Irish Construction Company - Howell, Michigan

News & Events

Delhi POTW Biomass to Energy - RIBBON CUTTING

10/6/2009: Irish Construction hosted the ribbon-cutting for Delhi Township's Biomass to Energy project on Tuesday, October 6th, 2009. Despite the cool weather and torrential rain, over 30 municipal representatives, engineers, elected officals, and contractors gathered under the tent in warm fellowship to celebrate the innovative accomplishment. Funded by a $9.85M CWSRF loan, this first-of-a-kind project utilizes innovative technologies to cost effectively produce biosolids suitable for direct land application. The methane gas generated by this stabilization of the biosolids is then harnessed to run two micro-turbines capable of producing up to 60 kilowatts of electrical energy. The heat created by these micro-turbines in turn aids in the sludge digestion process. These complimentary renewable technologies not only serve as exemplary sustainable design, they will also save Delhi Township and estimated $30,000 in electrical energy costs each year!

MSU Surplus Store & Recycling Center Open House

8/14/2009: On August 12th 2009 Irish Construction Co hostan open house to celebrate the highly anticipated completion of the MSU Surplus Store and Recycling Center. This 65,000 square foot LEED certified project broke ground during June 2008. Upon completion, this facility will deliver unprecedented resources for the MSU campus and surrounding community to reduce, reuse, and recycle. The building construction itself utilized a broad array of green technologies and sustainable design, including grey water recapture and reuse systems, photo voltaic energy generation, and various pollution-reducing porous pavements.

Green Project Regionally Recognized

4/23/2009: From more than 2,500 nominated projects, A3C's LEED CI-Gold Sustainable Showcase & UrbEn Retreat (submitted by A3C-Collaborative Architecture) has been selected as a Green Building of America Award-winning project and will be featured in the upcoming special Real Estate & Construction Review-Midwest Green Success Stories edition. Hand-selected by the Owner/Architect, Irish Construction Company’s work on this project also received CAM’s Honorable Mention in the Green Project of the Year competition and was featured in CAM’s January 2009 magazine article “Pushing the Envelope” for the L.E.E.D. certified renovations. Each Green Building of America Success Story project is highlighted in a case study that intertwines the words of the project’s owner/developer, consultants, architects and contractors to explain how the teams worked together to design and build one of the region’s most important, innovative or unique new or renovated sustainable facilities.

Delhi Township Wastewater Treatment Plant Wins EPA

4/8/2009: Department of Environmental Quality Director Steven E. Chester presented a national award to the Delhi Charter Township Wastewater Treatment Plant at the Township's board meeting in honor of the treatment plant's efforts to protect Michigan's environment. Each year, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognizes achievements in outstanding performance and innovation that yield environmental improvements by awarding select facilities with the PISCES award. "It is an honor for one of Michigan's wastewater treatment facilities to be recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for innovative and effective protection of the environment," said Director Chester. "We are pleased to work collaboratively with the township and facility staff to find new and better ways to keep our environment and our families safe." The Delhi Township Wastewater Treatment Plant serves more than 23,000 people in the township, two small portions of the city of Lansing, and a foster care facility located in Windsor Township. The plant discharges final treated effluent to the Grand River, while residuals, or "leftovers", of the wastewater treatment process are treated and stabilized so that they can be safely returned to the environment as nutrient-rich biosolids commonly used as a soil supplement. In October 2007, Irish Construction out of Howell, MI began the innovative first-of-a-kind digester project design by the engineering and architectural firm, Hubbel, Roth, and Clark, headquartered in Bloomfield Hills, MI. The project incorporates heat recovery and electrical power generation while producing the highest quality biosolids. The heat and energy component of the system will reduce the demand for natural gas and electricity, yielding an annual cost savings of more than $75,000. The new digesters should go online by this summer. The above report is adapted from the April 8, 2009 article by Pat Watson found on the DEQ website.

Tom Anderson becomes LEED accredited

3/30/2009: As of March 29th, 2009, Irish Construction's project manager Tom Anderson successfully achieved his LEED certification, joining Rich Darr as the second of the company's LEED Accredited Professionals. Perhaps the most impressive fact common to both these accomplishments was the off-the-clock personal initiative demonstrated to achieve the goal, a consistency that reflects highly on the broader character of the Irish Construction Team. Well Done, Tom! Thanks for leading the way!

Ribbon Cutting At MSU Forest Akers

2/19/2009: A high of 22 degrees may have seemed like an odd choice of day to get out the clubs, but on Thursday, February 19, 2009, Irish Construction Company joined MSU administrators, students, and teachers for an afternoon on the green. Well, maybe not ON the GREEN. The project team celebrated the official opening of MSU’s recently completed Forest Akers Driving Range Enclosure, an extended-season golf facility complete with individual driving lanes and unit heaters dedicated to the University's most committed golf athletes. In the words of Stacy Slobodnik,the MSU Women's Golf Coach, "There is no doubt that this facility has already helped make us two of the best teams in the country!" Indeed, despite the date of the official opening, Stephen Ruthenberg, Interim Golf Course Manager, stated that the excitement for the completed project prompted immediate use of the facility, beginning 3 and half weeks prior to the ceremony. "Within 2 to 3 days we estimate 100,000 golf balls will have been driven from this enclosure. We estimate that by this time next year the total will have reached 1 million." MSU President, Dr. Lou Anna Simon, expanded upon the excitement by saying that "Golf is the game of Life, the only game where you are you're own policeman...it is about character and integrity." Tom Dereske, Irish Construction's Superintendent on the job, was very happy to have been a part of such a meaningful project for the University and earned the first applause of the convocation. "Even on the coldest days of winter," Ruthenberg announced, "Tom was up on the roof for countless hours making sure this project happen on time." The current building design allows for future expansion of added driving lanes and press-box space. Ceremonies finished with the cutting of the ribbon and a defiant volley of golf balls into the cold Michigan tundra

Green Project of the Year Honorable Mention

2/5/2009: On February 5th, 2009 Howell-based Irish Construction Company received CAM’s Honorable Mention in the Green Project of the Year category for A3C’s Green Renovation and Rooftop Retreat in downtown Ann Arbor. Hand-selected by the Owner/Architect, Irish Construction’s work was also featured in CAM’s January 2009 magazine article “Pushing the Envelope” for the L.E.E.D. certified renovations. Nestled in the heart of Ann Arbor, A3C’s Green Renovation and Rooftop Retreat involved an extensive retro-fit integration of a wide variety of green building systems. Such systems included a geo-thermal heating and cooling system which uses the earth’s constant subterranean temperature of 54 degrees to moderate the varying surface temperatures, as well as catch basins for the utilization of rain water and skylights for using natural light in the existing workspaces. To crown the achievement, the Rooftop Retreat was specifically created to serve as a destination for “hands-on” education of green technologies, marking a resolved commitment to promote responsible building for generations to come.

Company Christmas Party & Fowlerville Parade

12/5/2008: The advent of Thanksgiving and Christmas gave the Irish Construction team great reason and opportunity to celebrate together the many blessings of the last year. Open to all employees and their families, the attendees found a warm dinner, an open bar, and plenty of logo-clad winter wear waiting for them at the party. New Employees were recognized and welcomed to the fold, and many Exceptional Performance Awards were given. Entering retirement, Dave Smith and Mike Utley were honored for their years of faithful service and with many affectionate blessings. To top the evening's festivities, Irish Construction's beautiful Sliegh float participated in the Fowlerville Parade, meritting "oohs" and "aahs" from spectators of all ages.

Fantasy of Lights Parade

11/28/2008: Irish Construction will be hosting the Snow Court again this year at Howell's Fantasy of Lights Parade. The Snow Court is a group of essay contest winners chosen from the area's schools. They will be riding in Irish Construction's Sliegh float, masterfullyy built by our skilled tradesmen with coumpound curves and detail. If you and/or your family are interested in helping prepare or walk with the Irish Construction Float in either parade, please email Jordan Irish at jordanirish@irishconstructonco.com by November 26th, 2008.

Irish's First LEED Certified Professional

8/18/2008: As of August 8th, 2008, Irish Construction's senior project manager Richard Darr successfully achieved his LEED certification. He passed the difficult testing on his 1st attempt after hours of dedicated personal study and concurrently became a West Michigan Chapter member of the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). Well done, Rich!

Sparty Gets Greener

6/11/2008: Much excitement filled the air as the unexpectedly large crowd gathered around the dwarfed ground-breaking ceremony tent for MSU’s Surplus Store and Recycling Center. The Irish project team was joined by Students, Reporters, Regents and President Simon to kick off this momentous project for the community. A key component in MSU’s student-initiated green campaign, this L.E.E.D. certified facility when complete will provide unprecedented recycling and salvage services to East Lansing and the surrounding areas. Scheduled completion is for July 31st, 2009. “Be Spartan Green!”

New Faces at Irish Construction

6/3/2008: Irish Construction is happy to welcome Bruce Mendoza and Darryl Markstrom to the team! Bruce has 21 years of commercial construction experience and will be serving in the Estimating Department. Darryl sports 23 years as a civil engineer and will be working in our Project Management Department.

Architect Goes Green Top to Bottom

5/9/2008: Irish Construction is proud to celebrate the recent completion of A3C’s L.E.E.D. certified renovations. Nestled in the heart of Ann Arbor, A3C’s Green Renovation and Rooftop Retreat involved an extensive retro-fit integration of a wide variety of green building systems. Such systems included a geo-thermal heating and cooling system which uses the earth’s constant subterranean temperature of 54 degrees to moderate the varying surface temperatures, as well as catch basins for the utilization of rain water and skylights for using natural light in the existing workspaces. To crown the achievement, the Rooftop Retreat was specifically created to serve as a destination for “hands-on” education of green technologies, marking a resolved commitment to promote responsible building for generations to come.

Grand Opening of Bert’s Café

2/20/2008: A Welcoming site to students and guests of U of M Shapiro Library, Bert’s Café is a project that has special significance to the U of M community beyond the killer mochas. President Mary Sue Coleman and Regent Rebecca McGowan took part in the ceremony to honor the generosity of the alumnus Bertram J Askwith (U of M class of 1931). Best know as Bert, his donations to U of M have made much of Shapiro Library possible. Hurray to our Superintendent Mike Sylvester and our Project Manager Tom Anderson for making this fast-tracked project a huge success! “See you at Bert’s!”