New homebuyers are now more versed in the basic functions of the building envelope – comprised of the basement, walls, attic, doors and windows - as it affects air quality and energy use throughout the home. Along with providing structural integrity, the building envelope also controls moisture and humidity, regulates temperature and controls air pressure changes.
Plus, they also know to look for energy-efficient heating and cooling, appliances and lighting as well as water heating and conservation. Some buyers are also asking questions about building materials and off gassing. Certain paints, stains, varnishes, carpet, insulation, flooring, kitchen cabinets, countertops, plywood, particleboard and paint strippers release volatile chemicals into the air through evaporation for years after they are installed.
Beyond that, there are also those who are weighing the pros and cons of sustainable energy sources such as geothermal heating and cooling systems, solar panels and windmills.
According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, “green” building is the practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building's life-cycle from siting to design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction. This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability and comfort. “Green” building is also known as sustainable or high-performance building.
A study by McGraw-Hill Construction and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) projects that “green” building will comprise as much as 38% of the US residential market by 2016, up sharply in just five years, from 17% in 2011.
As a result, spending on green home technologies such as energy-efficient windows, foam insulation and on-site renewable energy generation is estimated to rise near $114 billion from $17 billion.
With research that continually identifies and clarifies the specific environmental, economic and social benefits along with the comparative costs of “green” building, a big challenge for both builders and homebuyers is determining how to achieve the greatest benefits for the lowest possible costs.
Beyond that, homeowners need to carefully choose “green” products they are comfortable with so they will use them – otherwise many of the potential benefits will never be realized.
Most experts agree that going “green” should involve a combination of “green” products and “green” behavior. This unified effort will result in the biggest gains for both your monthly cash flow and the environment.
For example, incandescent light bulbs have been shown to cost roughly 10 times more to operate on an annual basis than LEDs. So, if the energy utilized by incandescent bulbs costs you approximately $150 per year, switching to LED lighting would cost only about $15. By comparison, it’s tough to provide an average estimate of how much money habitually switching off lights can save you, but there should be a notable difference.
When it comes to conserving water, behavior is also very important, especially if you have an older shower head. By cutting a 10-minute shower down to five minutes, you can save about 25 gallons of water. If you continue this behavior every day, you can conserve about $180 per year. However, if you install a new low-flow shower head, you can save about 30 gallon of water per shower or $220 annually.
Like many builders who are incorporating more environmentally-friendly products and materials in their new homes, seriously “green-minded” homeowners can also make an impact with a few quick fixes, no matter when their home was built.
“Green” products can do a lot to protect the environment, but some “green” products can be cost-prohibitive. On the other hand, changes in behavior usually cost nothing and can also save money. Once people start seeing even a slight savings on utility and/or water bills through reduced consumption, the incentive will be there to take the next step in making the transition to “green” living.
2013年3月31日星期日
2013年3月28日星期四
Leysdown now has its own set of illuminations
The 55,00 Leysdown Illuminations, commissioned by Swale council as part of the Rose Tinted project, were officially switched on last week.
Artist Rob Olins designed the display with the help of the community, children from both sites of Eastchurch Primary School, Rolf Williams from the RSPB and holidaymakers. The theme was bird flight and aviation and the LED lights have been put on the seafront.
Mr Olins had been asking people what they wanted to see in the display, which involves a colour-changing lights pattern.
A lantern parade took place on Thursday evening involving the school children, Mayor of Swale Cllr Pat Sandle and Big Fish Arts, which entertained with sea shanties. The group had been working with the children to make lanterns for the parade.
Community chef Mike Spackman and his assistants from the Mobile Food Truck were also there, serving a winter stew for the guests, ahead of the switch on at 7pm.
The project was mainly funded by Arts Council England, which contributed 40,000, and also supported by Leysdown Parish Council, Swale council and Kent County Council.
Leysdown Rose Tinted project officer Louise Francis said: “It is state of the art technology as the lights run to a set programme.”
They are just for Leysdown and have been made in response to people from Leysdown.“You won’t get them anywhere else so they are quite special.”
Mr Olins added: “It’s very exciting, finally installing a new lighting scheme for Leysdown that benefits a traditional seaside village.”
I’ve had great inspiration working with the local school children and Mr Williams.“I hope residents and visitors enjoy the lights for many years to come.”
The new concession stand, which is longer than the previous one, features a granite top. The project also includes new coolers and a sink with running water, which the concession area did not have before.
The cost was about $14,000. The new concession stand was designed and completed by Bollheimer Construction.
Also just completed is a refurbishing of the floor area in front of the stage. That included removing a carpeted section, filling in cracks and then painting and clear coating the floor.
Up next in the theater’s ongoing restoration process will be new LED lights to the marquee this summer. Thanks to the Consumers Energy rebate program, the cost to the theater will be only $375, a savings of $7,800, said executive director Steve Tucker.“It’s going to be amazing,” he said. “It’ll really be a sight to see.”
Tucker said the next project for the interior will be to add a lowered ceiling to the main level of the theater below the balcony. The dropped ceiling will be made of birch wood and will encase the areas of deteriorating plaster.
That does not include the crumbling plaster in the arched ceiling of the theater, specifically on the west side of the theater area. Tucker said the plan is to restore the plaster to its original appearance after the dropped ceiling is finished.
“We wanted to fix all of the plaster, but that was going to be too expensive,” Tucker said. “Just the area where the birch wood ceiling is going to be was appraised at $180,000. The birch wood is going to look great. It will look like it was designed to be that way.”
Artist Rob Olins designed the display with the help of the community, children from both sites of Eastchurch Primary School, Rolf Williams from the RSPB and holidaymakers. The theme was bird flight and aviation and the LED lights have been put on the seafront.
Mr Olins had been asking people what they wanted to see in the display, which involves a colour-changing lights pattern.
A lantern parade took place on Thursday evening involving the school children, Mayor of Swale Cllr Pat Sandle and Big Fish Arts, which entertained with sea shanties. The group had been working with the children to make lanterns for the parade.
Community chef Mike Spackman and his assistants from the Mobile Food Truck were also there, serving a winter stew for the guests, ahead of the switch on at 7pm.
The project was mainly funded by Arts Council England, which contributed 40,000, and also supported by Leysdown Parish Council, Swale council and Kent County Council.
Leysdown Rose Tinted project officer Louise Francis said: “It is state of the art technology as the lights run to a set programme.”
They are just for Leysdown and have been made in response to people from Leysdown.“You won’t get them anywhere else so they are quite special.”
Mr Olins added: “It’s very exciting, finally installing a new lighting scheme for Leysdown that benefits a traditional seaside village.”
I’ve had great inspiration working with the local school children and Mr Williams.“I hope residents and visitors enjoy the lights for many years to come.”
The new concession stand, which is longer than the previous one, features a granite top. The project also includes new coolers and a sink with running water, which the concession area did not have before.
The cost was about $14,000. The new concession stand was designed and completed by Bollheimer Construction.
Also just completed is a refurbishing of the floor area in front of the stage. That included removing a carpeted section, filling in cracks and then painting and clear coating the floor.
Up next in the theater’s ongoing restoration process will be new LED lights to the marquee this summer. Thanks to the Consumers Energy rebate program, the cost to the theater will be only $375, a savings of $7,800, said executive director Steve Tucker.“It’s going to be amazing,” he said. “It’ll really be a sight to see.”
Tucker said the next project for the interior will be to add a lowered ceiling to the main level of the theater below the balcony. The dropped ceiling will be made of birch wood and will encase the areas of deteriorating plaster.
That does not include the crumbling plaster in the arched ceiling of the theater, specifically on the west side of the theater area. Tucker said the plan is to restore the plaster to its original appearance after the dropped ceiling is finished.
“We wanted to fix all of the plaster, but that was going to be too expensive,” Tucker said. “Just the area where the birch wood ceiling is going to be was appraised at $180,000. The birch wood is going to look great. It will look like it was designed to be that way.”
2013年3月27日星期三
Grid Supply Solar Trade Association
"The formation of this Association is long overdue," said Spano. "Grid supply solar is an important part of the solar industry whose value has been largely disregarded over the last two years." The Association's goal is to demonstrate by providing factual data regarding the exceptional advantages of grid supply solar to the public at large, to the towns in which they are built, as well as to the policy makers responsible for meeting the Renewable Energy Standards established by the State. These projects provide large numbers of good jobs as well as clean reliable power at peak periods that benefits all New Jersey's ratepayers, not just those with solar on their roofs.
From their common experience, the group confirmed that key decisions are currently being considered that threaten the destruction of this industry sector, resulting in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars of investment and the NJ jobs that come with that significant investment at a time when unemployment has affected so many NJ residents. Renewable energy attorney, Mark Bellin noted that "It is critical that key policy makers understand the facts and the consequences of the decisions they are about to make."
The Association has been formed to unite the solar grid supply industry and better educate the public and the regulatory agencies in order to encourage participation of all sectors of the solar industry in New Jersey. The Association stated in no uncertain terms that policies implemented by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities have effectively halted the construction of grid supply solar generation and blocked significant and needed investment in the state, notwithstanding the benefits that are demonstrated in virtually every other state with significant solar investment where Grid Supply projects have been the leading contributor to jobs growth.
Linzer Products Corporation, one of the world's largest manufacturers, importers, and exporters of paint tools and accessories, is replacing all the company's electricity needs with clean, solar power at its paint brush factory in San Fernando, California. The recent installation of a 614kW DC photovoltaic (PV) system includes 2,730 Mitsubishi Electric solar modules, installed by Sun Integration. The solar modules stretch across the factory's flat roof, transforming it into a productive space that contributes to the company's bottom line.
"Investing in a solar installation for our factory builds on our proud manufacturing history, while reducing our electrical costs and improving the environmental sustainability of our operations," said Linzer President and COO Brent Swenson. "Linzer's commitment to producing quality paint tools dates back to 1892, and our commitment to environmental quality extends to future generations."
The system is estimated to produce 920 MWh of electricity per year. The project is financed in part by the federal investment tax credit, and a rebate from the California Solar Initiative.
"Sun Integration applauds Linzer Products Corporation for powering their production facility with the sun," said Sevan Varteressian, President of Sun Integration. "It was rewarding to work with Linzer to advance the company's environmental and economic goals through installation of their PV system."
Linzer Products selected Mitsubishi Electric solar modules for their PV installation based on the company's 92 years of experience in the electronics business. In addition to Mitsubishi Electric's reputation for highly efficient and durable solar modules, Linzer valued the product's environmental credentials, including lead-free solder, and its production in a solar-powered facility with IS0 14001 certification.
"Mitsubishi Electric and Linzer Products Corporation share the philosophy that product quality is reflected in the economic and environmental sustainability of the manufacturing process," said Gina Heng, Vice President and General Manager of Mitsubishi Electric's photovoltaic division. "We are pleased to be able to help a local manufacturer harness the sun with the use of our solar modules."
From their common experience, the group confirmed that key decisions are currently being considered that threaten the destruction of this industry sector, resulting in the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars of investment and the NJ jobs that come with that significant investment at a time when unemployment has affected so many NJ residents. Renewable energy attorney, Mark Bellin noted that "It is critical that key policy makers understand the facts and the consequences of the decisions they are about to make."
The Association has been formed to unite the solar grid supply industry and better educate the public and the regulatory agencies in order to encourage participation of all sectors of the solar industry in New Jersey. The Association stated in no uncertain terms that policies implemented by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities have effectively halted the construction of grid supply solar generation and blocked significant and needed investment in the state, notwithstanding the benefits that are demonstrated in virtually every other state with significant solar investment where Grid Supply projects have been the leading contributor to jobs growth.
Linzer Products Corporation, one of the world's largest manufacturers, importers, and exporters of paint tools and accessories, is replacing all the company's electricity needs with clean, solar power at its paint brush factory in San Fernando, California. The recent installation of a 614kW DC photovoltaic (PV) system includes 2,730 Mitsubishi Electric solar modules, installed by Sun Integration. The solar modules stretch across the factory's flat roof, transforming it into a productive space that contributes to the company's bottom line.
"Investing in a solar installation for our factory builds on our proud manufacturing history, while reducing our electrical costs and improving the environmental sustainability of our operations," said Linzer President and COO Brent Swenson. "Linzer's commitment to producing quality paint tools dates back to 1892, and our commitment to environmental quality extends to future generations."
The system is estimated to produce 920 MWh of electricity per year. The project is financed in part by the federal investment tax credit, and a rebate from the California Solar Initiative.
"Sun Integration applauds Linzer Products Corporation for powering their production facility with the sun," said Sevan Varteressian, President of Sun Integration. "It was rewarding to work with Linzer to advance the company's environmental and economic goals through installation of their PV system."
Linzer Products selected Mitsubishi Electric solar modules for their PV installation based on the company's 92 years of experience in the electronics business. In addition to Mitsubishi Electric's reputation for highly efficient and durable solar modules, Linzer valued the product's environmental credentials, including lead-free solder, and its production in a solar-powered facility with IS0 14001 certification.
"Mitsubishi Electric and Linzer Products Corporation share the philosophy that product quality is reflected in the economic and environmental sustainability of the manufacturing process," said Gina Heng, Vice President and General Manager of Mitsubishi Electric's photovoltaic division. "We are pleased to be able to help a local manufacturer harness the sun with the use of our solar modules."
2013年3月26日星期二
Help Herculaneum High School Improve Energy Efficiency
The Doe Run Company (Doe Run) is investing more than $500,000 for the installation of solar panels and other energy efficiency upgrades at Herculaneum High School, part of the Dunklin R-V School District. The energy efficiency project is projected to save Dunklin R-V School District more than $27,000 in annual energy costs and more than $1.3 million during the project’s lifetime.
“At Doe Run, it is important to us that we provide enduring benefits to the communities in which we operate,” said Gary Hughes, general manager of Doe Run’s Primary Smelting Division. “One way to do this is to help vital services, such as local school districts, become more sustainable. The energy efficiency project will save the school district money, give students an opportunity to learn about renewable energy, and prepare students for potential careers in this growing field.”
The energy savings project is the result of a thorough energy audit conducted by Doe Run and Missouri-based Microgrid Energy to identify improvements that would create the greatest benefit for the high school. The team identified opportunities to upgrade the HVAC system and replace interior and exterior lighting fixtures with led par light or more efficient fluorescent lighting. With these and other improvements, the renewable energy generated by the solar array will represent a higher offset to the school’s energy bill.
The first phase of the project – solar panel installation – is slated to begin in May and finish by the end of the summer. The panels will be located on the roofs of Herculaneum High School’s classrooms, main school building and fine arts building. Two additional solar power canopies will be installed on the top deck of the football stadium grandstand and near the main parking lot to provide shade and collect additional energy. The HVAC and lighting upgrades also will be completed during the summer.
“Our goal was to introduce renewable energy sources to the school, while also improving the efficiency of the facility’s lighting and HVAC systems,” said Steve O’Rourke, vice president of consulting services at Microgrid Energy. “Once these projects are completed, the school will save on monthly utilities, and the cost savings will continue to grow as electric rates increase.”
Part of the energy created from the solar arrays will be stored in lead-acid batteries, which can be used to supplement grid power as needed. Approximately 90 percent of the lead metal Doe Run produces is used in lead-acid batteries such as these for energy storage in renewable energy applications, vehicles and telecommunications.
Herculaneum High School students will learn about responsible energy use by analyzing the data from the project’s performance monitoring system. Students will be able to monitor each building’s energy use and compare how much energy each solar array produces. In addition, Missouri University of Science and Technology graduate student Brian Peterson, who has been working closely with Microgrid to analyze potential energy storage solutions, will create curriculum to help Herculaneum High School teachers explain how lead-acid batteries can be used with renewable energy systems to optimize energy savings.
“We’re grateful to Doe Run for the ongoing support they provide for our district,” said Stan Stratton, Dunklin R-V School District superintendent. “Renewable and efficient energy sources are becoming increasingly important in our world, so it is exciting that we have the opportunity to introduce these concepts to our students, who will be tomorrow’s scientists, engineers and electricians.”
“At Doe Run, it is important to us that we provide enduring benefits to the communities in which we operate,” said Gary Hughes, general manager of Doe Run’s Primary Smelting Division. “One way to do this is to help vital services, such as local school districts, become more sustainable. The energy efficiency project will save the school district money, give students an opportunity to learn about renewable energy, and prepare students for potential careers in this growing field.”
The energy savings project is the result of a thorough energy audit conducted by Doe Run and Missouri-based Microgrid Energy to identify improvements that would create the greatest benefit for the high school. The team identified opportunities to upgrade the HVAC system and replace interior and exterior lighting fixtures with led par light or more efficient fluorescent lighting. With these and other improvements, the renewable energy generated by the solar array will represent a higher offset to the school’s energy bill.
The first phase of the project – solar panel installation – is slated to begin in May and finish by the end of the summer. The panels will be located on the roofs of Herculaneum High School’s classrooms, main school building and fine arts building. Two additional solar power canopies will be installed on the top deck of the football stadium grandstand and near the main parking lot to provide shade and collect additional energy. The HVAC and lighting upgrades also will be completed during the summer.
“Our goal was to introduce renewable energy sources to the school, while also improving the efficiency of the facility’s lighting and HVAC systems,” said Steve O’Rourke, vice president of consulting services at Microgrid Energy. “Once these projects are completed, the school will save on monthly utilities, and the cost savings will continue to grow as electric rates increase.”
Part of the energy created from the solar arrays will be stored in lead-acid batteries, which can be used to supplement grid power as needed. Approximately 90 percent of the lead metal Doe Run produces is used in lead-acid batteries such as these for energy storage in renewable energy applications, vehicles and telecommunications.
Herculaneum High School students will learn about responsible energy use by analyzing the data from the project’s performance monitoring system. Students will be able to monitor each building’s energy use and compare how much energy each solar array produces. In addition, Missouri University of Science and Technology graduate student Brian Peterson, who has been working closely with Microgrid to analyze potential energy storage solutions, will create curriculum to help Herculaneum High School teachers explain how lead-acid batteries can be used with renewable energy systems to optimize energy savings.
“We’re grateful to Doe Run for the ongoing support they provide for our district,” said Stan Stratton, Dunklin R-V School District superintendent. “Renewable and efficient energy sources are becoming increasingly important in our world, so it is exciting that we have the opportunity to introduce these concepts to our students, who will be tomorrow’s scientists, engineers and electricians.”
2013年3月25日星期一
2,400 with flashlights illuminate Cowboys Stadium
The unprecedented nighttime photo shoot at Cowboys Stadium drew half its goal of 5,000 people. But Saturday’s crowd was large enough to paint the building with light in a collaborative art project that involved doctoral students as well as young children.
An estimated 2,400 people — mostly dressed in black — shuffled around the parking lot waving flashlight beams along the stadium’s glass skin and bouncing light off the pavement. Volunteers across Legends Way pointed lights at the roof, while others huddled under the arches, illuminating a pair of the building’s signature features.
The exposure length was doubled when the crowd was smaller than expected, but reduced after the first effort was overexposed. The volunteers had to be reminded to not let their flashlight beams linger, creating lighting hot spots.
And then they were told to move back-and-forth in a wider area than planned. “Do the Big Shot shuffle,” organizers called over the loudspeaker.
After the last shot, project organizers surreptitiously passed around a bottle of peppermint schnapps — a Big Shot tradition, they noted — and headed toward the stadium to start processing the photos.
DuBois, appropriately for the venue, was forced to call audibles throughout the night from his perch 40 feet above the parking lot in the chilly air. He said things were shaky at first at the event, but then “it all fell into place.”
Michael Peres, a RIT professor and Big Shot co-founder, made NASA and alien jokes after a test shot taken without stadium lights or flashlights had the coloring of a Martian landscape rather than a North Texas prairie.
The final, color-corrected version would have resembled an architectural rendering rather than a traditional photo, he explained. The lines were crisper, with an overall glow to the scene.
Cowboys Stadium staff turned off all the lights for the first time since the building opened. Even during stadium construction, lights were on overnight.
Brett Daniels, a Cowboys spokesman, said the staff in recent weeks had to search to find the breakers for some emergency lights that aren’t meant to ever be turned off. The parking lot lights as well as street lights on Legends Way were also cut off for the shoot.
RIT professors created the project — inspired by an earlier Sylvania marketing effort — as a way to teach flash problem-solving to second-year students in the university’s Biomedical Photography program. The first subject was Highland Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., which needed three dozen volunteers shining flashlights and using handheld flash units to light the nighttime scene in 1987.
The Big Shot expanded outside New York in 2001 to the Alamo. The team has twice traveled overseas for shoots. On several occasions, more than 1,000 people lighted the scenes, but Saturday’s Arlington crowd was the biggest yet.
The Gizzi family of Rochester had never attended a Big Shot in their hometown, where most are. But they participated at Cowboys Stadium.
Michele Gizzi said he has friends and family with RIT connections and decided to turn the shoot into a weeklong family vacation that included tours of the Arlington stadiums, trips to Billy Bob’s and Gilley’s and St. Patrick’s Day in the Fort Worth’s Stockyards.
An estimated 2,400 people — mostly dressed in black — shuffled around the parking lot waving flashlight beams along the stadium’s glass skin and bouncing light off the pavement. Volunteers across Legends Way pointed lights at the roof, while others huddled under the arches, illuminating a pair of the building’s signature features.
The exposure length was doubled when the crowd was smaller than expected, but reduced after the first effort was overexposed. The volunteers had to be reminded to not let their flashlight beams linger, creating lighting hot spots.
And then they were told to move back-and-forth in a wider area than planned. “Do the Big Shot shuffle,” organizers called over the loudspeaker.
After the last shot, project organizers surreptitiously passed around a bottle of peppermint schnapps — a Big Shot tradition, they noted — and headed toward the stadium to start processing the photos.
DuBois, appropriately for the venue, was forced to call audibles throughout the night from his perch 40 feet above the parking lot in the chilly air. He said things were shaky at first at the event, but then “it all fell into place.”
Michael Peres, a RIT professor and Big Shot co-founder, made NASA and alien jokes after a test shot taken without stadium lights or flashlights had the coloring of a Martian landscape rather than a North Texas prairie.
The final, color-corrected version would have resembled an architectural rendering rather than a traditional photo, he explained. The lines were crisper, with an overall glow to the scene.
Cowboys Stadium staff turned off all the lights for the first time since the building opened. Even during stadium construction, lights were on overnight.
Brett Daniels, a Cowboys spokesman, said the staff in recent weeks had to search to find the breakers for some emergency lights that aren’t meant to ever be turned off. The parking lot lights as well as street lights on Legends Way were also cut off for the shoot.
RIT professors created the project — inspired by an earlier Sylvania marketing effort — as a way to teach flash problem-solving to second-year students in the university’s Biomedical Photography program. The first subject was Highland Hospital in Rochester, N.Y., which needed three dozen volunteers shining flashlights and using handheld flash units to light the nighttime scene in 1987.
The Big Shot expanded outside New York in 2001 to the Alamo. The team has twice traveled overseas for shoots. On several occasions, more than 1,000 people lighted the scenes, but Saturday’s Arlington crowd was the biggest yet.
The Gizzi family of Rochester had never attended a Big Shot in their hometown, where most are. But they participated at Cowboys Stadium.
Michele Gizzi said he has friends and family with RIT connections and decided to turn the shoot into a weeklong family vacation that included tours of the Arlington stadiums, trips to Billy Bob’s and Gilley’s and St. Patrick’s Day in the Fort Worth’s Stockyards.
2013年3月24日星期日
R8 Expectations
The arrival of the R8 supercar in 2007 signalled Audi's intent to become a serious contender in the performance-car market.
Before that it was a domain dominated by German competitors BMW and Mercedes- Benz. Over the past six years the R8 has won many major European races, including the 2012 Nurburgring 24-Hour race.
Over the same period Audi has developed a performance structure throughout its model range, starting with the S Line, S and then RS, to sit under its R models. Today about 30 per cent of Audi customers have some level of performance enhancement added to their new car.
This week, Audi released the first major upgrade of the car that started it all.
Only minor changes, like slight changes to the front and rear bumpers and the addition of LED lighting to the standard equipment list, have been made to the German carmaker's performance flagship model.
Though its new rear "dynamic indicators" are going to attract even more attention to a car that is already a head-turner.
Instead of flashing on and off in the traditional way, the long, slender orange strip lights up from inside to out. It is a cool-looking feature that is sure to be copied by its competitors and after-market manufacturers.
Interior changes also are minimal with a few chrome and high-gloss black highlights added to give it a more premium feel.
It has also added a new top-of-the-range model, the V10 Plus, lifting the top-end price of the mid-engined two-seater, to well above $400,000.
But the most important change to the range is the addition of a seven-speed S-tronic dual-clutch automatic transmission to replace the six-speed R-tronic automatic.
It is a move that has enabled the mid-engine coupe and spyder to reduce its 0-100km/h sprint time by 0.3 secs. and fuel consumption by nearly 1.0L/100km.
While it does not sound like a big improvement it is enough to make the new V10 Plus coupe, which is also 50kg lighter than the standard V10 coupe, the quickest production car ever built by Audi.
The R8 V8 comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission but Audi expects more than 90 per cent of buyers to opt for the S-Tronic automatic.
Earlier this week, WestWheels was among a small group taken to the Phillip Island GP track in Victoria to see how the changes affected this brute of a car.
The last time I sat behind the wheel of the R8 was when the V10 variant was added to the line-up in 2009. It was also on a race track.
I remember walking away from that day thinking that the V8 was a better balanced car that was more fun to drive. It was hard work keeping the same control of the more powerful V10.
This week, I was pleasantly surprised at the composure and balance of the V10, even when driven on the limits of my ability - which sadly, is a long way short of the limits of the powerful Audi.
There is no question the new transmission played a part in this improvement. It is much quicker, and smoother changing than the box it replaces, while the extra cog and improved electronics make it easier to make sure you pick the right gear. The steering also felt sharper and braking more efficient.
I drove a V10 Plus with ceramic brakes and a V10 with the standard braking package. It was hard to pick the difference between the two in regards to performance.
After completing a couple of laps in the V10 Plus and then jumping into the V8 variant I found myself constantly wanting more power, especially coming out of turns and on the back straight.
Before that it was a domain dominated by German competitors BMW and Mercedes- Benz. Over the past six years the R8 has won many major European races, including the 2012 Nurburgring 24-Hour race.
Over the same period Audi has developed a performance structure throughout its model range, starting with the S Line, S and then RS, to sit under its R models. Today about 30 per cent of Audi customers have some level of performance enhancement added to their new car.
This week, Audi released the first major upgrade of the car that started it all.
Only minor changes, like slight changes to the front and rear bumpers and the addition of LED lighting to the standard equipment list, have been made to the German carmaker's performance flagship model.
Though its new rear "dynamic indicators" are going to attract even more attention to a car that is already a head-turner.
Instead of flashing on and off in the traditional way, the long, slender orange strip lights up from inside to out. It is a cool-looking feature that is sure to be copied by its competitors and after-market manufacturers.
Interior changes also are minimal with a few chrome and high-gloss black highlights added to give it a more premium feel.
It has also added a new top-of-the-range model, the V10 Plus, lifting the top-end price of the mid-engined two-seater, to well above $400,000.
But the most important change to the range is the addition of a seven-speed S-tronic dual-clutch automatic transmission to replace the six-speed R-tronic automatic.
It is a move that has enabled the mid-engine coupe and spyder to reduce its 0-100km/h sprint time by 0.3 secs. and fuel consumption by nearly 1.0L/100km.
While it does not sound like a big improvement it is enough to make the new V10 Plus coupe, which is also 50kg lighter than the standard V10 coupe, the quickest production car ever built by Audi.
The R8 V8 comes standard with a six-speed manual transmission but Audi expects more than 90 per cent of buyers to opt for the S-Tronic automatic.
Earlier this week, WestWheels was among a small group taken to the Phillip Island GP track in Victoria to see how the changes affected this brute of a car.
The last time I sat behind the wheel of the R8 was when the V10 variant was added to the line-up in 2009. It was also on a race track.
I remember walking away from that day thinking that the V8 was a better balanced car that was more fun to drive. It was hard work keeping the same control of the more powerful V10.
This week, I was pleasantly surprised at the composure and balance of the V10, even when driven on the limits of my ability - which sadly, is a long way short of the limits of the powerful Audi.
There is no question the new transmission played a part in this improvement. It is much quicker, and smoother changing than the box it replaces, while the extra cog and improved electronics make it easier to make sure you pick the right gear. The steering also felt sharper and braking more efficient.
I drove a V10 Plus with ceramic brakes and a V10 with the standard braking package. It was hard to pick the difference between the two in regards to performance.
After completing a couple of laps in the V10 Plus and then jumping into the V8 variant I found myself constantly wanting more power, especially coming out of turns and on the back straight.
2013年3月21日星期四
Doha is Stunningly Pretty at Night
Couples and friends trek along the crescent towards to view the back of the Museum from land’s end where an artwork of seven, forty foot tall rusting iron beams stands in the clearing and forms a hollowed obelisk with a heptagon opening to the blue skies.
Just beyond, perhaps two kilometers across on the far side of the bay, the entire vista of Dafna – the New Doha – shimmers, a tribute to the daring and determination of the Qatari Royal Family and business tycoons to transform the once desert flatlands and sand dunes into the towering skyscrapers of a financial and new downtown district. It’s reminiscent of looking across the Huangpu River from the Bund at the New Shanghai in Lujiazui, Pudong anchored by the iconic 468 meter tall Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
Except in Dafna, the centerpieces are the Al Mirqab Tower; the Salam Tower, the ball-like pavilion in between; the semi-circular Doha Tel tower, and the World Trade Center with its hovering disk at top. To the sides, the towers have impressive crowns, and each vies with the other for architectural distinction, reflecting the creative flair of world-renowned architects who were given a chance to create a masterpiece of unusual geometries with hefty budgets. Two blocks away, across the mall where the French grocery retailer Carrefour is the busiest main anchor, a golden globe twenty stories up bridges and connects two slender towers. Even now, construction continues on several more towers and a multi-use, residential complex is coming out of the ground next to the Sheraton.
But what impresses by day turns into a carnival of festive of lights by night. The towers of Dafna come alive with lights that adorn the facades, against a dark black sky, as if some amusement show was live on a screen. On Thursday and Friday nights, spectators line up along the Corniche, especially at the vantage point behind the Museum to be entranced by the dancing red, yellow, blue lights playing on the towers across the bay. The dancing light show goes on till almost midnight on the weekends.
In what must surely be a first, the entire fifty-story facade of the baton-like Al Mirqab Tower, all the way to the top of its antenna mast, is covered in orange LED lights, turning on and off in a computerized sequence. The conical Salam Tower, pinched at the middle, affectionately called the Tornado (its twin is being completed next to it), is criss-crossed by blue LED strips that also change to give the feel of a whirling column. And the disk atop the World Trade Center comes to life with LEDs that create a pattern of starbursts in changing colors and flash the name of the building. A blue LED strip defines the curve of the nearby Doha Tel Tower, with its floors dissected by orange LED strips, making it look like a cut slice of an orange. On both sides of the centerpiece, other towers have crowns that glow in floodlight colors, and every floor of the pyramidal Sheraton Hotel is ablaze in yellow light.
Across the bay, in the Old City stays lit all night long. The spiraling single minar by the Souq Waqif radiates in yellow light; as does the Museum of Islamic Art, a testament to the creative flair of world-renowned architect I. M. Pei. Nearby the Clock Tower and Al Koot Fort are set off in light and the Diwan Emiri, the walls of the immense rectangular Royal residence, are bathed in white floodlight.
On a dark, moonless night, the dark bay waters lapping gently at the shoreline, sitting on the seawall and hearing voices in the many languages of the diaspora that lives in Doha, you forget where you are and get mesmerized by the beauty and playfulness of this extravagant light show and architectural showpieces, truly a feast for the eyes.
Just beyond, perhaps two kilometers across on the far side of the bay, the entire vista of Dafna – the New Doha – shimmers, a tribute to the daring and determination of the Qatari Royal Family and business tycoons to transform the once desert flatlands and sand dunes into the towering skyscrapers of a financial and new downtown district. It’s reminiscent of looking across the Huangpu River from the Bund at the New Shanghai in Lujiazui, Pudong anchored by the iconic 468 meter tall Oriental Pearl TV Tower.
Except in Dafna, the centerpieces are the Al Mirqab Tower; the Salam Tower, the ball-like pavilion in between; the semi-circular Doha Tel tower, and the World Trade Center with its hovering disk at top. To the sides, the towers have impressive crowns, and each vies with the other for architectural distinction, reflecting the creative flair of world-renowned architects who were given a chance to create a masterpiece of unusual geometries with hefty budgets. Two blocks away, across the mall where the French grocery retailer Carrefour is the busiest main anchor, a golden globe twenty stories up bridges and connects two slender towers. Even now, construction continues on several more towers and a multi-use, residential complex is coming out of the ground next to the Sheraton.
But what impresses by day turns into a carnival of festive of lights by night. The towers of Dafna come alive with lights that adorn the facades, against a dark black sky, as if some amusement show was live on a screen. On Thursday and Friday nights, spectators line up along the Corniche, especially at the vantage point behind the Museum to be entranced by the dancing red, yellow, blue lights playing on the towers across the bay. The dancing light show goes on till almost midnight on the weekends.
In what must surely be a first, the entire fifty-story facade of the baton-like Al Mirqab Tower, all the way to the top of its antenna mast, is covered in orange LED lights, turning on and off in a computerized sequence. The conical Salam Tower, pinched at the middle, affectionately called the Tornado (its twin is being completed next to it), is criss-crossed by blue LED strips that also change to give the feel of a whirling column. And the disk atop the World Trade Center comes to life with LEDs that create a pattern of starbursts in changing colors and flash the name of the building. A blue LED strip defines the curve of the nearby Doha Tel Tower, with its floors dissected by orange LED strips, making it look like a cut slice of an orange. On both sides of the centerpiece, other towers have crowns that glow in floodlight colors, and every floor of the pyramidal Sheraton Hotel is ablaze in yellow light.
Across the bay, in the Old City stays lit all night long. The spiraling single minar by the Souq Waqif radiates in yellow light; as does the Museum of Islamic Art, a testament to the creative flair of world-renowned architect I. M. Pei. Nearby the Clock Tower and Al Koot Fort are set off in light and the Diwan Emiri, the walls of the immense rectangular Royal residence, are bathed in white floodlight.
On a dark, moonless night, the dark bay waters lapping gently at the shoreline, sitting on the seawall and hearing voices in the many languages of the diaspora that lives in Doha, you forget where you are and get mesmerized by the beauty and playfulness of this extravagant light show and architectural showpieces, truly a feast for the eyes.
2013年3月20日星期三
Business as usual
Didn’t anybody ever tell Mr. Wolfe that this is precisely the kind of threat to be delivered in person, at the corner table in the very back of the saloon, and even then sotto voce?
That way one can deny that one effectively said, “I’ve been bribing you because you’ve supported the state subsidies and protections of my business. If you threaten to reduce those subsidies and protections by even the tiniest increment, I will find someone more reliably subservient to me and finance his or her campaign against you.”
Make no mistake. That’s what Wolfe effectively said. His business is subsidized and protected by the state not via any actual appropriation of taxpayer money (though perhaps a search would find one) but because he is in the “renewable energy” dodge. Vermont subsidizes “renewable energy” (essentially wind and solar power) by requiring the state’s utilities to buy it (which requires everyone to pay for it) even though it costs more.
The specific benefits for Solar (Really, Mr. Wolfe. It’s the first letter that should be capitalized) are impossible to determine because specifically what Solar does is impossible to determine. Its website informs that it “provides turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) solar photovoltaic (PV) projects for developers, financial, commercial, government, utility, and other institutional clients.”
Whatever that means, the firm is in the solar energy business, protected and subsidized by both the state and federal governments. Wolfe apparently likes it that way.
Why shouldn’t he? Because the real lesson here is that his business isn’t all that different from the others, especially not the others in the energy sector. Among the weakest arguments of the anti-wind energy forces (wind being more contentious than solar in Vermont) is that the wind projects are economically viable only because governments protect and subsidize them.
That’s true of all energy. Oil prices were artificially inflated for years because the Texas Railroad Commission limited domestic production as the oil companies acted on their own to limit foreign production. Nuclear power is probably the most government-nurtured industry in the history of the universe. Coal companies do not pay the price for the pollution and illness their product creates. The taxpayers do. Or nobody does and people put up with dirtier air and more sickness, another kind of “payment.”
But in a broader sense, all businesses are subsidized and protected by government. Among the virtues of Wolfe’s letter is the absence of any pretence that ours is a “free market” economy in which the private sector does not depend on government. He was fighting the status which provides advantages to his segment of the economy. And he was refreshingly unapologetic about it.
He was also apoplectic about it, perhaps more than the facts warranted. First of all, the bill against which he was fulminating (S.30) is not at all likely to pass. If it does make it through the Senate, it faces substantial opposition in the House and a likely veto from Gov. Peter Shumlin.
Furthermore, it would hardly spell the end of solar and wind energy projects in Vermont. By making them subject to the criteria of Act 250 and giving municipalities a greater say over the permitting process, it might complicate or perhaps even scuttle a project here and there. The more likely impact, though, would be simply to make the permitting process more difficult for wind and solar developers.
That’s ample reason for them to be against it. But to threaten a legislative leader with well-financed opposition and to hint none too subtly that businesses would flee the state even if just one house passes the bill? That seems heavy-handed.
That way one can deny that one effectively said, “I’ve been bribing you because you’ve supported the state subsidies and protections of my business. If you threaten to reduce those subsidies and protections by even the tiniest increment, I will find someone more reliably subservient to me and finance his or her campaign against you.”
Make no mistake. That’s what Wolfe effectively said. His business is subsidized and protected by the state not via any actual appropriation of taxpayer money (though perhaps a search would find one) but because he is in the “renewable energy” dodge. Vermont subsidizes “renewable energy” (essentially wind and solar power) by requiring the state’s utilities to buy it (which requires everyone to pay for it) even though it costs more.
The specific benefits for Solar (Really, Mr. Wolfe. It’s the first letter that should be capitalized) are impossible to determine because specifically what Solar does is impossible to determine. Its website informs that it “provides turnkey engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) solar photovoltaic (PV) projects for developers, financial, commercial, government, utility, and other institutional clients.”
Whatever that means, the firm is in the solar energy business, protected and subsidized by both the state and federal governments. Wolfe apparently likes it that way.
Why shouldn’t he? Because the real lesson here is that his business isn’t all that different from the others, especially not the others in the energy sector. Among the weakest arguments of the anti-wind energy forces (wind being more contentious than solar in Vermont) is that the wind projects are economically viable only because governments protect and subsidize them.
That’s true of all energy. Oil prices were artificially inflated for years because the Texas Railroad Commission limited domestic production as the oil companies acted on their own to limit foreign production. Nuclear power is probably the most government-nurtured industry in the history of the universe. Coal companies do not pay the price for the pollution and illness their product creates. The taxpayers do. Or nobody does and people put up with dirtier air and more sickness, another kind of “payment.”
But in a broader sense, all businesses are subsidized and protected by government. Among the virtues of Wolfe’s letter is the absence of any pretence that ours is a “free market” economy in which the private sector does not depend on government. He was fighting the status which provides advantages to his segment of the economy. And he was refreshingly unapologetic about it.
He was also apoplectic about it, perhaps more than the facts warranted. First of all, the bill against which he was fulminating (S.30) is not at all likely to pass. If it does make it through the Senate, it faces substantial opposition in the House and a likely veto from Gov. Peter Shumlin.
Furthermore, it would hardly spell the end of solar and wind energy projects in Vermont. By making them subject to the criteria of Act 250 and giving municipalities a greater say over the permitting process, it might complicate or perhaps even scuttle a project here and there. The more likely impact, though, would be simply to make the permitting process more difficult for wind and solar developers.
That’s ample reason for them to be against it. But to threaten a legislative leader with well-financed opposition and to hint none too subtly that businesses would flee the state even if just one house passes the bill? That seems heavy-handed.
2013年3月19日星期二
Off-Duty Lights to go with your Off-Duty Gun
In this column we’ve previously discussed off-duty guns and some of the hardware choices available to modern lawman. When we are carrying off-duty, as well as on, we must understand that we need more than a firearm. Guns aren’t a mystical talisman or magical good luck charm. They are merely tools we use to keep ourselves and those we care about safe.
The great thing about a duty belt is that you can carry a lot of gear and you don’t need to worry about concealing it. When we put on street clothes, we need much of the same gear we carry on duty, but now we need to conceal it and carry it comfortably. The comfortable part is the tallest order.
We spend about half of our life either in the dark or reduced light situations. As a human being, your eyes require light to gather the information your brain needs to process the situation. No light, no information, no plan.
In our modern era there are a plethora of high-quality, super-bright flashlights from which to choose. Duty lights from SureFire and Streamlight come in a number of sizes and configurations. However, as light-weight and portable as they are many of these personal tactical lights can be a chore to carry in plainclothes, particularly in shorts and t-shirt weather.
During this month’s column we’re going to take a close look at two lights that are now in the running for ‘Best Off-Duty Flashlight’. You can decide for yourself.
I must admit that I discovered this light quite by accident. The Brite-Strike EPLI (Executive) was a gift from a friend and one for which I am most grateful. For those unaware, Brite-Strike has been chipping away at the tactical light market once dominated by the big dogs.
First of all, the Executive light is indeed a white LED with a focused beam. Of the two lights featured herein, this one is ‘long and thin’. The Executive’s size is actually deceptive, looking at it you wouldn’t believe the light is as powerful as it is (220 Lumens) or that it is so stout and well made.
Checking the manufacturer’s specs, the Executive is 5.125 inches long and just a hair over one-half inch at the bezel. The total weight is only 1.2 ounces as the body is constructed primarily of aluminum. Two AAA batteries provide the power source. A spring-steel pocketclip is included as well.
A tailcap switch is used to activate the light and it has three levels or settings. First click is the brightest light at 220 Lumens, the second click or press is the low setting at 110 Lumens and the third click is a bright strobe option. Every option can be momentary with a light press of the tailcap or constant by pressing the switch until it clicks.
Naturally the Executive light can be used in conjunction with a sidearm in order to clearly and positively identify potential threats. Any light is good for utility tasks such as looking under the car seats or illuminating dark corners. The third use for a light such as this is a less-than-lethal force tool. When held in a closed fist, the bezel end can be quite the attention getter for those who are misbehaving but not yet crossed into the deadly force zone.
Next up on the list is a light that I long ago dubbed the “J-frame of flashlights”. The SureFire Backup light might not be the biggest or brightest light in the catalog, but it is so convenient to carry that it is the one you will, or should, always have on you.
Powered by a single 123A lithium battery, the Backup is the ‘short and fat’ member of the team. Since its introduction a few years ago the Backup has undergone several modifications. Naturally, in the flashlight business they are always striving for more power. The Backup lights today a much brighter than the original models.
As I put pen to paper the current EB1 Backup from SureFire is a dual output white LED flashlight. The high setting is a whopping 200 Lumens. Yes, 200 Lumens on a single battery. The low setting is 5 Lumens for reading, etc. The beam is a fixed focus.
The great thing about a duty belt is that you can carry a lot of gear and you don’t need to worry about concealing it. When we put on street clothes, we need much of the same gear we carry on duty, but now we need to conceal it and carry it comfortably. The comfortable part is the tallest order.
We spend about half of our life either in the dark or reduced light situations. As a human being, your eyes require light to gather the information your brain needs to process the situation. No light, no information, no plan.
In our modern era there are a plethora of high-quality, super-bright flashlights from which to choose. Duty lights from SureFire and Streamlight come in a number of sizes and configurations. However, as light-weight and portable as they are many of these personal tactical lights can be a chore to carry in plainclothes, particularly in shorts and t-shirt weather.
During this month’s column we’re going to take a close look at two lights that are now in the running for ‘Best Off-Duty Flashlight’. You can decide for yourself.
I must admit that I discovered this light quite by accident. The Brite-Strike EPLI (Executive) was a gift from a friend and one for which I am most grateful. For those unaware, Brite-Strike has been chipping away at the tactical light market once dominated by the big dogs.
First of all, the Executive light is indeed a white LED with a focused beam. Of the two lights featured herein, this one is ‘long and thin’. The Executive’s size is actually deceptive, looking at it you wouldn’t believe the light is as powerful as it is (220 Lumens) or that it is so stout and well made.
Checking the manufacturer’s specs, the Executive is 5.125 inches long and just a hair over one-half inch at the bezel. The total weight is only 1.2 ounces as the body is constructed primarily of aluminum. Two AAA batteries provide the power source. A spring-steel pocketclip is included as well.
A tailcap switch is used to activate the light and it has three levels or settings. First click is the brightest light at 220 Lumens, the second click or press is the low setting at 110 Lumens and the third click is a bright strobe option. Every option can be momentary with a light press of the tailcap or constant by pressing the switch until it clicks.
Naturally the Executive light can be used in conjunction with a sidearm in order to clearly and positively identify potential threats. Any light is good for utility tasks such as looking under the car seats or illuminating dark corners. The third use for a light such as this is a less-than-lethal force tool. When held in a closed fist, the bezel end can be quite the attention getter for those who are misbehaving but not yet crossed into the deadly force zone.
Next up on the list is a light that I long ago dubbed the “J-frame of flashlights”. The SureFire Backup light might not be the biggest or brightest light in the catalog, but it is so convenient to carry that it is the one you will, or should, always have on you.
Powered by a single 123A lithium battery, the Backup is the ‘short and fat’ member of the team. Since its introduction a few years ago the Backup has undergone several modifications. Naturally, in the flashlight business they are always striving for more power. The Backup lights today a much brighter than the original models.
As I put pen to paper the current EB1 Backup from SureFire is a dual output white LED flashlight. The high setting is a whopping 200 Lumens. Yes, 200 Lumens on a single battery. The low setting is 5 Lumens for reading, etc. The beam is a fixed focus.
2013年3月18日星期一
No Protests For N.Y. Style Light Pole Assessment
A few residential blocks in Santa Monica’s north of Montana area were recently adorned with new street light poles to the tune of almost $155,000.
Anyone who wanted to lodge a protest to the City Council about the assessed cost of installing the new lights had an opportunity to do so March 12. Interestingly enough, no residents participated in the public hearing and Council members formally confirmed the assessed costs.
Council members in 2008 created streetlight assessment districts from Fifteenth Street from Alta Avenue to Montana Avenue and Urban Avenue from Yorkshire Avenue to Dorchester Avenue. Within those two districts, New York-style streetlights were installed as part of a “collaborative effort” between City Hall and area residents “to provide enhanced street lighting on 15th Street from Montana Avenue to Alta Avenue.”
“The project constructed new ornamental style street light poles, post-top luminaires, and the associated underground electrical system,” City staff stated.
Construction was complete in May 2012 and the total cost of the project was $154,932.09. City Hall spent $79,642.35 on the project while property owners contributed $75,289.74. Notice of completion was issued two months later.
According to State law, the City Council was required to hold a public hearing to determine whether anyone protested or objected to the final cost assessment. That hearing was officially held March 12 as part of the council’s sole public meeting this month.
Council members approved the cost assessment after no one approached the dais in protest or objection.
In all, 10 ornamental New York-style aluminum street light poles were installed in the small neighborhood near Fifteenth Street and Montana Avenue. City staff added 26 properties were affected by the installation of the street lights.
With the council adopting the resolution confirming the assessment costs, City Hall can now move forward in billing the property owners “for their share of the costs based on the front footage of their property.”
According to City staff, the total cost of the project is $100.46 per linear foot. City Hall is responsible for $50.23 per linear foot, which was below the estimated $53.50 the City of Santa Monica expected to pay when the assessment districts were created.
“Property owners have the option of paying in full within 30 days after being invoiced, or through a bonding company selected by the contractor over a ten-year period at an annual interest rate of 3.25 percent,” City staff stated. “The calculated rate is based on per linear front footage multiplied by $50.23. The property owners have the option to pay off their assessments later, even if they elect a payment schedule initially.”
Only property owners are billed by City Hall. Those who own controlled units are not permitted to pass the bill on to their tenants.
Design of the street lights cost $4,900, while construction cost $132,116.13. The bill for construction management and administrative fees was $17,915.96.
When the council approved the construction contract in August 2011, the total project cost was estimated at more than $175,000.
Anyone who wanted to lodge a protest to the City Council about the assessed cost of installing the new lights had an opportunity to do so March 12. Interestingly enough, no residents participated in the public hearing and Council members formally confirmed the assessed costs.
Council members in 2008 created streetlight assessment districts from Fifteenth Street from Alta Avenue to Montana Avenue and Urban Avenue from Yorkshire Avenue to Dorchester Avenue. Within those two districts, New York-style streetlights were installed as part of a “collaborative effort” between City Hall and area residents “to provide enhanced street lighting on 15th Street from Montana Avenue to Alta Avenue.”
“The project constructed new ornamental style street light poles, post-top luminaires, and the associated underground electrical system,” City staff stated.
Construction was complete in May 2012 and the total cost of the project was $154,932.09. City Hall spent $79,642.35 on the project while property owners contributed $75,289.74. Notice of completion was issued two months later.
According to State law, the City Council was required to hold a public hearing to determine whether anyone protested or objected to the final cost assessment. That hearing was officially held March 12 as part of the council’s sole public meeting this month.
Council members approved the cost assessment after no one approached the dais in protest or objection.
In all, 10 ornamental New York-style aluminum street light poles were installed in the small neighborhood near Fifteenth Street and Montana Avenue. City staff added 26 properties were affected by the installation of the street lights.
With the council adopting the resolution confirming the assessment costs, City Hall can now move forward in billing the property owners “for their share of the costs based on the front footage of their property.”
According to City staff, the total cost of the project is $100.46 per linear foot. City Hall is responsible for $50.23 per linear foot, which was below the estimated $53.50 the City of Santa Monica expected to pay when the assessment districts were created.
“Property owners have the option of paying in full within 30 days after being invoiced, or through a bonding company selected by the contractor over a ten-year period at an annual interest rate of 3.25 percent,” City staff stated. “The calculated rate is based on per linear front footage multiplied by $50.23. The property owners have the option to pay off their assessments later, even if they elect a payment schedule initially.”
Only property owners are billed by City Hall. Those who own controlled units are not permitted to pass the bill on to their tenants.
Design of the street lights cost $4,900, while construction cost $132,116.13. The bill for construction management and administrative fees was $17,915.96.
When the council approved the construction contract in August 2011, the total project cost was estimated at more than $175,000.
2013年3月17日星期日
Sarah Palin lights up conservative conference
“More background checks? Dandy idea, Mr. President,” she said, blazing away at the president’s gun-control efforts. “Should’ve started with yours.”
But Mrs. Palin, the unsuccessful candidate for the vice-presidency in 2008 who abruptly resigned her post in Juneau a year later, did not disclose any hints to her own political future beyond a call to delegates to comb the nation’s school boards and Tea Party rallies for suitable candidates for future elections.
This fall, according to a publisher’s news release, she will release “a fun, festive, thought provoking book” that will encourage readers “to see what is possible when we unite in defence of our faith and ignore the politically correct Scrooges who would rather take Christ out of Christmas.” But even this opus went unplugged at CPAC in favour of sniping at “the permanent political class in Washington” that she once campaigned to join.
Introduced by Calgary-born Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas as a wise Mahatma who “drives the mainstream media bat-crap crazy,” Mrs. Palin drew repeated standing ovations from hundreds of the Caucasian collegians who made up the vast majority of CPAC attendees. But few of the contra-liberals who whooped at her punch lines declared that they would support her at the ballot box, should she decide to run for the White House in 2016.
Several hours after Mrs. Palin spoke, the results of the annual CPAC straw poll were revealed, relegating her to 10th place out of more than 60 putative Republican candidates. Libertarian Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio led the survey, which was skewed by the refusal of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to be listed.
Mrs. Palin was preceded to the stage on Saturday by a panoply of former, failed presidential hopefuls, including former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who delivered a lengthy monologue about the invention of the electric light bulb, and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who excoriated the president for exposing the United States to “enemies waging deadly cyber-attacks,” for employing five chefs aboard his personal aircraft and two full-time cinema projectionists in the White House, for consorting in Las Vegas with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and for not wanting to cure cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, or juvenile diabetes.
“We are the people who truly care about people in this country,” Rep. Bachmann said. “We’ll get gas to $2 a gallon — half the current price — because we have the uniquely American life blood as our signature. We do it because we love, we do this because we care, this is the movement of love.”
Following this romantic manifesto, Sarah Palin prescribed “an adult conversation about our country” that would have to begin with an acceptance of Mr. Obama’s re-election.
“We came in second, out of two,” she said. “Second on the dogsled team, the view never changes and it ain’t a pretty view.”
“Remember no drama Obama?” Mrs. Palin asked. “Now it’s ALL-drama Obama. We don’t have leadership coming out of Washington, we have reality television — except its really bad reality TV, and the American people tuned out a long time ago.”
In a dig at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s attempt to restrict the sale of Alaska-sized containers of sweetened soft drinks, Mrs. Palin interrupted her customary paean to cowboys, fishermen and hockey Moms to slurp from a Big Gulp cola she had stashed behind the podium.
But Mrs. Palin, the unsuccessful candidate for the vice-presidency in 2008 who abruptly resigned her post in Juneau a year later, did not disclose any hints to her own political future beyond a call to delegates to comb the nation’s school boards and Tea Party rallies for suitable candidates for future elections.
This fall, according to a publisher’s news release, she will release “a fun, festive, thought provoking book” that will encourage readers “to see what is possible when we unite in defence of our faith and ignore the politically correct Scrooges who would rather take Christ out of Christmas.” But even this opus went unplugged at CPAC in favour of sniping at “the permanent political class in Washington” that she once campaigned to join.
Introduced by Calgary-born Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas as a wise Mahatma who “drives the mainstream media bat-crap crazy,” Mrs. Palin drew repeated standing ovations from hundreds of the Caucasian collegians who made up the vast majority of CPAC attendees. But few of the contra-liberals who whooped at her punch lines declared that they would support her at the ballot box, should she decide to run for the White House in 2016.
Several hours after Mrs. Palin spoke, the results of the annual CPAC straw poll were revealed, relegating her to 10th place out of more than 60 putative Republican candidates. Libertarian Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio led the survey, which was skewed by the refusal of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush to be listed.
Mrs. Palin was preceded to the stage on Saturday by a panoply of former, failed presidential hopefuls, including former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who delivered a lengthy monologue about the invention of the electric light bulb, and Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, who excoriated the president for exposing the United States to “enemies waging deadly cyber-attacks,” for employing five chefs aboard his personal aircraft and two full-time cinema projectionists in the White House, for consorting in Las Vegas with Beyoncé and Jay-Z, and for not wanting to cure cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, or juvenile diabetes.
“We are the people who truly care about people in this country,” Rep. Bachmann said. “We’ll get gas to $2 a gallon — half the current price — because we have the uniquely American life blood as our signature. We do it because we love, we do this because we care, this is the movement of love.”
Following this romantic manifesto, Sarah Palin prescribed “an adult conversation about our country” that would have to begin with an acceptance of Mr. Obama’s re-election.
“We came in second, out of two,” she said. “Second on the dogsled team, the view never changes and it ain’t a pretty view.”
“Remember no drama Obama?” Mrs. Palin asked. “Now it’s ALL-drama Obama. We don’t have leadership coming out of Washington, we have reality television — except its really bad reality TV, and the American people tuned out a long time ago.”
In a dig at New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s attempt to restrict the sale of Alaska-sized containers of sweetened soft drinks, Mrs. Palin interrupted her customary paean to cowboys, fishermen and hockey Moms to slurp from a Big Gulp cola she had stashed behind the podium.
2013年3月14日星期四
CARES program gets Juneau students back on track
Blinking lights and pink umbrellas will be on display Thursday night at the Goldtown Nickelodeon as students in the Juneau School District’s CARES program show off their work.
CARES allows students who have fallen behind on graduation credits to take alternative classes after school.
It often partners with the Juneau Economic Development Council’s STEM education program, short for Science Technology Engineering and Math.
It’s 5 o’ clock on a weekday afternoon, and about a dozen students are spread out at workstations in a large classroom at the Marie Drake building. Some are soldering wires together. Others are using hot glue guns to attach LED lights to their projects. A few more sit at laptop computers writing code that will make the lights blink on and off.
Yaakoosge Daakahidi Alternative High School sophomore Lexi Nelson works with a bright pink umbrella adorned with various shades of electro luminescent wire.
“I’m zip tie-ing my battery pack on the inside of my umbrella, so when I twirl it and stuff it doesn’t fall out,” Nelson says.
Her partner, Alexa Adelmeyer, sews the brightly colored EL wire to her umbrella. They plan to use them in a dance routine as part of the final project presentation.
Adelmeyer says the CARES program has improved her study habits. The classes are also more hands on and project oriented than regular school.
“Not all in the book and a bunch of homework and a teacher just blabbing at you,” Adelmeyer says.
Students can only get into CARES when they fall behind on their regular coursework. The program acronym stands for Credit Achievement Recovery & Employability Skills. Josh Deutsch is a Student Advocate with the Juneau School District. He’s part instructor, part CARES program recruiter.
“These are students that for one reason or another haven’t succeeded completely in their regular school classes,” Deutsch says. “So we like to give a little extra engagement, a little extra support if they need it in getting re-engaged. That’s our key goal is getting these kids re-engaged in regular school.”
Deutsch says the Juneau Economic Development Council’s STEM education programs are a near perfect fit for CARES’ mission. The students in this class are trying to recover physical science credits needed to graduate. But rather than focus solely on science, Deutsch says they tweaked it slightly.
“We added an ‘A’ in it like some people do. So, it’s STEAM education and that just adds Arts in there,” he says.
Thunder Mountain High School Arts Teacher Heather Ridgway is assisting with the CARES class. She says it’s important for the students to learn about electricity and other physics concepts. But it’s equally important for them to produce something that shows what they learned.
Lamas and his partner are making a backdrop for the final project presentations. It’s a model of a circuit board mounted on a giant piece of cardboard, with LED lights and EL wire that will light up throughout the show.
CARES allows students who have fallen behind on graduation credits to take alternative classes after school.
It often partners with the Juneau Economic Development Council’s STEM education program, short for Science Technology Engineering and Math.
It’s 5 o’ clock on a weekday afternoon, and about a dozen students are spread out at workstations in a large classroom at the Marie Drake building. Some are soldering wires together. Others are using hot glue guns to attach LED lights to their projects. A few more sit at laptop computers writing code that will make the lights blink on and off.
Yaakoosge Daakahidi Alternative High School sophomore Lexi Nelson works with a bright pink umbrella adorned with various shades of electro luminescent wire.
“I’m zip tie-ing my battery pack on the inside of my umbrella, so when I twirl it and stuff it doesn’t fall out,” Nelson says.
Her partner, Alexa Adelmeyer, sews the brightly colored EL wire to her umbrella. They plan to use them in a dance routine as part of the final project presentation.
Adelmeyer says the CARES program has improved her study habits. The classes are also more hands on and project oriented than regular school.
“Not all in the book and a bunch of homework and a teacher just blabbing at you,” Adelmeyer says.
Students can only get into CARES when they fall behind on their regular coursework. The program acronym stands for Credit Achievement Recovery & Employability Skills. Josh Deutsch is a Student Advocate with the Juneau School District. He’s part instructor, part CARES program recruiter.
“These are students that for one reason or another haven’t succeeded completely in their regular school classes,” Deutsch says. “So we like to give a little extra engagement, a little extra support if they need it in getting re-engaged. That’s our key goal is getting these kids re-engaged in regular school.”
Deutsch says the Juneau Economic Development Council’s STEM education programs are a near perfect fit for CARES’ mission. The students in this class are trying to recover physical science credits needed to graduate. But rather than focus solely on science, Deutsch says they tweaked it slightly.
“We added an ‘A’ in it like some people do. So, it’s STEAM education and that just adds Arts in there,” he says.
Thunder Mountain High School Arts Teacher Heather Ridgway is assisting with the CARES class. She says it’s important for the students to learn about electricity and other physics concepts. But it’s equally important for them to produce something that shows what they learned.
Lamas and his partner are making a backdrop for the final project presentations. It’s a model of a circuit board mounted on a giant piece of cardboard, with LED lights and EL wire that will light up throughout the show.
2013年3月13日星期三
Invest in Solar
Not exactly. It was already my money. Bank in the UK just sent me a letter saying,” “we are shutting your account, you have a month to move it or it will be gone.” No explanation. No reasons given. Just, “we are useless, gormless twits, pointy headed morons, and no wonder there is a banking crisis here because we are imbeciles.” My friend the (former) lawyer even says the letter does not even give a legal number of days!
Moreover, it is weeks before Christmas, when mail stops, and, “because you have received the letter, you can no longer use telephone banking,” I am told over the long distance phone call I make. Things eventually happen (thanks to people who posted from Europe), and MY money is still with me. Just as well I guess, they are idiots, and I am glad they do not have my money.
Now, what to do with it? My money is suddenly in my hand. Instead of being safe (with those morons?) for a rainy day, it is here in front of me. I always wanted to be more energy conscious. But, it is an investment to save towards, since it is not small (not by my standards). Now, here, my ‘windfall’, is enough!
I investigate. Drive around. Check prices. Ask questions. Then buy a solar geyser (100 litre, Chinese), some LED lights (South African), solar panel, control box, team of plumbers to install, time off to get it done, time off to tweak it, some bits back, some bits forth, some taps on, different ones off, water flow out the door, different taps on again, and we are there. Installed in January, and all working.
One hundred litres of solar geyser is enough for one person to comfortably have a hot bath a day, wash dishes, and all those things one always expects hot water to be there for. And with solar it is always there. On overcast and dreary days, it is not as much hot as warm, but it is always there (when there is water). One hundred litres is not enough for more than one person.
LED lights – I always have light, even when the neighbours are stumbling around looking for the torches and candles. The light is not enough to fill a large room with enough illumination to read comfortably by and do the crossword. It is certainly enough light to fill the bathroom, and do what is necessary there. And it is definitely enough to keep the house illuminated for security while I am away at night.
But the best is, I am not paying for it. A noticeable, significant drop in electricity use. It is too early to really know savings, but so far… November and December last year I paid $40 a month for power. Installed solar in January. This year (what I have prepaid will take me to the end of April) I have paid $90 on power. $22.50 a month.
For simplicity (I did history, not mathematics!) I paid $1000 for the solar stuff and to have it installed. And I am saving $20 a month. Or $240 a year. So, for my investment in solar, I am getting a 24 percent per annum return. What bank in Zimbabwe (or the pointy headed morons in the UK) will give you a 24 percent interest rate? The money is not liquid, so I cannot use it to impress my girlfriends, but, the return! Thanks to the bank for shutting me out. I can make more money without you! And invest in solar!
Moreover, it is weeks before Christmas, when mail stops, and, “because you have received the letter, you can no longer use telephone banking,” I am told over the long distance phone call I make. Things eventually happen (thanks to people who posted from Europe), and MY money is still with me. Just as well I guess, they are idiots, and I am glad they do not have my money.
Now, what to do with it? My money is suddenly in my hand. Instead of being safe (with those morons?) for a rainy day, it is here in front of me. I always wanted to be more energy conscious. But, it is an investment to save towards, since it is not small (not by my standards). Now, here, my ‘windfall’, is enough!
I investigate. Drive around. Check prices. Ask questions. Then buy a solar geyser (100 litre, Chinese), some LED lights (South African), solar panel, control box, team of plumbers to install, time off to get it done, time off to tweak it, some bits back, some bits forth, some taps on, different ones off, water flow out the door, different taps on again, and we are there. Installed in January, and all working.
One hundred litres of solar geyser is enough for one person to comfortably have a hot bath a day, wash dishes, and all those things one always expects hot water to be there for. And with solar it is always there. On overcast and dreary days, it is not as much hot as warm, but it is always there (when there is water). One hundred litres is not enough for more than one person.
LED lights – I always have light, even when the neighbours are stumbling around looking for the torches and candles. The light is not enough to fill a large room with enough illumination to read comfortably by and do the crossword. It is certainly enough light to fill the bathroom, and do what is necessary there. And it is definitely enough to keep the house illuminated for security while I am away at night.
But the best is, I am not paying for it. A noticeable, significant drop in electricity use. It is too early to really know savings, but so far… November and December last year I paid $40 a month for power. Installed solar in January. This year (what I have prepaid will take me to the end of April) I have paid $90 on power. $22.50 a month.
For simplicity (I did history, not mathematics!) I paid $1000 for the solar stuff and to have it installed. And I am saving $20 a month. Or $240 a year. So, for my investment in solar, I am getting a 24 percent per annum return. What bank in Zimbabwe (or the pointy headed morons in the UK) will give you a 24 percent interest rate? The money is not liquid, so I cannot use it to impress my girlfriends, but, the return! Thanks to the bank for shutting me out. I can make more money without you! And invest in solar!
2013年3月12日星期二
Last year’s promises still unkept
Last year, the Chennai Corporation outdid itself. It made 100 announcements, raising residents’ expectations to a new high and allowing hope to bloom.
One year on, most of these promises remain unfulfilled, leaving residents frustrated and disappointed.
Announcements relating to stormwater drains, bridges, roads, parks, playgrounds, streetlights and pest control, for instance remain mostly on paper or have been begun but not finished, residents said.
“The Corporation announced the use of precast technology to complete drains quickly. Last month, they started digging for drains in some of the streets in our locality but are delaying the work now. This is causing a huge inconvenience to residents,” said M. Pushpa, a resident of St. Xavier Street in Mannady.
Of the estimated total expenditure of Rs. 2,922.73 crore in 2012-2013, the civic body allocated a considerable chunk — Rs. 404.53 crore — to the construction of stormwater drains and announced the introduction of precast technology to help avoid delays. But to date, the civic body has completed just 49 km of precast drains. The deadline for most of the projects has now been extended by the Corporation Council.
As many as 147.19 km of arterial drains, 229.37 km of feeder drains, and 95.61 km of collection drains were to be covered in the seven zones of the old city limits.
In his budget speech last year, Mayor Saidai Duraisamy announced the re-laying of 1,212 interior roads and 186 new concrete roads, which would be over 380 km in all. So far though, only 221 km of roads have been re-laid.
Another unfulfilled promise is the integrated call centre for the helpline 1913, meant to report civic issues. “We are still not able to report grievances properly. We have to repeatedly try the number to get through,” said N. Indirani, a resident of Chintadripet.
In 2012, the construction of seven small bridges was announced. Of these, work orders for six are yet to be issued. Also, the results of the feasibility study on seven grade separators have still not been tabled in the Corporation Council.
“Traffic congestion has increased considerably because of the improper planning of road junctions. It takes 20 minutes to cross junctions such as Sholinganallur, Tidel Park and Porur. Flyovers and bridges should be properly planned by the Corporation or at least coordinated with other agencies such as the Highways Department,” said V. Srinivasan, a resident of Adyar.
In an attempt to reclaim open spaces and make the city greener, the Corporation had also announced 100 parks and 50 playgrounds. But so far, work on just 24 playgrounds has been completed and a mere 23 parks have been readied.
A proposal to replace all tubelights in the city’s added areas too has fallen flat. These areas need over 1.1 lakh streetlights. The civic body though, has installed only 2,000 energy-saving lights and 101 LED lights.
The proposals are good residents say, but with incomplete constructions and endless delays, faith in the civic body is waning.
One year on, most of these promises remain unfulfilled, leaving residents frustrated and disappointed.
Announcements relating to stormwater drains, bridges, roads, parks, playgrounds, streetlights and pest control, for instance remain mostly on paper or have been begun but not finished, residents said.
“The Corporation announced the use of precast technology to complete drains quickly. Last month, they started digging for drains in some of the streets in our locality but are delaying the work now. This is causing a huge inconvenience to residents,” said M. Pushpa, a resident of St. Xavier Street in Mannady.
Of the estimated total expenditure of Rs. 2,922.73 crore in 2012-2013, the civic body allocated a considerable chunk — Rs. 404.53 crore — to the construction of stormwater drains and announced the introduction of precast technology to help avoid delays. But to date, the civic body has completed just 49 km of precast drains. The deadline for most of the projects has now been extended by the Corporation Council.
As many as 147.19 km of arterial drains, 229.37 km of feeder drains, and 95.61 km of collection drains were to be covered in the seven zones of the old city limits.
In his budget speech last year, Mayor Saidai Duraisamy announced the re-laying of 1,212 interior roads and 186 new concrete roads, which would be over 380 km in all. So far though, only 221 km of roads have been re-laid.
Another unfulfilled promise is the integrated call centre for the helpline 1913, meant to report civic issues. “We are still not able to report grievances properly. We have to repeatedly try the number to get through,” said N. Indirani, a resident of Chintadripet.
In 2012, the construction of seven small bridges was announced. Of these, work orders for six are yet to be issued. Also, the results of the feasibility study on seven grade separators have still not been tabled in the Corporation Council.
“Traffic congestion has increased considerably because of the improper planning of road junctions. It takes 20 minutes to cross junctions such as Sholinganallur, Tidel Park and Porur. Flyovers and bridges should be properly planned by the Corporation or at least coordinated with other agencies such as the Highways Department,” said V. Srinivasan, a resident of Adyar.
In an attempt to reclaim open spaces and make the city greener, the Corporation had also announced 100 parks and 50 playgrounds. But so far, work on just 24 playgrounds has been completed and a mere 23 parks have been readied.
A proposal to replace all tubelights in the city’s added areas too has fallen flat. These areas need over 1.1 lakh streetlights. The civic body though, has installed only 2,000 energy-saving lights and 101 LED lights.
The proposals are good residents say, but with incomplete constructions and endless delays, faith in the civic body is waning.
2013年3月11日星期一
When will buyers start warming to energy ratings?
Despite rocketing energy prices, there remains a reluctance amongst home owners and buyers to face the inevitability of the upward trend continuing.
Buyers will discuss running costs of properties they are buying, but it’s rare that anyone takes enough interest to look closely at the EPC. The fact is that running costs rarely feature as a priority when it comes to buying a new property. However, what is likely to be considered a deterrent is a property that comes with a green deal loan attached to it. And homeowners who sign up to the Green Deal and then want or need to sell, will face the prospect of having to “sell” an encumbered property.
I think that, in time, the Green Deal will become a mainstream option, and take-up will increase. But not before there’s more clarity and a raft of problems have been ironed out. And maybe fuel prices have to rise even more before homeowners can see the benefits of substantial investment in energy saving technologies.
Meanwhile, we are seeing a wider appreciation of the benefits of introducing low-cost energy-saving home improvements. Immediate changes that homeowners can make can be as small as using low energy light bulbs, insulation in the roof, draft proofing of windows and doors, extra lagging on the hot water cylinder, a thermostat on the hot water cylinder, and thermostatic radiator valves. All these are extremely effective and don’t involve large financial outlay.
And while it’s hard to make the case for upgrading an old boiler before it’s come to the end of its life with one that will be more economical, homeowners are certainly more discerning when replacements are essential, looking at all the options, including wood burners with back boilers, or more generally bio-mass boilers. If windows need replacing, homeowners are much more likely to consider double glazing than they would have been a decade ago.
So while there’s a great deal of scepticism surrounding the Green Deal, green issues are very much more on the radar of both home owners and house buyers. A quick glance at the roof landscape will reveal a growing panorama of solar panels; and our appetite for Agas has subsided due to their high running costs.
My advice to homeowners would be to look at introducing as many low cost energy saving improvements as possible, taking advantage of any grants that are available. If you’re making improvements to the property generally, take the opportunity to incorporate energy saving elements such as cavity wall insulation, double glazing, solar panels, and boiler upgrades where appropriate – it’s the most cost effective time for increasing energy efficiency. If you’re undertaking a large scale project, consider internal insulation, and ground source or air source heat pumps. And depending on where you’re situated, you could use a wood chip boiler for which there are good grants and healthy paybacks, especially if you have your own wood and the ability to store and dry it.
Whatever the future of the Green Deal, one thing’s for certain, the energy efficiency of property will become increasingly important to property buyers as the 21st century progresses, to the extent that a very low EPC rating will become a form of blight.
Buyers will discuss running costs of properties they are buying, but it’s rare that anyone takes enough interest to look closely at the EPC. The fact is that running costs rarely feature as a priority when it comes to buying a new property. However, what is likely to be considered a deterrent is a property that comes with a green deal loan attached to it. And homeowners who sign up to the Green Deal and then want or need to sell, will face the prospect of having to “sell” an encumbered property.
I think that, in time, the Green Deal will become a mainstream option, and take-up will increase. But not before there’s more clarity and a raft of problems have been ironed out. And maybe fuel prices have to rise even more before homeowners can see the benefits of substantial investment in energy saving technologies.
Meanwhile, we are seeing a wider appreciation of the benefits of introducing low-cost energy-saving home improvements. Immediate changes that homeowners can make can be as small as using low energy light bulbs, insulation in the roof, draft proofing of windows and doors, extra lagging on the hot water cylinder, a thermostat on the hot water cylinder, and thermostatic radiator valves. All these are extremely effective and don’t involve large financial outlay.
And while it’s hard to make the case for upgrading an old boiler before it’s come to the end of its life with one that will be more economical, homeowners are certainly more discerning when replacements are essential, looking at all the options, including wood burners with back boilers, or more generally bio-mass boilers. If windows need replacing, homeowners are much more likely to consider double glazing than they would have been a decade ago.
So while there’s a great deal of scepticism surrounding the Green Deal, green issues are very much more on the radar of both home owners and house buyers. A quick glance at the roof landscape will reveal a growing panorama of solar panels; and our appetite for Agas has subsided due to their high running costs.
My advice to homeowners would be to look at introducing as many low cost energy saving improvements as possible, taking advantage of any grants that are available. If you’re making improvements to the property generally, take the opportunity to incorporate energy saving elements such as cavity wall insulation, double glazing, solar panels, and boiler upgrades where appropriate – it’s the most cost effective time for increasing energy efficiency. If you’re undertaking a large scale project, consider internal insulation, and ground source or air source heat pumps. And depending on where you’re situated, you could use a wood chip boiler for which there are good grants and healthy paybacks, especially if you have your own wood and the ability to store and dry it.
Whatever the future of the Green Deal, one thing’s for certain, the energy efficiency of property will become increasingly important to property buyers as the 21st century progresses, to the extent that a very low EPC rating will become a form of blight.
2013年3月10日星期日
PCJ spends $5.6m on energy upgrade at 3 health facilities
Supporting the drive to reduce the public sector’s energy bill, the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ) is currently upgrading the lighting facilities at the May Pen and Spanish Town Hospitals and the Jamaica Police Convalescent Centre a cost of approximately $5.6 million.
The PCJ says the three institutions are the latest public sector facilities to benefit as it increases use of energy efficiency technology by public sector entities
At the maternity ward of the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine, the PCJ is carrying out a complete overhaul of the internal lighting system. The ward is being retrofitted with fixtures and other equipment that will reduce the use of electricity at the 340 bed facility, the Corporation said in a release Sunday.
“The upgrade will cover restrooms, storerooms and general patient areas, most of which will be equipped with sensors to regulate lighting based on occupancy. The PCJ anticipates that the improvements will cut the Hospital’s energy usage by 36,000 kWh per year.”
Meanwhile, the outdoor lighting system at the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon is being improved for greater utilisation of renewable energy. The PCJ said it is installing a solar photovoltaic system, rehabilitating old lighting poles and replacing existing halogen lighting with LED lamps. The LED lamps will provide a similar level of illumination with reduced wattage.
This upgrade is projected to result in energy saving of 29780 KWh per year which translates into cost saving of more than J$950,000 annually.
In addition, the Jamaica Police Convalescent Centre (JPCC) is set to reduce its energy usage by 17,000 kWh per year as a result of the lighting efficiency improvements recently undertaken at that institution. The PCJ installed an external solar lighting system at the Centre and also upgraded the internal and external lighting fixtures.
“The PCJ understands that rising energy costs can hinder public sector institutions from delivering quality services to the public; and an effective way to address this matter is greater utilisation of renewable energy and energy efficiency technology,” said Dr Peter Ruddock, Manager of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficient at the PCJ.
“The three institutions that have benefitted from our latest round of projects should soon see cost savings as a result of the reductions in their energy bills,” he added.
The gap between the concept and the reality of net zero energy buildings seems largely a result of the shortcomings of most net-zero energy strategies.
Take Walgreens’ strategy for achieving the highly-sought-after net zero energy status at a new store under construction in Evanston, Ill. If all goes according to plan, the new store is projected to consume an estimated 200,000 kWh and generate an estimated 256,000 kWh annually, according to engineering calculations. To make this possible, Walgreens will equip the new store with more than 800 roof-top solar panels, two wind turbines, geothermal wells , LED lighting and energy-efficient building materials.
The PCJ says the three institutions are the latest public sector facilities to benefit as it increases use of energy efficiency technology by public sector entities
At the maternity ward of the Spanish Town Hospital in St Catherine, the PCJ is carrying out a complete overhaul of the internal lighting system. The ward is being retrofitted with fixtures and other equipment that will reduce the use of electricity at the 340 bed facility, the Corporation said in a release Sunday.
“The upgrade will cover restrooms, storerooms and general patient areas, most of which will be equipped with sensors to regulate lighting based on occupancy. The PCJ anticipates that the improvements will cut the Hospital’s energy usage by 36,000 kWh per year.”
Meanwhile, the outdoor lighting system at the May Pen Hospital in Clarendon is being improved for greater utilisation of renewable energy. The PCJ said it is installing a solar photovoltaic system, rehabilitating old lighting poles and replacing existing halogen lighting with LED lamps. The LED lamps will provide a similar level of illumination with reduced wattage.
This upgrade is projected to result in energy saving of 29780 KWh per year which translates into cost saving of more than J$950,000 annually.
In addition, the Jamaica Police Convalescent Centre (JPCC) is set to reduce its energy usage by 17,000 kWh per year as a result of the lighting efficiency improvements recently undertaken at that institution. The PCJ installed an external solar lighting system at the Centre and also upgraded the internal and external lighting fixtures.
“The PCJ understands that rising energy costs can hinder public sector institutions from delivering quality services to the public; and an effective way to address this matter is greater utilisation of renewable energy and energy efficiency technology,” said Dr Peter Ruddock, Manager of Renewable Energy and Energy Efficient at the PCJ.
“The three institutions that have benefitted from our latest round of projects should soon see cost savings as a result of the reductions in their energy bills,” he added.
The gap between the concept and the reality of net zero energy buildings seems largely a result of the shortcomings of most net-zero energy strategies.
Take Walgreens’ strategy for achieving the highly-sought-after net zero energy status at a new store under construction in Evanston, Ill. If all goes according to plan, the new store is projected to consume an estimated 200,000 kWh and generate an estimated 256,000 kWh annually, according to engineering calculations. To make this possible, Walgreens will equip the new store with more than 800 roof-top solar panels, two wind turbines, geothermal wells , LED lighting and energy-efficient building materials.
2013年3月7日星期四
Up, up and away ...
Sixth-graders in Shawn R. Wilson’s homeroom at Casa Grande Middle School are building a space module to send cameras and a global positioning system into the stratosphere.
The space module, made of Styrofoam packing material, will be carried 80,000 feet above the surface of the earth by a 5-foot weather balloon and returned to earth by parachute. Wilson said 80,000 feet is about three times higher than commercial jets fly.
Angela Mora, 12, said two or more video cameras, a cell phone with global positioning system, flashing LED lights, batteries, hand warmers and a fire alarm will be inside the module.
Gerard D’souza, 9, who is in a different homeroom, drew up his ideas about the module and joined the class to help with the project.“They were really good ideas,” Wilson said.
The weather balloon will be filled with helium and will lift the module so high they will not be able to see it, Angela said. “That’s why we’re using the GPS, because we never know where it’s going to land.”
Wilson plans to send his cell phone up in the module for the GPS tracking.“My wife’s not too happy about having my phone go up,” he added.
The module should land within 30 miles of the launch site, Wilson said, but with space research there is always a possibility of failure. Something could go wrong with the GPS tracker. The module could land on property they cannot enter. A jet could zoom by and suck it into an engine.
The students will use software normally used to find lost cell phones, “Where’s My Droid,” to locate the module after it lands, Wilson said. They should be able to track it to within 100 feet.
They are putting a ringing fire alarm in the module to help find it after it returns to earth, and a U.S. Border Patrol agent, who uses GPS every day, has agreed to help them locate it.
Michael Stanford, 11, said the balloon will burst at 80,000 feet because the air pressure inside the balloon will be so much greater than the pressure outside at that altitude. After it bursts, the fall will open the parachute.
Tyler Johnson, 12, said the LED lights will help them find it after dark. Hot Pockets hand warmers will keep the batteries warm so they don’t freeze in the stratosphere, where temperatures will reach 50 or 60 degrees below zero.
Michael picked up the space module and showed windows cut in the top and bottom for cameras. One camera will look up into the stratosphere. One will look down toward earth. The balloon will be attached to the parachute, which will be attached to the module.
Tyler said they also have to make sure the batteries on the camera and GPS are charged before they send them up or they could wind up with no video or no recovery.
They will test the system with something that looks like fishing line, said Tavian Johnson, 12, tie it to the space module and balloon, put one camera on it and let it go as high as a kite would fly. Wilson said that will probably be next week.
Tyler said they can’t send the module up on a rainy day because the equipment will malfunction if it gets wet. They can’t send it up on a windy day because the balloon could blow away.
The biggest issue now is finding enough helium to fill the balloon, Wilson said. Families donated helium for the low-level test, hand warmers for the batteries and a sewing kit to make the parachute.
The space module, made of Styrofoam packing material, will be carried 80,000 feet above the surface of the earth by a 5-foot weather balloon and returned to earth by parachute. Wilson said 80,000 feet is about three times higher than commercial jets fly.
Angela Mora, 12, said two or more video cameras, a cell phone with global positioning system, flashing LED lights, batteries, hand warmers and a fire alarm will be inside the module.
Gerard D’souza, 9, who is in a different homeroom, drew up his ideas about the module and joined the class to help with the project.“They were really good ideas,” Wilson said.
The weather balloon will be filled with helium and will lift the module so high they will not be able to see it, Angela said. “That’s why we’re using the GPS, because we never know where it’s going to land.”
Wilson plans to send his cell phone up in the module for the GPS tracking.“My wife’s not too happy about having my phone go up,” he added.
The module should land within 30 miles of the launch site, Wilson said, but with space research there is always a possibility of failure. Something could go wrong with the GPS tracker. The module could land on property they cannot enter. A jet could zoom by and suck it into an engine.
The students will use software normally used to find lost cell phones, “Where’s My Droid,” to locate the module after it lands, Wilson said. They should be able to track it to within 100 feet.
They are putting a ringing fire alarm in the module to help find it after it returns to earth, and a U.S. Border Patrol agent, who uses GPS every day, has agreed to help them locate it.
Michael Stanford, 11, said the balloon will burst at 80,000 feet because the air pressure inside the balloon will be so much greater than the pressure outside at that altitude. After it bursts, the fall will open the parachute.
Tyler Johnson, 12, said the LED lights will help them find it after dark. Hot Pockets hand warmers will keep the batteries warm so they don’t freeze in the stratosphere, where temperatures will reach 50 or 60 degrees below zero.
Michael picked up the space module and showed windows cut in the top and bottom for cameras. One camera will look up into the stratosphere. One will look down toward earth. The balloon will be attached to the parachute, which will be attached to the module.
Tyler said they also have to make sure the batteries on the camera and GPS are charged before they send them up or they could wind up with no video or no recovery.
They will test the system with something that looks like fishing line, said Tavian Johnson, 12, tie it to the space module and balloon, put one camera on it and let it go as high as a kite would fly. Wilson said that will probably be next week.
Tyler said they can’t send the module up on a rainy day because the equipment will malfunction if it gets wet. They can’t send it up on a windy day because the balloon could blow away.
The biggest issue now is finding enough helium to fill the balloon, Wilson said. Families donated helium for the low-level test, hand warmers for the batteries and a sewing kit to make the parachute.
2013年3月6日星期三
Council poised to install new street light bulbs
Spending 120,000 on installing new street light bulbs in the strath and other parts of the Highlands will save more cash in the long run, a senior councillor has predicted.
Highland Council is poised to convert several hundred streetlights in Nethy Bridge, Nairn, and other villages and towns in the Far North and Ross-shire into using low energy LED bulbs.
The local authority has faced increasing power bills for lighting in recent years and has run controversial trials switching them off in some areas to save cash.
The full council in Inverness will be asked tomorrow to approve a proposal to spend 120,000 on the major refitting scheme from extra money allocated by the Scottish Government.
Graham Phillips, chairman of the council’s transport, environmental and community services (TECS) committee, said the costs of providing streetlights in the Highlands and paying for their use was escalating.
“We have had very successful pilots of LED lights and this is about spending to save, over 15 years we are going to make money back,” he said.
“Long-term, all our street lighting will be heading in this direction but that will take a number of years.”
Each LED street light will be about be 50 per cent cheaper to run than conventional lanterns. About 600 will be replaced, if councillors give the green light.
TECS director Neil Gillies said he did not expect the public to object to the move.
“It is just as bright although they are a much lower wattage,” he said. “We have done some trials in Inverness and people haven’t really noticed the difference.”
As well as Nethy, bulbs will be replaced in John O’Groats, Castletown, Contin, along the Dingwall-Maryburgh link road, on Nairn’s Mill Road and Carnach Crescent and the Croy bypass route.
The council has about 50,000 street lights in the region and energy costs have partly increased in recent years because of new housing developments.
It had aborted trials which saw every second street light switched off in communities following residents’ complaints about road safety. Boat of Garten as well as locations in Lochaber and Skye were areas which had participated.
Substantial price hikes in the network power connection have put pressure on the council’s street lighting budget and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has taken up the issue with the energy regulator Ofgem in London.
I’m one of several students who want more lights in our small town. Some students have even taken action to bring attention to this important issue.
One such student, Erik Taylor, called for more street lighting after he was attacked in the south-campus neighborhood last year in April, according to an article from Chico News and Review.
As a result, Taylor created a Facebook page called “More Lights Safer Nights,” dedicated to the cause of lighting up Chico.
Taking action is what our community needs to bring the problem to the attention of our City Council and police officials.
Maggie Vorhes, a sophomore environmental science major, wants more street lights installed, she said.
“‘Rape trail’ might not be called the rape trail if there were more lights,” Vorhes said.
Students who live off campus should voice their concerns to the Chico Police Department and ask whether it’s possible to install phones that could connect people in need to the department or Campus Connection personnel.
Highland Council is poised to convert several hundred streetlights in Nethy Bridge, Nairn, and other villages and towns in the Far North and Ross-shire into using low energy LED bulbs.
The local authority has faced increasing power bills for lighting in recent years and has run controversial trials switching them off in some areas to save cash.
The full council in Inverness will be asked tomorrow to approve a proposal to spend 120,000 on the major refitting scheme from extra money allocated by the Scottish Government.
Graham Phillips, chairman of the council’s transport, environmental and community services (TECS) committee, said the costs of providing streetlights in the Highlands and paying for their use was escalating.
“We have had very successful pilots of LED lights and this is about spending to save, over 15 years we are going to make money back,” he said.
“Long-term, all our street lighting will be heading in this direction but that will take a number of years.”
Each LED street light will be about be 50 per cent cheaper to run than conventional lanterns. About 600 will be replaced, if councillors give the green light.
TECS director Neil Gillies said he did not expect the public to object to the move.
“It is just as bright although they are a much lower wattage,” he said. “We have done some trials in Inverness and people haven’t really noticed the difference.”
As well as Nethy, bulbs will be replaced in John O’Groats, Castletown, Contin, along the Dingwall-Maryburgh link road, on Nairn’s Mill Road and Carnach Crescent and the Croy bypass route.
The council has about 50,000 street lights in the region and energy costs have partly increased in recent years because of new housing developments.
It had aborted trials which saw every second street light switched off in communities following residents’ complaints about road safety. Boat of Garten as well as locations in Lochaber and Skye were areas which had participated.
Substantial price hikes in the network power connection have put pressure on the council’s street lighting budget and the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities has taken up the issue with the energy regulator Ofgem in London.
I’m one of several students who want more lights in our small town. Some students have even taken action to bring attention to this important issue.
One such student, Erik Taylor, called for more street lighting after he was attacked in the south-campus neighborhood last year in April, according to an article from Chico News and Review.
As a result, Taylor created a Facebook page called “More Lights Safer Nights,” dedicated to the cause of lighting up Chico.
Taking action is what our community needs to bring the problem to the attention of our City Council and police officials.
Maggie Vorhes, a sophomore environmental science major, wants more street lights installed, she said.
“‘Rape trail’ might not be called the rape trail if there were more lights,” Vorhes said.
Students who live off campus should voice their concerns to the Chico Police Department and ask whether it’s possible to install phones that could connect people in need to the department or Campus Connection personnel.
2013年3月5日星期二
Halo of light gets distracted drivers' eyes back
Auto supplier Continental has developed an eye-catching visual alert system in the battle against the menace of distracted driving, a battle that's an auto industry top priority.
The premise is simple: If your eyes are looking in the right direction, hazards are more easily avoided. So Continental created a string of lights that runs along the inside of the car and is turned on and off in a way that draws a distracted driver's eyes back to the road.
Continental's "halo" is just one of many attempts from various companies to crack the nut of distracted driving by creating a safety system.
Today's vehicles are laden with safety technology and sensors to read the surroundings and send messages to a car's electronic brain. There's automated braking, accelerating or steering on the driver's behalf if the person behind the wheel fails to do so often because the driver is daydreaming or otherwise distracted.
"Someone needs to find a way to put it all in one package, especially when different safety technologies come from different suppliers," said analyst Dave Sullivan of AutoPacific in Ann Arbor. "Whoever comes up with a solution, it will be a silver bullet."
With researchers at the University of Darmstadt in Germany, the Continental system was created and installed in a 2013 Cadillac XTS, now known as the Driver Focus vehicle.
"This really excites me," said Tejas Desai, head of Continental's Interior Electronics Solutions. Experts seem to agree that the work is imperative.
Each day, accidents associated with distracted driving lead to 10 deaths and 1,100 injuries, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Much of the blame falls on cell phone use, especially texting, but drivers are also distracted as they attempt to eat, drink, or adjust the stereo, heat or navigation system.
"It is good that people are thinking creatively about the distracted-driving problem because it's not going away," said analyst Rebecca Lindland of Rebel Three Media & Consultants in Cos Cob, Conn.
Drivers are distracted when trying to process too much -- but also when they have too little stimulus to keep them from daydreaming, Desai said.
The industry has responded with technologies that alert drivers with an assortment of beeps and chirps or vibrating seats and steering wheels while taking evasive action such as slowing the vehicle to match the speed of the car ahead or providing a steering nudge to get back in the lane.
"Cars are doing a great job of telling us when we're doing something wrong, and many systems have been added in the last five years. There are sounds, lights, vibrations but there is not a clear way to reduce false positives or integrate the different systems into one warning now."
Drivers have more parts of the car to pay attention to, Sullivan said. "Continental is trying to come up with a formula to bring it all together while reducing distraction.
Modifying the Cadillac shows the system works with existing vehicles and technologies while providing a showcase to solicit future business.
But Continental will also have a variety of drivers test the XTS over the remainder of the year to collect data on how best to tackle the problem of distracted driving. The supplier will compile monthly snapshots of the findings and use the data to keep refining the technology.
The premise is simple: If your eyes are looking in the right direction, hazards are more easily avoided. So Continental created a string of lights that runs along the inside of the car and is turned on and off in a way that draws a distracted driver's eyes back to the road.
Continental's "halo" is just one of many attempts from various companies to crack the nut of distracted driving by creating a safety system.
Today's vehicles are laden with safety technology and sensors to read the surroundings and send messages to a car's electronic brain. There's automated braking, accelerating or steering on the driver's behalf if the person behind the wheel fails to do so often because the driver is daydreaming or otherwise distracted.
"Someone needs to find a way to put it all in one package, especially when different safety technologies come from different suppliers," said analyst Dave Sullivan of AutoPacific in Ann Arbor. "Whoever comes up with a solution, it will be a silver bullet."
With researchers at the University of Darmstadt in Germany, the Continental system was created and installed in a 2013 Cadillac XTS, now known as the Driver Focus vehicle.
"This really excites me," said Tejas Desai, head of Continental's Interior Electronics Solutions. Experts seem to agree that the work is imperative.
Each day, accidents associated with distracted driving lead to 10 deaths and 1,100 injuries, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Much of the blame falls on cell phone use, especially texting, but drivers are also distracted as they attempt to eat, drink, or adjust the stereo, heat or navigation system.
"It is good that people are thinking creatively about the distracted-driving problem because it's not going away," said analyst Rebecca Lindland of Rebel Three Media & Consultants in Cos Cob, Conn.
Drivers are distracted when trying to process too much -- but also when they have too little stimulus to keep them from daydreaming, Desai said.
The industry has responded with technologies that alert drivers with an assortment of beeps and chirps or vibrating seats and steering wheels while taking evasive action such as slowing the vehicle to match the speed of the car ahead or providing a steering nudge to get back in the lane.
"Cars are doing a great job of telling us when we're doing something wrong, and many systems have been added in the last five years. There are sounds, lights, vibrations but there is not a clear way to reduce false positives or integrate the different systems into one warning now."
Drivers have more parts of the car to pay attention to, Sullivan said. "Continental is trying to come up with a formula to bring it all together while reducing distraction.
Modifying the Cadillac shows the system works with existing vehicles and technologies while providing a showcase to solicit future business.
But Continental will also have a variety of drivers test the XTS over the remainder of the year to collect data on how best to tackle the problem of distracted driving. The supplier will compile monthly snapshots of the findings and use the data to keep refining the technology.
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