Summer Changes

Does this layout make our butt look fat? Notice a little something different about us last month? We had too many items on the plate to mention it at the time, but June marked the debut of our new redesign. Personally, I think art director Jake Needham has sharpened the look and punched the colors in some great ways to keep us looking good. Spot the differences throughout the issue, and feel free to let us know what you like (sure, or what you don’t).

EXTRA SCOOPS

On the electronic front, editor Jay Siegel has our Today’s News section humming along on the homepage. Here’s a sampling of headlines for stories you’d miss altogether if you only relied on the print issue:

Benchmarking, collaboration, streamlining efforts highlight NIBS report
ABB to purchase UK-based Dynamotive
7x24 Exchange founder receives Lifetime Achievement Award
Study: Commercial, retail buildings fastest adopters of remote monitoring
Hillary Clinton to open Greenbuild 2014
MARS acquires Heat Controller, Inc.
ASHRAE seeks papers on high-performance building in developing countries

Speaking of ASHRAE, it is currently seeking papers for its 2014 conference next summer in Seattle. It’s worth noting that an “Indoor Environment: Health, Comfort, and Productivity” track is part of the festivities, as well as one titled “Ground Source Heat Pumps State Of The Art: Design, Performance, and Research.”

Perhaps most relevant to today’s trends, the “Installation, Commissioning, Operation, Maintenance of Existing Buildings” track should host some good stuff as well. Abstracts are due by September 23, so visit www.ashrae.org/seattle for details. Should be a perfect time to enjoy the Great Northwest.

SIDE TRIP: MEASURING OAQ

We’ve got plenty going on this month regarding hospital environments and IAQ. But what about outdoor air quality? I came across a short “lung in a box” video about a scientist who was researching the effects of pollutants on human lung cells. He was trying to make a portable device that would reflect the impact of harmful particulates in a given location. A couple of unexpected curveballs popped up along the way to a solution.

It’s not exactly ES’ baileywick, but the concerns are similar and it was an interesting little side trip in the realm of air quality and health. If you want to check it out, just Google “lung in a box NPR” and it should come right up.

REMINDER: BAS ON CAMPUS

Finally, we’re leaving last month’s bonus feature up on the ES website, contributed by Albena Iossifova and Scott Albert of Slippery Rock University. We haven’t done a ton of these, so I want to make sure it’s there for anyone interested in their project using BAS data to better monitor and control room temperatures. If you haven’t registered at the site yet, you may need to since the feature is not from the current issue, but it’s free and simple.

It will also give you access to our entire editorial online archive, and we promise not to share any of your info with the NSA.