While workers performing electric arc welding are subject to hazards related to the inhalation of toxic fumes, eye hazards, burns or fires, the most potentially perilous hazard they face is electrical shock, which can result in electrocution and other horrific physiological problems.
This multiple-part article series will discuss the basics, codes and standards, and the science behind chimneys. It will show how back drafting affects chimney performance, while explaining the principles of positive pressure. It will explain how to create and use positive pressure so chimneys will draft for safety and performance.
A growing number of household and building operations can be managed via the Internet. Today’s smart homes and smart buildings promise convenient, efficient building management. But often these systems are not secure. Scientists are working on a software product that defends against hacker attacks before they reach the building.
Thirty-nine percent of the total energy used in a building is wasted. But 84 percent of a building’s total energy consumption could be efficiently controlled through an effective building energy management system (BEMS).
In the 1970s, heat pumps were touted as the energy efficient HVAC systems of the future. New markets typically have new problems, and for heat pumps the nature of the problem related to odors. A particular foul smell was so prevalent that the moniker Dirty Sock Syndrome was coined and universally accepted.
Advances in pellet combustion and control automation have recently positioned wood-pellet-fired biomass boilers as economical alternatives to traditional boilers. Their targeted use promises distinct benefits to the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA).
In every industry, companies are looking for ways to save on energy costs. This article provides a quick guide that examines several low-cost ways you can find energy savings for any facility. Among the savings areas, we’ll take a look at heating, lighting, electric motors, power factor correction, and more.
Only two out of ten (22 percent) of United States homeowners protect their major appliances, including air conditioners, from brownouts and other power quality issues despite the fact that nearly nine in ten (87 percent) understand that a brownout can damage these same major appliances, according to a new study.
The campus of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) played host to 28 teams of university students and building industry experts who converged at the lab for the Challenge Home Student Design Competition.
This analysis shows how a water-cooled 500-ton chiller system when compared to a 500-ton air-cooled chiller system results in approximately $45,000 in annual operating costs savings. Additionally, the water-cooled system reduces peak energy demand by 45 percent.