Current News

Congratulations to the crew at Engine 23 for outstanding Job Site Recycling!

PUSH Buffalo has been all over the news lately. When board member Delores Powell's home was rebuilt as part of "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition," the WNY community not only watched with excited anticipation, they broke the record for the number of volunteers for the show, now in its seventh season.

If you've been receiving this newsletter and/or have visited our website, you already know that CIR has made a commitment to making incremental changes towards becoming a more sustainable company, and you've read about some of the things that we're doing and have already done to meet our sustainability goals. However, what you may not know is why teaming up with PUSH Buffalo on their green housing rehabilitation demonstration project at 10 Winter Street is so important to us.

Congratulations to the crew at NRG Dunkirk for outstanding Job Site Recycling!

CIR recently completed energy-efficient upgrades for the Niagara Falls Water Board at the Niagara Falls Waste Water Treatment Plant on Buffalo Ave. CIR replaced two variable frequency drives that operate process pumps, and 42 light fixtures in the Pipe Gallery. Both installations were eligible for Pre-qualified Incentives under NYSERDA's Existing Facilities Program, and CIR assisted the Water Board with the paperwork required to receive those rebates.

CIR recently increased our commitment to the Illuminating Engineering Society (IES) by becoming a Copper Level Sustaining Member. The IES is the entity that sets the Lighting Recommended Practices which includes, but is not limited to, the recommendation of footcandle levels.

Congratulations to the crew at Forestville Schools for outstanding Job Site Recycling!

With the holiday season upon us, everyone is busy searching for the perfect gifts for everyone on our list. I put together a short list of green gifts that I found interesting, followed by links where you can find even more green gift ideas.

The Little Valley Job Site, lead by Subforeman Ken Lindquist, was selected as the December winner of our Job Site Recycling Incentive Program. Ken was assisted by Apprentice Electrician Paul Sasso.

Congratulations to the crew at 2410 North Forest for outstanding Job Site Recycling!

Congratulations Gary Arcadi for Outstanding Job Site Recycling!

DON'T FORGET! The 2009 Tour of Solar Homes and Green Buildings in Western New York is this Saturday, October 3rd, from 10 AM to 4PM.

BUFFALO, NY (September 17, 2009) - CIR Electrical Construction Corp., a leading electrical construction company in Western New York, announced that Tracy Will, their in-house Sustainability Coordinator has successfully passed the LEED Green Associate exam administered by the Green Building Certification Institute.

In February's newsletter, we featured an article about UB's commitment to climate neutrality as a part of the UB 2020 strategic plan. For anyone who would like an update on overall plan progress, UB President John Simpson will be giving a progress report at his annual community address on Wednesday, September 23rd at 8am.

The WNY Sustainable Energy Association has announced that the Annual Tour of Solar Homes and Green Buildings will be held on Saturday, October 3, 2009, from 10 AM to 4 PM.

I'm very happy to say that on August 14th, I received the LEED Green Associate credential. . . I've also been working closely with Craig Bongiovanni, one of our project managers, at properly positioning CIR to successfully market and assist our customers at attaining the various financial incentives available for making electrical energy efficiency upgrades.

Congratulations to the crew at Forestville Schools for outstanding Job Site Recycling!

BUFFALO NEWS ARTICLE: The refurbishment of 139 Howell St. is no ordinary modernization. The graduate degree of four University at Buffalo architecture graduate students depends on it. . . The project received donations from Alp Steel, John W. Danforth Co. and CIR Electrical.

As far as a graduate architecture thesis is concerned, you probably can't get much more sustainable than purchasing a vacant house, which would otherwise be slated for demolition, to apply an academic exercise to and at the same time, bring it new life. That's exactly what UB Graduate School of Architecture students Mike Bailie, Paul Dudkowski, Ernest Ng and Dan Stripp have done with a single family home in Buffalo's Black Rock neighborhood, and CIR was happy to donate time and material to their project.

Part of CIR's plan to be a more sustainable company is by encouraging employees to become LEED Accredited Professionals (AP). The US Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System is considered the national standard for green building, and is becoming increasingly popular within the construction industry because of the energy savings and other benefits to building owners. In fact, many colleges and government agencies are requiring that all new building projects attain LEED certification at some level.

Congratulations to the crew at Lyndonville High School for outstanding Job Site Recycling!

CIR began work at the Gustavus Adolphus (GA) Children's Home in Jamestown this past January just as they were celebrating 123 years of service in the region. CIR is working for construction manager LPCiminelli on the renovations designed by Habiterra Architecture and MEP Engineer, H.F. Lenz. The current, star-shaped facility, consisting of a central hub and five wings, was constructed in 1968, replacing the original 1886 building.

Rock Harbor Commons (RHC) is the beginning of what Newell Nussbaumer of Buffalo Rising hopes will be a demonstration in sustainable college living. Nussbaumer is Community Liaison for the project spearheaded by developer Ed Hogle of Atlas Steel. RHC, a privately-funded student housing complex with the capacity to house 350 local college students, is phase 1 of the "eco-friendly, collegiate living and learning village" scheduled to open in August of 2010.

It's July, and for many of us the New Year's resolutions we were so diligent about in January have long since been forgotten. However, I have high hopes that many of us have taken some of those simple steps to living a greener lifestyle, and they're only forgotten because they've become a part of our routine. To that end, I thought some of you may be interested in how I'm doing with the "green goals" I shared with you in January.

Congratulations to the crew at Lyndonville High School for outstanding Job Site Recycling!

I announced in February that we were starting a company-wide job site recycling program, and I'm happy to say that although we got off to a bit of a bumpy start, it's going well!

The latest news on New York State's Bigger Better Bottle Bill states that the legislation has been put on hold until April 1st, 2010. This follows an injunction to delay enforcement of the law filed by US District Judge Thomas P. Griesa on May 27th, as a result of the lawsuit filed by the International Bottled Water Association et al.

BUFFALO NEWS ARTICLE: Paul B. Iskalo's new multi-tenant office building on North Forest Road should be ready for occupancy in late fall, even as the Williamsville developer prepares to start a new project at the former Kane Doyle Jeep Eagle dealership in Kenmore.

Congratulations to the crew at Candlewood Suites for outstanding Job Site Recycling!

Have you taken the pledge? As part of the Buffalo-Niagara Earth Day 2009 Initiative, CIR has pledged to encourage all of our employees to carpool, bike, walk or take public transportation to work on Earth Day, this coming Wednesday, April 22nd, to help demonstrate WNY's commitment to going green.

The big event is almost here! From May 12th to 16th, 2009, the American Solar Energy Society's (ASES) National Solar Energy Conference, Solar 2009, will be held at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. The 2009 conference theme is "You've Got the Power"...

CIR was recently awarded the electrical contract for Phase 3 of the Hyatt Public Spaces Renovation at the Hyatt Regency adjoining the Buffalo Convention Center. Among other things, CIR's contract includes installing new LED display lighting in several of the hotels public spaces.

The latest buzz in energy efficient lighting has been focused on LEDs, or light emitting diodes. In the past, LEDs were most frequently seen in clocks and as indicator lights, but lately the technology has been rapidly moving towards general lighting applications.

As Sustainability Coordinator at CIR, I have been invited to participate in a panel discussion on green marketing. The event, which will be held at the Millennium Hotel on April 27th, is being hosted by the Buffalo Niagara Sales & Marketing Executives (BNSME) as a part of their monthly dinner meeting series.

CIR recently completed the electrical contract for Mercy Flight of WNY's new 11,782 square foot hanger and shop building. The new building and helipad were built next to Mercy Flight's new home offices, which are located in the building previously occupied by Flying Tigers Restaurant, behind the Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

A commitment to climate neutrality was taken on as one of the UB2020 strategic plan initiatives in the spring of 2007. It was at this time that University at Buffalo President John Simpson signed the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment (ACUPCC), and set into motion the process of creating a climate action plan that will serve as the framework for making all three campuses carbon neutral in conjunction with the comprehensive physical plan for UB.

I'm very excited to announce that CIR is kicking off our new job site recycling program this month. Our plan is to ensure that as much as possible of the waste materials from our job sites is recycled rather than ending up in landfills.

As Inauguration Day approaches many questions arise in the minds of the American people regarding the political views of new presidential appointees and what effects they may have on policy making over the next four years. With volatile energy prices and the current state of the economy, President-elect Obama's choices for appointments closely involved with the issues of energy and the environment are of particular concern to many.

Since we're still early in the New Year and many of us are still working diligently on our resolutions, I thought I'd follow up on last month's newsletter and talk about some of the things I've done and plan to do to live greener. My top two are among the easiest things that everyone can do and make a noticeable difference at the same time.

Having a greener holiday follows the same principles as living a greener life; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Just in case you're fresh out of ideas how to reduce, reuse and recycle your way to a greener holiday season, we've jotted down some ideas of how to green your holiday décor, parties and gifts. When you're done greening your holiday, check out our list of green New Year's resolutions and be green all year long!

BUFFALO, NY (November 21, 2008) - CIR Electrical Construction Corp., a leading electrical construction company in Western New York, has been named to Buffalo's Business First newspaper's Top 100 Private Companies in Western New York for 2008.

The US Green Building Council (USGBC) created the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Green Building Rating System as a tool to assist building professionals, owners and operators in measuring the impact of various sustainable building practices. As energy prices continue to escalate,

CIR recently added a recycling bin for beverage containers. Someone had been returning pop bottles and cans with the deposits on them for quite some time, but we noticed an increasing number of plastic bottles that ended up in the trash instead of being recycled. We’ve been filling that 15-gallon bin that holds about 50-60 plastic bottles an average of every three weeks, which means we’ll save nearly 1,000 plastic bottles from going to the landfill each year. On the ‘Reduce’ and ‘Reuse’ side, we keep water pitchers in the fridge and have a coffee maker complete with coffee and the related supplies in our kitchen. For anyone that forgets their favorite cup or coffee mug, we give out CIR cups and insulated mugs from time to time.

CIR Electrical Construction Corp has launched a redesigned website at www.cirelectic.com. The new site, which is branded with their "Blue Collar. Green Company." identity was designed to engage CIR's customers and employees with company updates and their environmental strategy. CIR is proud to have first generation owners who worked their way up in the electrical construction industry to get where they are today and highly skilled electricians hired through our local unions. With the growing concern for our environment, CIR is committed to taking a leadership role on environmental sustainability in the Western New York community.

Iskalo Development Corp. will soon be joining the ranks of building owners in the Western New York area with LEED certified buildings, and CIR is proud to be their electrical contractor. Iskalo Development’s in-house architecture department designed their new multi-tenant office building at 2410 North Forest, across from UB’s North Campus, and retained Trautman Associates Architects and Engineers, who have LEED Accredited Professionals on staff, for the mechanical, electrical and plumbing (MEP) design.

From May 12th to 16th, 2009, the American Solar Energy Society’s (ASES) National Solar Energy Conference will be held at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. In its 38th year, this is the largest and most inclusive solar and renewable energy conference held in the US, which promises to bring 4,000-5,000 industry professionals to Buffalo from all over the country to learn hands-on from leaders and innovators who are shaping the industry. CIR is proud to be a partner organization for this national event.

The sun provides an abundant and ubiquitous energy source that will be available as long as it continues to shine. In fact, the amount of energy that the earth receives from the sun in one hour is more energy than the world consumes in one year, we just need to harness that energy. A common misconception exists that solar power could not supply a significant portion of US or world electricity demand, but the truth is the entire electricity needs of the US could be met by using photovoltaic (PV) modules in a 100 square mile area of Nevada. PV technology is only one of many ways to harness solar energy, which range from passive to active systems and from small building-scale to large-scale utility-type systems.

In our effort to increase our paperless operations, CIR recently purchased an invoice scanner system. Every invoice that we receive will be scanned into the system, and an electronic copy will then be sent to the prospective project manager for approval. Currently, every vendor has to submit invoices in duplicate so that hard copies can be given to each project manager for approval. Once it’s up and running, this system will eliminate the need for duplicate invoice copies and save approximately 1500 sheets of paper from being used every month while increasing office efficiency. CIR also utilizes other electronic services that not only save paper, but have other added benefits.

Last summer CIR started a facility paper recycling program. Everyone in the office has their own separate paper bin to ensure the maximum amount of paper gets recycled. Rather than just putting the paper out every week for collection by the city, someone from the office takes it to the bin at St. Anthony’s Church down the street so that they can earn money for recycling. In addition to paper recycling, we’re trying to reduce the amount of paper we use by encouraging everyone to print double-sided whenever possible and increase paperless operations.

You may be surprised to hear that CIR is still hard at work at NRG Energy’s Huntley plant in Tonawanda after the recent media overload about their proposal for a new ‘clean coal’ plant being squashed. Regardless of whether or not a new plant is constructed, pollution control measures need to be made at the plant to comply with current Clean Air Act requirements and ensure that the plant continues to operate. That’s where we come in.

The doused plans for a new, state-of-the-art ‘clean coal’ facility at NRG Energy’s Huntley Plant in Tonawanda has been all over the news since the New York Power Authority pulled the plug on the project last month. Reports stated that the reasoning behind NYPA’s decision rested on the enormous costs of the project and that the proposed technology was unproven. But what is this unproven technology and why is it so expensive?

CIR began capital improvements work at Newfane Central School District in early June of this year. The architect and construction manager on the job is Cannon Design, and the general contractor is RB Mac. CIR’s contract includes installation of a new fire alarm system and upgrades to the emergency lighting, emergency power, security and access controls systems at all five district facilities.

With the growing concern for the environment and global climate change, CIR has been trying to do our part as a company and make changes to reduce our environmental impact. Of course we offer our customers the most up-to-date and efficient lighting, controls and systems technologies to help them reduce their energy consumption and related costs, which is where we can make the greatest positive impact on the environment. But CIR is also taking steps to reduce our own environmental impact.

With all the talk in the media these days about global climate change and environmental degradation, many businesses and building contractors in particular, are left wondering why they should be concerned and what difference they can really make anyway. The answers are simple: You can significantly increase your bottom line while substantially decreasing your environmental impact. Here's why...

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