July 1, 2010 U.S. EPA released peer reviewed results from first round of its own independent toxicity testing on 8 oil dispersants. Results indicated that none of the dispersants tested, including product used in Gulf of Mexico, displayed biologically significant endocrine disrupting activity. While dispersant products alone, not mixed with oil, have roughly the same impact on aquatic life, JD-2000 and Corexit 9500 were less toxic to small fish and JD-2000 and SAF-RON GOLD were least toxic to mysid shrimp.

July 1, 2010 AIA believes National Space Policy takes steps needed to maintain global leadership in space and ensure continued competitiveness and innovation. In addition to praising emphasis on retaining space professionals and improving their development, AIA also commended policy's desire to improve acquisition through cost estimating enhancements. Other favored aspects included preservation of space environment, increased space situational awareness, and enhanced space protection.

July 1, 2010 ANSI has created a Top Issues tracking system that will aid ANSI members as they identify and track emerging issues affecting standardization and conformance community, their constituents, and other stakeholders. Portal is organized into 6 main issues, including energy, global supply chain, horizontal considerations, sustainability, technology, and workforce. Each main issue is further broken down into set of sub-issues, and each sub-issue explores specific activities that are related to it.

July 1, 2010 WaterSense partnership program, sponsored by EPA, seeks to protect future of our nation's water supply by promoting efficacious water use via efficient products, homes, and services. Addition of showerheads enables consumers to renovate bathrooms with WaterSense-labeled products. Bathrooms remodeled to include WaterSense-labeled toilet, faucet, and showerhead will conserve water as well as electricity.

July 1, 2010 Since decreasing supply of fresh water is leading to competition for water resources, an ISO Project Committee has been established to address treated wastewater re-use for irrigation. Another ISO committee has been formed to increase safety while eliminating economic barriers to trade in development of amusement park facilities. Third committee will focus on biogas, the combustible mixture of gases produced by microorganisms when manure and other biological wastes ferment in absence of air.

July 1, 2010 Voluntary standard ANSI/ASABE S598 JAN 2010 establishes method to determine percentage in load of harvested grains that is likely to be residue from crop previously harvested by same machine. NSF International, an ANSI accredited standards developer, has published NSF/ANSI 332-2010, which establishes consistent approach to evaluation and determination of environmentally preferable and sustainable resilient floor coverings with information that is clear, verifiable, and accurate.

July 1, 2010 Proposed standard ASTM WK26298 will present repeatable, precise, and accurate test method for analyzing moisture levels in trona, a fine mineral powder that has proven to be effective at removing acid gases from air emissions. Such analysis is key to diagnosing problems and to preventing incorrect analysis. ASTM WK26298, Test Method for Determination of Free Water in Trona, is being developed by Subcommittee E01.02 on Ores, Concentrates and Related Metallurgical Materials.

July 1, 2010 As part of its ongoing work supporting FAA to develop Special Federal Aviation Regulation for small Unmanned Aircraft Systems, ASTM International Committee F38 on Unmanned Air Vehicle Systems is currently working on proposed registration and marking standard. Proposed standard ASTM WK27055 sets up proper paperwork necessary to assure FAA that sUAS has all documentation necessary and submitted to allow FAA to give the operator a permit.

July 1, 2010 Appearing in MHEDA Edge's June issue, "Find What You're Looking For" focuses on strategies for using online search to better know customers. Article insists distributor salespeople "must be confident that when they walk into a customer location...armed with all the information that they could possibly need." Using Web search tools such as Google can help distributors truly know their customers and prospects before making that first sales call and increase chance of new business.

July 1, 2010 During 2010 Annual Meeting, ASHRAE installed new officers and directors. New President is Lynn G. Bellenger, P.E., Fellow ASHRAE, partner, Pathfinder Engineers and Architects. Bellenger's presidential theme, "Modeling a Sustainable World," notes that energy simulation, daylight analysis, CFD and BIM software offer modeling tools that enable us to create and refine our vision of a building. Entire list of ASHRAE's new officers and directors can be found in full release.

July 1, 2010 ASTM International Committee F17 on Plastic Piping Systems has completed development of 2 standards for polypropylene (PP) sanitary sewer pipe that address dual- and triple-wall profile designs. Taken together, ASTM F2736 and ASTM F2764 provide specifiers with opportunity to design entire systems with polypropylene pipe. Because standards collectively cover pipe from 6-60 in., they cover majority of pipe sizes utilized for sanitary sewer connections and trunk lines.

July 1, 2010 Welding & Gases Today features article, Building a New Cylinder Fill Plant, by Weldcoa Sales Manager Don Renner, that sorts out best practices and regulations that help make fill plant building process go smoothly. Fill plant should be first priority when planning building, and space needed for fill process and kind of layout needed for business should be determined before construction. Article also provides case examples and details regulations to know to prevent costly mistakes.

July 1, 2010 Appearing in Second Quarter 2010 issue of The MHEDA Journal, "The Cost Of Goods Not Sold" discusses how effective inventory management can impact bottom-line results - particularly in times of recession. Article outlines support for premise that incremental sales, selling more to current customers, has minimal positive impact on profitability. Author also points fallacy behind assuming that adding new customers does not increase costs.

July 1, 2010 In recognition of its research initiative to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy, Automotive Applications Council of AISI's Steel Market Development Institute has been named finalist for American Metal Market's 2010 Awards for Steel Excellence in environmental responsibility/stewardship category. Council was selected for UltraLight Steel Automotive initiatives, which consist of 4 research projects designed to revolutionize steel-intensive vehicle designs.

July 1, 2010 With IEEE Xplore® Mobile, users can perform searches of over 2 million technical documents with any mobile device connected to Internet. Users can conduct basic search from IEEE Xplore Mobile home page, then refine it by searching within results or by using subject filters. Predictive type-ahead feature that suggests searches as you type is available for mobile devices that are JavaScript-enabled. All results for abstracts and citations are displayed 10 at a time by relevancy.

July 1, 2010 Hosted by EPRI, Volt/Var workshop marked beginning of industry-wide project to define load models that can be used to understand benefits and predict savings impacts of new voltage control strategies. During forum, 10 different utilities described their voltage control strategies, and discussions focused on issues that need to be solved in the industry. Over 60 people participated in workshop, which followed EPRI Power Quality and Smart Distribution conference.

July 1, 2010 To help brands develop unique identities and preference with consumers, The Brand Zone will appear at PACK EXPO International 2010. Covering 60,000+ ft², The Brand Zone will highlight innovative containers and materials that respond to consumer demands for convenience, portion control, portability, and sustainability. Exhibits will include advances in glass, plastic, metal, and paperboard as well as showcase various decorating and labeling techniques and reclosable packaging options.

June 30, 2010 Subcommittee E35.15 on Antimicrobial Agents has revised ASTM E2149, Test Method for Determining the Antimicrobial Activity of Immobilized Antimicrobial Agents Under Dynamic Contact Conditions, to provide more reproducible and reliable method consistent with other E35.15 microbiological standards. Subcommittee is currently looking for microbiological laboratories to participate in inter-laboratory testing in study to begin in fall 2010.

June 30, 2010 US EPA is finalizing requirements under national mandatory greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting program for underground coal mines, industrial wastewater treatment systems, industrial waste landfills, and magnesium production facilities. Data from these sectors will promote GHG emissions understanding and help develop effective policies/programs to reduce them. Source categories data collection will begin January 1, 2011, and first annual reports will be submitted to EPA on March 31, 2012.

June 30, 2010 ASHRAE earned US EPA's ENERGY STAR, national symbol for protecting environment through superior energy efficiency, for its renovated Headquarters in Atlanta. This signifies that building performs in top 25% of similar facilities nationwide for energy efficiency. According to ASHRAE President Gordon Holness, "renovation gave us the opportunity to demonstrate that existing buildings can be upgraded to provide equal or better than new building performance."