Based on key performance indicators, such as innovation, diversity, and eco-friendly productivity.

January 26, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) — Umicore, a global materials technology group and the parent company of Umicore Building Products USA in Raleigh, NC, has been included once again in the top 10 of the world’s most sustainable companies.

Corporate Knights, an independent magazine focused on promoting sustainable development, published the rankings this week.

The “Global 100 Most Sustainable Companies” ranking is based on key performance indicators such as innovation, diversity, and productivity related to a set of environmental factors. Ranked eighth out of 100, Umicore was praised for the significant role the company plays in the metal recycling chain and the development of materials for clean energy applications.

This accolade follows Umicore’s recent inclusion in the innovative Living Planet Green Tech Index launched by WWF, the Living Planet Fund Management Company, and Chevreux.

Umicore is also a long-standing component of the FTSE4Good index, which measures performance of companies that meet globally recognized corporate responsibility standards.

“The inclusion of Umicore in these rankings and indices is a recognition that our strategy and business philosophy do meaningfully address the priorities of society today,” said Umicore CEO Marc Grynberg. “We have a strong focus on products and services that provide environmental benefits, such as recycling, automotive catalysts, and materials for rechargeable batteries. This is complemented by ambitious objectives to further improve our environmental and social performance.”

“It is great to be involved with a company that takes a strong stance on sustainability, as well as representing an architectural product that contributes to that equation,” said Daniel Nicely, market development director for Umicore Building Products USA, the manufacturer of VMZINC® architectural zinc.

For more information on Umicore’s sustainability strategies and practices, visit www.umicore.com/sustainability.

For more information on Umicore Building Products, visit www.vmzinc-us.com.

About Umicore:

Umicore is a global materials technology group. It focuses on application areas where its expertise in materials science, chemistry and metallurgy makes a real difference. Its activities are centered on four business areas: Catalysis, Energy Materials, Performance Materials, and Recycling. Each business area is divided into market-focused business units offering materials and solutions that are at the cutting edge of new technological developments and essential to everyday life. For more information: www.umicore.com.

About Umicore Building Products USA:

Umicore is a world-leading producer of VMZINC® architectural zinc. For over 160 years, Umicore has been providing innovative solutions for building owners, architects, and contractors. Umicore has offices and representatives all over the world. In the United States, Umicore Building Products USA, Inc., is based in Raleigh, North Carolina. For additional information:  www.vmzinc-us.com.

L-R: John Gibbons, Director of Case Management; Patti Weaver with A2Z; and Mark Gibbons, General Manager for Ruby Tuesday.

January 19, 2012 (Durham, NC) – Ruby Tuesday’s “Dining Makes a Difference” fundraiser for RHA Howell’s Bridges Community Alternative Program for Children program (CAP/C) in December raised enough money to grant a special wish to a medically fragile child.

On Wednesday, December 14, Ruby Tuesday’s near Southpoint Mall in Durham donate 20 percent of its dining receipts that day to grant a wish to a child in the RHA Bridges CAP/C program. The fundraiser was part of Ruby Tuesday’s GiveBack Program.

“Everyone at RHA Bridges wants to thank the restaurant’s general manager Mark Gibbons and his wonderful staff for hosting the Give Back night,” said Debbie Valentine, marketing director for RHA Howell, Inc. “We’d also like to thank Patty Weaver with A2Z Home Medical  for sponsoring the Bridges staff lunch, and all of the families and friends who dined at Ruby Tuesday that day to support the Bridges program.”

RHA Bridges serves as a “bridge” between families, needed services, the Department of Social Services, the Division of Medical Assistance, physicians, and therapists. Bridges helps to coordinate the work of home health professionals that make CAP/C services happen for children with medically complex needs through age 20. Bridges is the go-to source for families of children who need help in navigating the system of care and support. For more information visit www.rhabridges.com.

RHA Howell is a non-profit statewide organization that has been supporting children and adults with disabilities and their families for nearly 40 years. For more information visit www.rhahowell.org.

For more information on Ruby Tuesday’s GiveBack program, go to www.rubytuesday.com/giving-back.

About RHA Howell, Inc.:

RHA Howell is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization that has been helping people with disabilities and special needs, and their families, make choices to live more independently for nearly 40 years. Integrity, high standards for quality and hard work are at the core of every RHA Howell disability assistance program. Proven leaders in caring for people, RHA Howell, Inc. is a pioneering force in the field of human services, particularly supporting infants and children. For more information, go to www.rhahowell.org.

Frank Harmon, FAIA

January 18, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Frank Harmon FAIA, founder and principal of the award-winning firm Frank Harmon Architect PA in Raleigh, will be a featured guest at the first 2012 “Appetite4Architecture” dinner on Tuesday, January 31, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in 18 Seaboard restaurant in Raleigh.

Now in its third year, “Appetite4Architecture” dinners are sponsored by Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH), an award-winning, non-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving and promoting Modernist residential design. The purpose of the dinners is to give the general public a chance to dine with, and talk with, some of the Triangle area’s finest architects in a relaxed, informal setting.

Frank Harmon is well known for modern, innovative, sustainable and regionally appropriate architecture of all types, including houses. Among his best known, award-winning residential designs are:

• The Taylor Vacation House in the Bahamas, which is included in the book Tropical Modernism and was featured in an exhibit in the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., among many other accolades.

• The Strickland-Ferris Residence in Raleigh, which has been featured in a number of architectural magazines and received both Custom Home and Wood Design awards.

• The Low Country Residence in Mount Pleasant, SC, which also received a Custom Home Design Award and a national AIA Housing Award.

• And the own modern home and gardens he shares with his wife, landscape architect Judy Harmon, in Raleigh, which were featured in Sarah Susanka’s book Outside The Not-So-Big House.

In 2011, Frank Harmon was included in Residential Architect magazine’s “RA 50: A Short List of Architects We Love,” and in 2005 his firm received the magazine’s “Top Firm of the Year” honor. He has been profiled in Dwell magazine and Architectural Record, and he has been a featured guest on American Public Media’s “The Story” with Dick Gordon.

Joining Harmon for TMH’s inaugural 2012 “A4A” dinner will be Durham architect Ellen Cassilly, AIA, who worked in Harmon’s firm before founding her own firm Ellen Cassilly Architect Inc., and Randy Lanou, president of BuildSense/Studio B Architecture, also in Durham. Dona Aguayo of Go Realty is co-sponsoring the January 31 dinner.

The TMH “A4A” dinners are all held at 18 Seaboard, 18 Seaboard Avenue, No. 100, Raleigh, NC 27604. The dinners include three courses from a preselected menu (vegetarian options are available) plus coffee, water, tea, tax, and gratuity. Price per person is $53. Tickets are available at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/a4a. Payments are nonrefundable except for event cancellation. All proceeds benefit TMH’s ongoing documentation, preservation, and house tours programs. For more information on TMH call George Smart, 919-740-8407 or visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

For more information on Frank Harmon, visit www.frankharmon.com.

About Frank Harmon, FAIA:

Frank Harmon, FAIA, is principal Frank Harmon Architect PA, and Professor in Practice at North Carolina State University’s College of Design. His work has been featured in numerous books, journals and magazines, including Dwell, Architect, Architectural Record, Arch Daily.com, and Residential Architect. A frequent lecturer on modern, sustainable, regionally appropriate architecture, he serves on design awards juries across the nation. For more information, visit www.frankharmon.com.

The Gates Center

January 17, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) — Two of the nine projects from around the world that recently received 2012 Honor Awards from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) feature VMZINC® exteriors.

The award-winning Carnegie Mellon University’s Gates Center for Computer Science and the Hillman Center for Future-Generation Technologies were designed by Mack Scogin Merrill Elam Architects of Atlanta, Ga., with attention to energy and water conservation and other sustainable practices.

The centers’ zinc exterior skin and distinctive window openings differ from the predominately yellow brick, historically influenced buildings on the CMU campus. Yet the jurors believed the zinc skin and window openings “surprisingly relate beautifully to the campus fabric without being literal.”

Last year, both centers received LEED® Gold certification. The use of architectural zinc contributed to the certification because zinc is manufactured using very little energy, it lasts an average of 80 years with very little maintenance, and it is completely recyclable, both during construction (construction scraps) and at the end of its use.

Another award-winning project with a VMZINC exterior is The Poetry Foundation in Chicago, designed by John Ronan Architects. The building’s outer layer is VMZINC’s black ANTHRA-ZINC®. Since transparency was an important issue in the design, the ANTHRA-ZINC is perforated where it borders the garden, allowing visual access to the garden from the street. Inside the garden, the zinc screen wall internalizes the garden experience and provides a sense of removal.

The Poetry Foundation was featured in Architectural Record in November prior to winning one of this year’s AIA Honor Awards.

“We talk a lot about the sustainability of zinc but there’s also the aesthetic quality,” said Daniel Nicely, director of market development for Umicore Building Products USA, the manufacturers of VMZINC. “Architectural zinc allows architects to easily create interesting and innovative forms. We’re proud that our product played a major role in the striking design and sustainability of both of these award-winning project.”

For more information on the 2012 AIA Honor Awards, go to www.aia.org/practicing/awards/2012/architecture.

For more information on VMZINC, visit www.vmzinc-us.com.

About Umicore Building Products USA, Inc:

Umicore Building Products is a world-leading producer of architectural zinc. For over 160 years, Umicore has been providing innovative solutions for building owners, architects and contractors. Umicore has offices and representatives all over the world. In the United States, Umicore Building Products USA, Inc., is based in Raleigh, NC. For additional information, visit www.vmzinc-us.com. VMZINC also maintains the blog ZINCsense (www.zincsense.com) and an active Facebook page.

RHA Howell's mission logo

Two grants will help the center implement new opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity.

January 16, 2011 (Polkton, NC) — The Anson Children’s Center in Polkton, NC, a five-star, developmental day center for children, including special needs children, recently received two important grants: an “Eat Smart, Move More” Community Grant, and a Shape NC grant.

“Eat Smart, Move More” grants provide funding to local communities to implement strategies that reverse the rising tide of obesity and chronic disease among North Carolinians by increasing opportunities for healthy eating and physical activity.

“Shape NC,” a groundbreaking initiative supported by the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation, tackles childhood obesity by focusing on young children in childcare and community settings. In partnership with the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI), Shape NC helps centers and communities create naturalized outdoor learning environments that support child development, physical activity, and healthy eating. NLI’s playground designs also help connect children to nature.

The Anson Children’s Center will use the grants to renovate the Center’s playground and purchase new equipment.

Why so much focus on childhood obesity? According to a 2011 report by the Trust for American’s Health, North Carolina has the 11^th highest childhood obesity rate (18.6%) in the nation, and more than 31 percent of NC children ages two to four are considered at risk for becoming over weight.

“Young children’s earliest experiences with healthy eating and physical activity will promote a lifetime of healthy behavior,” said Sam Hedrick, president of RHA Howell, Inc., which owns and operates the Anson Children’s Center. “We are delighted that the Anson Center was chosen to part of this very exciting initiative.”

The Anson Center is ranked in the top 25^th percent of North Carolina’s childcare centers, serving a five star pre-school program. Anson is licensed to serve 66 children and is located at 383 Cotton Street, Polkton, NC  29135. Ginny Davis serves as executive director. For more information on RHA Howell’s Anson Children Center, call 704.272.7076.

For more information on Shape NC, visit www.smartstart.org. For more information on North Carolina’s Eat Smart, Move More initiative, go to http://www.eatsmartmovemorenc.com/.

For more information on RHA Howell, Inc., visit www.rhahowell.org.

About RHA Howell, Inc.:

RHA Howell is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization that has been helping people with disabilities and special needs, and their families, make choices to live more independently for nearly 40 years. Integrity, high standards for quality and hard work are at the core of every RHA Howell disability assistance program. Proven leaders in caring for people, RHA Howell, Inc. is a pioneering force in the field of human services, particularly supporting infants and children. For more information, go to www.rhahowell.org.

Rick Ingersoll

January 11, 2012 (Hilton Head, SC) – Like other travel writers this month, Rick Ingersoll, the author of the popular “Frugal Travel Guy” blog, has weighed in on what he believes will be key issues for travel fanatics in 2012.

Ingersoll, who was recently featured on ABC’s “Nightline,” is a member of a growing community of people who use a variety of tips and techniques to amass thousands – even millions – of frequent flier miles and hotel rewards points so that they can travel the globe for free or nearly free. As a blogger on the subject and a former mortgage banker, his particular expertise is in using credit and debit card sign-up bonus and bank offers to amass miles and points quickly.

To that end, Ingersoll says he believes applying for credit cards strictly for their sign-up bonuses will continue to be the primary source of free or inexpensive miles throughout the year.

“As a good result, more people will actually work on improving their credit scores to take advantage of this,” he said. “Without a very good credit score, you can’t apply for cards. And credit card sign-up bonuses are still the best way to amass thousands of miles quickly.”

Ingersoll also thinks 50,000-mile offers will remain the norm and generate a lot of excitement among mile hoarders as credit card issuers’ compete for card accounts will continue.

And on the subject of American Airlines filing for bankruptcy in 2011, he believes its frequent flier program will remain secure and American will survive “as a stronger competitor and will not merge with US Airways.”

On a related subject, Ingersoll predicts both American and US Airways will offer significant sign-up bonus opportunities on their AAdvantage and World Mastercard credit cards, respectively, in an effort to hold onto their market shares.

The Frugal Travel Guy also predicts that US Airways’ Dividend Miles Grand Slam promotion – in which Dividend Miles members can earn up to 110,000 bonus miles — will return with basically the same guidelines and opportunities.

On the retail side of amassing miles, Ingersoll believes Catera Commerce, a provider of card-linked marketing solutions that increase revenue and customer loyalty for merchants, banks, issuers and loyalty programs, “will make another huge shopping mall mistake and lose at least one airline as a customer.” Last year, Catera made an 83,871-mile “system error” mistake on American’s AAdvantage Shopping Mall. Catera apologized but claimed it wasn’t responsible for the miles due to the “Terms and Conditions.”

For more information on Rick Ingersoll and amassing miles and points, visit his blog at www.frugaltravelguy.com.

About The Frugal Travel Guy:

Rick Ingersoll is the author of The Frugal Travel Guy blog, which is read around the world and averages 5000 views per day, and The Frugal Travel Guy Handbook. He is constantly on the lookout for the best credit card and debit card sign-up bonuses and other promotions. He posts frugal travel tips deals every day on his blog with the goal of reducing his readers’ travel costs for the rest of their lives. He is also available for seminars and speaking engagements. A retired mortgage banker, Ingersoll and his wife live in Hilton Head Island, SC, and Traverse City, MI, when they’re not traveling the globe. For more information visit www.frugaltravelguy.com. The Frugal Travel Guy also maintains an active community on Facebook.

A4A dinners bring architects and the public together in a social atmosphere.

January 9, 2012 (Raleigh, NC) – Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) has announced its third “Appetite4Architecture” series of dinners that give the public the chance to enjoy relaxed, informal discussions in an upscale dining environment, where diners have direct access to some of the area’s best residential architects and professionals.

TMH is an award-winning, non-profit organization dedicated to documenting, preserving and promoting Modernist residential design.

“Dreaming of a new Modernist house? Long admired the work of a local architect or designer? Thinking about architecture as a career? Appetite4Architecture offers a chance to break bread with prominent members of the Triangle’s design community in an intimate, affordable small group setting,” said TMH founder and board chair George Smart. “There are no presentations or PowerPoint slides — just great conversations with award-winning cuisine.”

The schedule and special guests for the 2012 A4A dinners:

• Tuesday, January 31: Frank HarmonFAIA, Ellen Cassilly AIA, and Randy Lanou.
• Tuesday, February 21: KennethHobgood FAIA, Erin Sterling Lewis AIA, and Brian Shawcroft AIA.
• Tuesday, March 6: Vinny Petrarca and Phil Szostak FAIA.

Again this year, the “A4A” dinners will be held at 18 Seaboard in Raleigh and begin at 6:30 p.m. The dinners include three courses from a preselected menu (vegetarian options are available) plus coffee, water, tea, tax, and gratuity. Price per person is $53. Tickets are available at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/a4a.

TMH requires a minimum of 10 participants per event (maximum 17). Otherwise the event will be cancelled with full refunds. If someone purchases a ticket but then can’t attend, substitutions are allowed. Payments are nonrefundable except for event cancellation. All proceeds benefit TMH’s ongoing documentation, preservation, and house tours programs. For more information call George Smart, 919-740-8407.

For more information on TMH, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

About Triangle Modernist Houses:

Triangle Modernist Houses was established in 2007 to document, preserve, and promote Modernist residential design. The award-winning website is now the largest educational and historical archive for Modernist residential design in America. TMH also hosts Modernist house tours several times a year. These tours raise awareness and help preserve these “livable works of art” for future generations. Visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH also has an active community on Facebook.

Millau Viaduct by Norman Foster, FAIA

January 3, 2011 (Cary, NC) — Triangle Modernist Houses continues the 2011-2012 Nowell’s Architecture Movie Series this month with a special screening of “How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?” a documentary on the life and works of one of the world’s premier architects, Norman Foster, principal of Foster + Partners in London, England. The film will be shown Thursday, January 19, at 7:30 p.m, in Cary’s Galaxy Cinema.

The new film traces Foster’s rise to the top of his profession and his unending quest to improve the quality of life through design. It presents Foster’s origins and how his dreams and influences inspired the design of emblematic projects, such as the largest building in the world, Beijing Airport, the Reichstag, the Hearst Building in New York, and his world-famous bridges, including the Millennium Bridge in London and the breathtaking Millau Viaduct, the tallest bridge in the world, in Millau, France.

Foster became the 21st Pritzker Architecture Prize Laureate in 1999 and was awarded the Praemium Imperiale Award for Architecture in 2002. He has been awarded the American Institute of Architects Gold Medal for Architecture (1994), the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture (1983), and the Gold Medal of the French Academy of Architecture (1991). In 1990 he was granted a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, and in 1999 was honored with a Life Peerage, becoming Lord Foster of Thames Bank.

In a review of the documentary, The Guardian in London explained: “The title is taken from a question put to him by his hero, American architect Buckminster Fuller, referring to the Sainsbury Centre next to UEA, a quirky question designed to get him and us thinking about the concept of mass in architecture. By accident or design, this movie makes his buildings look airily light: expressions of pure thought and design.”

Blueplate PR is sponsoring this special screening of “How Much Does Your Building Weigh, Mr. Foster?” Sponsors for the entire TMH Architecture Movie Series include Nowell’s Contemporary Furniture, Dail Dixon FAIA, Studio B Architecture/BuildSense, Modern Home Auction, Cherry Modern, Kontek, and Alphin Design+Build.

Tickets to the film are $9. The Galaxy Cinema is located at 770 Cary Towne Boulevard, Cary, NC 27511 (919-463-9989).

The Bombay Beijing restaurant near the Galaxy is offering a special deal for movie-goers: Have dinner in the restaurant before the movie and receive one free admission for each $15 spent.

Hosted by Triangle Modernist Houses, the Nowell’s Architecture Movie Series features hard-to-find films about Modernist architects and architecture. Films are shown one Thursday of each month from October through March. For a complete list of upcoming films, to buy advance tickets, and to see a trailer of upcoming films, go to www.trianglemodernisthouses.com/movies.

All proceeds from ticket sales support Triangle Modernist Houses’ mission of documenting, preserving and promoting Modernist residential design from the 1950s to today. For more information on the award-wining organization, visit www.trianglemodernisthouses.com.

About Triangle Modernist Houses:

Triangle Modernist Houses (TMH) is a 501C3 nonprofit established in 2007 to restoring and growing Modernist architecture in the Triangle. The award-winning website, now the largest educational and historical archive for Modernist residential design in America, continues to catalog, preserve, and advocate for North Carolina Modernism.  TMH also hosts popular Modernist house tours several times a year, giving the public access to the Triangle’s most exciting residential architecture, past and present. These tours raise awareness and help preserve these “livable works of art” for future generations. Visit the website at www.trianglemodernisthouses.com. TMH also has an active community on Facebook.

“We shape our buildings, and afterwards our buildings shape us,” Winston Churchill said, and perhaps no place has the power to shape us like the place where we grow up.

Lyndon Johnson was born in the hardscrabble and desperately poor Hill Country of Texas. His life and political legacy were shaped by the threadbare surroundings of his childhood.

Steve Jobs grew up in a small, modern house in Mountain View, California. So important was the house that he took his biographer, Walter Isaacson, there to show him the many ingenious details of its design — like the radiant floor and the open plan and windows that brought the outdoors in. It’s nice to think that the man many call a genius grew up in a house with ingenious details.

Joseph Eichler, a California developer noted for bringing good design to the mass housing market, built Jobs’ childhood home. Eichler homes were airy and modern in comparison to most of the mass-produced, middle-class, postwar homes being built in the 1950s. Eichler believed that people of modest means could have beautiful things.

Including the modest family who adopted Steve Jobs.

The clean elegance of the Eichler home, available to everyone, was the original vision for Apple, according to Jobs. “That’s what we tried to do with the first Mac,” he recalled. “That’s what we did with the iPod.”

Paul Jobs made a place on his garage workbench so his young son could work beside him. Outside he built a fence around their Eichler home, crafting the back of the fence to look as good as the front. Steve Jobs never forgot that lesson, and would insist that every element of his Apple products should be beautiful, not just on the outside but even on the inside. “But no one will see it,” his engineers groaned when he insisted on a beautiful hidden circuit board. “But I will!” Jobs replied.

Apple stores were conceived of and meticulously supervised by Steve Jobs. From the open plan to the glass stairs, no detail was unimportant. They are the 21st century embodiment of Paul Jobs’ workbench in Mountain View. We are used to thinking that the digital world is placeless, but in the digital world of Jobs, place mattered.

A student of Zen, Jobs absorbed the belief of Dogen Zenji, a Zen master who wrote, “Whoever told people that ‘mind’ means thoughts opinions, ideas, and concepts? Mind means trees, fence posts, tiles, and grasses.” And, we might add, IPods, workbenches, and Eichler homes.

Like Eichler, Jobs brought beauty to ordinary things. He shaped the iPod, the iPhone, and the iPad. Now they shape us.

RHA Howell announces annual fundraiser.  

December 14, 2011 (Greensboro, NC) — RHA Howell has announced that the popular lighted ceramic Christmas trees made by people with disabilities are available again this year for purchase online.

Available in green or white, the ceramic Christmas trees stand about 12 inches tall and feature tiny lights on the branches that are illuminated by a bulb inside the tree.

People with disabilities who are served by RHA Howell’s Greensboro day and community programs made all of the trees. Proceeds from sales will benefit RHA’s developing arts immersion program.

“Our Christmas trees have been a popular fundraiser for many years,” said special events coordinator Debbie Valentine. “They’re a lovely holiday decoration and our clients love making them.”

The ceramic trees are $25 each plus shipping and handling ($15 via UPS ground). Or they can be picked up at RHA Howell Greensboro, 1508 Gatewood Ave., Greensboro, NC, 27405. Orders should be placed online at www.rhahowell.org by clicking on the Christmas trees icon.

For more information contact Kandy John at 336-273-6105, email: kjohn@rhanet.org; or Roger Jones at 252-521-1131, email: rojones@rhanet.org.

The Greensboro day and community programs are part of RHA Howell’s statewide service to children and adults with disabilities and their families. For more information visit www.rhahowell.org.

About RHA Howell, Inc.

RHA Howell is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization that has been helping people with disabilities and special needs, and their families, make choices to live more independently for more than 35 years. Integrity, high standards for quality, and hard work are at the core of every RHA Howell disability assistance program. Proven leaders in caring for people, RHA Howell, Inc. is a pioneering force in the field of human services, particularly supporting infants and children. For more information, please go to www.rhahowell.org.