Relive retrofit’s Past Year of Accomplishments

I sometimes joke that working on a magazine ages me more quickly. I’m always thinking three months ahead, flying through each day trying to keep up with deadlines and—before I know it—it’s press time for another issue. Now, I can hardly believe, we are celebrating a full year of publishing retrofit. Time really does fly when you’re having fun! I’m certain the rest of the staff would agree with me when I say we’re not only having fun; we also have a lot to show for the past 365 days.

First, we expanded our offerings. If you receive our weekly e-newsletter (I, of course, think you should!), you’ve probably noticed we highlight a video in every issue. Our videos now are hosted on retrofitTV.com, our dedicated video channel. We currently have a few project walkthroughs, product demonstrations, information about services and organizations, and manufacturer guidance to share with you. We’re proud of our video channel and have great plans to keep expanding it. Check it out and sign up for our e-newsletter to be notified about new videos on our channel.

We also made some new friends this past year. Although each of us who works on retrofit has been writing and talking about commercial building design and construction for a number of years, none of us has focused specifically on retrofitting buildings and systems. Consequently, we have surrounded ourselves with several industry experts who are in the field, improving existing buildings and managing their operations and efficiency. This new editorial advisory board will guide me toward what’s hot in the marketplace and what topics the magazine must address, as well as help me create the best possible editorial. I’m excited to add their experience to our team and introduce them to you:

Nathan M. Gillette, AIA, LEED AP O+M, CEM, is vice president and director of Energy Finance Analytics LLC, Grand Rapids, Mich. His design and construction experience helps him solve complex energy-efficiency and sustainability issues and create cost-effective solutions. Gillette also is an award-winning historic preservation architect who has a special interest in adaptive reuse projects and energy efficiency in historic buildings. (Read Gillette’s “Residential” article about upgrades to a historic cast-iron building in SoHo.)

William E. Holloway, AIA, LEED AP, is principal of Bernardon Haber Holloway Architects LLC, Wilmington, Del. A registered architect in Delaware; Maryland; New Jersey; Pennsylvania; Virginia; and Washington, D.C., Holloway has an extensive background in the design of historic restoration, preservation and adaptive reuse, as well as commercial, educational, health-care and government/public works projects. (Holloway’s award-winning retrofit of the Joseph R. Biden Jr. Railroad Station was our May-June cover feature and the subject of one of our retrofitTV project walkthroughs.)

John Noonan is vice president of Facilities Management for Duke University, Durham, N.C. He oversees a staff of nearly 500 who implement the operations and maintenance for campus facilities, grounds and utilities. Noonan also plans and coordinates design, renovation and construction projects to ensure the ongoing safety, integrity, value and sustainability of Duke’s facilities. (Read about Duke’s conversion from a coal to natural gas steam plant in our January-February issue.)

I’m also happy to report, beginning with this issue, I get to work with an old friend. retrofit has tapped Robert Nieminen as our editor at large, specializing in interiors. Nieminen’s 13-year career at Interiors & Sources magazine culminated in several publishing awards, and we are thrilled to add his interiors expertise to the magazine. I met Nieminen years ago on a media junket and we kept in touch, never knowing we’d someday have the opportunity to work together. Check out his first article—“Trend Alert”—which discusses coming changes to the LEED certification program and their potential effects on the materials we use in our buildings.

Last, but certainly not least, we were rewarded for the hard work we put into the magazine this year with a 2013 Tabbie Award from Trade Association Business Publications International, Cleveland. I cannot begin to express how excited all of us were to receive this award. Sometimes, when you’re flying through the day, it’s easy to forget why you love the line of work you chose. This Tabbie Award reminded all of us at retrofit why we love what we do and motivated us to keep improving. With the help of our new advisory board and Nieminen, our next year should be even better than the last!