The most recent chapter in America’s quest for independence from foreign oil is the 2007 Energy Bill. Whether you’re a college student or industrial giant, its mandates and incentives will affect you. Putting the political buzz aside, we’re interested in knowing what you think is going to happen within your industry as a result of the bill. Can you give us five (and we really mean “five”) minutes to answer a survey? Just for participating, you’ll get a chance to win a $250 gas card, or have that amount donated to the charity of your choice. For some background on the bill, read The 2007 Energy Bill on the first page of this newsletter. Then go to www.ssoe.com/EnergySurvey.htm to take the survey. We’ll combine the responses and post the results. It will give us a clearer perspective on how this legislation directly impacts different industries. Click here to take the survey and to be entered in a drawing to win a $250 gas card. Continue Reading →

In the December ’06 Dimensions, we discussed methods and strategies for creating more eco-friendly manufacturing facilities and buildings by following LEED(TM) standards. And more recently, we discussed how to manage energy usage in the manufacturing process. In this issue, we look at reduction and recycling of waste associated with the product itself. Many communities throughout the US have instituted a new annual Saturday event. It’s the day residents can bring electronic appliances and devices to a designated location for disposal. By the end of the day the site has separate mountains of TVs, dehumidifiers, computer monitors, telephones, printers and the like. It’s an unsettling picture that would be even more unsettling if we saw them actually being dumped into a landfill. Continue Reading →

Developing land is as much about controlling water as it is about moving dirt. Once we start excavating foundations and constructing roads or parking lots, we have to adjust the behavior of water. It’s often a costly endeavor that can pose risks to the environment. In our quest to be better stewards of the environment, we are continually searching for eco-friendly ways to conserve and protect this natural resource despite our need to develop the land. One major culprit when it comes to eco-disruptive practices is the site development of large parking lots. Thousands and thousands of existing paved lots are contoured and sealed to direct rainwater over the surface of the lot until it flows into drainage ditches or detention ponds. The problem is that along the way the rainwater picks up pollutants from these surfaces that can be transported to lakes and streams. In addition, there are issues of erosion caused by the increased volume and concentration of flowing water as well as thermal pollution to receiving waters as the rainwater is warmed by these surfaces. The positive side to this specific environmental threat is that there are a variety of solutions that can minimize it, and they don’t require drastic measures or lifestyle changes. These are some of the techniques that civil engineers at SSOE employ to control and treat storm water while allowing it to enter the ground water table more naturally. They are among the EPA’s Best Management Practices or BMP’s for controlling storm water Continue Reading →

Ford Research and Engineering Center SSOE China Co. LTD recently announced its selection to help Ford Motor Company’s efforts to increase its footprint in the world’s largest growth market with the Ford Research and Engineering Center located in Nanjing, China. SSOE is providing EPCM (engineering, procurement and construction management) services for the Center, which is focused on helping Ford serve China’s rapidly expanding economy and booming automotive and industrial markets. The first phase of the Ford Research and Engineering Center consists of a 1.1 million-square-foot Component and Vehicle Testing Laboratory that is scheduled for completion in December 2007. The second phase, expected to be completed in 2008, is a 1-million-square-foot technical center and China headquarters for Ford. New Toyota Assembly Plant SSOE recently completed site design for the new Toyota assembly plant in Blue Springs, Mississippi. It is a civil engineering feat that will require moving 16 million cubic yards of earth in order to make the site level enough to construct Toyota’s newest assembly plant on the site. The earthwork package represents four times more earth moved in less time than any other Toyota project in North America-- enough dirt to fill an average NFL football stadium approximately 25 times when the project is complete. Continue Reading →

Industrial plants have long been considered the villains in the battle with the forces of eco-friendliness. They’ve been known to consume as much of whatever energy resource is necessary to meet production goals. End of story? Hardly. Regardless of the type of facility, where lots of energy is consumed, there is energy to be saved. In industrial facilities, the opportunities lie in how to manage energy usage and waste. And you don’t have to be an avid environmentalist to want to save energy. Energy costs are rising and availability is increasingly unpredictable. It’s time to take a serious look at industrial sustainability options. Continue Reading →