Governors' Coalition Releases Recommendations for Wind Energy
The Governors' Wind Energy Coalition recently released "Great Expectations: U.S. Wind Energy Development, the Governors' Wind Energy Coalition's 2010 Recommendations."

To read more on this story, visit EC&M's Web site.

Construction Materials Price Index Rises 0.1% in February
Construction materials price inflation continues to increase faster than overall inflation although inflation weakened in both indexes in February, according to Jim Haughey, chief economist for Norcross, Ga.-based Reed Construction Data. The economy-wide Producer Price Index fell 0.6%, almost entirely due to a drop in oil prices. The materials price index rose 0.1%. A 10% drop in diesel prices and an 8% fall in non-ferrous metal prices, the only significant price declines in February, almost completely offset sharp rises in asphalt, lumber, and plywood prices and smaller increases in most metal and concrete product prices. The drop in diesel prices will be reversed in March because diesel prices have already increased $0.18/gal. between the February and March price survey weeks, says Haughey.

To read more on this story, visit EC&M's Web site.

EPA Issues Second Annual Ranking of U.S. Cities with the Most Energy-Efficient Buildings
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released a list of U.S. metropolitan areas with the largest number of energy-efficient buildings that earned EPA's Energy Star in 2009. The list is headed by Los Angeles; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; Denver; Chicago; Houston; Lakeland, Fla.; Dallas-Fort Worth; Atlanta; and New York.

To read more on this story, visit EC&M's Web site.

Project Watch
Electrical Contract in Ohio
The Board of Education for Cleveland Heights-University Heights City School District, Cuyahoga County, Ohio, is soliciting bids for the $6,500 electrical contract on its Cleveland Heights High School north entry upgrade project. A pre-bid conference will be held at 3:30 p.m. EST on Tuesday, April 6. Bids are due at 2 p.m. EST on April 14. For more information, visit Cleveland.com.

Highway Lighting Installation and Maintenance in Florida
The Florida Department of Transportation, Tallahassee, Fla., is seeking bids for an $85,000 navigational lighting system installation contract and a $100,000 highway lighting maintenance contract. Bids will be received by Florida's Turnpike Enterprise, a division of the Florida Department of Transportation, until 2:30 p.m. EST on April 20. For more information, visit the department's Web site.

Web Exclusives
Business Brief
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Bloom Energy recently announced the Bloom Energy Server, a power-plant-in-a-box for large enterprises. Bloom touted its fuel-cell technology as a cheap, reliable source of electricity, with a much more stable source of electricity than solar, wind, or geothermal power.

For more Business Briefs, visit the EC&M Web site.

California Construction Employment and Spending Will Take Years to Return to Pre-Bust Levels
California's construction industry will build fewer projects and employ fewer people compared to its mid-decade peak through at least 2015, a leading business economist recently told staff of the state's Air Resources Board. As a result, the financially hard-pressed industry will generate fewer emissions for at least the same period, giving California time to revise its emissions standards for off-road diesel equipment and still meet and exceed its environmental goals, construction officials explained.

To read more about California's construction employment and spending, visit the EC&M Web site.

Western Region is Hotbed of Health Care Construction
More than half of architecture and engineering firms see the West Coast as the action market for health care construction in 2010 reveals a recent ZweigWhite survey, whose results are being published in the company's quarterly "Market Advisor" report.

To read more about West Coast's health care market, visit the EC&M Web site.

Eye on Safety
Faith Technologies Surpasses Three Million Hours Worked With No Lost-Time Accidents
Menasha, Wis.-based Faith Technologies, a full-service electrical and specialty systems contractor with 15 locations in five states including Georgia, Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, and Wisconsin, has surpassed three million hours worked without a lost-time accident. With nearly 1,500 employees, Faith Technologies has continued to work since December 28, 2008, without a lost-time incident. This includes completing more than 19,000 projects throughout five states.

"This is a rare accomplishment that many companies strive to reach, but few achieve," says Ted Sommer, director of safety at Faith Technologies. "After surpassing two million hours with no lost-time accidents last October, we challenged employees to continue to work each day safely so that we could reach the next milestone."

Shows & Events
2010 IEEE/IAS Industrial and Commercial Power Systems Technical Conference
The 2010 IEEE/IAS Industrial and Commercial Power Systems Technical Conference is scheduled for May 9-13 in Tallahassee, Fla. Technical paper sessions include "Ground Fault Location Testing of a Noise Pattern based Approach on an Ungrounded DC System," "Reliability of Example Data Center Designs Selected by Tier Classification, "Methods for Limiting Arc Flash Hazards While Maintaining System Selectivity," and "Considerations in Modeling and Applications of Three Winding Transformers in Industrial and Commercial Facilities." For more information and to register, visit the conference's Web site.

Lightfair International 2010
The Lightfair International 2010 Tradeshow and Conference will be held from May 12-14 in Las Vegas. Tracks for conference speakers include lighting design, professional development, building integration, sustainability, and technologies. For more information and to register, visit the Lightfair Web site.