The Federal Reserve Bank (FRB) had to do something quickly and dramatically to dampen the downward spiral of confidence and spending that began earlier this year and threatened to become much more serious earlier this month, says Jim Haughey, chief economist for Reed Construction Data, Norcross, Ga. "This was the only option available. Already, it is clear that the expected impact is occurring, although we do not yet know if the impact is big enough to restart the economic recovery," Haughey continues. "The FRB has two mandates: maintain both price stability and low unemployment. The recent announcement is driven by the unemployment rate mandate and creates added risk of future inflation. The economy is awash in liquidity in order to finance anything that quickly creates jobs and provides income to those without jobs or with reduced incomes." To read more on this story, visit EC&M's website.
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Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity remained steady in the engineering and construction (E&C) industry during the second quarter of 2011. Strategic transactions, local market M&A, and non-U.S.-affiliated deals dominated the quarter’s activity, according to Engineering Growth, a quarterly analysis of M&A activity in the global engineering and construction industry by PwC US. To read more on this story, visit EC&M's website.
Pike Research, Boulder, Colo., forecasts that the world market for smart meters will peak at just over 100 million units in 2015, followed by a gradual decline in annual unit shipments. The growth of the industry will be characterized by regional waves of adoption, beginning with the North American market, which will peak in 2012, followed by a peak in Asia Pacific in 2015, in Europe in 2017, and more gradual long-term growth in Latin America, the Middle East, and Africa. By 2020, the global installed base will reach 963 million smart meters, a penetration rate of 59% among all installed electric meters. To read more on this story, visit EC&M's website.
A new survey from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) found that interest among Realtors and their clients for home technology is high. Most realtors have encountered homes with installed technologies. In fact, in the past 24 months 9 in 10 realtors have been involved in buying, selling, or showing of a home with technology ranging from more established systems such as monitored security (93%) and home theater pre-wire/system (89%) to newer technologies like home automation/management systems (54%) and energy management systems (51%).
To read more on this story, visit EC&M's website.
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Fremond County School District No. 1, Lander, Wyo., is seeking bids, including electrical rough-in, for Phase One of the work for the construction of the new Gannett Peak Elementary School. Bids will be accepted until 2 p.m. CST on August 25. A pre-qualification package may be obtained from the construction manager by calling (307) 324-7151 or emailing a request to contact@lmolson.com.
The City of Columbia, Mo., is soliciting bids for a lighting retrofit project at its Health Department. A pre-proposal conference is scheduled for 2 p.m. CST on September 12. Bids will be accepted until 5 p.m. CST on September 23. For more information, visit the city's bid pages.
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With an operating capacity of 244,000 tons per year, Century Aluminum’s primary aluminum smelting plant in Hawesville, Ky., has been in operation since 1969. The original 400-ft chimney stack featured an incandescent beacon lighting system installed in the 1970s. Looking to upgrade its antiquated technology, the company replaced its vintage beacons with a new, high-efficiency Dialight Vigilant Series L-864 LED red beacon system in an effort to achieve savings in energy consumption and cost, as well as dramatically cut maintenance expenses. To read more on this story, visit the EC&M website.
The Illuminating Engineering Society of North America (IES) announces the publication of RP-22-11, "Tunnel Lighting," an ANSI-approved standard. The purpose of the document is to provide recommended practices for designing new tunnel lighting systems and advance the art, science and practice of engineering as it relates to tunnel lighting. To read more on this story, visit the EC&M website.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced recently the next step of its comprehensive website reform, making Energy.gov a cutting-edge, interactive information platform and saving taxpayers more than $10 million annually.
Through a complete overhaul of its front-end and back-end design, Energy.gov modernizes how consumers and businesses access the information and resources they need to save money and energy while improving Departmental staff's ability to interact with the public and each other. To read more on this story, visit the EC&M website.
Construction spending edged up 0.2% in June as increases in private nonresidential construction outweighed continuing declines in private residential and public construction spending, the Associated General Contractors of America recently reported in an analysis of new Census Bureau data. The construction trade association’s chief economist, Ken Simonson, predicted further imbalances in spending, with further cuts in public spending likely to offset most or all of the gains in private investment. To read more on this story, visit the EC&M website.
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The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) recently formed an alliance focused on preventing worker exposures to electrical, crane, and fall hazards in the wind energy industry. "As part of the emerging green jobs industry, wind energy jobs promise to be kinder to our environment and transform our economy, but these jobs are not necessarily safer for American workers," said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Occupational Safety and Health Dr. David Michaels. "I am confident that our alliance with AWEA will further OSHA's mission to ensure that wind energy workers are protected from preventable injuries and death." During the two-year agreement, the alliance participants intend to develop materials for workers that address wind energy maintenance and operations hazards. The participants will also hold forums to discuss these hazards that can expose workers to harm. The participants also intend to raise awareness among workers and employers of OSHA's rulemaking and enforcement initiatives through sharing information on workplace safety and health standards.
The 2011 BICSI Fall Conference & Exhibition will take place from September 18-22 in Las Vegas. Topics for conference seminars include non-compliant cabling products, 2011 NEC changes for computer rooms, design rules for mission critical networks, and power over ethernet and fiber networks. For more information and to register, visit the BICSI Website at www.bicsi.org/fall/2011.
The Illuminating and Engineering Society has scheduled its Street and Area Lighting Conference (SALC) for September 18-21 in New Orleans. Course topics include outdoor lighting, computer-aided exterior lighting design, LED specification and design, and outdoor lighting controls. For more information and to register, visit the IES website at www.ies.org/salc/.
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