Business in brief: Courthouse going green

The federal government plans to spend about $31.3 million to upgrade the Thomas S. Foley U.S. Courthouse in Spokane, making it a “high-performance green building,” the U.S. General Services Administration announced Tuesday.

Lydig Construction Inc. of Spokane and McKinstry of Seattle were awarded the design-build contract for the project. The team also includes Integrus Architecture, DEI Electrical Consultants, and Power City Electric, all of Spokane.

Construction is expected to begin this summer or fall and wrap up by summer 2012, said Ross Buffington, a GSA spokesman.

The work includes replacing steam boilers with high-efficiency water boilers; replacing air handling equipment; installing a new building control system; and upgrading lighting.

The modernization project is funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

Staff report

Fuel prices, use expected to rise

New York – Americans will pay an average of 48 cents a gallon more for gasoline this summer than in 2009, but will nevertheless consume about 0.5 percent more of the automotive fuel after Memorial Day as the economy picks up steam, according to government projections released Tuesday.

The expected 20 percent jump in gasoline prices from last summer led the U.S. government’s energy research arm to issue a cautious outlook for gasoline consumption this summer.

Prices aren’t expected to change drastically from current prices, with gasoline seen at about $2.92 a gallon, with spikes up into the $3 range over parts of the U.S. Currently, regular gasoline sells for an average of about $2.83 a gallon, according to the AAA Daily Fuel Gauge report.

All told, Americans will consume about 9.164 million barrels of gasoline per day during the summer driving season, up from 9.119 million barrels in 2009.

MarketWatch

Company plans Nevada tree farm

Reno, Nev. – An international forestry company embarking on a global effort to accumulate carbon credits while slowing deforestation has picked an unlikely site for the first of up to 100,000 acres of tree plantations it intends to grow on U.S. soil in the coming years.

ECO2 Forests Inc. announced plans Tuesday to plant up to 3 million trees over the next seven years at irrigated tree farms in northern Nevada’s high desert covering a total of up to 21 square miles north of Reno.

The Sacramento, Calif.-based company has acquired the water rights needed to launch the first of seven, 2,000-acre plantations in May to grow kiri trees. The kiri is a fast growing, broad-leafed hardwood that is native to China.

Associated Press