Informative Webinar captured on CD, presented by Jim Newman, Managing Partner of Newman Consulting Group.

Do you really know how your heating and air conditioning systems, as well as people and processes contribute to space contamination in your facility? As a facility manager, you need to know how the proper design and efficiency of operating and maintenance procedures can minimize IAQ problems…and at the same time conserve energy, improve morale and contribute to higher worker productivity.

Nearly all 50 states rely on the National Electrical Code (NEC), published as a standard by the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), as the code they use to regulate electrical installation in new construction and renovation projects. The NFPA recently published the 2005 version of the NEC, which is enforceable in all states and municipalities that adopt it. Several provisions in the new Code affect lighting, including lighting control panels, metal halide fixtures, and disconnecting fluorescent fixtures prior to servicing.

Metal Halide lighting is a type of High Intensity Discharge (HID) lighting. Other types of HID are Mercury Vapour, High Pressure Sodium and Low Pressure Sodium. All HID lamps work on the same principle, that of causing an arc across a gas or vapour and using the gas or vapour as a conductor, the same way incandescent lamps use a tungsten filament as its conductor.

Federal regulators have given the thumbs up to one of the largest natural gas pipeline projects in recent years. The so-called Rockies Express-West line will carry gas supplies from the Rockies through the Midwest and into the eastern United States. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) says that the greenfield project will help offset production declines in other areas of the country. The time appears to be right to build pipelines and to move that gas from the Rockies to the Northeast. Natural gas is a lot cheaper in the Rockies than anywhere else. And since the Northeast needs new supply and more dependable storage, the gas companies are providing a valuable market need by building the pipeline.

Ever think you could get a nasty sunburn - severe enough to peel - by attending an indoor event? Seems improbable, but it can happen. And it has - three times recently in Middle Tennessee. Not ony can your skin be affected, your eyes could also be injured. This can occur if someone spends an extended period of time in a gymnasium that has one or more damaged metal halide lamps. If the protective glass that covers the bulb in that particular type of lighting is broken, UV light can filter out. Even one damaged bulb could cause injuries similar to welders' arc burns or snow blindness and can also lead to a peeling sunburn on the face and/or eyelids.

Oregon schools, warehouses and businesses will soon be getting a state safety warning about the potential danger of ultraviolet exposure from cracked metal halide lights. State officials said they will also notify the federal government about an unusual but very real danger of severe "sunburn" and irritated eyes that can come from such exposure. The warnings follow a November incident that left about 80 Lake Oswego teachers suffering a range of symptoms after being exposed to ultraviolet radiation from a cracked metal halide bulb burning in a school gym. It was similar to a 2000 incident in which several spectators at a junior high basketball game in Sutherlin suffered from sore eyes and skin rashes that resembled sunburn.

Today, the Illinois House of Representatives passed a Renewable Energy Standard (HB1871) requiring the state to buy 2% of its power from renewable energy sources by 2008, 10% by 2015, and setting a goal of 25% by 2025. The 103-12 vote puts Illinois in a strong position to take advantage of the huge environmental benefits and economic potential that renewable energy -- most specifically, wind power -- offers in Illinois.