John Fulmer is a freelance writer based in Joppa, Md., and former editor of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR magazine. He can be reached at johnsfulmer@comcast.net.
Wellington Power Corp., a Pittsburgh-based electrical contractor, is helping to relieve one of the worst bottlenecks in the United States by electrifying the world’s largest drawbridge. For more than two years, Wellington has...
California’s revised Title 24 Energy-Efficiency Standards went into effect on Oct. 1, 2005, but for months prior to that, Gary Flamm, a lighting expert with the state’s Energy Commission (CEC), traveled across the country and...
As 2005 came to a close, many economists blamed a cloudy future on a femme fatale named Katrina. Anthropomorphism, giving human characteristics to something inanimate, is a tricky device, usually frowned upon in writing. Yet...
Though estimating software has become more sophisticated, the process of scrutinizing a blueprint and figuring labor and material costs still needs the human touch. Integrated software programs can do takeoffs from a digital...
We have a couple of items for April. One is an information update from a previous column. Another concerns new sustainable building requirements, which is very topical. It is a bit of a head's up on how these requirements may...
Astute, regular and faithful readers of ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR'S “Estimating” column may have noticed last month's entry wasn't written by long-time contributor Eric David. After 12 years at the helm of this monthly feature...
In June 2003, Richard Manrod presented his paper, “The How, Why and Future of Estimating” to NECA's Academy of Electrical Contracting. Since things change so rapidly, we talked to Manrod to find out if some of his ideas have...
Last year's ELECTRICAL CONTRACTOR's Construction Forecast went halfway out on a limb to prognosticate that 2005 "may be a big year all around." It's easy-and wise-to be tentative in predicting this year's economy, and some...
In the past few years, there has been a great deal of buzz over integrated systems and this issue is dedicated to that new way of construction. The terms and their abbreviations used in this market sector are often...
There's a growing urgency in the development of “green” or “smart” building, and learning to install its energy infrastructure-which is called integrated building systems (IBS) and involves tying together HVAC, electrical...
Training and education are an important part of your business. It keeps you and your workers up-to-date with the latest industry trends, which translates into money. The better trained and better educated your work force, the...
Hospitality and gaming are markets well worth watching for security and life-safety systems installers and industry professionals. Hotel owners and security departments, faced with ever-increasing security demands, need to...
