Consulting-Specifying Engineer - April 2008 - (Page 8) In The News NEWS AT A GLANCE • Federal regulators approved a plan on April 9 to create a nationwide emergency alert system using text messages. The plan is a result of the Warning Alert and Response Network Act, a 2006 federal law that requires the Federal Communications Commission to develop ways to alert the public about emergencies. • The National Institute of Standards and Technology submitted to Congress in March the annual report of activities under the National Construction Safety Team Act, authorizing the agency to conduct technical investigations of major building failures. The full report is available at www.nist.gov. Earth Hour diary: Chicago t’s all about individual choices. So, it’s appropriate that Consulting-Specifying Engineer reports on Earth Hour with personal anecdotes. In the end, it was about individuals using the event to ponder their own contribution to energy consumption and reflect on ways to reduce their impact. Truth be told, CSE also had another reason: We assigned photographer Mark Berlow to document the effect on the Chicago skyline. Berlow donated his Saturday night and braved high winds to produce the series of photos at right. For anyone unaware, Earth Hour is a collective effort where citizens and facilities in major global cities voluntarily turned off their lights—and as many other electrical appliances as possible—for one hour (in Chicago, from 8 to 9 p.m. on Saturday, March 29). Earth Hour has its origins in an event sponsored in Sydney, Australia, on March 31, 2007. The utility, ComEd, a sponsor of Chicago’s Earth Hour, compared its customers’ electricity usage during the hour with the same hour a week earlier and reported that the reduction in electricity usage in the City of Chicago and Northern Illinois was estimated to be about 537 MWh, the equivalent of reducing nearly 840,000 lbs. of carbon dioxide emissions. Electricity demand for the area dropped by 5%. The figures are impressive, but it’s the personal angle that is interesting. The CSE editorial staff discovered how, with some minor adjustments, each of us might reduce our carbon footprint. What follow is CSE’s diary entries for the event. Michael Ivanovich, editor-in-chief: My wife and I had planned to have a few friends over for dinner before we had heard about Earth Hour, so we had fun combining the two. Cooking by candlelight was a new experience, but nothing got burned. Between appetizers and desserts, Earth Hour stretched to almost 11 p.m. I EVENTS • May 19-22: Ecobuild America and AEC Science & Technology, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, Calif. • May 26-27: 19th Annual Lightfair Tradeshow and Conference, Las Vegas Convention Center, Las Vegas. • June 1-4: 7x24 Exchange 2008 Spring Conference, Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, Fla. • June 2-6: NFPA World Safety Conference, & Expo Mandalay Bay Convention Center, Las MORE FORVegas. GO TO: NEWS STORIES before a light was switched on. One of our guests walked to our house rather than drive, literally going the extra mile. I don’t know how much energy we saved, but contributing to a national effort to visibly cut energy consumption was a treat. This was heightened by reading about Earth Hour in the newspaper the next morning, and awaiting the photos from Mark Berlow. Amara Rozgus, senior editor: During Earth Hour, I saved about .33 kWh of electricity. Sounds silly that I calculated it, but I was interested in learning about the impact one WWW.CSEMAG.COM 8 Consulting-Specifying Engineer • APRIL 2008 http://www.nist.gov
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