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Why ‘asbestos-free’ insulation may contain asbestos
Don Moses Facilities & GroundsIn June of 1996, the Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) lobbied the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to put a date in their new asbestos regulation — 29 CFR 1926.1101, the Occupational Exposure To Asbestos (Construction Industry Standard) — to say all materials installed after 1980 were, in essence, not asbestos-containing materials.
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A look into the future of the cooling industry
Andrew Gaved EngineeringWhat will the cooling industry look like in 2030? It's a bold question that was asked just before Christmas by the European cooling and ventilation groups EPEE and EVIA. In their collaborative conference named "EUREKA 2016: Heating, Cooling & Ventilation: Sustainable technologies for a better life," they brought experts from around the industry together to imagine what the so-called Generation Z would require from their refrigeration and HVAC — and thus how the industry would need to adapt to create the conditions.
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Urban challenge: How can cities manage diversity?
Lucy Wallwork Civil & GovernmentTo return to the much-quoted doyenne of urbanism Jane Jacobs, "cities have the capability of providing something for everybody, only because, and only when, they are created by everybody." Faced with unprecedented levels of globalization and integration, urban planners and city managers are now under pressure to take into account a much broader range of perspectives and priorities as they refashion our urban spaces. Thus, managing diversity is our fifth and final urban challenge.
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EU looks at Ecolabel for supermarkets
Andrew Gaved Waste Management & EnvironmentalReaders will know that European supermarkets have made significant progress in recent years in converting their properties to lower-energy systems using lower-carbon refrigerants. Transcritical carbon dioxide systems have rapidly become the technology of choice for supermarket refrigeration managers wanting to reduce the global warming potential of their stores. Now, a European-funded initiative called SuperSmart is hoping to hasten the take-up of greener refrigeration methods by proposing an EU Ecolabel for food retail stores.
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3 ways pests can hurt businesses
Doug Haymore Facilities & GroundsIf you’ve ever been inside of a business and saw an insect flying around or a mouse dart across the floor, your thoughts probably turned to what was going on behind the scenes. Simply looking at a pest inside of an otherwise clean business makes you feel as though the place is dirty and that you don’t want to spend time there, especially if it was a restaurant or grocery store. You would probably also tell your friends and family to avoid the business at all costs. This is just one of the ways that a pest infestation can seriously hurt a business.
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Urban challenge: Cities and climate change
Lucy Wallwork Civil & GovernmentWhen it comes to climate change, cities occupy the role of both hero and villain. On the one hand, cities consume over two-thirds of global energy and are responsible for 37-49 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. On the other, cities are also a key part of the solution. Even when it must happen without support at the federal level, cities are taking action on climate change.
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A bid to clear the air in the UK
Andrew Gaved Waste Management & EnvironmentalIn the U.K., pollution has become something of a political hot potato, thrusting the HVAC industry's role in raising standards of indoor air quality (IAQ) into the spotlight. Now, campaigners want there to be a new Clean Air Act — the legislation was first brought in 60 years ago in a bid to see off the famous London smog that had created poor visibility and breathing difficulties in the postwar period.
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Urban challenge: How cities are making the most of Big Data
Lucy Wallwork Civil & GovernmentData has been described as the "new oil" powering our economies. It is also increasingly powering our cities. A handful of U.S. cities are starting to reap the dividends of using data to help their cities flourish, replacing filing cabinets with complex data infrastructure. In the third article in this "urban challenges" series, let's look at some of the early pioneers and how we can expect data to influence the future of cities.
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Urban challenge: What should be done about gentrification?
Lucy Wallwork Civil & GovernmentGentrification is the process in which an influx of wealthy residents into an urban district causes rents to rise and the neighborhood to be reshaped in line with middle-class (usually white) characteristics. And it's becoming an growing headache for policymakers and the mayors of some of America's hippest cities.
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Scotland takes brave approach to climate change
Andrew Gaved Waste Management & EnvironmentalIn the U.S., the HVACR industry waits with bated breath to see what new President Donald Trump is going to do with regard to climate change policy — and what sort of restrictions he will put on the EPA. Meanwhile, across the Pond in the U.K., the Scottish government has shown a heartening amount of ambition for carbon cutting with its own draft climate change plan. In fact, the Scottish plan is so ambitious that it has thrown the spotlight on the U.K. Westminster government's own somewhat-more-conservative carbon cutting plans.
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