The General Motors Plaza and Promenade is a vital new link in an emerging chain of riverfront public open spaces, and an exciting transformation of the GM Renaissance Center complex. The design team (AKA and Hargreaves Associates) continued themes established in the Civic Center Promenade to the west (also implemented under AKA direction) as it creates a distinct image for General Motors newly relocated World Headquarters.

Expressing a mission of delivering hands on/real world experience in construction materials and engineered building systems, Ferris State University's $16 million Granger Center houses the Construction Technology Management (CTM) and the Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning, and Refrigeration (HVACR) programs. Organized around a central gathering space that promotes interaction, it features a student commons, auditorium, classrooms, laboratories, and administrative space. All construction and service elements, including mechanical and electrical systems, building materials, and their respected assembly, are exposed for observation and curricular use.

In order to reduce liability and risk, while lowering insurance costs, it is essential to recognize and respect the inherent complexities of boiler systems. The real answer lays not only in doing the right things in the design, installation, operation and maintenance of the boiler plant, but also in fully communicating those actions to the right parties. Some of the fundamental design issues that should be considered include boiler selection, boiler room enclosure, flue stacks, ventilation, boiler controls, and chemical treatment.

TQM (Total Quality Management) is a philosophy and set of guiding principles that represent the foundation of a continuously improving organization, leading to the elimination of waste. TQM integrates fundamental management techniques, existing improvement efforts, and technical tools under a disciplined approach focused on continuous improvement. ISO standards establish a structure for consistent delivery of product and services. Taken together, ISO and TQM can move corporations forward in a complementary and dramatic way to improve quality.

The radically changing and fast-moving healthcare environment, largely due to the transition to managed care and strains in the Medicare and Medicaid programs, has turned the old definition of a "healthcare facility" upside down. The shift from inpatient to outpatient care, shorter patient stays, more primary and less specialty care, more outsourcing of non-core functions, a refocus on wellness, and finally, the housing needs of the millions of aging baby boomers are paving the way for a whole new breed of healthcare facilities.

Total Quality Management programs have been around for many years in a variety of forms. Many are the offspring of Dr. William Edwards Deming's doctrinations to the Japanese in the 1950s and 60s. Subsequent quality gurus such as Crosby, Duran, Hayden and others have trumpeted the message that quality is the key to corporate success. In an increasingly competitive marketplace, both nationally and globally, the provision of a quality product, delivered on time and within budget, is seen as a prerequisite for successful business practice, whether it is in the manufacturing industries, or in the service and design arenas. Consistent delivery of quality can only be achieved by using repeatable and sustainable practices.