A new study is out by the ASCE (American Society of Civil Engineers)
that reports on the stability of our electrical generation and transmission systems.
The report to say the least was less then stellar. The past 6 years as a matter of fact have been sub par as well
The grade issued was a "D"

I'm sure that everyone remembers August of 2003 when America suffered the largest black out to date. Of course this event happened shortly after the devastation of 9-11. The immediate assumption by every coherent mined person in the country and I'm sure the plant was "they got us again". What was going on never before had we felt so vulnerable on so many different levels.

The Us electrical grid is basically split into 3 grids. Which consists of nearly 160,000 miles of high-voltage (230 kilovolts and greater) transmission lines

when the grid failed during the blackout that hit the Midwest, Northeast and portions of Canada. A series of power plants and transmission lines went offline because of instability in the transmission system in three states. The loss of these plants and transmission lines led to greater instability in the regional power transmission system; within four hours, there was a rapid cascade of additional plant and transmission line outages and widespread power outages. The blackout affected as many as 50 million customers in the United States and Canada, as well as a wide range of vital services and commerce. Air and ground transportation systems shut down, trapping people far from home; drinking water systems and sewage processing plants stopped operating, manufacturing was disrupted and some emergency communications systems stopped functioning. The lost productivity and revenue have been estimated in the billions of dollars.

The new studies conclude that not much has changed for the status we have grown to find acceptable. Some of the key points of the study include

• California is expected to suffer nearly 3 times as many brown outs this year as compared to last
• With in 10 years the countries electrical supply facilities is expected to grow by 10 % the demand for electricity is expected to grow by 20%

• Nearly half of the countries electricity is produced by coal burning generation facilities. In order to keep up with the rising demand more energy needs to be produced. Last year 59 potential plants were scrapped because of the environmental concerns of burning coal.

The need for energy management has never been greater then it is right now. We need to find better cleaner ways to produce power. Energy management is an effort to better utilize our current power available. The opportunity is available to expand your contracting business by employing proven techniques used buy industrial giants to conserve power. In your conservation efforts you will help in "making the grade" of the countries power system.
Contractor Energy Management
Matthew Shields

solar power

Many think solar power is some thing new
A new and expanding technology that is on the brink of changing the world as we have known it.
Some of that statement is true and some is not

Yes solar is an expanding technology that I be leave is on the brink of changing the world as we know it but it is anything but new

People have used the sun as a heat source for thousands of years. Families in ancient Greece built their homes to get the most sunlight during the cold winter months.

In the 1830s, explorer John Herschel used a solar collector to cook food during an adventure in Africa.

The major problem with solar right now is due to the price of the material it is not as cost effective as people would like for it to be. This is changing however and changing very quickly. As with any other product the initial offering has it's bugs and share of difficulties fortunately much of that has been worked out to make this technology even more efficient.

New products are making the installs of these systems less and less noticeable. The ascetics of the collection units has long been a deterrent for using the product.

Last summer we were involved in the install of a system that utilized a solar shingle. The collection unit looked similar to a standard 3 tab shingle but shiny. There were no obstructive profiles that were noticeable with the install

Products on the horizon include a paint type material that will act as the collection devise. Imagine the possibilities in be able to paint any product and have it collect solar power for your consumption

How can any contractor capture a share of this market?

contractor marketing

Matthew Shields

Make your green come true

I'm going to offer a bit of advice to any one in the contracting industary. You need to "make your green come true"

What do I mean by that?

Each and every contractor can take advantage of a multi billion dollar marketing campain by using the "green" platform

In the up comming installments I will outline ideas that any construction contractor can start using to increase their job leads while being able to charge a premenum for their services

across the world people are greening up their business, how are you going to capture your green?

USGBC In the News Details

Title:	Green Homes Sell Faster and Sell For More Than Comparables
Author:	Danielle Johnson
Source:	Building Seattle Green
Date Written:	4/23/2008
New analysis shows "green" homes may be a bright spot in today's real estate market. Environmentally certified homes sold for 4.8% more and stayed on the market for 24% less time than comparable homes sold last year. In the first year since it began tracking environmentally certified homes, 19.8% of new homes in Seattle sold on the Northwest Multiple Listing Service (NWMLS) were environmentally certified. These homes averaged 1,477 square feet, just slightly smaller than the 1,492 square foot average for all new homes sold. On a square foot basis, this means green homes sold for a 5.9% premium. Green homes certified by a third party sold for a 10.5% premium on a square foot basis. "In today's changing market, this is an important finding for homeowners to consider," noted Ben Kaufman, founder of GreenWorks Realty, who conducted the analysis. He added, "Environmentally certified homes offer homeowners a way to get the most value and sell more quickly." Environmentally certified homes include those certified by Built GreenT, Energy StarT or LEED for HomesT. From September 1, 2007 to March 31, 2008, 168 environmentally certified single-family new homes were sold in the City of Seattle out of a total of 848 new homes sold. "Until now, the idea that people are willing to pay more for environmentally certified housing has been mostly based on anecdotes," said Aaron Adelstein, Executive Director of Built Green. "Now we have the first hard data to back up what many of us have believed for a long time - green sells for more," he added. Kaufman noted, "When buying homes, it seems buyers understand the benefits of green homes - from lower energy bills to healthier indoor air." Kaufman initiated the effort to include environmental certification checkboxes in the NWMLS. "These new figures will help appraisers, homeowners and real estate agents understand what buyers are willing to pay for an environmentally certified home," added Kaufman. GreenWorks Realty is the first local real estate agency to specialize in green properties and communities. Kaufman established the company in 2002 with his father to foster a healthier planet and healthier people by growing the marketplace for green building.

U.S. Green Building Council

Serious Business

In The Anatomy of an Illness: As Perceived by the Patient, Norman Cousins tells of being hospitalized with a rare, crippling disease. When he was diagnosed as incurable, Cousins checked out of the hospital. Aware of the harmful effects that negative emotions can have on the body, Cousins reasoned the reverse was true. So he borrowed a movie projector and prescribed his own treatment, consisting of Marx Brothers films and old "Candid Camera" reruns. It didn't take long for him to discover that 10 minutes of laughter provided two hours of pain-free sleep. Amazingly, his debilitating disease was eventually reversed. After the account of his victory appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine, Cousins received more than 3000 letters from appreciative physicians throughout the world.

Today in the Word, December 18, 1991.

Very interesting isn't that. I often will suggest to the contractors when I am making a marketing plan for to lighten up their strict ways of looking at things. I beleave that a positive energy is relayed to others, and that energy will have a much larger effect on the individual then what is actually being spoken.

Contractor Marketing

Matthew Shields