The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc., Atlanta, is making available copies of its energy conservation standard in PDF form at www.ashrae.org/standard901-2007-free. The download, which is free until April 2012, is made possible through a funding contract with the U.S. Dept. of Energy. ANSI/ASHRAE/IES Standard 90.1-2007, Energy Standard for Buildings Except Low-Rise Residential Buildings, has become the basis for building codes as well as the standard for building design and construction throughout the U.S. The standard was developed in response to the energy crisis in the 1970s.

Texas developers unveiled an ambitious plan for a $2-billion combined green-technology business park and regional airport project near Austin. Supported by a generous tax rebate scheme, the project is aimed at attracting international anchor tenants and designed to demonstrate the best way to build a commercial development based on green principles. Rendering: Courtesy of Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers project already has signed four international tenants, says the developer. Rendering: Courtesy of Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers Complex covers 1,500 acres east of Austin. Developers of the planned Eco-Merge Green Corporate Centers, a 1,500-plus-acre project about 15 minutes

Extreme losses in oil, gas and utility properties along the Gulf Coast over the next 20 years can be averted or mitigated by billions of investment by the public sector and private industry, according to a report released Wednesday by Entergy Corp: and the America’s Wetland Foundation. The study found that the Gulf Coast is vulnerable to a total of more than $350 billion in economic losses by 2030 — more than 30% in the coastal oil and gas sector. “With the multiplier effect, the amount of economic loss to the Gulf Coast could rise to $700 billion, the gross

More environmental cleanup work may be on the horizon for remediation contractors as a result of a $773-million settlement that will set up a trust fund—the largest of its kind—to clean up and repurpose numerous former General Motor sites across the country. The settlement, filed Oct. 20 in the Manhattan court overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings, is between the United States, along with 14 states and a tribal government, and the liquidation company that now owns the assets of the old General Motors Corp. (Old GM). Under the agreement, Old GM will commit $773 million for the cleanup of 89 property

The U.S. Dept. of Transportation has announced the winners of $600 million in in the second round of Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) grants for projects that supporters say will have significant national or regional benefits. Photo: King County, Wash. Replacement for Seattle's South Park Bridge gets $34-million TIGER Grant Related Links: TIGER II capital-grant awards and project descriptions The largest grant among the 42 awards was $47.7 million to the city of Atlanta to help finance a $72.2-million, 2.7-mile downtown streetcar line. Other big winners were a plan to unsnarl a freight rail bottleneck in Fort Worth, Texas,

Falsework is coming down this month after supporting the construction of what officials believe is the only transit bridge in the world to cross over an active taxiway. The 740-ft-long cast-in-place box-girder bridge is the centerpiece of a two-mile-long transit system that will connect two of Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport’s terminals with off-airport transportation facilities. Photo: Courtesy of Austin Bridge & Road Officials think mass transit guideway at Phoenix airport may be the only one of its kind to cross through active airspace. The Phoenix office of Irving, Texas-based Austin Bridge & Road holds an approximately $6-million subcontract to

Green energy is in; fossil fuels are out. At least that’s the message in the popular press. But if a cutting-edge power project in Florida is any indication, the future may lie not with one or the other but the two working in concert. Image: Courtesy of Florida Power & Light FP&L’s Martin County facility would add solar power to the plant’s natural-gas feedstock. Before the end of the year, Florida Power & Light expects to activate what it describes as the world’s first powerplant to integrate concentrated solar power into an existing gas-fired combined-cycle facility in Indiantown, in Martin

When Fluor Corp., Irving, Texas, reports its quarterly earnings on Nov. 4, results will include a $163-million write-off because of unexpected complications in building the 504-MW Greater Gabbard wind farm off the coast of England. The loss on the $1.8-billion, fixed-price contract with Scottish and Southern Energy plc means the project will be unprofitable, says Avram Fisher, an analyst who follows Fluor for BMO Capital Markets. Fluor, which announced the write-off on Oct. 18, blames problems with weather, materials and equipment delivery as well as additional costs for marine vessels and some subcontractors. “One of the factors wouldn’t have been

The Obama Administration has filed a lawsuit against 10 companies and two municipalities to ensure the continued cleanup of Wisconsin’s Lower Fox River and Green Bay Superfund site. The lawsuit, filed jointly by the U.S. government and the state of Wisconsin on Oct. 14, also seeks payment of associated government costs and for damages to natural resources. Total cleanup costs and damages could exceed $1 billion. Work has been ongoing at the site, which was contaminated with approximately 250,000 lbs of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) that were released by manufacturers of “carbonless” copy paper from the late 1950s to the early

A 30-year-old construction worker from Collins, Mo., remains in critical condition at a Kansas City, Mo., hospital more than a week after he was accidentally swept 1.5 miles through a sanitary sewer pipeline in Raymore, Mo. Daniel Collins was working about 12 ft below ground in a sanitary sewer shortly after 8:00 a.m. on Oct. 12, when a torrent of raw sewage flowing at a rate estimated at up to 3,500 gal per min swept him more than 7,900 ft through the 27-in-dia sewer pipe. It is still unclear how Collins’ safety harness separated from its attached safety line when