Consulting-Specifying Engineer - February 2008 - (Page 8)

In The News NEWS AT A GLANCE • ASHRAE and its partnering organizations are making available for free the “Advanced Energy Design Guide” series. Electronic versions of the newest book in the series, “Advanced Energy Design Guides for K-12 School Buildings,” as well as the existing guides on small office and small retail buildings are available for free download at www.ashrae .org/freeaedg. • Maine adopted the latest edition of several NFPA fire and life safety codes, including the following: NFPA 1, Uniform Fire Code; NFPA 13, Standard for the Installation of Sprinkler Systems; NFPA 72, National Fire Alarm Code; and NFPA 101, Life Safety Code. Construction spending increases C onstruction spending rose 0.1% in The RCD forecast for total construction November 2007. Construction spending is spending remains about the same. Spending essentially unchanged over the past year, will decline 2.3% in 2007, increase 3.8% in but remains 5% below the peak in construction 2008 (which will about match cost increases) activity in February 2006, and then gain 9.3% in according to an analysis 2009, when the housing Non-residential construction spend- market is again expandfrom Reed Construction ing is expected to increase by 12% Data (RCD). ing steadily. in 2008 and 8% in 2009, which is But the report should Spending on nonsubstantial real growth. not be interpreted as an residential construcend to the long slide in tion increased 1.6% in construction activity because construction costs November to a level 21% above a year ago. have begun to rise again. The construction Construction spending for commercial propermaterials price index jumped an outsized 1.4% ties increased only 0.7% in November after risin November (month to month), according to ing 21% in the previous year. RCD expects nonthe Bureau of Labor Statistics, and construction residential construction spending to increase wages rose an unusually large 1%. It is clear that 17% in 2007, 12% in 2008 and 8% in 2009, the real volume of construction activity, mea- which is still substantial real growth after subsured after inflation, fell again in November. tracting project cost increases. Teach students fire science EVENTS • March 3–6: AMCA Intl. Spring Meetings and Engineering Conference, The Orleans Hotel and Casino, Las Vegas • March 10–13: American Society for Healthcare Engineering Intl. Conference and Exhibition on Health Facility Planning, Design and Construction, Gaylord Palms Hotel and Convention Center, Orlando, Fla. • April 22–24: National Conference on Building Commissioning (NCBC), Marriott Newport Beach Resort and NEWS STORIES FOR MORE Spa, Newport Beach, GO TO: CSI manufacturers alliance The Construction Specifications Institute, Alexandria, Va., announced the formation of the Building Product Manufacturers Alliance (BPMA), a new group that will bring together leading manufacturers to share knowledge that can reshape and enhance the future of the building industry. “Today’s construction market increasingly calls for high-performance buildings, environmentally friendly materials and practices, and technologically advanced components,” said CSI executive director and CEO Walter Marlowe. “BPMA will help building product manufacturers across all product categories meet the needs of the changing marketplace.” The inaugural meeting is March 3–5, at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta. For more information or to register for the conference, go to www.csinet.org/BPMA. Calif. The Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), Bethesda, Md., has partnered with Discovery Education to create a new in-school program titled The Chemistry of Fire. Geared to high school chemistry students, the program will teach the science behind fire. The interactive program includes a teacher’s guide with five lesson plans, a DVD that demonstrates exciting experiments included in the lessons, three classroom posters, and a Web site where teachers and students can find more classroom and career resources. The program is aligned to the National Science Teachers Assn. Standards for grades 9 to 12. There is a nationwide shortage of fire protection engineers, said SFPE officials. These lessons will help students explore career opportunities in the field of fire protection engineering. For more information, go to www.sfpe.org. WWW.CSEMAG.COM 8 Consulting-Specifying Engineer • FEBRUARY 2008 http://www.ashrae.org/freeaedg http://www.ashrae.org/freeaedg http://www.sfpe.org http://www.csinet.org/BPMA

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Consulting-Specifying Engineer - February 2008

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - February 2008 Contents Viewpoint News M/E Roundtable How To Write Control Sequences Mentoring Engineers: Myths, Motivations, and Models Keep Young Electrical Engineers Grounded Protecting a Vulnerable Population Codes & Standards Case Study New Products Equipment Lifecycles Advertisers Index Green Space

Consulting-Specifying Engineer - February 2008

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