Registration Now Open: 2011 Small Business Conference- KC MO

It's the most wonderful time of the year! Registration is open for The 12th Annual U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Small Business Conference & Expo, taking place in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 10-12, 2011. As an attendee at The 12th Annual DOE Small Business Conference & Expo, you can build connections with like-minded business professionals, acquire invaluable information from general sessions and educational workshops, and solidify contract opportunities with prime contractors, government agencies, and large companies during the Expo and matchmaking sessions. Last year's conference brought in record attendance, and we want you to get in on the action. Register now and take advantage of early bird registration prices before the discount expires. Have a product or service you'd really like to spotlight? As an exhibitor or sponsor, you can increase your visibility throughout the conference. As an exhibitor or sponsor, your company will appear on The 12th Annual DOE Small Business Conference & Expo website, where over 30,000 potential clients, customers, and business partners will recognize you before, during, and after the conference. Additionally, your business' identity will be present throughout the venue and in the conference guide, further establishing your place in the minds of those potential networks. For more information, and to stay up-to-date on the conference and related news, visit The 12th Annual DOE Small Business Conference & Expo website and follow us on Facebook.

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Department of Energy • 1000 Independence Ave., SW • Washington DC 20585 • 202-586-5000

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Scott's Contracting
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New Life-Cycle Assessment Tools from MIT

MIT Releases Research Findings for New Standard for Life-Cycle Assessment

December 10, 2010

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has released preliminary research findings that will reportedly help set a new standard in life-cycle assessment (LCA) modeling. The studies, which are part of an ongoing research initiative at the MIT Concrete Sustainability Hub, will help quantify the cradle-to-grave environmental costs of paving and building materials and are designed to ultimately result in the most comprehensive LCA model produced to-date.

The scope and detail of MIT's LCA model will set its current efforts apart from previous work. According to MIT professor and research team leader John Ochsendorf, the expanded life-cycle window — 50 years for paving materials and 75 years for building materials — combined with the level of detailed analysis conducted on the use phase of structures and pavements will distinguish MIT's latest research. Initial reports have shown the importance of including the use phase, with MIT researchers finding that more than 90 percent of residential building life-cycle carbon emissions and up to 85 percent of highway pavement emissions occur during this period.

"The life-cycle model we are developing will combine the best data on the full range of costs — construction, maintenance, reconstruction, user, direct, and indirect — with a time frame that reflects the real world life of pavements and building materials," said Ochsendorf.

MIT's ongoing work on measuring the life-cycle carbon emissions of these materials is scheduled to be completed by August 2011. The environmental findings will then be supplemented by economic analyses in 2011 to provide the most accurate assessment of the economic and environmental impacts for buildings and pavements yet produced.

The economic study will produce an equally comprehensive life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) model. According to Ochsendorf, once both studies are completed, MIT will have "provided the scientific community, industry leaders and policymakers with a framework to determine the economic and environmental life-cycle costs of selected infrastructure materials throughout the real life of projects."

As policymakers and political leaders work to account for the environmental and economic costs of public building and paving projects, this type of comprehensive costing model of key materials may provide a roadmap to those who plan these major initiatives.

For more on MIT's work, visit web.mit.edu/cshub.

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Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
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Happy Holiday

Happy Holiday!!!

Green tech and the household energy gluttons- Guest Post

- How to keep your home as Green as you can

Going Green is now the generational movement for manufacturers and consumers alike.  The old energy guzzlers are on the way out, and good riddance. New Green technology is obliterating the inefficient power bill factories, and replacing them with much better machines. The big improvements in things like refrigerators and other domestic appliances are completely changing the whole paradigm of manufacturing and enforcing a better way of life.

The average home usually wastes a lot of power, simply through bad design of machinery and electronics. That's now changing as CAD design reinvents industrial manufacturing processes. There's a very strong business angle here, in that the Green machines are a lot cheaper, as well as more efficient.

Green technology is based on a bigger concept than simply a few appliances using less power. The idea is that the entire domestic market uses less power, and uses it more efficiently.  This is a synergistic effect, and it works a lot better in big markets like household equipment.

The Green effect

Any home can reconfigure its power usage quite easily. You can save money, as well as saving the planet.
It's pretty simple:

Stage 1- Find the problems

Check the wattage on your existing appliances. Up to 2000w is the average range.

Check the power usage generally. Some domestic appliances are used efficiency. Convection heaters, for example, chew up wattage, but they only need to be on for an hour or so. So a 2000w heater, used for one hour, is more efficient than a 1000w heater left on all night.

How's the air conditioner? Air conditioners don't need to be on all the time. Quite the opposite, they're not designed to operate like that, and you can cost yourself a fortune unnecessarily in repairs and replacements.

How's the fridge? Older fridges become inefficient power users over time. If the motor's sounding noisy and your power bills have been rising for a while, suspect number 1 is the fridge.

How's the washing machine? Washing machines more than about 5 years old can be an issue. Their water usage and power usage are different from the current generation of machines, and they're generally less energy and water efficient. If you've got a dryer as well, the new combination washer/dryers are usually better value.
Stage 2- Fix the problems

Identify everything that needs replacing, and do some research online before you spend a cent. The online retailers tend to be highly competitive and you'll be able to see a good bandwidth of prices to help you spot the g2ood deals.

Online shopping includes a few other advantages. You get a lot more information than you would foot-slogging through the malls and outlets. The service is better, too, and you can ask questions and get answers, rather than pure spiel.

This is the fastest way to deal with your power issues and improve your own home environment. It's like saving money before you earn it. Check out your options, because you'll find it's well worth it. 

Author Bio: Tim Millett is an Australian freelance writer and journalist. He writes extensively in Australia, Canada, Europe, and the US. He's published more than 500 articles about various topics, including <a href="http://www.pricepirate.com.au/category_s/28.htm">Refrigerators</a> and <a href="http://www.pricepirate.com.au/category_s/21.htm">Washing machines</a>.

Guest Post Provided by:
Scotty, Scott's Contracting
scottscontracting@gmail.com
http://www.stlouisrenewableenergy.blogspot.com
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