BIM adoption rate exceeds 80% among nation's largest AEC firms
The nation's largest architecture, engineering, and construction companies are on the BIM bandwagon in a big way, according to Building Design+Construction's first annual Top 170 BIM Adopters ranking, published as part of the 2009 Giants 300 survey.
Of the 320 AEC firms that participated in Giants survey, 83% report having at least one BIM seat license in house, half have more than 30 seats, and nearly a quarter (23%) have 100-plus seats. In total, the Giants hold 28,174 BIM seats, with the average firm having 106 seats.
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Demand on the rise for green buildings
"The contraction has been very difficult because it has really happened in sectors, as opposed to across the board," Zyscovich said. ``So our public work and our urban design work have, fortunately for us, sustained [our firm]. The private sector, as you know, has basically fallen off the map."
Despite the construction downturn, a ray of hope has seeped through recently at the firm, as one of its projects, Pine Jog Elementary in Palm Beach County, became the first South Florida school to be certified gold by the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system.
Kyle Abney, president of the U.S. Green Building Council's South Florida chapter, recently held up Pine Jog as an example of sustainable building during a presentation at the MIAGreen conference. He said green building has grown in South Florida, despite the deep recession of the past two years. In 2005, there were eight commercial projects registered for LEED certification in South Florida. In 2008, there were 123, and 2009 is on pace to meet or surpass that mark. The number of USGBC members in South Florida has spiked from 150 in 2006 to 687 today.
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The Challenge for Green Energy: How To Store Excess Electricity
For years, the stumbling block for making renewable energy practical and dependable has been how to store electricity for days when the sun isn't shining and the wind isn't blowing. But new technologies suggest this goal may finally be within reach.
"Why are we ignoring things we know? We know that the sun doesn't always shine and that the wind doesn't always blow." So wrote former U.S. Energy Secretary James Schlesinger and Robert L. Hirsch last spring in the Washington Post, suggesting that because these key renewables produce power only intermittently, "solar and wind will probably only provide a modest percentage of future U.S. power."
Never mind that Schlesinger failed to disclose that he sits on the board of directors of Peabody Energy, the world's largest private-sector coal company - a business with much to lose if a solar- and wind-powered future arrives. But at least he and his co-author got it partly right. The benefits from wind and solar are mostly intermittent - so far. But the pair somehow missed the fact that a furious search for practical, affordable electricity storage to beat that intermittence problem is well underway.
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Cisco announces "smart" buildings initiative
Last week, Cisco Systems announced Smart Connected Buildings , a new business initiative to connect and control buildings and their automation systems in order to better control energy use.
To do that, Cisco introduced its Network Building Mediator, pictured below, a device that connects HVAC, lighting, security and other buildings systems to Cisco's EnergyWise platform. The device integrates the protocols of proprietary building automation systems and, in effect, translates them to Internet protocol, meaning facilities managers and even office emloyees can control their buildings over the net. Cisco described the device as a key component that will help realize its vision of Smart+Connected Communities, a corporate goal that includes energy grid management, sustainable design and whole communities interconnected through IP. Sunnyvale, Calif., company NetApp was mentioned as an early adopter that had reported energy efficiency gains.
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Is Energy Harvesting Moving Into the Smart Home?
Energy harvesting - technology that can capture and store energy from external sources like the sun and movement - first took hold in wireless sensor networks in industrial settings. Picture a massive factory that uses a wireless sensor network to monitor vital machinery to make sure it remains in top mechanical shape, but instead of using costly batteries that have a limited lifetime to power the sensors, the vibrations emitted from the machinery also power them. While this technology is still gaining a foothold in commercial and industrial settings, it's starting to look as if energy-harvesting wireless sensors could be entering the home, too.
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Major Breakthrough With Water Desalination System
ScienceDaily (July 14, 2009) - Concern over access to clean water is no longer just an issue for the developing world, as California faces its worst drought in recorded history. According to state's Department of Water Resources, supplies in major reservoirs and many groundwater basins are well below average. Court-ordered restrictions on water deliveries have reduced supplies from the two largest water systems, and an outdated statewide water system can't keep up with population growth.
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Green Industrial Lubricant Developed
ScienceDaily (July 14, 2009) - A team of researchers from the University of Huelva has developed an environmentally-friendly lubricating grease based on ricin oil and cellulose derivatives, according to the journal Green Chemistry. The new formula does not include any of the contaminating components used to manufacture traditional industrial lubricants.
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GE aims to enable consumers to cut home power use
NISKAYUNA, New York (Reuters) - General Electric Co said Tuesday it will combine energy efficient lighting and appliances with energy management systems and renewable power generators in packages for new homes to slash consumers' electricity consumption.
Called "Net Zero Energy Home," the systems will feature photovoltaic and thin-film solar cells and advanced energy storage products to save energy.
Mark Little, GE's director of global research, said in a release the company was working with utility and government partners to help improve the power grid, which has not changed much since the days of Thomas Edison, in ways that would not require consumers to compromise their lifestyles.
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University Study Quantifies Benefits of Radiant Barrier
Side-by-side test revealed 23-degree drop in attic temperatures; improved A/C efficiency
July 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Centex Corporation (NYSE: CTX) and the Energy Center of Appalachian State University (ASU) today announced the results of a case study to measure the benefits of adding radiant barrier in home attics.
Key findings of the study include:
* A 23-degree drop in the peak attic temperature occurred in a home outfitted with radiant heat barrier versus a similar home without the barrier;
* A 20 percent reduction in the run-time of the air conditioning unit during the seven hours of peak attic temperatures; and
* The radiant barrier improved the efficiency of cooled air delivered through the air ducts by 57 percent during this period.
"This particular study showed the installation of a radiant barrier in an attic can make it easier for your air conditioner to do its job in the summer heat," said Jeff Tiller, P.E., Appalachian State University. "That translates to lower electricity usage, which also impacts the carbon footprint of homes."
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More building material salespeople pursue green certification
The Certified Green Dealer Program, a program for certifying the nation's green lumber and building material dealerships, just announced that it has crossed the 4,600-user threshold. The distance-learning and testing program certifies that lumber dealer personnel are trained in the basics of green building science and green product knowledge. Today, 4,600 building material salespeople have pursued the Program's online green training, and these people - all working in dealer locations that are either certified or pursuing certification - represent the best-trained green experts in America's lumberyards today.
These dealers actively use the Certified Green Dealer online content for training and customer education. Indeed, the 4,600 users have already viewed the Program's web-based content more than 405,000 times in 2009.
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A New Enforcer in Buildings, the Energy Inspector
Climate scientists and architects say that no single policy change could do more to save energy over the long run - and reduce the nation's contribution to global warming - than building codes that make saving energy the law.
Since the energy crises of the 1970s, the United States has known it has an energy problem. Yet today, the energy requirements in building codes remain weak across half the country, and at least seven states have virtually no rules. That means that in many places, particularly the nation's heartland, almost every new home, store and factory that goes up locks the country into unnecessary energy use for years to come.
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New Geothermal Heat Extraction Process To Deliver Clean Power Generation
ScienceDaily (July 20, 2009) - A new method for capturing significantly more heat from low-temperature geothermal resources holds promise for generating virtually pollution-free electrical energy. Scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory will determine if their innovative approach can safely and economically extract and convert heat from vast untapped geothermal resources.
The goal is to enable power generation from low-temperature geothermal resources at an economical cost. In addition to being a clean energy source without any greenhouse gas emissions, geothermal is also a steady and dependable source of power.
"By the end of the calendar year, we plan to have a functioning bench-top prototype generating electricity," predicts PNNL Laboratory Fellow Pete McGrail. "If successful, enhanced geothermal systems like this could become an important energy source." A technical and economic analysis conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology estimates that enhanced geothermal systems could provide 10 percent of the nation's overall electrical generating capacity by 2050.
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Chinese-Made Drywall Tests Begin Amid Investigations
As reports grow of health problems and metal corrosion suspected of coming from U.S. imports of Chinese-made drywall, federal agencies are moving ahead on a multipronged investigation of the material. Initial results of laboratory and in-home tests are due in August and September.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission told Senate Appropriations Committee leaders on July 6 it has received 608 reports of Chinese drywall problems from 21 states and the District of Columbia. That is a sharp increase since May 21, when CPSC testified at a Senate hearing it had recorded 320 drywall reports from 16 states. Most are from Florida, Louisiana and Virginia.
CPSC is leading the multi-agency federal drywall probe. One part of the investigation aims to determine whether Chinese drywall's composition differs from that of U.S.-made products.
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