Industry News Briefs
March 11, 2010 Headlines
Turning Office Windows into Solar Power Generators
Department of Energy Announces $40 Million to Develop the Next Generation Nuclear Plant
Interior Secretary Salazar Announces Advisory Committee Consensus on Wind Turbine Guideline Recommendations
Land/Buildings State Budget Deficits Threaten Public Construction
In Search of an Earthquake-Proof Building
Net Architecture a Building Model
Builders Get Back in Game
EPA Adds Ten Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund’s National Priorities List
Water Indianapolis Eyes Privatization of Water/Sewer Systems
Acoustic Leak Detectors Cut Water Loss by Half
Transportation Administration Announces Nearly 200 New Recovery Act Transit Projects in 42 States
Obama Administration Looking to Speed Up Transportation Funding
Highway, Transit Shutdown Ends with Enactment of One-Month Extension
Building a Bridge That's Ready for the Big One
Other Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces Rural Broadband Projects to Bring Economic Opportunity to Communities in 18 States and Territories
The Construction App
Energy
Department of Energy Releases $100 Million for Innovative Research Projects
U.S. Department of Energy (03/02/10)
U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced at the inaugural ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit that $100 million in Recovery Act funding will be provided to expedite innovation in green technology, boost America's competitiveness, and create new jobs. The announcement specifically concentrates on a trio of technology areas—grid-scale rampable intermittent dispatchable storage (GRIDS), agile delivery of electrical power technology (ADEPT), and building energy efficiency through innovative thermodevices (BEET-IT). The GRIDS program aims to develop revolutionary new storage systems that supply energy, cost, and cycle life comparable to pumped hydropower, but which are modular and can be widely deployed at any site across the power grid. The investment will enable the United States to assume global technology and manufacturing leadership in the emergent global market for stationary electricity storage infrastructure. Meanwhile, the goal of the ADEPT program is to invest in materials for fundamental innovations in soft magnetics, high voltage switches, and reliable, high-density charge storage. These investments will be integrated with advanced circuit architectures and scalable manufacturing processes with the potential to surpass existing power converter performance while reducing cost. Finally, the BEET-IT program's objective is to devise energy-efficient cooling technologies and air conditioners for buildings to save energy and lower greenhouse gas emissions from primary energy consumption due to space cooling and refrigerants employed in vapor compression systems.
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Turning Office Windows into Solar Power Generators
Associated Press (03/04/10) Hill, Michael
The Center for Architecture Science and Ecology (CASE) wants to create technology that enables office windows to be transformed into solar power generators. The solar facade is made up of grids of clear pyramids that focus the sun's rays to create energy and would make buildings look like they have jeweled curtains. "The reason we're interested in windows is because they have the largest surface areas, typically, in buildings--especially in tall, urban buildings," says CASE leader Anna Dyson. "We have a lot of vertical surface area to work with to really generate a lot of power." Each clear pyramid has a lens to focus sunlight onto a small solar cell. The cells are supposed to be more efficient than traditional cells because the pyramid modules move to track the sun. Water is pumped to keep the solar cells cool in order to boost efficiency. The water also is used to capture waste heat for uses such as creating hot water or warming the building. Buildings typically use the most energy on cooling, heating, and lighting, and the solar pyramid system would lower the costs on all three. A prototype has been built at the Syracuse headquarters of the Center of Excellence in Environmental & Energy Systems, and while Syracuse is not the best place to test a solar system, it will allow the researchers to see how the panels work in less than ideal situations. It is believed that the system will be popular in the green building market, and it will be helpful to older buildings that are dealing with retrofits, which will most likely become a growth market.
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Department of Energy Announces $40 Million to Develop the Next Generation Nuclear Plant
U.S. Department of Energy (03/08/10)
The U.S. Department of Energy has announced selections for the award of approximately $40 million in total to two teams for conceptual design and planning work for the Next Generation Nuclear Plant (NGNP). The teams are led by Westinghouse Electric and General Atomics The results of the work will help the White House determine whether to proceed with detailed efforts toward construction and demonstration of the NGNP. If successful, the NGNP Demonstration Project will demonstrate high-temperature gas-cooled reactor technology that will be capable of producing electricity as well as process heat for industrial applications and will be configured for low technical and safety risk with highly reliable operations.
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Interior Secretary Salazar Announces Advisory Committee Consensus on Wind Turbine Guideline Recommendations
U.S. Department of the Interior (03/05/10)
U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar lauded the efforts of the Wind Turbine Guidelines Federal Advisory Committee, which has reached an agreement on a set of draft recommendations designed to minimize the impacts of land-based wind farms on wildlife and its habitat. Among the panel's recommendations is the establishment of a decision-making framework that directs all stages of wind energy development; dependence on the best available science when evaluating renewable energy projects and their potential environmental effects; and the employment of landscape-scaled planning that acknowledges the need to adopt a long-term perspective about guarding the country's economic and natural resources. Salazar said he will review the recommendations and take them under consideration as he asks the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to devise assessment guidelines for wind energy development on public and private lands. "The Interior Department is creating a new energy frontier for America by harnessing the renewable-energy potential of America's public lands while protecting wildlife," declared Michael Bean, Counselor to Assistant Secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks. "The Committee's recommendations will help us reach science-based decisions for future wind energy projects, while minimizing and mitigating local and regional impacts to wildlife."
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Land/Buildings
State Budget Deficits Threaten Public Construction
Reed Construction Data (03/03/10) Haughey, Jim
State law requires budgets to be balanced, so the current deficits will have to be eliminated through tax increases, massive spending cuts, and layoffs and pay cuts, which will ultimately affect the speed and efficiency of public construction projects. For all 50 states, interim budget adjustments this year were 7 percent of expenditures, and included spending cuts and tax increases. Four states, California, Illinois, New Jersey, and New York, will account for nearly a third of the budget deficit for all states in the next fiscal year. Bankruptcy and bond default are being considered, which will lower bond ratings and increase borrowing cost, resulting in large construction funding cutbacks. These states hire too many people, pay more than private sector wages, allow employees to retire too soon, pay too much of employees' lifetime medical expenses, and excuse too many people from paying taxes, tuition, rent, and healthcare expenses. Ten states have managed their finances quite well, and made interim adjustments of less than 2.5 percent. These states, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Wyoming, will be able to identify and solve their problems much quicker.
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In Search of an Earthquake-Proof Building
CNN (03/02/10) Sutter, John D.
Collapsing buildings are the most dangerous part of earthquakes. The technology exists to engineer and build buildings capable of withstanding the forces of an earthquake, but constructing those buildings is rare in some countries, due to expense and a lack of regulations. As the recent earthquakes in Chile and Haiti demonstrate, many of the buildings in poorer countries are tragically vulnerable to earthquakes, despite the fact that many of the building technologies require only simple changes to building materials or composition. The 8.8-magnitude earthquake in Chile currently has a death toll of over 700 people, while the less powerful 7.0 earthquake in Haiti has killed more than 200,000, exposing the difference building construction and technology can have. In Haiti, buildings were constructed cheaply and quickly, while Chile, a richer and more industrialized nation, follows more stringent building codes. Earthquake-resistant buildings are based on either making the building stronger or making it more flexible, so it can sway and slide instead of crumbling. Flexible buildings use an idea called "base isolation," which means the buildings float on systems of ball bearings, springs, and padded cylinders instead of sitting directly on the ground. In an earthquake, these buildings can sway up to a few feet. The technology is also constantly improving. University of Illinois civil engineering professor Bill Spencer says electronic sensors can detect seismic shaking and tell the building how to react to avoid damage. Spencer compares such systems to anti-lock breaking in cars. There are also some simple solutions that can be applied in poorer countries, such as reinforcing concrete buildings with steel rods and bolting wooden buildings to their foundations.
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Net Architecture a Building Model
Journal of Commerce (03/05/10) Koroluk, Korky
While the Internet contains vast resources of information, some are looking to the structure of the Internet for inspiration when designing in real life. Building designers and engineers are looking at the structure of the Internet to copy its architecture to produce building systems that will save energy. This strategy is known as intelligent infrastructure for energy efficiency, or I2E. I2E incorporates numerous sensors, networked together and connected to each other through the building's wiring system, much like how the Internet works. A paper by MIT and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory published in Science magazine, notes that buildings currently use more than 70 percent of all generated electricity, primarily for heating, cooling, and lighting. The researchers suggest that as much as 30 percent to 40 percent of that energy could be saved by fixing faults, ending unnecessary operation, and through advanced control systems. However, modifying buildings is expensive, with installing a single sensor costing up to $1,000, much like how computing and communications worked before the Internet, when terminals and telephones were connected to mainframe computers and central office switches. Now, the Internet allows applications to reside where information is created and consumed, and are independent of how the network connecting them is constructed. The same concept could be applied to building infrastructure, with sensors and actuators computing and communicating to solve problems locally, instead of having functions fixed by a central controller. Creating smarter buildings is key to the development of an energy-efficient smart grid.
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Builders Get Back in Game
Wall Street Journal (03/03/10) P. C9; Wotapka, Dawn
REITs are expected to break ground on nearly $1 billion in new multifamily housing in 2010, reports Green Street Advisors. While still below average, the estimate is a marked jump over the $100 million of construction starts last year. Apartment operators are betting that limited new supply, coupled with a mending economy, will produce ideal market conditions nationwide beginning next year or in 2012. From then until 2015, REIT analyst Haendel St. Juste reports, "Apartment REITs may generate the best property net operating income growth that they've seen in a very long time, maybe ever."
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EPA Adds Ten Hazardous Waste Sites to Superfund’s National Priorities List
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (03/02/10)
The EPA recently announced 10 new Superfund sites, bringing the total of the national priority list to 1,279, with eight more on the waiting list and a total of 61 proposed sites waiting final agency action. One of the new sites is the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn, N.Y., which has been flanked by chemical factories and refiners that dumped chemicals into it since the early 1900s. The new sites and increased enforcement action in 2009 have been seen as signs of progress among activists and observers. An EPA spokesperson says the additions represent about the same rate as in previous years, but the annual total will not be known until a second group is released in the fall. In fiscal 2009, responsible parties committed to pay about $2 billion to clean up Superfund sites, the second highest amount since the program started in 1980. The 2009 total included $371 million in settlements with responsible parties reimbursing the government for money the EPA spent cleaning Superfund sites, the highest cost recovery total since the Superfund was created. The Superfund's primary funding mechanism, which required producers of toxic materials to pay into a fund for cleanup, expired in the mid-1990s. Since then, the EPA has had little funding of its own to provide for cleanup efforts, and it has essentially had to beg polluters, according to Lois Gibbs, executive director of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice. Having its own funding allowed the EPA to drive tougher bargains with polluters, and if a polluter wanted to fight in court, the EPA could afford to clean up the site and wait for the outcome of the case with a bill for the company. Without its own funding, the EPA has had to work deals with companies. President Obama and EPA administrator Lisa Jackson have both publicly stated that they intend to push Congress to reinstate the polluter-pays provision of the law, though Obama says he wants to wait until 2011 for the economy to improve.
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Water
Indianapolis Eyes Privatization of Water/Sewer Systems
Bond Buyer (03/03/10) Devitt, Caitlin
Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard is hoping to use public-private partnerships to raise revenues for city projects, including water and sewer upgrades. Ballard's proposals include some type of privatization of the water and sewer systems, the leasing of parking meters, and the possible privatization of the board that oversees sports venues and the city's convention center. The city's water and sewer systems are in need of $4 billion in upgrades over the next 15 years, and officials estimate that the projects would require rate increases of more than 400 percent. However, by combining the two systems under a single owner could generate enough savings to ease future rate increases, and generate money up-front that could be used for other infrastructure upgrades. The privatization efforts could serve as an example for other cities facing the massive sewer and water upgrades required by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. There has been little opposition to the privatization plan, but that may partially be because there are several details of the plan that are still not publicly known.
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Acoustic Leak Detectors Cut Water Loss by Half
Water & Wastes Digest (02/10) Vol. 50, No. 2, P. 24; Hughes, David M.
Roughly 7 billion gallons of treated drinking water is wasted per day mainly on account of leaks in pipelines throughout the United States, according to the American Society of Civil Engineering. American Water has partnered with various companies to develop and test inexpensive acoustic leak detectors using advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems, and a successful test was conducted in the community of Connellsville, Pa. The percentage of lost water was cut by nearly half from more than 25 percent within half a year, saving an estimated $140,000 in lost revenue. The demonstrations of the acoustic monitoring technology are combined with economic tools that permit systems to assess the potential of AMI and acoustic monitoring, and cost models for AMI and acoustic monitoring have been made available to all American Water state operations. Through this, each system can evaluate costs and advantages of mobile AMR and mesh or fixed-network AMI with or without acoustic monitoring. The ramifications of continuous acoustic monitoring systems are most effective where water is characterized by limited supply and high costs. Acoustic monitoring analysis not only detects leaks, but also uncovers significant insights into the time it takes leaks to surface, pipe condition, and possible triggers for failures. It may be possible to ascertain what variables play a role in the start of a leak because the monitors detect when a leak first begins rather than when the leak surfaces.
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Transportation
Administration Announces Nearly 200 New Recovery Act Transit Projects in 42 States
U.S. Department of Transportation (03/05/10)
On March 5, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced more than $600 million in funding for 191 new Recovery Act transit projects in 42 states and Puerto Rico that will help transform the country's infrastructure and create thousands of jobs. "Investing in these transit upgrades not only puts construction workers on the job at project sites, but supports American manufacturing jobs all the way down the supply chain," said Biden. "At a time when jobs are priority number one, that means twice the employment bang for the Recovery Act buck." The Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has awarded 881 grants totaling $7.5 billion since President Obama approved the Recovery Act in February 2009, which means that all the formula transit funds provided by the Recovery Act have now been "obligated" or pledged to specific transit projects. Recovery Act funds have thus far underwritten the procurement of almost 12,000 buses, vans, and rail vehicles, the construction or renovation of over 850 transit facilities, and the execution of more than $620 million in preventive maintenance. Domestic bus, seating, and rail car makers have received orders that are helping raise production and support jobs. The U.S. Department of Transportation is making $48.1 billion available via the Recovery Act for all transportation projects, including highway and bridge, rail transit, small shipyards and airport construction, and repairs across the country; $36.8 billion of that amount has been awarded already. "Investing in modern, efficient transit systems will mean safe, reliable travel and clean air in our communities," said FTA administrator Peter Rogoff. "These projects are putting thousands of Americans to work right now while improving the lives of millions of Americans for years to come."
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Obama Administration Looking to Speed Up Transportation Funding
Public Radio International (03/01/2010)
President Barack Obama's administration is changing how it awards funds for transportation projects in an effort to speed up transportation funding, and change how money is awarded and what types of projects receive funding. "An important part of our need to speed up this process involves quitting all the haggling between the federal government and these agencies about whether they follow and pass a very narrow criteria," says Federal Transit Administrator Peter Rogoff. "Instead, we're going to recognize all of the benefits that transit projects provide, like environmental benefits, mobility benefits, benefits to low-income communities." WAMU transportation reporter David Schultz says the Obama administration will be looking at funding transportation projects that have livability benefits, including economic development and environmental benefits for economically distressed areas. For example, a grant to improve bus transit in the D.C. area will go towards improving 2,600 bus stops, including better signage, new shelters, more benches, and better lighting. The new grant approval process will also make three light rail stops in Minnesota's Central Corridor project that were previously thought to be not cost-effective a reality. The stops would serve low-income communities.
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Highway, Transit Shutdown Ends with Enactment of One-Month Extension
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (03/03/10)
The Senate has approved a bill to extend legal authority for the Highway Trust Fund for 30 days. Following President Obama's approval, the bill will end a shutdown of the trust fund and the furlough of 2,000 U.S. Department of Transportation employees that occurred on March, 2, 2010, after the fund's authority to spend money expired the previous day. In addition to extending High Trust Fund authorization, the bill also extends several other provisions that expired, including additional unemployment benefits for Americans who have gone through the standard six-month jobless payments, and increasing Medicare reimbursements for doctors. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood praised the Senate for extending critical funding. The House is expected to debate a jobs bill that was recently amended by the Senate to include a 10-month Highway Trust Fund authorization extension, $19.5 billion in additional General Fund revenue to ensure the Highway Trust Fund stays solvent into next year, restoration of highway funding this year to $42 billion, and additional federal support for states and municipalities looking to issue Build America Bonds to finance infrastructure construction.
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Building a Bridge That's Ready for the Big One
CNet (03/03/10) Martin, James
During the Loma Prieta earthquake in October of 1989, which reached 7.1 on the Richter scale, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge came incredibly close to collapsing, and may have if the earthquake lasted just a few seconds longer. Now, the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is being built with many new seismic innovations that the engineers say will allow the bridge to survive a "massive level earthquake--the largest you would see in 1,500 years." Some of the innovations are being used in this kind of construction for the first time. The unique construction should allow the bridge to bend and contort in response to the massive energy emitted by a high-level earthquake. Independent sections, connected through movable joints and flexible surfaces, will ensure the bridge's safety and make repairs easier following any major seismic event.
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Other
Agriculture Secretary Vilsack Announces Rural Broadband Projects to Bring Economic Opportunity to Communities in 18 States and Territories
U.S. Department of Agriculture (03/04/10)
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has announced the selection of 22 broadband infrastructure projects in 18 states and territories. In all, more than $254.6 million will be invested in the 22 projects. An additional $13.1 million in private investment will be provided in matching funds. "These broadband projects will provide rural America access to the tools it needs to attract new businesses, educational opportunities and jobs," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "The Obama Administration understands that bringing broadband to rural America is an economic gateway for people, business owners, and key institutions—such as libraries, hospitals, public safety buildings and community centers. Broadband is important for rural communities to remain strong in the 21st Century." Congress provided USDA $2.5 billion in Recovery Act funding to assist applicants to bring broadband services to rural unserved and underserved communities. To date, $895.6 million has been provided to support 55 broadband projects in 29 states and territories.
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The Construction App
Constructech (03/01/2010)
One of the hottest construction technology solutions is the iPhone, which can be loaded with a wide variety of apps, including location-based services, simplified recording systems for daily logs, or assists for a punchlist process. The iPhone is becoming increasingly popular among construction professionals, particularly as developers continue to create apps that make construction jobs easier. For example, NoteVault recently launched an iPhone app that allows contractors to record voice notes from the field, and have them automatically incorporated into the project record. App users set up an account and record voice notes, up to three minutes long, that are automatically uploaded to NoteVault. The app also allows users to take a photo with their phone and upload images to the record. Users can even attach a GPS location to each note when connected to a high-speed Wi-Fi network. For residential builders, BuilderMT has an iPhone app for its business process management (BPM) technology, which allows builders to create and manage automated processes without having to be able to do complicated programming. BuilderMT's iPhone app allows workflow applications that are usually only available in the office to be pushed to browser-based mobile devices. When linked to a BPM mapping tool, the workflow applications can be integrated with other processes like scheduling, variance purchase orders, work orders, and punchlist processes.
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