FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. — Jim Newman, owner and managing partner of Newman Consulting Group LLC (NCG) in Farmington Hills, Michigan, was honored as a Fellow of the international ASHRAE organization.
Jim Newman has been promoting energy conservation and IAQ for more than 40 years and has been known as the “Dean of Green” since 2008 for educating people the world over as an author, featured panelist, ASHRAE distinguished lecturer, keynote speaker, and trainer. He has taught architects and engineers, building managers, maintenance professionals, student groups, and the media about sustainability and green building technology.
In 2002, he founded NCG to help commercial, industrial, and multifamily property owners implement energy efficiency projects to eliminate waste and save money. Today, NCG is an energy efficiency and green building consulting firm specializing in energy audits, LEED certification consulting, building commissioning and re- and retro-commissioning, and Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) and Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) financing.

PHILADELPHIA — Hill International has promoted Michael Smith to president of the company’s Americas region. Smith previously served as Hill’s senior vice president and western regional manager. In addition, Hill also announced several other key promotions in the Americas. First, Gregory Heinz, current vice president and operations manager, will assume Smith’s previous position as senior vice president and western region manager. In addition, current Hill senior vice president and southeast regional manager Luis Lugo will assume the role of senior vice president, business development, Americas; current vice president Eladio Castrodad, P.E., PMP, CGC, will be the new first vice president for the Florida and Caribbean region; and J.P Villamizar will be first vice president for Southern California operations.
Smith assumes his new role with Hill after nearly 25 years with the company. As president of the Americas, he will oversee Hill’s Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Western, and Latin American (LATAM) regions, responsible for all operational functions, management, and business development efforts. Smith will execute his new responsibilities from Hill’s Irvine, California, offices and the company’s Philadelphia headquarters.

COLUMBUS, Ohio — Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) released its monthly TRENDS report, showing the average sales performance by HARDI distributors increased 33.2% percent during March 2021.
The average annual sales growth for the 12 months through March 2021 is 8.7%.
“The 33 percent growth for the month is a new record,” said Brian Loftus, market research and benchmarking analyst, HARDI. “The gain in March was helped by an easy comparison and an extra billing day, but the gain would have been in the 27% area with the same number of billing days. Sales growth has been 20% or more for three of the past four months.”
The Days Sales Outstanding (DSO), a measure of how quickly customers pay their bills, remains at 43 days.

MONTREAL — WSP Global Inc. has acquired b+p baurealisation, a 100-employee engineering and consulting firm. Based in Zurich, Switzerland, with additional offices across the country, b+p offers primarily project and construction management and cost management services to both public and private sector clients. The acquisition of b+p was financed using WSP’s available cash and credit facilities.
“This acquisition supports WSP’s 2019-2021 global strategic plan’s objectives to expand our service offering into strategic advisory areas, in addition to increasing our footprint in geographies where we can continue to purposefully grow,” said Alexandre L’Heureux, president and CEO of WSP. “We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues to WSP.”

DETROIT — SmithGroup has named the recipients of the 2021 SmithGroup Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) scholarships. Now in its fourth year, this program was established to support and mentor students from historically underrepresented demographics in architecture, interior design, planning, landscape architecture, and engineering. The program’s mission is to provide these students with the opportunity to attain their professional goals while advancing the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry and improving the built environment.
A diverse group of colleges and universities, as well as professional organizations and their collegiate affiliates, were contacted to solicit candidates for this program. The National Society of Black Engineers, National Organization of Minority Architects, American Society of Landscape Architects, and Society of Hispanic Engineers all provided valuable assistance in communicating the availability of these scholarships. More than 175 applications were received and evaluated by the firm’s selection committee, which consisted of design and engineering professionals from underrepresented populations.
Each scholarship recipient will receive a one-time award of $6,000 to offset their tuition costs. The EDI scholarship recipients will also be participating in a paid summer internship with one of SmithGroup’s U.S. offices.