Having a backup generator in a storm-prone areas, is a good idea.  In case of long-term power outages, a generator will keep your refrigerator, fans and dehumidifiers functioning to protect your food and prevent mold and rot in case flooding occurs. It may also save you two percent on your homeowner’s insurance premium. A generator will not pay for itself in insurance savings, but it will offset the cost (which can run from $300 to $15,000 depending on the size and type).

ENR Southwest’s annual survey of design and engineering firms reveals that revenue for the region’s largest companies held steady in 2014.

Overall, the 63 firms that participated in the survey earned a combined $734.69 million in design revenue in 2014 from projects located in the Southwest. The total was down from $799 million for the previous year. However, 12 firms that participated last year declined to provide information this year, including HDR, last year’s top-ranked firm.

A door without a dead bolt lock is an invitation to burglars. Install a dead bolt on all exterior doors and cut your homeowner’s insurance premiums by at least five percent.

Northern Arizona has long been known as “cool pine” country, and a building currently under construction at the state university in Flagstaff is banking on using the benefits of that climate to create a highly sustainable facility for an international education program.

Carbon monoxide detectors are mandatory in some states. They are an inexpensive way to protect your family from this deadly, invisible gas. Installing them shows your insurance company that you are serious about home safety, and it may earn you a discount as well as save your life.

A Dept. of Energy-sanctioned report on plutonium disposition alternatives, citing uncertainties related to design and construction of the Mixed-Oxide (MOX) Fuel Fabrication Facility project in South Carolina, indicates shifting to a new approach would be less costly than continuing to pursue the MOX program. The report—prepared by The Aerospace Corp. for the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration—estimates the life-cycle program cost of converting weapons-grade plutonium into MOX fuel at $47.5 billion. By comparison, downblending,  which plutonium is mixed with other materials, would cost $17.2 billion.

Fierce winds can wreck garage doors. A stronger door may reduce your insurance premiums up to ten percent. There are two options, you can install a new hurricane-resistant garage door, or use a retrofit kit with horizontal and vertical bracing to strengthen the existing door.

A new double-bay residential hurricane garage door can cost as much as $1,200. A retrofit solution for a double-door garage will run about $500. If you have a $1,000 premium, your payback would be about five years.

Less than 20 years ago, Aztec Engineering, Phoenix, was a disadvantaged business enterprise firm looking to make its mark. Today, the firm is the fifth largest on ENR Southwest’s Top Design Firms ranking based on annual revenue. Aztec reported $27.83 million in regional revenue in 2014 and moved up 15 spots on the survey over the previous year, when it logged $14.95 million. The firm also ranks atop the survey’s transportation category, with a plethora of projects in Arizona.

For you Auto Insurance: If you get a small dent or other minor damage on an older car, you may want to think twice about filing a claim and getting it fixed. To avoid rate hikes, it might be worth your while to just live with it if there are no safety issues.

If you have towing coverage on your auto policy and use it to get your jalopy towed every six months, be ready for a possible ten percent rate increase on your next renewal. Buy a roadside assistance plan (available from AAA, AARP and other vendors) instead. It is cheaper.

This rule can also applies to homeowner’s insurance: A good rule of thumb is do not file a claim if it is worth less than $1,000 over your deductible. Statistically, if you file two claims in a three year period, or make claims related to maintenance issues such as a chronic leak or some missing shingles, you risk triggering a rate hike or worse. Your insurance company may even drop you completely. Just inquiring about a claim (without even filing it!) could raise your rates.

The construction sector began to show signs of life at the end of 2014 and those trends remained steady for the most part across the southwest in February of 2015. There were gains of 4,000 jobs relative to last year across the three state region according to data provided by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Many personal and business auto insurance companies check your driving record regularly and increase your premium on the very next bill if they find a traffic violation. However, they are not always so quick to reduce your premium later when the violation falls off your record.

Therefore you will want to keep track of the dates of your tickets and ask for a reduction once your record is “clean” (generally three years, but check with your state’s Department of Motor Vehicles).

Tight space constraints along a 4.3-mile light-rail expansion for the Sacramento Regional Transit District, or Sacramento RT, required engineers to modify plans and adopt new rail-damping technology to reduce noise in residential areas.

Did you know that if you 20 miles to work every day, you are more likely paying a higher premium than people who drive only five miles. Therefore, if you get a new job closer to home, tell your insurance agent immediately. Also totally mileage a month can count as a rating factor.  Some insurance companies offer low mileage discounts. If you do not drive often you may want to talk to your insurance agent to find out their mileage discount brake.

Also, if you are lucky enough to retire, tell your agent so they can reclassify you as a “pleasure driver.” you may see a drop in your rate as well.

A complex, groundbreaking automated car elevator system, situated in the center of the $560-million, 60-story Porsche Design Tower project in Sunny Isles Beach, Fla., is raising the bar on “sky garage” technology, and taking its builders on a memorable journey as contractors and engineers make accommodations for the massive system. By combining high-speed- and freight-elevator concepts as part of what is believed to be the first such system for carrying cars and human passengers, the highly programmed, patented design may one day influence the development of similar projects.

On  your auto or home insurance,  some insurance companies offer incentives for paying an invoice within 10 days, rather than taking the full 30 days. If your insurer offers a “prompt pay” discount, it may be worth your while to re-prioritize your bill payment schedule. If you are temporarily short on cash, it may even make sense to pay with your credit card. You can also save money if you pay six months in advance.  Talk to your insurance agent to see if you could be receiving these types of discounted saving.

Nevada is leading the way in construction employment again in April, according to statistics recently revealed by Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation, outpacing gains not seen in Arizona since 2005 and lackluster growth in New Mexico.

In April 2015, 67,500 were employed in the construction industry in Nevada, an increase of 2,200 from 65,500 in March 2015. Year-over-year, the construction firms in the Silver State have experienced an increase of 9.2 percent, from 62,000 in April 2014 — a gain of 5,700 jobs.

Older cars ten year or more are normally worth much. So at a certain point it may not make sense to keep paying for comprehensive and collision coverages on them. Before removing coverages, you will want to first, find the “book” value of your vehicle (nada.com, edmunds.com or kbb.com etc.). Then add up the annual premiums for comprehensive and collision coverages. Chances are, you are paying for the full value of the vehicle every three years. If you are comfortable accepting a low level of risk, cancel your comprehensive and collision coverages and put that money away.

Each morning, demolition workers don powered respirators with full hood assemblies, battery packs and air hoses to prevent exposure to the lead paint that covers most of the nearly 80-year-old steel structure of the East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

In addition to the respirators, crews must also gear up with coveralls, full-body harnesses to prevent falls, radios and personal air monitors, says Rich Riggs, project manager for Silverado Contractors Inc., half of the joint venture demo contractor, CEC/Silverado, which includes California Engineering Contractors Inc.

There are some insurance companies, that will offer you a discount on your homeowners insurance premium (two to five percent) if you have safeguards in place to warn of plumbing failures.

* Battery operated or plug in temperature sensors: Detects furnace breakdowns and the resulting frozen and bursting pipes.

* Leak detectors: You can use wireless or wired sensors to sound an alarm, or it can be wired to an automatic shut off valve on your main water line that closes when water touches the sensor.

The global design giant brings together experts from a multitude of market sectors to foster creativity and fulfill client goals. Defining a “California design market” has never been simple. From the high-tech centers of the north to the entertainment- and entrepreneurial-focused cities in the south, the Golden State is in many ways a market of markets, each with its distinct taste and requirements.

Standard asphalt shingles can take a beating during wind and hail storms. That is why there are some insurance companies that will offer discounts (up to 45 percent) for tougher roofing materials.

Before you choose a new roof, you may want to talk to your insurance agent to learn about the exact discounts for materials other than standard asphalt. In most cases, metal roofing gives you the largest discount, but it also costs two to four times as much as standard asphalt shingles.

For a less expensive roof that may still qualify for a discount, consider heavier-grade Class 4 modified asphalt and shake shingles, which come with a 30 to 50 year limited warranty and may be less expensive than replacing a storm damaged roof.

PSEG Long Island has selected 55 entities to build 76 solar power projects totaling 100 MW at various locations on Long Island.

The selected projects were chosen through the second phase of Long Island Power Authority’s Clean Solar Initiative Feed-in Tariff program. In the first phase of the FIT program, 50 MW of solar power projects were selected through a solicitation, and they entered service in 2014.

Did you know that washing machine hoses that leak or even burst are a common cause of water damage in the home? Yet just by taking the time to replace your rubber hoses on your washing machine with no-burst stainless steel hoses, you not only help prevent water damage claims, but there are some insurance companies that will offer a discount up to ten percent, for this simple change.  That means you could save up to five times the cost of the hoses on your next bill. However this is a smart move even if your insurer does not offer a discount.

Dallas-based contractor Hunt Construction Group is surging past the half-way mark in constructing a $325-million, 800,000-sq-ft addition to San Antonio’s bustling Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center. Once the project—which includes renovating 78,000 sq ft of the existing structure—is completed, San Antonio will have doubled the size of Gonzalez, with new amenities and vivid architecture intended to position the facility as one of the nation’s top convention venues.

If you live in a hurricane-prone area, installing wind-resistant shutters may save you up to 30 percent on the hurricane portion of your premium, which means

For an average home, basic metal shutters start at about $700. If your wind premium is $1,000, the shutters would pay for themselves in three to five years. Metal hurricane shutters are easy to install on existing homes. Electrically controlled models are also available. So think about installing storm shutters of having them installed by your local Handyman.  If you are a Handyman this is a good tip to point out.