MultiBriefs - Your source for industry specific News Briefs

Greenbuild offers a glimpse of emerging green building trends

Don Rosato Manufacturing

The U.S. Green Building Council's Greenbuild International Conference and Expo is the world's largest conference and expo dedicated to green building. Celebrating its 20th anniversary, the USGBC put on quite a show for attendees in Philadelphia. This year, 30,000 attendees from 90 countries came to Greenbuild, which featured 1,000 exhibitors and sponsors with green products and service innovations and 100 education sessions led by business, environmental and social leaders.

Exploring the use of ceramic materials to prevent corrosion

Jesse Puga Manufacturing

There are many methods and techniques used for corrosion prevention. They generally include changing the environment, choosing the appropriate metal, monitoring surfaces, altering anodic areas, using chemicals that prevent deterioration and applying protective coatings. Typically these techniques are used for the protection of metal — the material that is most often the focus of corrosion prevention. In sharp contrast to metals, ceramics are less vulnerable to corrosion because their chemical bonds of ceramics are oxidized at the outset, and therefore, corrosion is already present.

Confessions of a miser: The thrill of profit

Bob Fortune Business Management, Services & Risk Management

Frugality, thrift and good budgeting can and will lead to profit — financial profit as well as human and social thriving. It's worthy to point out that profit and frugality do not oppose themselves. The origin of the word frugality is "fruit" or "to bear fruit." And the fruits of a successful business are wildly exciting. Profit allows companies to purchase assets to grow revenue, increase earning power for staff, share their wealth with charities and offer more perks to employees.

The View from Europe: An open-and-shut case?

Andrew Gaved Construction & Building Materials

With energy prices at unparalleled heights in many parts of Europe, retail refrigeration managers are under pressure to reduce energy in any way they can. Interestingly, one of the most well-proven changes in terms of guaranteed savings and certainly among the simplest in engineering terms is the one that has met with the most resistance — putting doors on the open-fronted chillers.

Collection strategies: What works to get you paid

Scott Wolfe Jr. Construction & Building Materials

What is the biggest challenge in the construction industry? Many would answer "getting paid." Getting paid in the construction business is an art. The industry suffers from the nation's highest failure rates, works on the lowest net-profit margins and generally must deal with daily work and billing complexities that results in delays, misapplication of funds and a struggling bottom line.

Stopping hydrogen embrittlement and preventing disaster

Sasha Viasasha Manufacturing

Water vapor makes up between 1-5 percent of air on average, delivering a one-two-three punch of oxidation, hydrogen blistering and embrittlement. Hydrogen embrittlement has proven itself particularly dangerous. Catastrophic structural failures that result from it have been at the root of the majority of the nautical and aerospace disasters over the past few decades.

Green-building applications: The road ahead

Don Rosato Engineering

Growth in green-building material demand will outpace the growth of building construction expenditures as green materials continue to account for an increasing share of building materials used. In the U.S., demand for green-building materials is projected to expand 13 percent annually through 2015, generating sales of more than $70 billion.

Which reference electrode for which environment?

Sasha Viasasha Manufacturing

Understanding the role of various reference electrodes is fundamental to performing electrochemical testing for corrosion. The reference electrode carries a fixed potential against which the working electrode in the surface being tested is measured. There are many choices in reference electrodes, though, and the environmental stressors are key in deciding which one to use.

Practical applications for 3-D printing

Nick Merrill Manufacturing

Recently, NASA announced a plan to install a 3-D printer on the International Space Station. This will be a huge boon for astronauts, who would no longer have to wait for a resupply shuttle to bring critical replacement parts. While this is certainly a high-profile use for 3-D printing in remote areas, there are many remote locations on Earth where having an on-site printer could prove invaluable.

Notice policy is key to protecting lien rights

Nate Budde Construction & Building Materials

Making sure your company complies with all of the various notice requirements is a difficult, time-consuming, frustrating and a seemingly impossible task. This is especially true when projects are located throughout many different states with many different rules.

Industries