Articles By This Author
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Lewis Tagliaferre — Freelance Writer
Lewis Tagliaferre is proprietor of C-E-C Group. He may be reached at 703.321.9268 or lewtag@aol.com.
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The Energy Effect
April 2006
I once read that Thomas Edison tried to sell houses made from preformed concrete panels without success. He reportedly said, “Nobody had any imagination so I gave up and quit.” Except for some experimental units by custom builders for wealthy, eccentric owners, home building has not changed much since Edison’s time. Using common materials and practices, most production builders still provide what they find sells the best among the buyers in their areas. But this doesn’t apply to everyone. Ever since fuel supplies became stressed in the 1970s and 1980s, federal and state government energy agencies have been trying to get builders to improve the energy and environmental impacts of their designs. Home buyers who have been attracted to eye candy, such as fancy bathrooms, exotic kitchens and built-in entertainment centers, are now interested in the environmental and energy factors surrounding home ownership. “Green building” practices are showing up in home plans, so don’t be outdone by the early adopters.
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Utility Growth Opportunities
February 2006
After nearly five years of political wrangling, Congress passed and President Bush signed the Energy Policy Act (EPAct) on Aug. 8, 2005. The first comprehensive energy update since 1992, the House Committee on Energy and Commerce said, “It will promote conservation, reduce our growing dependence on unstable oil supplies from the Middle East, improve our economy, and create new jobs.” Opponents say it focuses too much on more of the same and not enough on alternative fuels and conservation. But a careful reading of its provisions leads to the conclusion that more work and not less will result for electrical contractors stemming from its many provisions. When it comes to electricity, the policy authorizes a new public/private electric reliability organization, promotes restart of nuclear power and shifts toward use of clean-coal technology for future power generation. Provisions also include development of hydrogen fuel and more use of renewable fuels in generation portfolios, plus improved technology and products for energy efficiency.
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Getting Specific in Design-Build
January 2006
Use of the design-build delivery system for new construction in the United States is steadily increasing in nearly every sector of the building industry. The industry trade group, Design Build Institute of America (DBIA), projects it to overtake traditional design-bid-build as the preferred contracting method in a few years. Federal and state procurement rules provide specific authorization for the use of design-build by governmental agencies, which is eliminating the requirement for separate design and construction contracts more rapidly than anyone forecasted (see the graphs supplied by www.dbia.org). It is generally agreed that the more influence electrical contractors have on materials specifications and selection, the less financial risk and more potential profit there is in a new construction project. Design-build offers the opportunity to participate in design-assist at the outset and before plans are released. Contractors employing registered professional engineers may enjoy a preferred position on the design team.
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The Future of Smart Buildings
December 2005
There is an all-electric house in Tennessee that costs 82 cents a day to heat, cool and power. Built in November 2002 by Habitat for Humanity, it is one of four homes under the “Near-Zero-Energy House” name.
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Facing the Genesis: MasterFormat 2004
November 2005
A leading architecture/engineering member of the CSI revision team (who requested anonymity) described the genesis of the change to MasterFormat 2004 this way: “Division 16 was used to describe means and methods of lighting and distribution of power in buildings. Then came the computer chip, security electronics, and 'Ma Bell' was no longer the only telephone company in town. We all woke up one morning and realized that the electrician no longer had the sole responsibility for all the hooking up and turning on of powered systems. We had all arrived kicking and screaming into a new age of 'high-tech' systems and specialties. “Here we are in a whole new age of specialization and now we have to deal with such subjects as integrated automation, new methods of communication and electronic data transfer and storage plus a need for building security and monitoring systems in addition to conventional lighting and power distribution. Trade jurisdictions are affected as well,” he continued.
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Wind Power—Friends and Foes
October 2005
Up to 2,500 megawatts (mw) of wind energy capacity are scheduled to come online in the United States this year, bringing new power to the equivalent of 700,000 homes and injecting more than $3 billion of investment into the power generation sector. Wind power has truly become a reality.
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Get the Marketing Edge
September 2005
When it comes to running a business, the owner or manager must pay close attention to five separate, but integrated, functions. These are the production of whatever the business does; the legal or contractual aspects of doing business; the human factor role (getting and keeping qualified, motivated, productive workers); the accounting and financial affairs needed for banking and tax responsibilities to ensure positive cash flow; and getting business, or marketing.
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CSI MasterFormat 2004 Part II
August 2005
Most electrical contractors are so busy making the payroll and payables each week, they don’t pay much attention to changes coming their way until they are hit in the wallet. A perfect example is last fall’s release of the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) MasterFormat 2004 Edition (MF04) for construction project management. When I searched for information to prepare Part I of this series (ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR, May 2005), no information could be found. However, when I searched the topic for this issue, I found every construction publication and every industry conference had it covered. At some point before the end of 2005, a general contractor is likely to pick up the “spec book” for bidding a project, turn to the table of contents and see unfamiliar numbers for divisions and sections. He won’t be able to find Division 15 or 16. What about data and telecom requirements in Division 17? Nope, not there either. Although you and other subtrades may not feel the impact by the time this article is printed, you probably will in a few months. A little preparation now could save you considerable stress later. A quick review
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Wind Works—–But Not in Florida
June 2005
Coal is too dirty. Uranium is too dangerous. Gas is too expensive. Oil is too political. Solar is too sporadic. Hydro-dams upset the fish habitat. Despite pressure to find new sources of clean, renewable energy, wind power has stayed in the background although it is gaining interest in a several areas of the country. Wind produces electricity by turning the blades of a turbine attached to a generator. A large wind tower can produce up to 2.5 megawatts, enough power to supply more than 800 households. Modern turbine towers are taller than a 20-story building, rising 400 feet.
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Redefining Construction
May 2005
Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) MasterFormat is the most widely used standard for organizing specifications, catalogs and other documents for commercial and institutional building construction projects in the United States and Canada. Since CSI has issued a complete revision in order to reflect changes in technology and contracting practices, it may be worth your time to read through this brief analysis and to begin thinking about the challenges that your business may face as a result. The background statements issued by CSI indicate a new approach was needed to meet the changing needs of the construction process. New technology, the growing varieties of project management, the nature of the competing contractor organizations and equipment and material suppliers could not fit into the existing specification structure any longer. After three years of planning, peer review and industry negotiations, CSI issued its new MasterFormat 2004 Edition with the goal of making it official nationwide by 2006.
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Odds for RTOs Improve
March 2005
While the transmission grid physically connects great swaths of the country, governance of its many segments varies by state and utility. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is pushing Congress to unify the transmission system to make it easier to connect buyers and sellers of electricity. If a seamless structure were to be created under Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) that worked as “traffic cops” and were able to ensure reliability and impose penalties, the energy sector would become ultimately more attractive to investors and new sources of generation and transmission would therefore get built. While not waiting for federal legislation, many utilities have voluntarily organized regional transmission organizations under FERC guidelines. Besides PJM, the largest and oldest regional transmission organization, NY Independent System Operator (ISO) and MISO, there is the New England ISO and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas ISO. Three such organizations are proposed for the Western states: the California ISO, RTO West for the Pacific Northwest and WestConnect to serve the Southwest. RTOs and ISOs are the functional equivalent of one another.
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Solar Photovoltaics… Now, Here
March 2005
A group of students at St. Mary's Seminary and University in Baltimore were assigned to estimate the investment needed for solar photovoltaic (PV) technology to supply 20 percent of U.S. electricity by 2100. They concluded it would require an investment of $36 trillion, absorb land area in the Southwest as large as New England, and sell for 10 cents per KWh-more than twice current average wholesale cost. So why are we bothering with this? Well, maybe there is something valuable here you can learn.
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Hot Developments in Remote Monitoring
December 2004
Modern technology makes it possible that whatever is detected can be electronically reported, and whatever is reported can be remotely monitored, and whatever is remotely monitored can be remotely controlled. Just ask the scientists who are gleaning new information from Mars, Saturn, Venus or other outlying planets from seemingly miraculous remote-controlled space probes. Many electrical contractors may be asked to wire security systems or install some energy control or monitoring hardware without understanding the complete system. Some are content to leave it at that, but if you want to keep up with this trend or even want to consider getting started in remote security and energy controls, perhaps this information could help. First, we begin with a summary of present trends in remote monitoring, and then profile two rising companies that could be important partners for any electrical contractors wanting to learn more. The Security Industry Association (www.siaonline.org) formed an alarm-monitoring group to advance this technology. It lists 107 member companies, and here is what they respond to frequently asked questions.
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Here Comes BPL-You'd Better Duck
November 2004
If your firm does telecomm work, this is worth reading. Although it has been talked about for several decades, modulated radio frequency communications over power lines never really took off because there were difficult technical challenges and no cost-effective solutions. No more. Now called Broadband Over Powerline (BPL), it is getting the attention of some very powerful utility players who could change the way people connect to the Internet. Can you imagine every electrical receptacle potentially used as an Ethernet data port? It has been happening in other countries and municipal power systems, and your local utility may soon bring it to your town.
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Wind Generation—Trends and Issues
November 2004
In 1993, government researchers concluded that a group of 12 states in the midsection of the country have enough wind energy resources to generate nearly four times the amount of electricity consumed nationwide in 1990. Subsequent technology improvements over the past decade opened more than 1 million square kilometers or 14 percent of the land area in the contiguous United States for potential wind generation. To provide 20 percent of the nation's electricity, only about 0.6 percent of the land in the lower 48 states would have to be developed with wind turbines. Furthermore, the researchers estimated less than 5 percent of this mostly rural land would be occupied by wind turbines, electrical equipment and access roads, leaving most of the land available for agriculture.
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A Tale of Two States
September 2004
You could not find two adjacent states taking more opposite approaches to electric markets than Maryland and Virginia. But they still have one thing in common that could be good for electrical contractors. Governors of both states have issued orders for conservation upgrades worth millions.
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Efficiency and Reliability Solutions
July 2004
Concerns about the efficiency and reliability of electricity are prompting new responses by federal and state government agencies, utilities, associations and product manufacturers. They could provide new business for electrical contractors if you can position your company for these opportunities. Unfortunately, electrical contractors are not targeted for information they need about these programs and products for adequate planning and participation.
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Practicing Safety Defines Your Image
May 2004
Frequent readers of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR are more than likely aware of the existence of federal OSHA regulations and other contractual standards for safe work practices in construction. These include the National Electrical Code, NFPA 70E: Electrical Safety Requirements for Employee Workplaces, and the National Electrical Installation Standards. An inspection and citation for safety violations should come as no surprise to contractors who are keeping up with this material.
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The Limits of FERC�s Authority
May 2004
New utility business regulations could affect you
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Power Quality Meets Remote Metering
January 2004
Measuring energy usage in real-time by remote metering is becoming increasingly viable, but in order to be economical, its cost must be offset with new power quality and energy management services. Enterprising electrical contractors might find a niche here with a profitable future, if they can partner with utilities and power quality service providers to get the job done. If you don’t have the time or money to learn how to become a power quality provider, looking at the market through eyes of a utility might be the first step. Contractors who learn to work with them might be the richer for such a partnership.
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The Educated Consumer and Electric Utility Restructuring
January 2004
A retail clothing store advertises, “An educated consumer is our best customer.” Prices are adjusted weekly, and if you know the value of designer merchandise on the racks, you can get some very good bargains. As consumers and as providers of electrical services, contractors could enjoy the benefits of—or be harmed by—utility restructuring that is changing daily. So, ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR will help electrical contractors keep up with developments in regular columns on electric utility restructuring . Also, look for utility restructuring updates in the “News” section of the ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR Web site at www.ecmag.com.
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Energy Management Makes Dollars and Sense
December 2003
A large part of the nation has been spooked recently by regional energy crises. If necessity is the mother of invention, then perhaps recent price spikes, power outages and fears of terrorism are causing some people to assume more responsibility for their energy needs. And, perhaps, there is something profitable ahead for electrical contractors in energy management. The laws of physics, Mother Nature and fears for homeland security may be your greatest marketing allies.
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Fiber to the World
November 2003
When Prof. Samuel B. Morse tapped out that first coded message on the key of the new telegraph machine, no one could have predicted where it would take us. Now, designers are choosing optical fiber cable more and more because it provides a cost-effective means of delivering massive bandwidth with greater network reliability and less downtime. Here are some of the latest developments in fiber optics technology at home and across the world.
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After the Blackout
October 2003
The bottom line is this—the blackout of 2003 exposed the need for upgrading the transmission grid with estimates for modernization up to $100 billion. Chances are good that electrical contractors will be called to install and maintain the new advances in cabling, controls and communications needed. The question is, will they be ready? Manufacturers are introducing new technology that contractors must master. For example, 3M is testing a new ceramic composite high-voltage conductor. The new cable can transmit two to three times more power than conventional power cables of the same diameter without adding weight, stretching distance between transmission towers.
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Scapegoat or Hero?
September 2003
Scapegoating is a hostile social behavior by which people move blame and responsibility away from themselves and toward a target person or group. The target feels wrongly persecuted and receives misplaced vilification, blame and criticism.
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The DER Niche Market
June 2003
Electrical contractors working for utilities or interested in a growing niche market might do well to investigate opportunities in distributed energy resources (DER). They are parallel and stand-alone electric generation units located within the electric distribution system at or near the end-user. Various technologies are available for distributed generation, including turbine generators, internal combustion engine/generators, microturbines, photovoltaic/solar panels, wind turbines and fuel cells. DER can be beneficial to electricity consumers and, if the integration is properly engineered, the energy utility avoids or reduces the cost of transmission and distribution system upgrades. In addition to these quantified estimated benefits, utilities using distributed power obtain qualitative benefits by adding small generation capacity increments instead of large ones, by low capital investments, and by enjoying short lead times to construct a facility. Other drivers include fuel efficiency and environmental gains.
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Good Management Includes Good Safety
May 2003
No strategic business plan is complete without health and safety management
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Jobsite Safety Training
May 2003
Although the chance of being visited by an OSHA inspector is about one in 15, (based on 1999 Census estimates of firms with more than 10 employees) it may be time to invest in learning your OHSA ABCs and XYZs. The Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (Public Law 91-596) placed responsibility for the safety and health of all American workers squarely on the shoulders of their employers. Detailed regulations for electrical contractors are spelled out in sections 1910 and 1926 of OSHA regulations.
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Managing Your Cash Flow in Good Times and Bad
September 2002
Why manage your cash now
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Renewable Energy––Untapped Resource
September 2002
Federal energy policy now includes emphasis on increasing electric generation from renewable resources. These usually include bioenergy, hydrogen, ocean, wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower resources. Of these, it appears that solar and wind energy producers are beginning to offer competitive prices and are predicted to grow rapidly this decade. Obviously, electrical contractors will be doing a lot of the installation work, and it might as well be your firm. Projects are driven by utilities, independent developers and some building owners, so it pays to do your homework and learn all you can about these emerging renewable technologies. Here is a rundown on some of the solar and wind energy news, with links to Web sites providing useful information.
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Why Deregulation Failed––And What Comes Next
September 2002
The government’s deregulation of five major industries—airlines, telecommunications, cable television, banking and electricity—has harmed customers far more than helped them, according to a study released by Consumers Union. “The promises of deregulation have not been kept,” said James Guest, president of the nonprofit consumer organization, which originally supported airline deregulation as a way to lower prices. Instead of promoting vigorous competition, deregulation legislation has been written in ways that leave consumers at the mercy of “a Wild West marketplace,” he said.
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DOE Spins DG into DER
May 2002
DOE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY