The "Green Design Solutions Conference for Hospitals and Schools," presented by Environmental Design + Construction magazine, is an educational conference that delivers green design solutions for application in both hospitals and K-12 schools, providing knowledge and resources from industry leaders. The event, held May 4 through 6 at the Westin Chicago River North, offers architects, designers, building owners, administrators and others about the sustainable design of healthcare and educational facilities ...

USG Corp. announced that its U.S. Gypsum Co. subsidiary will be investing $132 million to rebuild and modernize its Sheetrock Brand Gypsum Panels manufacturing plant in Norfolk, Va. ...

Sepp Leaf products unveiled its new Manhattan showroom in February. The room displays materials for architecture, interior design, fine art and the decorative and culinary arts. In celebration, the company invited artisans to send in photographs for entry in the "Pride of Place Gallery and Competition." The gallery will showcase projects featuring gold leaf and decorative painting ...

Ames Taping Tools Systems Inc. announced the opening of its newest store in Pensacola, Fla. The opening continues the Atlanta-based firm's expansion into other markets across the country. The company plans a store-opening programs throughout the U.S. in the first half of this year ...

The United States gypsum board industry achieved its highest rate of annual shipments ever in calendar year 2004 when the U.S. manufacturers of gypsum board shipped a total of 34.24 billion square feet of material. This volume represents a substantial increase in shipments over the same 12-month period of 2003 when 31.72 billion square feet of board were shipped. Gypsum board shipments previously peaked in 1999 at 29.08 billion square feet, declined slightly in 2000 and then rebounded over the past four years ...

Clark Steel Framing is pleased to announce the expansion of its manufacturing and supply agreement for the USG Sheetrock C-H shaftwall and Area Separation Wall steel framing components. Clark has been manufacturing these components for the past three years in their Jefferson, Georgia facility located outside of Atlanta. This facility provided shaftwall products for plant locations in Ohio, Texas, Florida and Georgia. Clark has now been awarded the rights to manufacture the USG shaftwall components in its renovated plant in Baltimore ...

Multiquip announced it will supply light- and medium-sized construction equipment to building professionals throughout the Middle East and in select Eastern European countries. The products are now available from Turkey, Syria and Saudi Arabia in the east to Kazakhstan, Pakistan and Afghanistan in the west. European distribution includes such nations as Georgia, Armenia and Tajikistan ...

Merlex Stucco will be opening a new reload center in Banning, Calif., at the beginning of Feb. Since there are no stucco manufacturers or suppliers from the city of Redlands into the Coachella Valley, the company wanted to have a closer service for its customers ...

Over the last seven years, more than 500 owners, laborers and masons have attended Hydro Mobile University factory training to better understand the full potential of their equipment investment.

The International Fire Code Council of the International Code Council has appointed Michael Gardner, executive director of the Gypsum Association, to the Fire Safety Committee of the International Building Code. Gardner will serve on the committee for the 18-month code development cycle, from January 2005 through June 2006 ...