Building owners and managers aren’t just paying the extra money to fill up their gas tank these days. Gas for their car is the least of their worries with the steady rise in cost for petroleum. When it comes to the roofs on their buildings this includes petroleum-based raw materials for both asphalt and polymers, not to mention the transportation costs from both manufacturers and distributors. Construction, amongst other industries, has been severely affected by this and the road ahead doesn’t look like it’s getting any better. 

For the eighth year, the Urban Land Institute San Diego/Tijuana District Council will honor the best in urban planning at its annual awards program. This year, ULI has expanded the program beyond smart growth-oriented awards to include overall projects, communities and plans that are fiscally sound and that have been a catalyst for positive change in the communities in which they reside. The program will be held on May 24.  

As November’s general election creates numerous possibilities for policy change both in San Diego and across the country, a group of executives from companies and groups involved in the expansion of solar energy systems discussed the state of their economies at a Daily Transcript roundtable. 

In the aftermath of the summer bankruptcy of the government-backed California solar panel maker Solyndra, expectations among renewable energy wonks, who describe the company’s failure as an outlier among many successes, remain generally high. But some policy research analysts are more skeptical — not doubtful, but still skeptical. 

When entering San Diego's business community about 30 years ago, Clint Walker’s aim had nothing to do with being in the solar business. His success as the co-founder and president of Southwestern Solar Systems since his entrance to the business in 2009 came about in much the same fashion his other major endeavors have. 

When Cecilia Aguillon, director of marketing and government relations for Kyocera Solar Inc., immigrated to the United States from El Salvador as a teen, she grew into a young adult with a lofty goal in mind: to save the world. 

Some people look at buildings and see a combination of wood, steel and mortar with a number of things inside to make them more comfortable and workable — lighting, computers and maybe a few windows, even if they can't be opened.