Industry News Briefs
July 9, 2009 Headlines
U.S. Stimulus Puts Bullet Trains on the Fast Track
Interior Department Allocates $134.3 Million for Western Water Reclamation
Engineers Study Heat's Impact on Intgral Bridge Designs
Industry News
U.S. Stimulus Puts Bullet Trains on the Fast Track
Time (06/22/09) Padgett, Tim
The $13 billion for high-speed rail (HSR) in the administration's stimulus bill is putting bullet trains in the spotlight again, with states such as Florida seeking out funding to help connect their cities more efficiently. Rail products such as HSR are "critical because we're still a growth state. Any of these transportation alternatives are good for Florida and good for jobs," says Florida Gov. Charlie Christ (R). One driver behind the HSR idea is the notion that the United States today is no longer a country of cities and suburbs but a country of "mega-regions," according to urban studies expert Richard Florida, who describes mega-regions as "natural economic agglomerations whose market potential can be harnessed if they're linked up by high-speed rail." The Obama administration has identified 10 major regional HSR corridors, and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood says that California and Florida are "way ahead of the curve" in preparations for HSR. Florida, which has become a bellwether state during this decade, could help demonstrate the political viability for HSR, as Crist's support for HSR is not as enthusiastic as his backing for some other ideas such as alternative energy, and a number of critics worrying that the concept will be an expensive failure. Still, HSR supporters in Florida say the rail project could create up to 20,000 jobs and enhance the existing tourism economy while helping create a new Floridian economy, and many people believe the United States will have a hard time keeping up with the rest of the world in the 21st Century without keeping in step with the latest in rail technology.
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Interior Department Allocates $134.3 Million for Western Water Reclamation
U.S. Department of the Interior (07/01/09)
The U.S. Department of the Interior's Bureau of Reclamation has identified 27 water reclamation and reuse projects that will share in a total of $134.3 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA). The projects–known as “Title XVI” projects for the title of Public Law 102-575 that established the program–facilitate the reclamation and reuse of wastewater and naturally impaired ground and surface waters. The funding is part of President Barack Obama's $1 billion investment of ARRA funding provided by the Department of the Interior for water projects across the West.
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Engineers Study Heat's Impact on Intgral Bridge Designs
Innovations Report (06/30/09)
Engineers at Kansas State University's (KSU's) University Transportation Center have been studying how different soil conditions and temperature ranges affect integral bridges' thermally induced expansion. "Kansas bridges have small spans, which are typical for rural environments," says Dunja Peric, an associate professor of civil engineering at KSU. "They are mostly highway overpasses. However, Kansas has the fourth largest number of bridges in the nation. The bridges have to be maintained and that costs money." While integral bridges are more efficient than conventional bridges from an economic standpoint, the design of integral bridges is still experiential, requiring intuition, observation, and experimentation. Peric's work with fellow KSU engineers Asad Esmaeily and Bhavik Shah indicates that integral bridges' response to increased temperature depends on the range of temperature change and the adjacent soil's level of compaction. "The research was driven by the need to further improve the performance of integral bridges and extend their use," Peric says. "Integral bridges have structural advantages that stem from their continuity and reliance on the soil, the most abundant material on earth, in the load transfer process."
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Vice President Biden Launches Initiative to Bring Broadband, Jobs to More Americans
U.S. Department of Agriculture (07/01/09)
The White House has announced the availability of $4 billion in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act loans and grants to help bring broadband service to un-served and underserved communities across the United States. The Recovery Act provided a total of $7.2 billion to the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Rural Utilities Service (RUS) to facilitate broadband deployment in parts of the country that lack high-speed infrastructure. NTIA will utilize $4.7 billion of the funding to deploy broadband infrastructure in un-served and underserved areas in the United States, expand public computer center capacity and encourage sustainable adoption of broadband service. RUS will invest $2.5 billion to facilitate broadband deployment in rural communities.
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US Speeding Up Solar Development in West
Boston Globe (06/30/09)
Interior Secretary Ken Salazar says the federal government will fast-track efforts to build solar power generating facilities on public space in six Western states. Salazar has signed an order setting aside more than 1,000 square miles of public land for two years of study and environmental reviews to determine where solar power stations should be built. Salazar promises to have 13 “commercial-scale'' solar projects under construction by the end of 2010, and set a goal of producing a total of 100,000 megawatts of solar electricity. The federal Bureau of Land Management plans to spend $22 million conducting studies of 24 tracts in the 670,000 acres of property Salazar set aside in Nevada, Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico. Bureau officials say the goal will be to identify lands of at least three square miles with solar exposure, suitable slopes, and proximity to existing or designated roads and transmission lines. The bureau says has 158 active applications for solar power plants pending.
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Secretary Donovan Awards Over $1 Billion in Recovery Act Funds to Jump-Start Affordable Housing Construction
U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (06/30/09)
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced the release of $1.035 billion to jump start the construction of affordable housing in 26 states. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides $2.25 billion for TCAP, a grant program that provides capital investments in low income housing tax credit markets. The remaining states will receive funding under TCAP at a later date.
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Iconic Skyscrapers Invigorated by Going Green
USA Today (07/06/09) Kahn, Chris
Some of the nation's oldest and most iconic buildings are catching up to today's sleek, modern structures that have been designed with efficiency in mind. Indeed, more and more building owners and managers are becoming convinced that a greener building now makes financial sense, paying off for owners and tenants alike. Companies are seeking out more efficient office space to occupy, and new technology at older buildings has begun to translate into higher property values and occupancy rates. The Empire State Building in Manhattan is a prime example. When its owners opted to add thousands of insulating windows this year, they were only partly interested in saving energy. They wanted to appeal to new tenants, shelling out $120 million on a variety of environmental improvements. Such a move would have been regarded as a huge gamble just a few years earlier. Today, it makes perfect financial sense. Other landmark properties are following suit. Owners of the 81-year-old Christman Building in Lansing, Mich., have spent $8.5 million to add water-efficient plumbing and cap the structure with a reflective "cool" roof. Chicago's Sears Tower, meanwhile, is set to embark on a five-year, $350 million green renovation. The 110-story skyscraper will crown its rooftops with solar panels, wind turbines and up to 35,000 square feet of sunlight-absorbing gardens. When completed, these improvements will reduce the building's yearly electricity use by 80 percent and save approximately 24 million gallons of water.
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Engineers Study Heat's Impact on Intgral Bridge Designs
Innovations Report (06/30/09)
Engineers at Kansas State University's (KSU's) University Transportation Center have been studying how different soil conditions and temperature ranges affect integral bridges' thermally induced expansion. "Kansas bridges have small spans, which are typical for rural environments," says Dunja Peric, an associate professor of civil engineering at KSU. "They are mostly highway overpasses. However, Kansas has the fourth largest number of bridges in the nation. The bridges have to be maintained and that costs money." While integral bridges are more efficient than conventional bridges from an economic standpoint, the design of integral bridges is still experiential, requiring intuition, observation, and experimentation. Peric's work with fellow KSU engineers Asad Esmaeily and Bhavik Shah indicates that integral bridges' response to increased temperature depends on the range of temperature change and the adjacent soil's level of compaction. "The research was driven by the need to further improve the performance of integral bridges and extend their use," Peric says. "Integral bridges have structural advantages that stem from their continuity and reliance on the soil, the most abundant material on earth, in the load transfer process."
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'Smart' Bridges Harness Technology to Stay Safe
Scientific American (06/17/09) Das, Saswato R.
The newly opened replacement for the Interstate 35 bridge in Minneapolis that collapsed in 2007 is just one example of a new breed of smart bridges that use monitoring sensors and other technology to help ensure safety. The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Michigan Department of Transportation are backing a $19 million project for next-generation bridge monitoring, as NIST's Advanced Technology Program is pushing for the idea of smart bridges full of sensors. Jerome Lynch, an assistant professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, is working with colleagues on the concept of a "sensing skin" that uses steel, carbon, or polymer fibers in a mesh covered with cement to detect excess strain. This would be even more useful than individual sensors, because the detection of bridge cracks would be less reliant on the placement of the sensors, he said. Other ideas the researchers are looking at include a paint-like carbon nanotube substance to detect cracks and corrosion and a new type of sensor to measure how the bridge bounces or sways when being crossed by a heavy vehicle. Already, the New York City Department of Transportation has been employing sensors to determine structural response to weather and which antifreeze to use to combat ice. The department's Bojidar Yanev says that this technology is quickly evolving, and concepts that are feasible now "would not have been possible even five years ago."
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Reusing Big Boxes
Urban Land Magazine (06/09) Vol. 68, No. 6, P. 55; Spivak, Jeffrey
Vacated big-box retail stores throughout the United States are increasingly being converted into schools, libraries, hospitals, and other facilities. Advantages of big-box structures include a lot of parking space and easy accessibility. Wal-Mart's Rick Kinnard says that most Wal-Mart sites are reused by other retailers via reuse partnerships, but in certain instances communities step in and retool the stores. A former Wal-Mart store in Canyon, Texas, has been turned into a Randall County courthouse to replace a run-down courthouse in Amarillo. The county purchased the vacated store for $850,000, and committed another $8 million to modernize and expand the facility. Meanwhile, about 600 Kmart stores have closed over the last decade, and one such facility in Minnesota has found new life as a Hormel Foods museum. Converting such buildings can be a challenge because they are often aesthetically unappealing while their interior design makes new uses problematic. Reuse strategies can vary according to community needs, but communities would prefer to avoid vacated big-box stores in the first place. Approaches they are undertaking include establishing a size limit on retail buildings, setting stricter design standards so that vacated structures will at least be aesthetically appealing to other users, and requiring a demolition bond to supply funding for tearing down a big box if it is empty for 12 months or more.
Sensors for Tracking Home Water Use
Technology Review (06/30/09) Greene, Kate
University of Washington professor Shwetak Patel has developed sensors that can be used to track the use of household utilities such as energy and water. The sensors plug directly into existing infrastructure, eliminating the need for an elaborate set of networked sensors throughout a structure. For example, an electrical sensor can be plugged into a single outlet and monitor the electrical noise created by different devices throughout the house. A gas sensor attaches to a gas line and monitors pressure changes that can be connected to using a stove, furnace, or water heater. Patel also has developed Hydrosense, a pressure sensor that fits around a water pipe. It can detect leaks and trace them back to their source and can recognize pressure changes that occur when a specific fixture or appliance is in use. Patel wants to incorporate these sensors into a unified technology that utility companies can start deploying within about a year. He says the goal is to enable the deployment of smart homes. "I looked at the existing infrastructures, and saw that they could be retrofitted," he says. In addition to monitoring utility usage, Patel says the sensors can track human activity within the home, which could be used for elder care and to reduce energy waste. Patel also has developed a sensor for heating and cooling systems that monitors pressure changes that occur when people open and close doors when entering or exiting a room.
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Drinking-Water Association Calls for Infrastructure Bank
Engineering News-Record (06/29/09) Vol. 262, No. 20, P. 11; Hunter, Pam
American Water Works Association (AWWA) officials announced at the organization's annual conference that they would collaborate with D.C. lawmakers to promote legislation that would establish a bank to support water infrastructure projects. AWWA President Michael Leonard said that the credit pinch has made it difficult "for communities to access capital for critical infrastructure projects" in spite of funds provided by the federal stimulus package, and noted that an infrastructure bank would be "a smart, common-sense solution [that strikes] just the right balance between federal assistance and local responsibility." The bank would supply direct financing via loans or loan guarantees for larger initiatives at interest rates at or under the U.S. Treasury bond rate, and also could buy or guarantee state revolving fund bonds that would reduce their interest rates and increase loans and subsidies to communities. U.S. House Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.) introduced a bill this year that could set up an infrastructure bank for water as well as roads, bridges, and electrical grid projects, which has obtained the support of industry groups that include the American Society of Civil Engineers. In the Senate, Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced a proposal for a national infrastructure bank, while funds for such a bank also have been requested by President Obama in his fiscal 2010 budget. AWWA's Tommy Holmes says his group is working with Dodd and his staff to promote a bill that would include more water infrastructure provisions.
EPA Chief Uses Denver as Growth Role Model
Denver Post (06/24/09) Trageser, Claire
Lisa Jackson, director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, recently visited Highlands' Garden Village in Denver, Colo., which is being called a model for smart growth. The neighborhood was built about a decade ago and features a mix of commercial space, single-family dwellings, and apartments, some of which are reserved for low-income residents and seniors. The community's fitness center is powered by solar awnings, and the community's buildings feature recycled materials, energy-efficient windows, and water-efficient appliances. "This shows that sustainability and economic development can go hand in hand," says Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper. Jackson notes that the community is an example of President Barack Obama's push for a mix of economic stimulation and environmental innovation.
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Researchers Mull STEM Gender Gap
Education Week (06/17/09) Vol. 28, No. 35, P. 1; Viadero, Debra
Studies indicate that although U.S. women have achieved parity or near-parity with men on science and math achievement tests, the top levels of many such fields still boast more men than women. A number of studies over the past several years are starting to imply that there may be a simpler underlying explanation for this gender gap than people have assumed, such as women's desire to have careers compatible with family life and a lack of interest in science and math. "One of the things that has to be filtered into the mix is that those girls, who, at a young age, have high quantitative scores are more likely to have high verbal scores than boys are," notes Cornell University psychologist Stephen J. Ceci. He and two colleagues determined in a study that women earn almost 50 percent of all doctoral degrees in certain fields such as biological sciences, but their numbers are far lower in other science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) disciplines. One reason for this disparity is that women leave STEM careers at two times the rate that men do, and Ceci speculates that this trend may be partly attributable to the fact that more women than men classify themselves as "home-centered" as opposed to "careerist." "Women tend to look for careers where you can combine work and family," says Meredith College economist E. Ann York. Experts say that women also tend to gravitate toward compassionate fields such as healthcare and environmental studies, where the focus is on making a difference in people's lives. Some experts, such as University of Colorado professor Margaret A. Eisenhart, believe that bridging the gender gap requires addressing the issue that girls receive little relative exposure to careers in STEM fields.
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Touring the Ultimate 'Green' House
CNet (06/23/09)
The original headquarters of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a nonprofit sustainability think tank in Snowmass, Colo., includes the home of the organization's founder, Amory Lovins, featuring the latest advances in energy efficiency and comfort. The house has a series of systems built into it that are designed to provide all the power it needs, maintain a steady, comfortable temperature, and keep it well lit. The house is reportedly capable of producing 9.8 kilowatt hours, which is more power than it uses. Part of that is due to two smaller solar panels that are installed on the far left side of the building's roof and which are designed to track the sun throughout the day. The house is designed to keep energy use low, provide what power it does need, and feed some back to the grid. Lovins also directed that the house be outfitted with technology to help analyze every bit of power usage so that the Rocky Mountain Institute officials can see, at any time, how it's performing. All around the house, the systems are on display. In the bathroom, there is a low-flow toilet, and a high-efficiency hand dryer. In the kitchen, the refrigerator and freezer have thick doors and walls for better insulation. While the house used to use natural gas, allowing for a gas stove, it now features an electric stove.
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Setting the Green Standard for Community Colleges
Building Design + Construction (05/09) Barista, Dave
The Center for Health Sciences and Technology at Ohlone College in Newark, Calif., is LEED Platinum certified. The $58 million facility measures 130,000 square-feet and is near-off-the-grid due to its renewable energy output and storm water management system. Two 16-feet diameter enthalpy wheels recover up to 95 percent of the energy from the building's exhaust air, which helps curb energy use. The wheels also ensure that fresh air circulates within the building. Each enthalpy wheel needs 16 feet of empty space, so engineering firm SOHA placed the wheels in large box structures to bypass the need for obtrusive components like cross bracing. Alpha Tech Consulting Engineers also installed a ground-coil geothermal system that makes use of stable ground temperatures of about 61 degrees Fahrenheit. A total of 26 miles of pipe were placed underground at a depth of only about eight feet in order to avoid drilling into an aquifer. The facility's 713 MWh photovoltaic rooftop system encompasses 38,000 square feet and supplies about 82 percent of the electricity needed to operate the campus.
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