GFCIs and Swimming Pools – A Natural Fit
from IAEI Magazine
To counter claims that the adoption of the 2008 NEC will significantly increase the cost to build homes, electrical inspectors can inject the facts about electrical safety into the adoption debate. More

Campaign Drives Home Electrical Safety Tips
from The National
Dubai residents can call in experts to scour their homes for potential fire hazards in their electrical wiring, as part of a government campaign launched last week. The Safe Home campaign will send inspectors to any house in the emirate to check for overloaded power points, ineffective circuit breakers and other hazards. More

Sears Tower to Be Revamped to Produce Most of Its Own Power
from The New York Times
The Sears Tower, that bronze-black monument that forms the 110-story peak of the skyline here and stands as the tallest office building in the Western Hemisphere, will soon have another unique feature: wind turbines sprouting from its recessed rooftops high in the sky. More

Planting Seeds
from the Electrical Contractor Magazine
Despite downturns in construction, demand for low-voltage cabling—including voice, data and video (VDV)—is growing. VDV work, fueled by the interest in energy-efficient buildings, is bread and butter for security and telecom specialists. Integrated building systems (IBS) generally are managed by technology vendors and a handful of specialized electrical contractors. Together, IBS and VDV contractors provide installation, service and upgrades for backup power, climate controls, wireless networks, energy--efficient lighting, telecommunications, fiber optics, security and life safety systems. More

Solar Companies Merge Technologies in Bid for Utility-Scale Production
from The New York Times
As the race to create clean, renewable power heats up, the solar industry is focusing on a technology in hopes of producing utility-scale energy. Concentrating photovoltaic (CPV) solar power -- which marries traditional solar photovoltaic technology to large-scale concentrated solar power plants -- could ramp up utility-scale solar production, advocates say, especially in niche markets. But as with all developing technologies, the effort faces significant hurdles. More

Get Your Cabling in Line
from Security Sales
Today's technicians are faced with many choices when it comes to routing and securing system cabling. Should the cable go in a raceway or conduit, be surface mounted, and if so, how should that cable be properly secured? With data transmission now in the gigahertz range, the proper orientation and securing of cabling has become a challenge. More

Is The Worst Over? Most Economists Say Yes
from NPR
At the beginning of 2009, many Americans feared an economic depression was at hand. In January alone, U.S. employers slashed nearly three-quarters of a million jobs. Now, as the year's second half begins, most economists are saying the worst of the recession is over, and that slow growth will begin in the fall. More