Electical Contractor

Although preconvention workshops begin Friday, Oct. 21, the major kickoff for NECA 2011 San Diego is the first-of-its-kind program scheduled for the next day—the NECA Energy Forum.

The ongoing energy-efficiency work at the Empire State Building has achieved another milestone on its journey toward sustainability leadership in the commercial real estate community by receiving its second Energy Star certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

It’s hard to imagine where technological innovation will go next, with so much inventive ground already covered, if not trampled. A recent announcement indicates there is still plenty of room for groundbreaking change, especially when it comes to wireless devices.

In late July, utilities across the country issued notices to their customers, pleading with them to minimize energy use during the projected heat wave—a prolonged period in which every state in the country broke heat records.

It may be energy auditing. It may be retrocommissioning. It may be recertifying a green building. In any case, the move to monitor, benchmark and improve a building’s performance is taking hold and triggering a ripening market for electrical contractors.

Rising energy prices, government incentives and enhanced public image are driving energy efficiency in buildings to new heights as a growing number of building owners races to reduce energy consumption, according to the results of the fifth annual global Energy Efficiency Indicator Survey.

As unpleasant as it is to say, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) contractor-related outlook for 2011 is bleak. This applies to every contractor, whether it is the most safety conscious or greatest of risk-takers.

Builder confidence in the market for newly built, single-family homes improved slightly in November, according to the National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo Housing Market Index (HMI). The HMI rose one notch to 16 from a downwardly revised level of 15 in the previous month.

The Solar Foundation, a nonprofit solar education and research organization, recently released a first-of-its-kind review of the solar work force in the United States. The report, “National Solar Jobs Census 2010: A Review of the U.S.