Gold Hard Hat Awards

The Best Colorado Projects of 2009

Criteria for Projects Entries:

The annual Gold Hard Hat Awards is a competition to determine the best projects completed by firms in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota. Firms involved in any aspect of a project may submit it for consideration. There is no charge for entries.

Judging was done by a panel of industry experts based on design quality and innovation, craftsmanship, the project’s contribution to the community and the industry, solution of unique design and construction challenges and overall excellence. The size of the project was not a factor in the judging.

Eligibility:

• Project sites must be located in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota or South Dakota.
• Projects must be completed or at least 90% complete between Sept. 1, 2008 and Aug. 31, 2009.
• Firms were allowed to nominate one project per category, and each project could be entered in only one category.
• Entries could be submitted by any of the firms working on a project, including owners, architects, engineers, contractors and subs.
• To avoid any potential conflicts of interest, judges abstained from voting in categories that included projects in which they or their firms were involved.
• Judges were allowed to award ties in categories where projects were of equal merit, and they were not required to award any or all of the winning levels (gold, silver or bronze) if they determined that a project did not merit those awards.

This is the first year we have expanded the program outside Colorado. The decision to extend our coverage into neighboring states allows projects outside Colorado to compete in the National Best of awards, which appear annually in Engineering News-Record. This year, 24 projects from Colorado Construction will be entered in the National Best of 2009 awards competition.

For information on the 2010 Gold Hard Hat Awards or the National Best of Awards program, call 303-584-6724.

2009 Gold Hard Hat Award Judges

Taryn Edwards
Associated General Contractors of Colorado
Taryn Edwards currently serves as president of the Associated General Contractors of Colorado. She started her career in the construction industry in 1987 as a field engineer. During her tenure, she has served as a district manager and overseen projects totaling more than $2.5 billion.

Jessica Flansburg
Ambient Energy
Jessica Flansburg is Ambient Energy’s director of marketing and office manager. Her work experience includes the legal, marketing and commercial real estate professions. She assists Ambient Energy with proposals, marketing, project and event coordination, green materials research and human resources. She is a graduate of the University of Colorado at Denver with a bachelor’s degree in English, writing and literature and recently earned her LEED accreditation.

Shahnaz Jaffari
Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute
Shahnaz Jaffari is director of sustainability for the Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute. She has 26 years experience in building design and construction and directs RMMI’s green initiatives. She is a LEED AP and has served a two-year term as a representative of Colorado at the U.S. Green Building Council.

She holds a master’s degree in Construction Engineering and Management from the University of Colorado at Boulder, and a second master’s in architecture from the University of Colorado at Denver. She is currently a Ph.D. candidate at CU-Boulder in the department of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering.

Mary Morissette
klipp
Mary Morissette is a senior associate with Denver’s klipp. Her current job responsibilities include project management on the Denver Justice Center Courthouse and renovations to Denver’s City and County Building. She will be the 2010 AIA Colorado President and serves on the Cherry Creek North Design Advisory Board. She received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Virginia Tech.

Tom Stone
Adolfson & Peterson Construction
Tom Stone is a project executive for A&P. He currently oversees all educational construction services at A&P, including client-relationship building, project planning and cost estimating, coordination of project scheduling and contract negotiation. He received a bachelor’s degree in construction management from Minnesota State University at Mankato.

Diane Travis
Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute
Diane Travis has been the technical director of Rocky Mountain Masonry Institute since 1996. She gives seminars and construction advice to architects and engineers. Before 1996, she worked as an architect in Chicago and Denver. She also did city planning for a small city in western Greece. She graduated with a master’s degree in architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1985 and passed the ARE exam in 1988.

Phillip Triplett
CH2M Hill
Phillip Triplett is a senior project manager with CH2M Hill’s Denver office with more than 25 years of facility construction experience. He is currently involved with development of heavy civil, highway and transportation business opportunities within the firm’s Transportation Business Group. He graduated from the University of Akron with a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and the University of Dayton with a master’s degree in engineering management.

John Yonushewski
Buchanan Yonushewski Group
John Yonushewski is one of the founding partners of Buchanan Yonushewski Group, an integrated architecture and construction firm specializing in architect-led, single-source project delivery. He has practiced design-build for over 30 years, focusing primarily on the design of multifamily, hospitality, mixed-use, restaurant and retail projects. He is a past president and treasurer of AIA Colorado and has served on the AIA Denver Board of Directors.

Click here for past Features >>