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The importance of door maintenance: Tips and notes
Scott E. Rupp Facilities & GroundsIn and out, all day long, nearly every day of the year. Doors. You may take the barriers that keep the outside out and the inside in for granted. But your facility’s doors are nothing to overlook. Kind of like the roof above, they keep your buildings protected, safe and secure, and the unsavory elements — both weather and humans — out. Proper maintenance is a must, but in many cases these most mobile pieces of your building probably only get attention if something isn't right.
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Heads-up: Safety and liability in manufacturing
Delany Martinez ManufacturingInnovation in manufacturing has made for surprisingly even footing among rivals in a variety of industries. The last remaining point of competition for market share, some argue, is found in speed and efficiency: even if two companies are making the same products, the business that gets the products made and shipped more quickly is the ostensible winner in the battle for consumer wallets. That intense focus on speed and volume, however, can come at a high cost for companies that don't tread carefully.
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IoT implementation sails into wind power
Joseph Zulick EngineeringA wind energy structure in the North Sea lost its main turbine housing earlier this year, prompting engineers to determine that all 206 units of this size in the sea might need to be examined and refitted. The North Sea is the most violent wind and current area to have giant turbine farms in trouble like this, but other regions are having maintenance problems as well. The role of predictive maintenance in design engineering for these giant pieces of infrastructure jumps up the importance ladder every time a customer adds megawatts to the overall scheme.
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Home construction recoups as sales slump
Michael J. Berens Construction & Building MaterialsAfter taking a tumble in June, housing construction got back on its feet in July, with both the number of new starts and permit requests ticking upward. Home sales, on the other hand, continued to slip as prices in many markets approach record highs. Demand for housing remains high, but would-be buyers are having difficulty finding homes they can afford. Throughout the year so far, home construction numbers have yo-yoed up and down from month to month.
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California fires still burning, new report anticipates more
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalAs California fires still burn, the state has released its fourth Climate Change Assessment, a report that surveys the scientific data and governmental action on climate change preparedness. While today’s environmental news sounds terrible, there’s more to come. By the end of the century, we will witness a 77 percent increase in volume of burning acres. These are just wildfire predictions. There are also anticipated problems with drought, beach erosion, and rising ocean levels to contend with — according to the report.
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Study: Human waste could be resource-rich fertilizer for global agriculture
Scott E. Rupp Waste Management & EnvironmentalWell, if this isn’t a load of … then nothing is. But, that’s what we’re talking about: human waste. While the subject is often taboo, human waste actually is full of nutrients that can be recycled into products to promote agricultural sustainability and better economic independence for some developing countries. Used properly, our own waste may be nothing more than the animal manure that makes the foods we grow so abundant, and our gardens so strong and attractive.
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Caribbean comeback: Tourism returns to the islands a year after the storms
Lark Gould Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementBarring any more hurricanes this season, the Caribbean is back. That was the word at this year’s Virtuoso Week, where Karolin Troubetzkoy, immediate past president of the Caribbean Hotel Association, addressed travel industry advisors and media about the state of tourism in the Caribbean one year after hurricanes Irma, Jose and Maria wreaked havoc on the region in nearly consecutive high-intensity storms. "The region lost three percent of arrivals, but it’s coming back even better," she said. "There is a certain spirit of enthusiasm in the Caribbean. It's been really tough, but we are going to come back really strong from the experience."
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Court rules against EPA’s stalling of new chemical safety regulations
Michelle R. Matisons Waste Management & EnvironmentalThe Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has received a lot of negative coverage lately due to the antics of the agency’s former head, Scott Pruitt, and the EPA’s historic role in reversing decades of environmental regulations, such as car emissions standards and the Endangered Species Act. While it’s not the most ecologically enlightened time period, there’s good news out there for people who fight for cleaner environmental standards. For example, last week the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals threw out the EPA’s efforts to block implementation of new chemical plant safety rules by 20 months.
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Trace pharmaceuticals seen in water, food supply across the country
Dr. Denise A. Valenti PharmaceuticalDrugs of all kinds are in the foods you might eat and the water you drink. Most recently, even private well systems were found to have traces of pharmaceutical products in the water. A 2015 study that assessed rivers near urban areas in the United States for the presence of active pharmaceutical ingredients found 20 percent of the 182 sites sampled had at least 10 of the 46 compounds sampled. The widespread use of opioids has also impacted the water supply, and this has impacted the food we consume. Mussels harvested from the Puget Sound in Washington state have tested positive for trace amounts of oxycodone.
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McDonald’s flagship: An example of newly renovated space
Linchi Kwok Travel, Hospitality & Event ManagementThe advance of technology has transformed the way restaurants and hotels operate their businesses. When almost everything, from reservations, productions, and service delivery, to the collection of payments, can be performed by machines, restaurants and hotels must also reconsider how they may better utilize the space for smooth operations. McDonald’s, for example, recently revealed a flagship store that looks like an Apple Store in Chicago, roughly two months after the company opened a brand-new, $250 million headquarters in an up-and-coming Windy City neighborhood known for its trendy restaurants.
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