone Architecture Award Winners
Architects from Japan, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Italy were recently selected by an international jury to receive Veronafiere/Marmomacc's Inter-national Stone Architecture Award. This is the 11th edition of a biannual pro-gram created by Veronafiere in 1987 as part of the trade fair company's com-mitment to the culture of stone. Prizes will be presented Oct. 3 during Marmo-macc in Verona, Italy, at the Museo di Castelvecchio.
Following are the honored architects, their projects and the primary stone material:
* Asian Architecture Friendship - Osaka, Japan-based group of volunteers, mainly composed of architects from the construction fim Takenaka Corp.; School Complex, Philim, Nepal 2007; local stone and slate
* Fermin Vázquez- 6720 Arquitectos Barcelona, Spain, www.b720.com: Restoration of Plaza del Torico, Teruel, Spain, 2007; basalt
* Cino Zucchi Architetti - Milan, Italy, www.zucchiarchitetti.com: offices in the former Alfa Rome Cafeteria at Portello, Milan, Italy 2007; Cardoso stone
* Grafton Architects- Dublin, Ireland, www.graftonarchitects.ie: Luigi Bocconi University, New Building, Milan, Italy, 2008; Ceppo
* Snøhetta Oslo, Norway, www.sncarc.no: Opera House, Oslo, Norway, 2008; Carrara marble
* "Ad Memoriam" Award: Alejandro De La Sota; Madrid, Spain: Civil Government Offices, Tarragona, Spain 1957; local stone
* Vernacular Architecture Prize Espigueros and Horreos: Stone Granaries in the Iberian Peninsula (Portugal and Spain granite
Lafarge Gift to Enhance Greening Programs, Scholarships
Lafarge Canada Inc. is helping to make the Bow Valley more beautiful with a generous gift to The Banff Centre that will partially go toward new green-ing initiatives on the Centre's grounds. The $336,000 donation will support campus greening and create three new scholarships for not-for-profit leaders.
As part of The Banff Centre's current revitalization project, plans are underway to create LEED-certified greening in public spaces-replanting, creating natural out-door meeting spaces, buikling new pathway systems, and eliminating vehicular traffic for the centre of the campus. The project aligns with Lafarge's interest in environmental protection, natural resource conservation, and community investment.
The second part of the Lafarge pro-gram will create new training scholar-ships for not-for-profit leaders in The Banff Centre's Leadership Development programs. Three scholarships of $4,000 each will be available every year for three years, beginning in 2009. The scholar-ships will be called the Lafarge Concrete Community Leaders Scholarship, the Lafarge Aggregate Community Leaders