March 2008
Cover Story
Maximum Capacity
Mar 1, 2008 1:00 PM, By Beck Ireland, Staff Writer
In 2007, the electrical design firms on EC&M’s Top 40 list pushed their limits, making market and geographical expansions a high priority ...
Other Features
Improving Estimation Accuracy
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Heather M. Moore & Philip E. Nimmo, IV, MCA, Inc.
Accuracy of estimation in construction can be viewed from two different angles one from an accounting or exactness accuracy standpoint and the other from...
Top 10 Steps to Schedule Management
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, David Brown ,, D. Brown Management
What if someone told you that you could save thousands of dollars on your next project before you even break ground? Would you believe such a grand statement?...
Enlighten Your Customers
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Audwin Cash ,, Lutron Electronics Co., Inc.
Although the kaleidoscope of green options available to those who design and build commercial buildings can be confusing, one fact is clear: Going green...
National Electrical Code
Grounding and Bonding of Separately Derived Systems
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Mike Holt, NEC Consultant
Separately derived systems (SDSs) include most transformers as well as any generator or UPS supplying a transfer switch that opens the neutral conductor....
Illustrated Catastrophes
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Joe Tedesco, NEC Columnist
As usual, never consider the following commentary associated with these photos as a formal interpretation of the National Electrical Code (NEC). Without...
What's Wrong Here?
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Joe Tedesco, NEC Columnist
How well do you know the Code? Think you can spot violations the original installer either ignored or couldn't identify? Here's your chance to moonlight...
Code Quandaries
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Mike Holt ,, NEC Consultant
All questions and answers are based on the 2008 NEC. Q. When a single generator is used to provide standby power for emergency and nonemergency loads,...
Industry Viewpoint
What's Your Firm Type?
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Michael Eby, Editor-in-Chief
If you're looking to grow a business, you've basically got two choices: foster growth from within (sometimes referred to as organic growth) or expand...
Market Watch
Excess Overtime Leads to Serious Downtime
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Most of us wouldn't mind a little extra cash now and then, and working overtime is usually a surefire way to earn additional money. For one journeyman...
Picture This
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
What it's not: A new crown for the Statue of Liberty. What it is: The world's largest free-hanging chandelier, according to Meyda Lighting, builder of...
New Energy Efficiency Standards Fueled by Energy Act
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Signed into law on December 19, the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 gradually halts the use of inefficient incandescent lamps and imposes...
Large and Advanced Battery Market Could Be Worth $11.4 Billion by 2012
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
According to the recent report Large & Advanced Battery Technology & Markets from Wellesley, Mass.-based BCC Research, the global market for large and...
Voice/Data/Video Today
BICSI Winter Conference Field Report
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Joe Knisley ,, Senior Editorial Consultant
At the BICSI 2008 Winter Conference, held January 14-17 at the Gaylord Resort and Conference Center in Orlando, Fla., more than 5,500 members, guests,...
Inside PQ
Crest Factor: A Key Troubleshooting Parameter
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, John DeDad ,, Senior Director, Editorial and EC&M Development
We all know that electric utilities in the United States generate electricity at various 60-Hz voltage levels that result in a sine wave waveform. The...
Protecting Critical Loads with Commodity UPSs
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, John DeDad ,, Senior Director, Editorial and EC&M Development
The need for small commodity UPS systems has grown significantly in recent years because of the increase in telecommuting, home offices, and distributed...
Construction Watch
Can You Hear Me Now?
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Despite protestations from the International Association of Electrical Inspectors (IAEI) Michigan Chapter, on Nov. 23, 2007, the 2005 Michigan Electrical...
Building Big in Texas
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
With 163 projects totaling more than $24 billion under construction (see Chart), Texas is the leader for industrial project construction activity, according...
Texas Construction: Take 2
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
With roads and railroads leading to the ports of Houston, Long Beach, Calif., and Los Angeles and connected to north-south interstates 45 and 35, the...
Analyze This
Shrinking Domestic Budget Limits Construction Funding
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
President Bush recently released a $3.1 trillion budget for fiscal year 2009 that plans to shrink domestic spending and proposes a 2.9% drop in infrastructure...
Project Spotlight
Underground Project Colors a City's Downtown
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM, Stefanie Kure, Senior Associate Editor
Below the busy streets of downtown Oklahoma City sprawls a vast network of tunnels and bridges that links 16 blocks and more than 30 of the area's buildings....
Product Spotlight
Focus on Power Quality Devices
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Surge protector Strikesorb surge protection devices (SPDs) meet the requirements of the international IEC 61643-1 standard as well as the 2007 UL-1449...
Product News
Product News
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Clamp meters The Fluke 353 and Fluke 355 true-rms clamp meters measure up to 2,000A of DC and 1,400A of AC current and have a 600V CAT IV and 1,000 CAT...
Product News
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Timekeeping software Payclock Version 5 features Windows-based software that runs on Windows XP or Vista PC. An upgrade to PayClock Express, PayClock...
Short Circuits
Everyone makes mistakes. Some are just funnier than others
Mar 1, 2008 12:00 PM
Pick a Door, Any Door After World War II, I served as an electrician with a local electrical company in a small town of approximately 10,000. Some of...
