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The HVAC&R Industry, ASHRAE's free weekly eNewsletter for HVAC&R professionals, provides relevant, timely information about industry and technology for people who create healthy, comfortable indoor environments. |
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| To ensure that The HVAC&R Industry is not blocked by spam-blocking software, add e-industry@ashrae.org to your address book. Should you encounter problems reading an ASHRAE eNewsletter, you may access any issue archived on the ASHRAE Web site at this link. To unsubscribe from this eNewsletter, click here. Industry NewsAmericans Prefer Energy Fix to Health Research, Says Poll FAIRFAX, Va.—Americans would prefer more money be invested in technology to solve U.S. energy problems than to cure cancer or other diseases, according to a recent national poll. About 37% of respondents said they would rank spending to raise energy efficiency and develop alternative fuel technology a top priority for future investment. About 30% ranked more funding for medical research as most important. The Fairfax County Economic Development Authority (FCEDA) conducted the poll. It also conducted a parallel poll in the UK. Respondents there ranked health-care research as the top priority, over fuel efficiency and alternative fuels. Read more IBM Introduces Energy-Efficient Water-Cooled Computer ARMONK, N.Y.—IBM on April 8 introduced a new supercomputer powered by one of the world's fastest microprocessors and cooled by an innovative water system. The Power 575 supercomputer uses water-cooled copper plates located above each microprocessor to remove heat from the electronics. According to the company, the computer can reduce typical energy consumption used to cool the data center by 40%. IBM scientists estimate that water can be up to 4,000-times more effective than air in cooling computer systems. Read more Strong Labor Market for Scientists and Engineers ARLINGTON, Va.—The number of individuals working in science and engineering (S&E) occupations grew by 4.3%, and their unemployment rate dropped to 2.5% in 2006, the lowest unemployment rate since the early 1990s. This is according to three newly published National Science Foundation (NSF) reports. One of the NSF reports shows potential for a new influx of S&E workers. In 2006, there were 1.9 million new science, engineering and health graduates with degrees earned in academic years 2003 to 2005 in the United States. Nearly all of the new graduates either entered the workforce or moved on to higher education. Read more CSI Releases Draft of UniFormat for Public Comment ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) has released the first draft of a revision to the 1998 version of UniFormat for public comment. Members of the construction industry are invited to comment on the draft. All comments received before June 15 will be considered. UniFormat provides a uniform classification system for organizing construction information into a standard order, based around functional elements. Read more Researchers Study Question 'Does Green Pay Off?' SAN DIEGO—Researchers have released a study that examines the benefits of investments in energy savings and sustainable building design. The researchers say that overall, LEED®-certified or ENERGY STAR®-labeled buildings have higher occupancy rates, higher rents and lower operating expenses, which translate to significantly higher values. Click here to read the paper based on the research. ASHRAE NewsLessons Learned in Sustainable Design Lessons learned in sustainable design can be seen seen in a free online video. The video is a recording of a special roundtable, High-Performance Buildings: Lessons From the Leaders, presented at the 2008 ASHRAE Winter Meeting in New York. The panelists discuss owner motivations, technical challenges, design choices and trade-offs, costs for these projects, and share perspectives about whether the expectations set early in the design process have been met once the buildings are occupied. The panelists include representatives of New York’s better-known owner/developer firms and engineers. Click here to read more and to view the video. ASHRAE Satellite Broadcast on Integrated Building Design ASHRAE will present a satellite broadcast/webcast, entitled Integrated Building Design: Bringing the Pieces Together to Unleash the Power of Teamwork, on April 16 from 1–4 p.m. EDT. This broadcast explains what members of the building team should do to advance high-performance buildings with improved design, construction and operations processes. Click here to read more and to register to view the broadcast. Feature of the WeekDehumidification System Enhancements By Douglas Kosar, Member ASHRAE This article compares performance capabilities of conventional direct expansion (DX) systems with three alternative, all-electric DX systems. The author finds that augmenting a conventional DX cooling coil with enhanced dehumidification components can substantially increase an integrated system’s moisture removal capacity. This article originally was published in ASHRAE Journal in February 2006. Click here to download the article. It will be available here through April 23. After April 23, access to the article from this eNewsletter will no longer be available. It will remain available for free download by Members here and for purchase by nonmembers in the ashrae.org bookstore. Product NewsPhotosensing Daylighting Control From Watt Stopper/Legrand SANTA CLARA, Calif.—The LightSaver® LS-301 ceiling-mounted, low-voltage photosensor from Watt Stopper/Legrand dims lighting based on the contribution of daylight levels. It uses a sliding setpoint algorithm that allows the controller to compensate for the disparate spatial distribution of daylight and electric light. By having two different setpoints for day and night, the target setpoint changes based on the current light level conditions. Users can operate the device with infrared, handheld remotes. Read more Variable-Speed Motor From GE ECM by Regal-Beloit BELOIT, Wis.—GE ECM by Regal-Beloit offers the standard ECM 142R for outdoor, fractional-horsepower applications such as split system outdoor units, package units and other prop fan air-moving applications. It features a speed-tap interface that provides the flexibility to apply the motor in single- and two-stage systems, with the potential to integrate low ambient controls. Read more BACnet® Portable Router From Contemporary Controls DOWNERS GROVE, Ill.—Contemporary Controls announces the BAS Router Portable (BASRTP-B), which allows a user to connect a laptop to a BACnet® MS/TP network for monitoring. A resident Web server allows BAS commissioning, reconfiguration and troubleshooting via a standard Web browser. Read more Subscription ManagementAmerican Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) is an international membership organization founded to advance the arts and sciences of heating, ventilation, air conditioning, refrigeration and related issues. Need assistance? Please use the links below or contact us by e-mail. To change your e-mail address for all eNewsletters, click here. This will not change your official e-mail address in ASHRAE's member database. This will only change the e-mail address to which your ASHRAE eNewsletters are sent. If someone passed along this eNewsletter to you, and you want to have your own subscription, click here. To read ASHRAE's media kit to learn about advertising opportunities, click here. All contents copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. 1791 Tullie Circle, NE, Atlanta, GA 30329-2305. |
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