Office Depot stores hold top three energy-efficiency spots in EPA competition

October 11, 2011 | By Katherine Field Boccaccio

Boca Raton, Fla. -- Office Depot said Tuesday that three of its stores hold the top spots for retail energy efficiency gains at the midpoint of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Energy Star National Building Competition.

 

The EPA has marked the midpoint of the 2011 Energy Star National Building Competition: Battle of the Buildings by releasing a list of Top Contenders for each building category, as well as the progress of all competitors. Office Depot stores in Plano, Texas, Raleigh, N.C., and Tallahassee, Fla., are the three top contenders, respectively, in the retail category.

 

The Plano store has experienced a 17% energy reduction at the midpoint in the competition.

 

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Around the World on Solar Power Alone

The Turanor PlanetSolar is 100 percent solar-powered and is the first such vessel to attempt a circumnavigation of the globe.

By BETTINA WASSENERPublished: September 11, 2011 HONG KONG — Almost a year ago, the Turanor PlanetSolar, a sleek catamaran that bears a resemblance to a giant water beetle, set off from Monaco on a voyage around the globe. Later this month it will arrive in Singapore, having amassed proof that it is possible to traverse the world’s oceans on solar power alone.

The PlanetSolaris a pioneering...

Microsurfacing will require lane closures in Kent County Dover Post

Posted Jun 12, 2011 @ 11:00 AM

 

Dover, Del. —

As part of DelDOT’s pavement and rehabilitation program, each year a number of roads are selected for a process called microsurfacing. The contractor, Asphalt Paving Systems Inc., will be placing notices on the doors of the affected residences and businesses to advise them of the dates of lane closures. 

The work will begin on Monday, June 13 and end on Friday, July 15, pending weather.  Lane closures will occur from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday. 

The following roads will be impacted in Kent County:

Upper King Road between Route 13 and Main Street (Camden)Arthursville Road between Route 44/Everett’s Corner Road and Route 300/Sudlersville RoadArthursville Road between the Maryland State Line and Route 14/Everett’s Corner RoadBarkers...

On April 30^th Rabine Paving participated in the 2011 Pavement Seminar.  This seminar welcomed over 100 local engineers, city & municipal officials, and DOT personnel for this year’s program.  Topics presented in this year’s ½ day program were “New Tends in Hot Mix Asphalt”, “Hot-in-Place Recycling”, “Asphalt Preservation”, “Traffic Calming”, and Advancements in Concrete Pavement Technology”. Scott Haislip from Rabine Paving presentation focused on concrete overlays and pervious concrete pavement applications.

Food delivery company to turn grease to gas By JEFF WILKINSON -  jwilkinson@thestate.com







E-Mail Print Reprint 7 Comments...

Using Recycled Concrete Could Reduce Road Paving Costs by 10-20% by Lori Zimmer, 04/25/11

Read more: Recycling Concrete Could Save 10-20% on Road Paving Materials | Inhabitat - Green Design Will Save the World

 

Civil engineering researchers at Purdue University are currently trying to perfect a process for the handling and reuse of recycled concrete. It is believed that recycling concrete could help reduce construction costs by 20%, and cut down on resources (such as limestone) from being quarried. Working with the Indiana Department of Transportation...

The Rabine Group recently hosted an educational seminar attended by Property Managers at NAI Hiffman. The event took place last April 19, 2011 in Schaumburg, Illinois.  Rabine Paving’s Ryan Laughlin and UltraLot Paving Systems’ Scott Haislip, two of the company’s most experienced engineers, presented information on the benefits of asphalt and concrete paving. During the Q&A Session, one of the interesting questions raised was regarding how Property Managers should plan for a volatile market considering fluctuations in market pricing for fuel and asphalt products.

 

Ryan explained, “The price of asphalt paving products isn’t directly correlated to the price of gasoline but there is a strong relationship between the two. As the price of gasoline has steadily risen during the last 4 months, asphalt cement has followed in suit. Rabine Paving would advise that if you have currently available funds or expect to have funds available, secure proposals as soon as possible from your paving contractors. These...

Updated: March 2nd, 2011 03:45 PM CDT

RMC Research & Education Foundation Releases Study

\RMC Research & Education Foundation

Silver Spring, MD -- The Ready Mixed Concrete (RMC) Research & Education Foundation is proud to announce the release of the latest addition to its extensive pervious concrete library of offerings: Performance Evaluation of In-Service Pervious Concrete Pavements in Cold Weather. The research, completed at the University of Minnesota, was performed in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Transportation and their Pavement Testing Facility. It includes a comprehensive evaluation of the use of pervious concrete in cold weather and examined such issues as impermeability causes, mix design, a rheological study and a pavement structural analysis. The researchers reviewed previous pervious concrete studies and also made recommendations for future areas of research on the topic.

"Pervious concrete pavements continue to grow in popularity not only for their tremendous stormwater management properties, but the numerous other benefits such pavements offer," said Foundation Chairman Scott W. Parson, President of Oldcastle Materials Mountain West Division. "The Foundation funded additional research on the use of pervious concrete to better understand how it may be both improved and its use expanded, especially given the growing global emphasis on the need for sustainable construction," he added. Foundation Executive Director Julie Garbini noted "This project is another great example of how the Foundation is advancing the concrete industry through partnering with universities and governmental agencies. Although pervious concrete has been around for years, with each new research project, we continue to learn more and more about pervious concrete."

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The word asphalt conjures thoughts of one color — black. Gleaming, stinking, smoldering black.

But what about green?

Asphalt, a petroleum-based product, has long been considered an environmental foe. Production typically occurs around 300 degrees, and when heated it releases toxic fumes and pollutants.

Malaysia's Green Building Index Requirement on Solar Reflectance Index For Paving Materials – Part 1

Green construction has become the hottest topic in construction industry today. Almost every research organizations around the globe are working on developing and improving current construction technology and materials in order to obtain the green building status. The manufacturers of building and construction materials are also working around the clock to develop products that can obtained green status.

In Malaysia, Architect Association of Malaysia is the one responsible in developing and implementing the guideline for green construction. The association has come with Green Building Index as the reference document for the green status. The Green Building Index (GBI) is already recognized as Malaysia’s green rating tool for building to promote sustainability in built environment and raise awareness among the construction industry players.

The GBI consist 6 main categories (Non-Residential...