A lot of companies have been holding off on raising prices as long as they can but it's beginning to come to a head. Dow Chemical raised prices TWICE in June which cumulatively raised prices by 25%-35%. Dow is also adding fuel surcharges on top of that.
_____ From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, July 10, 2008 9:01 AM To: Eric McCord Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [email protected] Subject: Re: OK, I get it now. Gas prices are high! The USPS is actively trying to do *something*, maybe not enough though. The current design standard is not only meeting ASHRAE, but to beat it by 30%. Easier to do on large scale buildings like the Metroplex in Pontiac, quite difficult on the small branch post offices. They have also commissioned a few firms to conduct a large scale Energy Audit (of which my firm and fellow workers are involved in some of them) and that is the target.. beat it by 30%. They aren't performing construction, but relamping/new fixtures are in fact one of the methodology's used (I think another is HVAC revisions), but as Carlton points out, some of the obvious stuff perhaps elude them. I know they have recently lowered the lighting standards for non-work space, which lowers power usage (Pontiac Metroplex is HUGE and the majority of the footprint is either machines, cart storage or walkway). Skylights, even on light cloudy days, could still share some of that light, but I believe there is also losses for heating/cooling as a result so you rob Peter to pay Paul to some degree. There was discussion on one of my projects regarding skylights but I can't recall the outcome.. As a point of reference, one of the large scale processing centers for USPS consumes $500,000 worth of electricity a MONTH. That's a lot of juice.. 6 services, some as large as 800 amps. The postal system has a lot of very heavy machinery driven by electricity and air. In talking solar, FM has it made based on location. Another project I was involved in for Detroit doing Intelligent Transportation Systems (traffic monitoring via stand alone solar telephone pole mounted sensors) found that Detroit gets less usable sun for solar per year than Seattle. :( It's not that sunny of a place. We had to double the size of battery cabinets to be able to survive 20+ days without sun in the winter. So while FM can give back on the weekends, you'll probably never see that sort of payback in Detroit (or Michigan as a whole)... it's not that sunny here. I think the reason the for the overall lack of green in construction is a lack of $$$. Green is **expensive** to build, that's all thee is to it. FM could have opted out of the solar bit and saved $42,000.. I'm betting $42K is a decent percentage of the total bill. With all the construction costs increasing (steel is WAY up, I heard door hardware is following suit due to it, carpet is also up a lot due to oil) any penny saved on the front side looks good to the owners/construction companies. Wallyman P.S. The postal service is trying.. another project we did for them is a large Green Roof (Morgan P&DC).. outdoor garden to help reject heat and minimize heat island syndrome, reclaim rainwater and maintenance free plantings. So there is progress, perhaps just not as fast or as large scale as we all need. Inactive hide details for "Eric McCord" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>"Eric McCord" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "Eric McCord" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent by: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 07/10/2008 12:57 AM To [email protected] cc Subject Re: OK, I get it now. Gas prices are high! I've been lurking for YEARS, but this subject has pulled me out of the shadows. I will probably slink back into the shadows after this comment though. This whole fuel cost issue has pushed a nationwide pay cut on EVERYONE. I understand that we have had it good for all these years but the rate at which this is hitting us is too much too fast. I've been thinking "green" for a long time. I have not owned a gas mower in over 12 years. We as a nation ARE cutting back. Our government has NOT been cutting back. I work for the US Postal Service and Wallyman can vouch for what I am about to say. The USPS has built a "state of the art" facility in Pontiac Michigan and I have to say that it is NOT "state of the CURRENT art". This building is NOT green in any sense of the word. We have a high tech lighting system that can cut back output on any or all of the lights on the workroom floor but there are NO skylights to let outside light in so the "high tech" lighting system is going to be run on HIGH ALL THE TIME. We are a 24/7 operation. There are so many other things that are not green but this lighting system stands out in my mind. I will make any cut I must to help out the collective, BUT, MY government better start FIRST. There is no excuse for any new federal facility construction that is as NON-green as the building I now work in. Thank you fellow Miatapower seekers for reading my rant. I want to get back to the simple pleasure of tweaking my little street legal gokart and not worry if I can afford to get to work. Carlton_______________________________________________ Miatapower mailing list [email protected] http://list.miatapower.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/miatapower
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