Chuck Ross

Form Ranks: Army Working With Industry in Renewables Initiative

Chuck — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 15:23:37 +0000

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) is the nation’s biggest energy customer, and it wants to cut its bills. The DOD’s armed services all have initiatives underway to reduce energy use and increase adoption of renewable technologies, in both overseas operations and at stateside bases. In one of the most ambitious efforts announced to date, the U.S. Army has started reaching out to private industry to speed up development of large-scale renewable-energy plants at its bases throughout the country.

Form Ranks: Army Working With Industry in Renewables Initiative

Looking Ahead: Researchers Power Up Ideas for Energy’s Future

Chuck — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 15:18:46 +0000

Alternative-energy watchers are to be forgiven for feeling a bit edgy when it comes to promises of market-shifting technologies. After all, that’s just what California–based Solyndra suggested U.S. Energy Department lenders could expect less than a year before the company went belly-up this summer. But this failure certainly hasn’t stopped researchers in university labs across the country from working on their own version of the next big thing.

This article originally ran in the December 2011 issue of Electrical Contractor Magazine.

Looking Ahead

Opportunities Growing for Green-Roof Design

Chuck — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 15:30:02 +0000

The motivation for incorporating green roofs into commercial building plans has evolved in the almost two decades since the technology made the move to the United States from Europe. New water-runoff rules could see their fortunes rise even higher, as municipalities strive to meet tightened clean-water requirements.

This article originally ran in the November 2011 issue of Architectural Products Magazine. (You can click on the “Enlarge” link under the image of the page for a larger, readable version.)

Opportunities Growing for Green-Roof Design

The Water-Energy Nexus

Chuck — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:15:59 +0000

Looking to cut back on your energy use? Try watering the grass a day or two less each week. And you say water efficiency is becoming more important to you? Try turning off a few lights and setting back the air conditioning. As environmentalists, regulators and electric utilities are beginning to recognize, water and energy use are inextricably linked, and as supplies for both commodities tighten, their relationship to each other is becoming more important.

This article originally ran in the October 2011 issue of Electrical Contractor Magazine.

The Water-Energy Nexus

Clean up on Aisle 9: Supermarkets Line Up for Efficiency-Boosting Fuel Cells

Chuck — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:06:33 +0000

Walk into your local supermarket in mid-August, and the electricity consumption surrounds you. The combination of overhead lighting, air conditioning, cooler refrigeration and all those freezer compartments make that round-the-corner temple to the food pyramid (or the new food plate) one of the biggest energy hogs in town. To help manage high operating costs and extremely tight profit margins, supermarket owners are turning to fuel cells.

This article originally ran in the October 2011 issue of Electrical Contractor Magazine.

Clean up on Aisle 9

Today’s Wired Classrooms

Chuck — Fri, 28 Oct 2011 15:02:40 +0000

Some things in education remain the same–—it’s all still really about reading, writing and arithmetic. But the way those and other subjects are taught has evolved significantly since many of us spent time in a classroom. This change is especially apparent in higher education, where schools face stiff competition in their efforts to attract today’s tech-savvy students who often know more about multimedia applications than their university instructors.

This article originally ran in the October 2011 issue of Electrical Contractor Magazine

Today’s Wired Classrooms

ContourGlobal.com

Chuck — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 19:16:00 +0000

I wrote all page content – excluding the descriptions of all but one project (Rwanda) – for this website. I worked closely with the site redesigners, BureauBlank, as well as client representatives. I also provided some assistance with content strategy. The company is an international developer and operator of power-generation facilities.

ContourGlobal.com

Holy Texting Refrigerators, Batman!

Chuck — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 19:04:44 +0000

While the full deployment of the smart electric meters required to enable your utility to dial back appliance operation remotely is several years away, manufacturers now are outlining the full array of functionality more intelligent appliances could offer. For example, your refrigerator could text you when the door has been left open.

Before you roll your eyes and wonder why you’d want to pay any more for a fridge with a built-in smartphone, consider a house full of hungry, less-than-attentive teenagers running amok. After all, a technology that saves the expense of a shopping cart’s worth of spoiled food could pay for itself very quickly.

This article originally ran in the September 2011 issue of Electrical Contractor Magazine.

Holy Texting Refrigerators, Batman!

Healthcare Spaces: Keeping Hospitals Healthier

Chuck — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:42:20 +0000

In a hospital, what air passes over – the floors, counters, walls and furnishings – can be just as important to the health of staff, patients and family members as the air, itself. Ensuring these surfaces aren’t adding their own pollutants to the indoor environment should be a primary goal for any designer.

This article originally ran in the July/August 2011 issue of Architectural Products Magazine. (You can click on the “Enlarge” link under the image of the page for a larger, readable version.)

Healthcare Spaces: Keeping Hospitals Healthier

2011: The Year of the LED?

Chuck — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:22:15 +0000

Any given year has its predictions. If you’re reading this article, the world as we knew/know it didn’t end on May 21—one of the most publicized predictions for 2011. In Chicago, Cubs fans may yet again be asserting that next year will be the year their team goes all the way. In the lighting industry, however, another long-predicted milestone, the year LEDs finally take off, actually may have arrived.

“Two-thousand eleven is a serious year” for LEDs, said lighting consultant and product designer Kevin Willmorth, who believes promises of LEDs performance and price equity are finally coming true. “It’s starting to give us some lamps that are serious performers.”

This article originally ran in the July issue of Electrical Contractor Magazine.

2011 The Year of the LED?