A Quarter Century of Leed

A revolutionary green building driver at the time it debuted in 1998, the LEED Rating System remains a force for good in the design of sustainable buildings and is widely credited for helping raise A/E/C industry baseline standards.
By Brad Fullmer

It's been more than three decades—1993, to be exact—since the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) was co-founded by S. Richard (Rick) Fedrizzi, David Gottfried, and Michael Italiano, which ultimately spawned the revolutionary Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in 1998, a points-based rating system that offered legitimate third-party verification of green buildings.

The goal of the fledgling association was simple: Increase overall sustainability of new construction projects including improved energy efficiency and creating a better, healthier environment for building occupants—all with the goal of reducing construction's carbon footprint.

At the time, it was considered a bold initiative, with significant potential real-world benefits to the A/E/C industry. It took several years for the LEED initiative to get off the ground, but by the turn of the 21st Century, the phenomenon started taking root in the design community. 

"When LEED began in the late 90s/early 2000s, it was an incredible ambition to transform the building industry and to bring sustainability into the conversation," said Whitney Ward, Principal with Salt Lake-based VCBO Architecture and one of the firm's leading sustainable design experts. "[USGBC] had some big hurdles to overcome, including a general lack of knowledge about or mistrust of global warming and climate change." 

Ward said the U.S. Green Building Council and the LEED rating system had an immediate and profound effect on:
—Creating more transparency in material manufacturing and getting manufacturers to care more about developing more sustainable/greener materials (carpet, flooring, paint, textiles, etc.) 
—Highlighting the true value of sustainable buildings through "incredible marketing efforts" and spurring owner demand.
—Becoming the "go-to" third party certification agency for sustainable buildings. 

"The environmental consciousness of designers, builders, and owners [...] has really evolved to (where we say) 'we're going to do the best we can'," said Ward. 
"LEED has been an incredible tool in reshaping the industry and helping manufacturers, contractors, architects, and other industry partners understand the impact that their decisions have on the environment and on energy use," said Peter McBride, Principal with Salt Lake-based Architectural Nexus. "The conversation 20-30 years ago used to be 'how much does this cost?' or 'what is the percent increase cost in doing (LEED) vs. the baseline?' As each version of LEED established itself as an industry standard, the answer has been that LEED Certified or LEED Silver costs no more—or slightly more—than a baseline design. With each subsequent version release, LEED continues to push the boundary—sustainable design is now the baseline."

"LEED has increased awareness for sustainability and energy conservation in buildings," added Chris Cox, Building Performance Program Manager for the State of Utah Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM). "As far as the biggest pro, LEED brought the integrated design process to the forefront—user groups, owners, maintenance teams, architects, engineers, and builders work together in achieving the best outcomes."

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The Noelle E. Cockett Life Sciences Building at Utah State University in Logan  was completed in 2018 and achieved LEED Gold certification. (photo courtesy VCBO Architecture) 

Evolution of LEED and Sustainability in Utah 

It took the USGBC several years to develop and implement its LEED rating system, which focuses on seven main areas: Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy and Atmosphere, Materials and Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation in Design Process, Regional Priority. Buildings are awarded "points" based on meeting certain environmental-based criteria. Four levels of certification are offered, depending on how many points are obtained. Initially, 40 points were offered via LEED v1, and 69 points for v2. When LEED v3 was released in 2007 (subsequently updated in 2009), designers could chase 110 points, with 40-49 being Certified and 80 and over being Platinum. 


USGBC included 13 pilot projects nationally in the first wave of buildings to obtain LEED Certified status in March 2000, including a very prominent one in Utah—the Utah Olympic Speed Skating Oval in Kearns, completed in February 2001. Salt Lake-based GSBS Architects was the lead design firm, and it was constructed by Sandy-based Layton Construction, laying the foundation for the green building movement locally. 


While the LEED rating system was an exciting new initiative for designers, hitting the requisite amount of points the first time around offered a significant learning curve.


"The most notable feature of the process was the innovation and collaboration required to move forward," said Garth Shaw, Principal and Director of Sustainability for GSBS, about getting that unique building LEED Certified, once David Brems, a Founding Principal, established it as one of the 13 USGBC pilot projects. 


Shaw often cites low-VOC paint as an example of that initial learning curve, explaining that 25 years ago even major paint manufacturers weren't cognizant of the VOC level in their product, which led to a series of calls to get the right data. 


"Today, low-VOC products are abundant, their negative health impact widely known," said Shaw. "Most interior finish products post their VOC content right on the packaging. In 1998-98, (manufacturers) did not have information readily available about the VOC content of their products."


Another collaborative effort was understanding the reflectivity of standard gray concrete as a way to reduce the heat island effect, which led to working with a transportation engineer who was researching concrete reflectivity for highway barriers. 


"It illustrated the Utah Olympic Organizing Committee's commitment to sustainability, and the spirit of innovation our state likes to project," Shaw added. 

Since the turn of the century, hundreds of projects in Utah have achieved some level of certification (specific numbers were hard to confirm; a search of Utah in USGBC website lists 696 total projects), including LEED for New Construction (NC), LEED for Building Design and Construction (BD+C), LEED for Interior Design and Construction (ID+C), LEED for Building Operations and Maintenance (O+M) and LEED for Neighborhood Development (ND). Some of these categories are further broken down by market segment.


The USGBC has done a commendable job evolving its rating system over the years, with updates/improvements made every few years. LEED 2.0 quickly surpassed the original version in 2000, LEED 3.0 (called v2009) was released in 2009, LEED 4.0 followed 2013, and LEED 4.1 hit the streets in 2019. LEED 5.0 is nearing completion and in the midst of getting launched, with a public comment period running from April 3-May 20, 2024, on the Beta version, and a launch date of early 2025 targeted. 


According to Charlie Woodruff, Mountain Region Director for the USGBC, LEED 5.0 signifies how "the rating system evolves with the market," he said. "It's hard to please everybody as all markets are different, but this rating system has significant improvements." 


Woodruff mentioned how USGBC "is making it more accessible for owners to do O&M (operations and maintenance) certification based on performance data on things like energy, water, transportation, waste, the human experience. Cushman Wakefield has done a handful of office certifications and it's a new trend the last couple of years." 


The announcement of yet another version of LEED is strategic, said Garth Shaw, Principal and Sustainability Director for GSBS Architects, and a LEED BD+C AP (accredited professional)—a way for USGBC to maintain relevance and keep their place atop the burgeoning list of third-party sustainable ratings groups. 

"The USGBC's goal is market transformation," said Shaw. "That goal dictates that every new version pushes the industry to create ever-more sustainable buildings. In version 4, the USGBC rebalanced credit points to emphasize community connection, material selection, and energy performance.  We understand that version 5 will maintain a focus on these elements of sustainability and add a special focus on reducing embodied carbon and operational carbon emissions."


And while the pros far outweigh the cons when it comes to LEED, it isn't the perfect system.


"It is applied as if it were a minimum-standard based code; as such, building teams and owners underestimate its value, but also the rigorous process required to be successful," said Shaw. "This has led to failures and, in many cases, a perception that creating a certified LEED project is about spending money for a plaque on the wall."


Utah has fared pretty well on a national level in getting projects LEED certified, although nowhere near what states with sizeable metro areas like California (L.A., San Francisco) and Washington (Seattle) are doing on a square foot basis per capita. According to the USGBC, Utah ranked No. 10 in 2015 in square footage of LEED projects per capita at 1.63 (31 total projects) and was No. 9 in 2021 at 1.48 (21 projects). The past two years, Utah has slipped to middle-of-the-pack status, a sign of some LEED fatigue from local owners. 


"LEED still has a presence in Utah, but it feels somewhat secondary to a strong sustainability market," said Shaw. "We find when our clients are interested in sustainability there isn't a specific drive to certification systems as much as environmental performance.  We are still making strides on our projects but have fewer LEED certified work in the current market."


Shaw said GSBS only designed one LEED certified project (v4.0 Gold), Lindquist Hall at Weber State University since 2019, but noted an uptick of current projects aiming for LEED, including a v4.1 Commercial Interiors certification for the firm's recent office renovation, and several notable projects for higher education and ski industry clients, which will aim for certification in the next 12-18 months upon completion. 

Daybreak Library in Herriman was completed in 2022 and achieved LEED Gold certification. Architectural Nexus’ Salt Lake Office (below) achieved LEED Platinum certification. (photos courtesy Architectural Nexus) 

Public Owners Often Drive LEED 

Public and municipal owners, particularly ones like Federal behemoth, General Services Administration (GSA), have been advocates of LEED and drivers of requiring certification for new and renovated projects. The GSA started requiring all of its federal projects to achieve basic LEED Certified status in 2003; which evolved to LEED Silver in 2007, and LEED Gold in 2010. 


Locally, Salt Lake City Corp. initially passed an executive order in 2006 stating that all new and renovated projects would aim for LEED Silver certification. The City then drafted a comprehensive Energy Management executive order in 2015 along with an Elevate Buildings program in 2016—designed with the intent to improve indoor air quality and energy efficiency. 


The State of Utah's Division of Facilities Construction and Management (DFCM) is the largest single owner in the Beehive State, with nearly 3,800 total buildings totaling $12 billion in value to look after. According to Cox, sustainability has always been a high priority for DFCM, which devised and released its own rating system—the High-Performance Building Standard (HPBS)—in 2006. 


Cox said this version was "LEED-like" with a setup that had most of the requirements for a formal certification process. Over the next two years, many institutions of higher education nationwide signed the American College & University Presidents' Climate Commitment (ACUPCC) and pushed for the adoption of a formal LEED standard, which by 2009 was revised to require LEED Silver certification. 


In 2011, DFCM began implementing enclosure performance measures like the whole building air test (WBAT) and standardizing systems commissioning procedures. 


"DFCM wants predictable, reliable, efficient, and durable systems that promote healthy and productive workspaces," Cox surmised. "While covered in LEED, it was clear to us that requiring more in-depth design reviews under the premise that everything would be field tested produced better outcomes. This translates to fewer roof leaks, improved access to natural light, ventilation systems that are field tested to meet our requirements, and at the same time, reduce the overall cost of ownership." 


DFCM revised its performance metrics even further, with a revision of HPBS in 2014 that removes the LEED certification requirement from major universities, while still offering optimum sustainability.


"Knowing our big Universities would continue to pursue LEED, the revisions made [in 2014] complimented LEED and delivered LEED Silver or better performance," Cox added. "In short, LEED heavily influenced the HPBS."


Cox shared an example of 2013 LEED Certified technical college to a similar non-certified technical college completed in 2015. The 2015 project included in-depth design reviews and enhanced field testing. The "outcome-based approach" yielded nearly 50% energy cost savings and cut O&M costs by 37% vs. the 2013 project, which Cox said translates into over $10 million saved over the life of the building. 


The Salt Lake City Department of Airports is also pro-LEED, with the first phase of the overall four-phase, $5.1 billion "New SLC" airport redevelopment earning LEED Gold status in September 2021. 


Other notable LEED projects in Utah include: 

—175,000 SF Daybreak Corporate Center in South Jordan, the first LEED Platinum certified project in 2010.

—Alta Stone at the Gateway Apartments, the first LEED Platinum Multi-Family project. 

—Architectural Nexus' Salt Lake Office, certified LEED Platinum in 2011. 


Nexus' Salt Lake City 30,000 SF office is a fantastic adaptive reuse of a 1950s-built structure that earned LEED NC v3 (2009) Platinum by earning 80 points—illustrating the firm's initiative to "walk the walk" by investing in the health and well-being of its 90+ employees. 


McBride said the firm's Sacramento office is LEED NC v4 Platinum and Living Certified by the International Living Foundation, while the Salt Lake office is LEED Platinum v3 and also pursuing Petal Certification from the International Living Future Institute (ILFI), a far more rigorous level of sustainability compared to LEED, and one of several "green building" rating systems that have popped up in the past 20 years. 



"We see many of our government and civic clients continue to pursue LEED because it is mandated or required by regulation or legislation," McBride said. "Many private owners are either doing it because it is part of their business values or if they are marketing to a demographic that values sustainable design. Even then, many clients are electing to establish their own set of sustainable criteria (rather than using LEED or another third-party rating system) and marketing independent and specific features and initiatives that their project highlights."

The Utah Olympic Speed Skating Oval is Utah’s first LEED Certified building and one of 13 original projects from USGBC’s LEED Pilot program in 2001. (top photo courtesy GSBS Architects; bottom photo by Leo Geis, courtesy VBFA) 

LEED Opinions Vary Among Private Developers

Opinions of LEED among private owners and developers vary widely, often based on a company's philosophy of developing and holding long-term vs. flipping properties within five years. 


"In all honesty, I have a love/hate relationship with LEED," said Daniel Thomas, Regional Partner for St. John Properties (SJP) in Pleasant Grove, an active developer in Utah since 2013 with 1.2 million SF in 30 buildings on four developments. The company is a Top 5 LEED developer in the nation per USGBC, with six million SF of space in just over 100 LEED certified projects, including Valley Grove III in Pleasant Grove as of April 2024. 


Thomas believes LEED has good intentions and offers a good structure for developers, but the process itself has become cumbersome and taxing, particularly the past five years. 


"There is immense value in the true environmental and sustainable intent of LEED," he said, "but as newer versions have come out the benefits are being outpaced by the bureaucracy and costs."


At the ribbon cutting April 19 of the Holcim/Elevate Commercial Roofing Systems & Lining manufacturing and distribution center, a LEED Certified plaque was presented to the owner, Idaho Falls-based Riverbend Management. 


"It makes the property more valuable," said Devin Belnap, Vice President of Real Estate Development for Riverbend. "We are long-term owners; we won't sell this building." 


Belnap said Riverbend projects—which includes the Ancestry.com and Exactware office buildings in Lehi—have some type of sustainability guideline. 

"Most of our projects have long-term sustainable design characteristics, and some of them are LEED certified," he said. "If I'm buying a building and I know it's LEED certified, I know I'm getting a good product."


Brad Holmes, President of Sandy-based Larry H. Miller Real Estate, said his company is committed to developing sustainable projects, but LEED doesn't necessarily fit their overall vision, despite being a notable program.


"We have a desire to build sustainable projects," said Holmes, citing LHM's purchase of Daybreak in April 2021, along with its development of a Downtown Daybreak area that includes the new Salt Lake Bees Ballpark for Utah's Triple-A baseball team. "We look at not just a (specific) building, but rather how walkable a community is [...] or if it is located near transit [...] or how can we recycle water. On all our building projects we'll build to a sustainable metric, but probably not LEED."


The S.J. Quinney College of Law Building at the University of Utah was completed in 2015; it earned LEED Platinum certification, a level most higher education projects don’t pursue. (photos courtesy VCBO Architecture) 

LEED, WELL, LBC: What Makes Sense for Owners Today? 

The USGBC will forever get credit for the being the first organization to create a comprehensive independent rating system for sustainable buildings, which in turn has spawned several other notable groups looking to make their mark on helping reduce the carbon footprint of the built environment. Some of these include the International Living Future Institute's Living Building Challenge and Petal Certification, the WELL rating system that focuses directly on occupant health and wellness, the Energy Star system promoted by the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Green Globes, a program run by the Green Building Institute. So many choices can leave owners (and designers) wondering what's best for their project. 


"For firms creating highly sustainable designs, it is a bit of a post-certification world," said Shaw. "Clients and architects have come to understand that a deeply sustainable project does not have to have a label. In fact, labels can divert meaningful alignment of sustainable features with client values by dictating what the team focuses on.”


"That said," Shaw continued, "the WELL rating system offers a fresh set of criteria focusing directly on occupant wellness. While WELL certification criteria veer widely from traditional building design, teams that address these criteria enhance sustainability in ways that LEED-only projects do not."


Shaw said The Living Building Challenge also offers a "framework for clients that want to go beyond LEED and drastically reduce a project's environmental footprint. These rating systems have a meaningful place in today's design and construction world."


Ward remains partial to LEED in many ways and said it still reigns supreme for its brand recognition. 


"The LEED rating system, what it asks you to do, is more par for the course than it's ever been," said Ward. "It's still the best marketing strategy we have for conveying sustainable design. If you say a project is a 'high-performance building', people don't know what that means outside the [A/E/C] industry. If you say it's a LEED Certified building, people know what it means, and that you have done something above and beyond the standard to get that plaque."


Intermountain Healthcare has a baseline design standard of LEED Silver on its projects, including Alta View Hospital in Sandy (top), while Huntsman Cancer Institute Phase IV also earned LEED Silver. (courtesy Architectural Nexus) 

Black Desert Oasis

By Brad Fullmer • October 15, 2025
When Lehi-based Reef Capital Partners (Reef) initially announced plans in 2018 to build a sprawling, estimated $2 billion mega-resort with a championship-caliber golf course on 600 acres covering parts of Ivins and Santa Clara—small towns with just over 15,000 combined residents at the time—it was difficult to fathom what a project of that magnitude might look like. Fast forward seven years, and Black Desert Resort is indeed a shining oasis amidst Southern Utah's famed red rock cliffs, sitting atop an ancient lava field, with buildings strategically carved into the land to produce a resort unlike anything else. "This is the biggest project we've ever done—we feel really good where we are," said Brett Boren, President of Real Estate for Reef, acknowledging the general completion of the $290 million, 806,000-SF resort center, along with significant ongoing work—including a 1,298-stall parking garage, condominiums, and a private water park. As of September, all aspects of the main resort center were open and fully complete, with the hotel celebrating its first official year in business after partially opening in September 2024 as it hosted the inaugural PGA Black Desert Championship October 10-13. The second installment of the tournament—now dubbed the Bank of Utah Championship—is slated for October 23-26, with a third tournament signed for 2026.

Calder Richards Celebrates 20 Years of Sustainable Evolution

By UC&D • October 1, 2025
In 2005, Calder Richards Consulting Engineers formed after the merger of two smaller structural consulting firms who, interestingly enough, both started in 1986. Calder Richards has provided a steady structural support for Utah’s built environment ever since. As the firm celebrates its 20th anniversary, UC+D spoke with Managing Principals Shaun Packer and Nolan Balls to look back over the company’s history and celebrate what has helped their firm stand out to deliver solid projects in Utah and beyond. Their responses were edited for clarity and brevity. UC+D: What have been some catalytic moments for Calder Richards since that initial merger? SP: Winning the Talking Stick Resort in Scottsdale, Arizona is the first one. The big reason for the merger between Richards Consulting Group and Calder Consulting was to build a large enough company to go after bigger projects like that.” NB: That was my first project when I was hired straight out of college. We helped design the 17-story hotel and casino, a conference center, as well as parking structures, a central mechanical building, and a pool building. Talking Stick helped get us through the downturn a few years later. UC+D: What have been your key market sectors you all have targeted over the last 20 years? NB: We were breaking into K-12 along the Wasatch Front soon after the Talking Stick Resort and it’s been our bread and butter since then. SP: Absolutely, but I credit our firm for always adapting to the current environment. We’ve been fortunate to do so much K-12, but we used to do a lot of office work, and now we are working on conversions like the Ebay Headquarters to CTE/Innovation Center for Canyons School District as the market has shifted away from commercial office. UC+D: Schools have certainly evolved over the last 20 years, how has your work as structural engineers evolved? SP: We are seeing more creative design on the architectural side, certainly. We see many more two-story designs; more windows and daylighting. But we’re utilizing more powerful tools and continually building our understanding of the structural materials that are in use more than ever—tilt-up concrete, steel columns and beams, especially—to be the architect’s trusted partner. NB: Schools have definitely changed, and we’ve had better experience in helping projects move forward successfully when we are involved earlier in the design process. As we got involved early on in West High School’s schematic design, we were able to provide structural solutions and options to accommodate the architects’ design intent. UC+D: How has company growth changed Calder Richards? SP: It’s certainly changed the number of people in our office. We started with around 10 people when we merged, and today we have 27. But we often say that we don’t want to grow just to grow—we want to grow sustainably. We don’t lay people off when works slows down, and we have an expectation that sometimes there will be overtime work, and other times you may be waiting for our next project to begin.

The (Epi)Center of it All

By By Taylor Larsen • October 1, 2025
Nested in the middle of the University of Utah (U of U) campus sits the aptly-named Impact & Prosperity Epicenter, the second living learning community (LLC) project designed on campus by Los Angeles-based Yazdani Studio of CannonDesign. After nearly a decade since their first LLC project, the award-winning Lassonde Studios (UC+D’s 2016 Most Outstanding Public Building over $10 million), Mehrdad Yazdani, the design firm’s Principal and Studio Director, said their work on a sequel was an exciting prospect for the firm, and enlisted Salt Lake-based MHTN Architects and Okland Construction to serve as the respective local architect and general contractor. Today, the Epicenter serves as a striking piece of architecture and construction, one whose curvilinear shape asks users and visitors plenty of questions. But moving from idea to execution has been a work in progress. One query from Yazdani stood out as it relates to students and the built environment, and helped begin the journey to create the Epicenter: “How does your living environment as a student impact your success as a student and as a changemaker?” A Project for an Evolving Campus Katie Macc, CEO of the Sorenson Impact Institute, said LLCs like the Epicenter and Lassonde Studios next door have been massive steps forward in advancing entrepreneurship and social impact. But both play a major role in creating “college town magic”—a phrase coined by University President Taylor Randall that invokes a vibrant campus where students can find community and have one-of-a-kind experiences. With more on-campus student housing in the works, the state’s flagship university is hoping to shed the “commuter school” label and deliver a level of desirability that matches the resources students commit to higher education. “There is some soul searching going on across university campuses,” said Macc of the challenge at hand. “We have to be convincing that going to college matters.” She said overall university enrollments across the nation are decreasing as students grapple with tuition costs, COVID and its isolating aftershocks, and a different perspective on higher education. Universities are no longer a place where students come to learn what they couldn’t learn elsewhere—remote learning and the internet have opened a fissure in that idea that will never close. Instead of that educational transaction, being at a university must include building community and creating in-person experiences only available on campus. Macc said that the Epicenter helps steer the campus experience toward the future, with design goals to create a base of operations for two changemaking organizations and a living and learning home for 778 students. The three-story commercial portion of the building, known as the “Changemaker Pavilion”, includes office space for The Center for Business, Health, and Prosperity (second floor) and the Sorenson Impact Institute (third floor). While each organization has a different focus, both are firmly invested in helping students access and create the resources needed to change the world. Each entity works hand-in-hand as owners of the Epicenter to host events and “create a full spectrum of ways for students to get involved,” said Chad Salvadore, Chief Financial Officer for the Sorenson Impact Institute. “We’re dialing in the programming to energize the student body,” said Salvadore of the work done at the Epicenter. With over 60 majors represented among the 778 students who live there, he said that the diversity of students is less a reflection of their chosen major and more a desire to reside in a space built for students to work their entrepreneurial muscles. “Living here is a mindset—you can engage across many different paths you choose.”

Goal!

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Front view of the bleachers, press box, and suites. (photos courtesy SIRQ Construction)

Four Decades of Transformation

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Over the course of its 40-year history in Utah, WSP's Salt Lake office—originally founded as Parsons Brinckerhoff in 1985—has morphed from primarily a transportation design firm to one that successfully operates in multiple civil engineering markets. The results of WSP's transformation the past decade into a more diverse outfit speak for themselves, with the 128-person Salt Lake office (with locations in Cottonwood Heights and South Jordan) posting three consecutive years of revenues over $50 million, including a record $70.1 million in 2023, and a robust $59.9 million in 2024—good for the No. 2 ranking in UC+D's 2025 Top Utah Engineering Firms rankings.

Good Career? Start Here

By Taylor Larsen • October 1, 2025
Lucio Gallegos vividly remembers the workforce development meetings he attended during his time at Ogden-Weber Tech. These career and technical education (CTE) discussions consistently focused on one thing: young people were not entering construction, and the industry needed a new approach to attract them. Gallegos recalled one member of the workforce development team, a training director with a prominent general contractor, saying, “We have been trying this for over 10 years, screw it, we’re just gonna hire them.” The Long Road Those conversations occurred nearly 10 years ago, and workforce development concerns continue to permeate the industry. The National Center for Construction Education & Research estimates that 41% of the construction workforce will retire by 2031, leading to potential gaps in skill and safety and decreases in productivity and project quality. While stakeholders have aligned on the overall goal of providing students a foundation for future success through career development, the means to achieve the ends were seemingly at odds. High schools, trade schools, colleges, and private industry took different paths to achieve their goals, with some moving in opposite directions. “I’m gonna be honest with you,” Gallegos recalled one school administrator saying, “If I promote what you’re telling me to get them over to the tech college, I lose head count. And then I lose teachers. I can’t have a school without teachers.” Jobs that took away student learning experiences, according to federal guidelines and child labor laws, made the idea a non-starter. However, after years of lobbying the Utah Legislature for a compromise between industry and education, H.B. 055, passed in 2023, provided a catalytic change in how younger people can engage with construction and other industries. High school students could participate if they were involved in a school-sponsored work experience and career exploration program. Private industry finally had the compromise it wanted. It was time to act. Big-D Charts New Path Gallegos, now the Workforce Development Manager from Big-D, joined the company in 2023 with the express purpose of creating a program that fit within the new guidelines. Gallegos said he sees career development through the lens of the immigrant experience, one he knows personally as a Mexican immigrant with a father who worked in commercial construction. “I was 9 years old and busting pins out of concrete forms with a hammer that was as big as I was,” he laughed. “I’ve got the cliché immigrant story.” That story has a theme familiar to many immigrant families, he said, one where parents say, “I want my kids not to have to work as hard as I do. I want them in school.” Add to that, it’s a law—children must attend school. Gallegos was unfazed by those obstacles. As he began planning how Big-D’s internship program would operate, he knew that engagement had to start at the elementary school level and build on personal relationships between private industry, school administrators, students, and their families to succeed. “We want to be the solution, not the obstacle to get into this industry,” said Gallegos. So Big-D removed the barriers. Students can still attend school, work towards graduation, and be available in the afternoon for sports, extracurricular activities, and the high school experience. But working was another significant part of the immigrant experience, Gallegos said, and internships needed to be paid to alleviate the family concerns. “We asked what we would pay somebody fresh out of high school who worked at Big-D,” Gallegos said. Interns have earned those same wages ever since.

It's A Knockout

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
On January 2, 1957, Gene Fullmer, a scrappy, underdog fighter from West Jordan stunned the boxing world with a 15-round unanimous decision over the legendary Sugar Ray Robinson at New York’s fabled Madison Square Garden. Fullmer captured the world middleweight championship and established himself as one of the best pound-for-pound boxers during the late 50s and early 60s. Since then, the Fullmer name has been synonymous with boxing in Utah, with brothers Gene, Jay, and Don establishing the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym in 1978, and offering free boxing instruction and life mentoring to thousands of youths—carrying on a tradition they learned from their trainer, Marv Jenson. Their legacy of community giving will live on in the new Fullmer Legacy Center in South Jordan, a 16,500-SF facility that will serve as a permanent home to the boxing gym—after years of bouncing around to various temporary facilities—along with a museum, snack bar, and gift shop. “The Fullmers are the first family of boxing in the state of Utah—that’s well understood,” said Dave Butterfield, a founding board member of the Fullmer Legacy Foundation. Butterfield served as Chairman of the Board from June 2016 to early 2025 and was influential in helping raise money—nearly $6 million via donations to date, which includes $2 million from the Utah Legislature. Project Driven by Vision to Find a Permanent Home for Fullmer Brothers Gym It was Jay Fullmer who led the charge to teach boxing in the community. By 1978, the Fullmer Brothers Boxing Gym had formally opened at the Butterfield farm chicken coop in South Jordan, recalled Larry Fullmer, Don’s oldest son and the man who spearheaded the efforts for the Fullmer Legacy Center. From there, Larry said the facility moved to Riverton Elementary, an old church house in West Jordan, a sugar factory, a former fire station, and the Salt Lake County Equestrian Park in South Jordan, where it had resided since 2011. When they got word that Salt Lake County planned to transfer ownership of the park to Utah State University, Fullmer knew they needed to find a long-term home for the boxing gym. Fullmer met with Butterfield and Robert Behunin—who at the time was a Vice President with Utah State University—in 2016 and told them he just wanted a “tin shed of our own” for boxing. Behunin countered by saying, “If you want people to donate money, you need something better than a tin shed!” They quickly formed the Fullmer Legacy Foundation (FLF), and by 2018, the wheels were in motion on a building. Doc Murdock, a long-time trainer at the gym, connected Larry with his former roommate at Brigham Young University, Vern Latham, who is a Principal at Salt Lake-based VCBO Architecture. VCBO offered pro-bono services initially while helping FLF put together an RFP, while North Salt-based Gramoll Construction provided value engineering and other services in an effort to get the project launched. Larry expressed sheer gratitude for the contributions of both firms in helping make the project a reality, especially for many generous donations from various foundations and individuals. “[VCBO] believed in us early on and did our first phase of planning at no charge—they have been amazing and so professional to work with,” said Larry. “Gramoll helped us get the budget done as tight as it could be. This project had the absolute tightest budget. We met weekly with architects and the general contractor to see the progress—I’ve never seen such an amazing process. Construction started in November ’23, and every time I would come to the jobsite in the first six months, I’d get emotional.” “We leaned on our relationships with contractors for flooring, ceiling, tiles, donated furniture and got deep discounts and a lot of in-kind donations,” said Phil Haderlie, Principal-in-Charge for VCBO. “To me, the story of this project is the grassroots effort of people seeing the value—this is something that came from their heart. It will have a long-lasting impact on the community.”

Significant Buzz

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
The first season is in the books for the Salt Lake Bees in its spectacular new home—the Ballpark at America First Square, the exciting new heart of Downtown Daybreak and certainly one of the premier Triple-A stadiums in the country. "It's a really cool stadium—the field looks so good!" gushed Eric Barton, Project Director for Salt Lake-based Okland Construction, while surveying the spacious 280,000 SF, 6,500-seat (8,000 capacity) ballpark. Barton said his team faced an extremely difficult construction schedule with the mandate the project had to be sufficiently ready for Opening Day 2025 on April 8, less than 18 months after the formal October 20, 2023, groundbreaking. Barton said Okland knew it was going to be a grind, with long hours and tight windows to get various milestones accomplished. "When we bid this to our trade partners, we had them bid it with the expectation of it being six days a week," he said. "We want not only your best guys, but you have to be adaptable to the plan. It was gangbusters from the start.” Up to 300 workers were onsite during peak construction activity, requiring meticulous coordination throughout. Okland even brought in Fred Strasser, a legendary project director who came out of retirement to shepherd the project through. "Fred is the genius behind getting this whole thing done," said Barton. The project was designed by Salt Lake-based HOK, who worked closely with the owner, Sandy-based Larry H. Miller Real Estate (LHMRE) and Miller Sports + Entertainment (MSE) to bring about a project that would add even more buzz to its wildly popular, 4,000-acre master planned Daybreak development in South Jordan, making it a true entertainment destination. The design weaves together best-in-class baseball experiences with year-round public amenities, including a recently opened Megaplex theater, a performing arts center, a large amphitheater, along with retail, restaurants, and apartments, with buildout continuing through 2027. Walking paths and open spaces create natural connections between The Ballpark and the surrounding neighborhood, making the area an iconic community asset and a true sports and entertainment district. Downtown Daybreak is slated to host more than 200 annual events—including the Bees’ 75-game regular season. Supporting this entertainment destination, the venue’s prominent location just off the Mountain View Corridor freeway makes it highly visible to passing traffic while providing easy access. The stadium is also connected to multiple transportation options, easily reached by walking, biking or light rail across the Wasatch Front, and by car from the new freeway corridor. The Ballpark site drops 20 feet from the loading dock to the plaza, managed through terraced spaces that echo the region’s mining heritage. Though the slope stays gentle at under 5%, carefully placed stairs and planters make walking comfortable while honoring the industrial past. The center field main entrance connects to light rail, while a formal plaza at home plate serves as a second entrance, primarily for VIP access. The street design follows Daybreak’s established standards for lighting and tree spacing. Bike racks at the light rail station and plaza make cycling to games convenient. Utah’s Landscape Shapes Design The Wasatch Mountains, visible from every angle of the ballpark, directly influenced the ballpark's design. Throughout the venue, carefully planned viewpoints frame these mountain vistas. The structure resembles this mountainous setting in its form, transitioning from solid brick and concrete at its base to lighter materials—metal and expansive glass—as it ascends. Working with Kansas City-based architectural metal fabricator Zahner, HOK and MSE created a distinctive facade using perforated metal panels that suggest Utah mountain peak silhouettes from Ben Lomond Peak in Weber County to Mt. Nebo, the southernmost and highest mountain in the Wasatch Range of Utah. These panels transform into a glowing display at night, serving as a lantern on The Ballpark’s ‘front porch’ and welcoming visitors. This connection to Utah’s landscape flows throughout the site. Angular planters guide visitors along pathways, while public spaces are arranged in terraces that echo the mountainside. The copper colors and stepped surfaces of the nearby Kennecott Mine inspired the ballpark’s materials and layout. Inside, the decor features warm copper, gold and honey tones, with textured materials that blend the natural landscape with the Salt Lake Bees’ team colors.

Firms Making Moves

By Brad Fullmer • October 1, 2025
Horrocks CEO Bryan Foote (left) shakes hands with Matt Hirst, former President/CEO of CRS Engineering & Survey. Horrocks acquired CRS a year ago in a move that has proven to be a seamless fit for more than 60 CRS employees.

Q&A with Nathan Goodrich

By UC&D • August 1, 2025
Nathan Goodrich