The two associations will work together to provide educational opportunities and resources to professionals in the industry. This will include cross promoting webinars, trainings and workshops to each of the associations’ members. Additionally, each association has committed to supporting each others’ respective conferences and events.

The HVAC Inspection, Maintenance and Restoration Association, otherwise known as the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA) was formed in 1989 as a non-profit association of companies engaged in the cleaning of HVAC systems. The Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) is a non-profit organization established in 1998 to promote uniform standards, procedures and protocols in the indoor air quality industry.

Although made of fire-resistant materials, terracotta and cement roof tiles are vulnerable to penetration by windblown embers generated in wildfires, according to new research findings* from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

In scoping experiments conducted in the Fire Research Wind Tunnel Facility at Japan’s Building Research Institute, NIST fire scientist Samuel Manzello found that the embers—or firebrands—infiltrated gaps between certain types of roofing tiles and, once trapped, proceeded to melt the underlayment below.

Of the four roof styles studied, the flat tile terracotta roofing assembly performed best probably due to its interlocking design. For these tiles, the firebrands were observed to become trapped within the interlocking sections of the tiles and, as a result, the firebrands did not penetrate past the tiles towards the underlayment.

Manzello cautions, however, against a false sense of security with this type of roofing assembly.

“Over time, gaps can develop in roofing assemblies due to settling of the structure, aging of the materials, earthquakes or other causes,” he says. In an earlier study,** Manzello and colleagues simulated this effect and observed greatly reduced performance of ceramic roofing assemblies as compared to well-aligned Spanish tile roofing assemblies.

This infiltration of embers through gaps, he explains, ultimately could lead to ignition of materials in an attic space immediately below.

The research findings suggest that one potential approach to reducing wildfire risks would be to install continuous, fire-resistant underlayments. This hypothesis, Manzello says, requires further investigation.

In the new research, Manzello studied roof assemblies made of flat and profiled (wave-like) cement and terracotta tiles. The assemblies were exposed to firebrand showers generated by the NIST-developed firebrand generator. Devised by Manzello, the generator, or NIST Dragon, shown in the video below, is a two-meter tall, goose-neck-shaped apparatus that breathes in wood chips and exhales firebrands at a controlled rate.*** The novel device supports NIST’s program to improve the fire-resistance or hardening of structures in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), with the ultimate aim of reducing property damage and the threat to life safety associated with WUI fires.

* S.L. Manzello, The Performance of Concrete Tile and Terracotta Tile Roofing Assemblies Exposed to Wind-Driven Firebrand Showers, (NIST Technical Note 1794) March 2013. Available at:http://dx.doi.org/10.6028/NIST.TN.1794.

** S.L, Manzello, Y. Hayashi, Y. Yoneki and Y.Yamamoto, Quantifying the vulnerabilities of ceramic tile roofing assemblies to ignition during a firebrand attack. Fire Safety Journal 45 (2010), pp. 35-43.

*** See the Sept. 27, 2011 Tech Beat item, “In Unique Fire Tests, Outdoor Decks Will Be Under Firebrand Attack” at  www.nist.gov/public_affairs/tech-beat/tb20110927.cfm#fire.

From the beginning of his career in 1940 until its culmination in the late 1970s, Mr. Bertoia was, fundamentally, a sculptor. He was many other things, too—furniture designer, painter, jeweler—but all are based in his ability to think and visualize in three dimensions. The collection assembled for Bertoia Unbound presents the work of this seminal 20th century figure in all its extraordinary variety and originality.

Attendance at the show is free, by appointment only. Contact the center at 646-574-7464 or designctr@dorma-usa.com.

Hosted by the National Institute of Building Sciences Building Enclosure Technology and Environment Council (BETEC) and the Building Enclosure Council of Kansas City (BEC-Kansas City), BEST4 will be held April 12-15, 2015, in Kansas City, Mo. The conference will address critical issues related to the performance of the building enclosure, in conjunction with whole building performance.

With the theme, “Performance-Driven Architectural Design,” BEST4 serves to enhance attendees’ understanding of critical design changes and provide a forum for discussion of unresolved issues.

Suggested Topics
Potential speakers are requested to submit a paper and share their experience with others. The following list is indicative of the topics the Technical Committee is encouraging potential speakers to consider for submission:

1. Strategies and technologies needed to meet whole house savings of 50%.
2. Efficient thermal upgrade of existing building envelopes.
3. Innovative materials and systems, high-performance insulations.
4. Thermal performance of assemblies under field conditions (thermal bridges and phase-change materials).
5. Predicting and testing to ensure the performance of the building enclosure (BE).
6. Commissioning and quality management in design and construction of the BE.
7. Hygrothermal performance of the BE under service conditions.
8. Thermal upgrade of existing buildings.
9. Energy efficiency, lighting and other aspects of small building performance.
10. High performance and dynamic building enclosures for large buildings.
11. Reflective assemblies, exterior continuous thermal insulation systems, and advanced insulation concepts.
12. Durability of masonry structures and plasters, the effect of water on durability.
13. Control of indoor environment, air tightness, the effect of air flow on building performance.
14. Glazing and fenestration.
15. Measured house performance as compared to design.

Submission Guidelines
In their abstracts, potential speakers should address new or existing building issues they consider important. Abstract must be 300 to 500 words in length. Presenters should prepare the abstract using MSWord 2003 – 2007, and email it, along with their author contact information and affiliation, to the Technical Committee via email, as well as upload it to ProposalSpace. Abstracts may be submitted any time before August 1, 2013.

Program Timeline
If selected, presenters must agree to meet the following program timeline:

August 1, 2013 — Abstracts are due to Technical Committee
October 15, 2013 — Technical Committee notification of abstract acceptance
January 15, 2014 — Send draft of paper to Technical Committee for review
May 30, 2014 — Technical Committee sends review comments to authors
November 1, 2014 — Final paper due date
January 15, 2015 — PowerPoint Presentation due date

Abstracts for all of the papers to be presented at BEST4 will be included in a book of Conference Proceedings, which will be available to registered participants. Select conference papers, after a successful peer review, will be considered for publication in several industry journals. Members of the Technical Committee are available to answer questions about abstracts and papers. The BEST4 Technical Committee includes: Mark Bomberg, PhD, PE (Chair); David Yarbrough, PhD, PE (Co-Chair); and Jan Kosny, PhD (Co-Chair).

Download the BEST4 Abstract Template.

View the BEST Conference Manuscript Preparation Guidelines.

“Business conditions in the construction industry have generally been improving over the last several months,” said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker, PhD, Hon. AIA. “But as we have continued to report, the recovery has been uneven across the major construction sectors so it’s not a big surprise that there was some easing in the pace of growth in March compared to previous months.”

Key March ABI highlights:

• Regional averages: Northeast (54.6), Midwest (53.9), South (53.6),  West (51.9)
• Sector index breakdown: multi-family residential (56.9), commercial / industrial (53.5),  mixed practice (53.3), institutional (50.6)
• Project inquiries index: 60.1
• The regional and sector categories are calculated as a 3-month moving average, whereas the index and inquiries are monthly numbers.

According to Ken Simonson, the association’s chief economist, residential and private nonresidential construction is expanding, but investment in infrastructure and public buildings is still on a downward path. This affects employment in states with a large federal presence.  Those states remain vulnerable to construction cutbacks from newly enacted and proposed decreases in federal funding for infrastructure.

Simonson noted that hiring for recovery work from Hurricane Sandy may be the reason New York had the largest increase in construction employment between February and March (6,000 jobs, 1.9 percent) and Connecticut had the largest percentage increase (5.7 percent, 2,900 jobs). Florida added the second-largest number of construction jobs for the month (5,500, 1.6 percent), while Arkansas was second in percentage increase (4.5 percent, 2,000 jobs).

Twenty states and the District of Columbia lost construction jobs between February and March. The largest losses occurred in Missouri (-3,400 jobs, -3.2 percent). Ohio had the second-highest loss of jobs (-3,300, -1.9 percent), followed by Michigan, which had the second-highest percentage decline (-2.4 percent, -3,100 jobs).

Simonson reported that 31 states and D.C. added construction jobs from March 2012 to March 2013 and 19 states lost workers. Alaska led all jurisdictions in the percentage of new construction jobs (11.4 percent, 1,900 jobs); followed by Hawaii (10.7 percent, 3,100 jobs); Utah (8.7 percent, 6,000 jobs) and Louisiana (8.6 percent, 10,700 jobs). California added the most new construction jobs over the past 12 months (41,000, 7.1 percent), followed by Texas (39,800 jobs, 6.9 percent).

Among the 19 states losing construction jobs during the past year, Rhode Island lost the highest percentage (-9.6 percent, -1,600 jobs); followed by Montana (-8.1 percent, -1,900 jobs) and South Dakota (-7.7 percent, -1,700 jobs). Ohio lost the most jobs (-9,500 jobs, -5.2 percent); followed by Illinois (-8,500 jobs, -4.4 percent) and North Carolina (-5,300 jobs, -3.0 percent).

Association officials said the cuts in federal funding for construction enacted in March would push employment totals lower in states with large military and federal civilian facilities. They urged policy makers to make infrastructure investment a priority even while cutting other categories of federal spending to bring down deficits.

View the state employment data by rank and by state.

Capital Safety is the first fall protection manufacturer to have an ISO 17025 accredited lab on-site, allowing the company to test and recertify products more quickly than average. Customers can also easily download and print necessary Certificates of Compliance through the Capital Safety website.

Capital Safety has been accredited to ISO 17025 since June 2009. They credit their success to their investment in an on-site accredited lab and their strong support of ANSI safety standards.

American Standard engineers have invented SaTo (pronounced SAH-toh, derived from “Safe Toilet”), a cost-effective hygienic latrine pan that uses an ingeniously simple mechanical seal and water seal to reduce disease transmission by closing off pit latrines from the open air. The company will donate hundreds of thousands of these pans to Bangladesh in 2013, one for each of its top-rated Champion brand toilets sold in North America.

For more information, view the video below:

Construction put in place totaled $885 billion in February, up 1.2 percent from the downwardly revised January level. The February 2013 total was 7.9 percent higher than in February 2012. Private residential construction jumped 2.2 percent for the month and 20 percent year-over-year. Private nonresidential spending rose 0.4 percent for the month and 6.1 percent year-over-year. Public construction spending increased 0.9 percent for the month but slipped 1.5 percent over 12 months.

New single-family construction rose 4.3 percent from January’s level and 34 percent from a year ago. New multifamily construction fell 2.2 percent for the month but was 52 percent above the February 2012 mark.

The largest private nonresidential category, power construction—which includes oil and gas fields and pipelines as well as power plants, alternative energy and transmission lines—increased 0.7 percent for the month and 4.0 percent over 12 months. Manufacturing construction rose 0.3 percent and 9.9 percent, respectively. Private transportation construction slumped 2.4 percent in February but climbed 17 percent year-over-year. Warehouse construction soared 8.3 percent and 19 percent. New and remodeled private office construction rose 0.3 percent and 25 percent.

Association officials said federal infrastructure investment has been plunging even as several states have passed funding increases for projects. Federal investment in construction dropped 1.1 percent in February and 10 percent from a year ago, while state and local investment rose 1.1 percent for the month and was nearly level—down 0.5 percent—year-over-year. They urged the federal government to fund vitally needed investments in infrastructure projects.

The 2013 Partner of the Year awards are given to manufacturers and retailers that successfully promote and produce ENERGY STAR-qualified products, saving consumers money and reducing greenhouse gas emissions, according to EPA. Winners are selected from award applicants among nearly 20,000 organizations that participate in the ENERGY STAR program.

Energy-saving facts

• For a typical home, replacing single-pane windows with ENERGY STAR-qualified windows can save $146 – $501 a year on energy costs, and reduce a home’s carbon footprint by 7-15 percent, according to energystar.gov.
• Double-pane insulating glass windows include two panes of glass with a gas-filled space between them — and can insulate over two times better than single-pane windows based on a comparison of U-Factors.
• Benefits of double-pane insulating glass low-emissivity (Low-E) windows over single-pane windows with clear glass include: lower energy costs, improved home comfort in hot or cold weather, protection from the sun’s fading rays, and more peace and quiet by reducing outside noise.