George Ford

HOW TO DETERMINE CONSTRUCTION PROJECT RAIN DELAY TIMES USING LOCAL RAINFALL DATABASES IN ASHEVILLE, NC

Rain delays can prove costly to construction contractors and significantly affect longterm profitability if not carefully considered during the planning stages of a project. This paper includes a short literature review of technology related to predicting construction project rain delays and an analysis of rainfall event probabilities for the Asheville, North Carolina region. An analysis methodology is provided in a step-bystep discussion which illustrates how to determine statistical probabilities of significant rainfall events to forecast construction project delays. Local rainfall data for Asheville, NC is analyzed to determine rainfall frequency to provide an example of the forecasting methodology for the reader.

Church Energy Audits in the United States

According to the Hartford Institute there are about 350,000 churches in the United States (US). Churches generally operate fewer hours per week than commercial or industrial facilities. Congregations are generally small with a median size of 75 with annual budgets of

Global Warming in Asheville, North Carolina

90,000. About 90% of all American congregations are 350 or less, but 50% of all church participants attend churches larger than 350 attendees. In light of recent increases in energy costs many churches in the US consume significant portions of their operating budgets for lighting, heating and cooling. Graduate students in the Master of Construction Management program at Western Carolina University in North Carolina performed energy audits of churches during the spring semester of 2013. Eighteen churches were audited. Average energy bills amounted to nearly

A Fuels Cost Comparison of Gasoline and Electric Powered Vehicles

20,000 per year per church. Recurring energy wasting issues were noted and categorized. A list of common, low cost energy conserving strategies was formulated based upon the recurring themes of the audits performed. Inefficient incandescent lighting was still used in twelve of the churches surveyed. Weather stripping and caulking issues were noted in nine churches. Motion sensors for lighting control were recommended for nine churches. Programmable thermostats were recommended for ten churches.

Development of a building life cycle carbon emissions assessment program (BEGAS 2.0) for Korea׳s green building index certification system

As predicted by Svante Arrhenius in 1896, global warming is taking place as evidenced by documented rises in average sea level of about 1.7 mm/year during the 20th century. There have been naturally occurring cycles of global warming and cooling throughout the history of the world. Much has been written about the catastrophe that global warming would present to humankind, but the effects of elevated atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations upon ambient annual mean temperatures at the local level in western North Carolina are not easily recognized at this time. Observation of annual mean temperatures in western NC did not immediately indicate a detectable temperature increase over the period of analysis. However, annual weather data for Asheville, North Carolina from 1965 until 2006 indicated an upward trend in annual mean surface temperatures of about 1.3°F (0.72°C) while global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations have risen about 62 ppm. This paper will present an examination of regional ambient annual surface temperature trends in western North Carolina relative to global atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations. The focus will be on analysis of data to determine cyclical patterns.

Evaluating the embodied environmental impacts of major building tasks and materials of apartment buildings in Korea

Per British thermal unit (BTU), in the United States, gasoline currently costs about 7.6 times as much as coal. Due to the prevalence of coal fired electricity generating stations in the country, electrically powered vehicles may provide a fuel cost savings over similar gasoline powered vehicles. Fuel costs for electric vehicles have been reported to cost about

An Introduction and Literature Review of Fuzzy Logic Applications for Robot Motion Planning

0.045 per mile to operate. Higher efficiency, gasoline operated automobiles such as the Toyota Corolla have reported fuel costs of about

Recognition and Reward: SOTL and the Tenure Process at a Regional Comprehensive University

0.093 per mile. This paper provides a first glance examination of electrically powered and gasoline powered vehicles in the United States. While gasoline costs continue to rise, a cheap, environmentally safe transportation alternative is needed to maintain the flexible lifestyle currently enjoyed by Americans. The cycle energy efficiency of coal produced electricity for personal transportation is much lower than the energy efficiency of gasoline, but the large cost differences between these two forms of fossil fuels may provide a temporary fix to a looming transportation crisis in the United States. The long-term environmental effects of an electrically powered, private transportation fleet could prove catastrophic due to increased use of coal and accompanying combustion product air pollution, but clean, renewable, electricity producing technologies may support more prolific long-term use of electrically powered transportation modes.Copyright