November 2008

Cover Story

The Path of Least Resistance

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Beck Ireland, Staff Writer

Conventional motors account for 64% of the nation's energy use, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Washington, D.C. Of that amount, half...

Other Features

To Catch a Thief

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Beck Ireland, Staff Writer

For the last five years, Mesa has been battling an escalating copper theft epidemic....

On the Bright Side

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Mike Pile, President, Mike Pile Partners, a Solar Consultancy

Amid the housing slump, banking crisis, wild swings of the stock market, and a generally gray economic outlook, there is a glimmer of virtually untapped opportunity in the electrical industry...

Spreading the Wealth

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Brad Dawson, LTV Dynamics

Contractors who resist the urge to hoard profits can reap big rewards by establishing a shared compensation arrangement...

Keeping Your Electrical Project On Track

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By David Brown, D. Brown Management

All electrical projects start with a schedule or, at the very least, some basic milestone dates. Meeting these dates is the simple, strategic goal of any project...

National Electrical Code

Box Fill Calculations

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Mike Holt, NEC Consultant

Box fill isn't just the number of wires in the box — it's the total volume of the conductors, devices, and fittings in a box....

Illustrated Catastrophes

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Joe Tedesco, NEC Columnist

As usual, never consider the following commentary associated with these photos as a formal interpretation of the National Electrical Code (NEC)....

Hint: Is it bright enough in here?

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Joe Tedesco, NEC Columnist

What's Wrong Here?...

Industry Viewpoint

Faster, Cleaner, Cheaper

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Michael Eby, Editor-in-Chief

As I see it, for a new technology to be successful, it has to be many things. It must be faster than its predecessor or — at the very least — allow you to install it more quickly....

Market Watch

Don't Get Blindsided

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) reports that each day approximately 2,000 U.S. workers suffer job-related eye injuries that require medical attention....

Medium and Large UPSs Are Fastest-Growing Power Protection Segment

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM

VDC Research Group, Natick, Mass., estimates that the growth of worldwide shipments of medium and large uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs) surpassed shipments of smaller UPSs by more than 2-to-1...

BICSI and U.S. Green Building Council Endeavor to Create LEED Technology Credits

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM

The Building Industry Consulting Service International (BICSI), Tampa, Fla., and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), Washington, D.C., recently announced...

Product of the Month

Commercial PV System Could Be the Shape of Things to Come

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Stefanie Kure, Senior Associated Editor

North American commercial rooftops encompass more than 42 billion square feet, according to recent figures from the Energy Information Administration...

Forensic Casebook

The Case of the Blinding Arc Blast

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Andrew Paris, P.E., Anderson Engineering

When a manufacturer of plastic bag and packaging materials set out to expand its operation, it leased additional space in a large industrial building...

Voice/Data/Video Today

BICSI Fall Conference Field Report

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Joe Knisley, Senior Editorial Consultant

At the BICSI Fall 2008 meeting, held at the MGM Grand Conference Center in Las Vegas on September 29 to October 2, more than 4,000 attendees heard the latest developments in the information transport system (ITS) industry...

Inside PQ

When Does Poor Power Quality Cause Electronics Failures?

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Edited by John Dedad, Senior Director, Editorial and EC&M Development

To many of us, the utility power grid is a vast system of unknowns. Its performance can make unprotected electronic equipment useless....

Construction Watch

Pacific Northwest Poised for Industrial Growth

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM

Despite the recent economic downturn, the Pacific Northwest market region, encompassing the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington and the Canadian province of British Columbia, has one of the highest concentrations of industrial project spending in North America....

Timing for Residential Housing Recovery Remains Uncertain

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM

The steep decline in sales of new single-family homes should be coming to an end in early 2009...

Interconnection Efficiency Examined in New Report

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM

Three new reports, recently released by the Solar America Board for Codes and Standards (Solar ABCs), shed some light on key issues facing the electrical industry...

Analyze This

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM

According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), falls are one of the leading causes of traumatic occupational death, accounting for 8% of all occupational fatalities from trauma....

Project Spotlight

Iowa Bridge Spans the Gap Between Infrastructure and Art

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM, By Stefanie Kure, Senior Associate Editor

Come nightfall, the city's Norbert F. Beckey Bridge, which stretches 1,500 feet from Iowa to Illinois across the Mississippi River, is awash in a rainbow of colors emanating from 43 light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures...

Back to Basics

The Basics of Vector Analysis Part 4

Nov 1, 2008 12:00 PM

In this last installment, we'll talk about using simple parallelogram relationships and trigonometry to determine neutral currents in balanced and unbalanced circuits....