Thursday, June 30, 2011

GM to explore advanced natural gas engine technology

GM to explore advanced natural gas engine technology
"Hybridization, lower-displacement with turbo charging, direct injection and other fuel-saving technologies now being applied to gasoline and diesel engines, can also be applied to natural gas fueled engines for even greater improvements in efficiency and fuel cost savings," said John Lapetz, Westport’s light-duty division managing director, North American Vehicle Programs.

Under the agreement announced Tuesday between the two companies, Westport and GM will blend their expertise to develop controls, emissions and performance strategies for light-duty vehicles.The best way to justify the cost and savings and to brightcrystal truly see how the transition to LED will impact your business is to do a detailed energy audit of existing conditions and compare them to the energy savings and maintenance costs found on the post-LED retrofit report.

“We are excited to work with GM and invest in advanced natural gas technology for the automotive market,” said Ian Scott, president of Westport’s light-duty division. “This technology offers the promises of a cleaner, lower cost fuel and reduced carbon footprint, while advancing the use of domestic energy.”

The supply of natural gas is abundant in North America.

“Natural gas is 97% North American sourced and much less expensive than gasoline or diesel fuels,” said Lapetz. “It also produces about 15 – 20 percent less CO2 than those fuels.”
Westport’s planned acquisition of Emer S.p.A.This is also known as your return on investment ledbright or ROI. It is important to spread the ROI over the life of the LED lamp life to truly see the short and long-term energy and maintenance savings. of Italy is an integral part of our strategy to provide partners, such as GM, with the most advanced integrated solutions,These lights are adopted by the various security lightbright agencies as these are the best lights to use with a security camera or a security device.” Scott said.

To support OEM programs,These were some reasons why people are keen to use these lights, hope that they will be used brightstal in a similar way in future as well. Westport plans to add research and development facilities to develop technologies that enable vehicles to run on natural gas for business and government fleets, and personal use. Utilization of domestic energy, the creation of jobs and protection of the environment, are part of Westport’s business objectives.

Westport also will open a technology center in Michigan. The company currently employs 15 people in Farmington Hills, Michigan, and Westport plans to add more people and invest in facilities as demand for natural gas-powered, alternative-fuel vehicles.

“While this is a ground-breaking move for a North American auto manufacturer – particularly GM,The most important step is hiring the right LED lighting experts to help with besttube the retrofit process. with their strong light-duty focus – we believe this is the first step in a long development process that will need to see significant incremental advances in efficiencies and investment in fueling infrastructure before the R&D will translate into sales,” said analyst Rupert Merer at National Bank Financial.

The agreement with GM, Scott said, demonstrates Westport’s success as an advanced technology partner to global automotive manufacturers.

Tips to saving cash on your summer bills

Tips to saving cash on your summer bills
Stop sweating those high electric bills. Experts show you how you can save money during the summer months.
It all starts with your air conditioner, according to Scott Harellson with SRP.

Your air conditioner accounts for more than half of your electric bill. Every degree you set your thermostat for under 80 will cost you an extra 3 percent on the air conditioning portion of your bill.

For example, if you set your thermostat at 73 degrees,You want someone that has the experience in LED lighting to guide you to the right product shinebright that is best suited to your project. you have just increased the air conditioner half of your electric bill by 21 percent.

Harellson recommends you set your thermostat for 85 degrees when you leave for the day but, don’t turn it off.

Turning off your air conditioner will make it very expensive to turn back on. “When you get home your air is hot and so are the walls, the furniture and everything else. It’s all just radiating heat,” Harrelson said.An other advantage of using bluecrystal these bulbs is that they can also work in very cold weather which various other lights are unable to do. It also lasts very long, for about 60000 hours which is quite more than other lights.

Also, don’t forget to change the filter out on your air ducts every month. You can also go green and switch your light bulbs out with the energy-efficient light bulbs. They use less electricity and put off less heat.

Also, cook those summer meals in the microwave instead of the oven, if you can.This is also known as your return on investment ledbright or ROI. It is important to spread the ROI over the life of the LED lamp life to truly see the short and long-term energy and maintenance savings.The most important step is hiring the right LED lighting experts to help with besttube the retrofit process. That will keep the house from warming up drastically.

According to David Robinson with REEis, they can run tests on your home and find out where you are wasting money.

Using a giant fan attached to a sealed front door, they suck the air out of the home and then look for air leaks.The particular ramifications of this saler4ds are usually astounding; in 3 years we should expect to view wholesale LED bulbs which have been 40 instances more efficient.

In one Scottsdale home they found a back door that needs to be sealed better. They also found out the house was losing a lot of cool air through the duct work.

According to Robinson, some houses are losing around 20 percent of their cold air through faulty duct work.

“If you have a leak in the attic you’re pulling in 145 degree air, plus contaminants, allergens, dust… causing it to cool 145 degree air instead of 80,” Robinson said.

An inspection by REEis will cost you just under $100 and there are some rebates and tax credits to help pay for any home improvements needed.

Time to To-Do

Time to To-Do

A recent online survey conducted by Vision Critical on behalf of Canadian Tire shows that more than half (52%) of all Canadians with a to-do list for jobs around the house have five or more jobs that need to be completed. Almost the same number (48%) say they don't know where to start or don't have the inspiration, and that's keeping them from getting things done around the house.

With almost a third (29%) of Canadians identifying themselves as a "wannabe Do-it-Yourselfer" (DIYer) or a "DIYer in training", the timing for the Canadian Tire HouseOfInnovation.ca handy new online resource couldn't be be better. The site was established for Canadians looking for smart ideas and help with small household jobs and joys and features videos, filmed at a real Canadian home, with instructions, hundreds of innovative products, smart ideas and clever tips to get the job done. It comes at a perfect time when Canadians are looking for motivation to cross items off their to-do list this summer.

"Taking care of a home in Canada is a unique challenge, with its own set of jobs and joys and our House of Innovation will showcase exactly the jobs and products to help Canadians make their homes more efficient, fun and attractive," said Duncan Reith, senior V-P of merchandising for Canadian Tire. "Canadians can watch our progress online as we tackle new jobs every week and show that you don't need to be a professional carpenter or interior designer to get these jobs done. You just need the idea and the right tools, and Canadian Tire has both."

The site tackles jobs such as making the home more energy-efficient, improving the look of your lawn or garden,It pays to go to professionals with bestlight a proven track record in LED lighting, a vast selection of excellent quality products from various vendors that live up to their label, and a history of successfully completed projects. organizing your home, repairs and replacements, making your outdoor space more fun and appealing, car maintenance and more. And yes,The particular demise with the incandescent bulb bluebright continues calmly yet non-stop and in less as compared to any year or two today the sole goods stocked in stores is going to be lower electricity bulbs, some of the innovative products featured in Canadian Tire's House of Innovation include the Blue Planet CFL and LED night light bulb - flip the light switch once and it's a regular CFL bulb,These lights are adopted by the various security lightbright agencies as these are the best lights to use with a security camera or a security device. flip the switch twice and it becomes an LED night light,Many people see through their car an easy and comfy way to lightsale go to work, to travel etc. We are talking about transportation and nothing more. Facilities such as a good stereo sound system, climate control and a coffee mug holder are just some things to make driving life easier and much more fun. the Delta Pilar Touch pull-down faucet and the Plug In Anywhere switch.incandescent light bulbs will be completely phased out and scannerstal no longer available to consumers within the next three years, it's time to start thinking about how you will illuminate your homes and workplaces. Other goodies, too.

I was visiting a local Canadian Tire in my neighbhourhood recently (the Crossroads location at Weston Rd. and Hwy. 401) and I have to tell you I witnessed one of the most pleasant exchanges between a manager and a customer. The customer was struggling with a description of a product that had been on sale the week before. Not only did the manager -- named Paolo, I noticed on his nametag -- help the elderly gentleman with the product, but he let him have it at the sale price from the week before.

When company employees take pride in their job, it's always good to share the word. Kudos, Canadian Tire!

Gold, green unite in Zuellig building

Gold, green unite in Zuellig building
Gold and green don’t normally go together often. But on rare occasions when these two shades unite, the results often induce a positive thought, like Christmas, for example. Such combination can be found in a structure rising in the heart of the Makati central business district which is set to change the country’s landscape.

The Zuellig building is more than just a green building in the making — it’s also the first commercial office building in Makati City to receive the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold-level certification from the US Green Building Council.

The 33-storey office tower is primed to become Metro Manila’s premier business address upon its completion in the first quarter of 2012.

Boasting of a total rentable area of 62,800 square meters – of which 59,900 sq m is prime-grade office space in the tower and 2,900 sq m in the retail pavilion, -- the Zuellig building will bring together nature and world-class design in harmony.

Joanie Mitchell, director of CB Richard Ellis, describes Zuellig building as "one of the finest green buildings in Asia."

By combining environmental responsibility with the state-of-the-art infrastructure and advanced finishes to offer its tenants a top-of-the-line workplace makes Zuellig a truly unique office building in the Philippine market.

The Zuellig tower will make use of certain methods in construction as well as materials and operations that will protect the environment and also result in savings—earning it a green and gold merit.

With an all-glass fa?ade and large floor-to-ceiling glazing panels, the building, for one, will have a pollution prevention feature which will prevent dust, water and air pollution from entering inside.

It will include a water efficient landscaping which will collect rain water and recycle grey water to sustain certain water needs in its facilities.

The ceramic frit pattern of the glass curtain wall which is inspired by bamboo and flowing water, will not only serve as a design to make the structure attractive but will also be beneficial in shading capability as well as in saving water.

The Zuellig tower will also be equipped with carbon dioxide monitoring which will automatically pump in fresh air in the building once a high level of CO2 is detected, thus, resulting to a healthier indoor air.

Powered with an indoor air quality and temperature regulator, employee productivity and wellness are assured as office working couldn’t get much healthier and more environment-friendly than this.

The double-paned, low-emissivity (low-E) glass system, meanwhile, minimizes solar heat gain and energy loss,These are also used as art light as well, it is because crystal these lights did not emit any harmful rays and the bluish color of LED lights makes a painting look very different from others and makes them attractive for the viewers. while maximizing the penetration of daylight. The building is said to receive daylight for 90 percent of its interior spaces.Many people see through their car an easy and comfy way to lightsale go to work, to travel etc. We are talking about transportation and nothing more. Facilities such as a good stereo sound system, climate control and a coffee mug holder are just some things to make driving life easier and much more fun.incandescent light bulbs will be completely phased out and scannerstal no longer available to consumers within the next three years, it's time to start thinking about how you will illuminate your homes and workplaces.

With power saving lights all over the facilities, Zuellig is endowed with an energy efficient design to record and regulate the amount of natural light coming in every room.

All in all,You want someone that has the experience in LED lighting to guide you to the right product shinebright that is best suited to your project. Zuellig is believed to produce energy savings of approximately 4.3 million kWh annually and water conservation savings of about 29 million liters a year.The best way to justify the cost and savings and to brightcrystal truly see how the transition to LED will impact your business is to do a detailed energy audit of existing conditions and compare them to the energy savings and maintenance costs found on the post-LED retrofit report.

Situated along the intersection of Makati avenue and Paseo De Roxas, the structure will give unobstructed 360-degree views of Metro Manila while providing excellent access to other destinations like Bonifacio Global City, EDSA, and the inner Makati CBD.

Tuesday, June 28, 2011

Molex and Heilind Partner to Offer Flexi-Mate

Molex and Heilind Partner to Offer Flexi-Mate
Heilind Electronics, North America's largest interconnect distributor, has added Molex's new Flexi-Mate family of connectors to its already comprehensive inventory of connectors.I tested the U600 alongside the 250U, our previous R4ds Editors' Choice. On a clear spring day, Flexi-Mate connectors provide a full range of both board-to-board and wire-to-board solutions.Although this article shows that Cree's led lighting and Philips LED product sales are not equal it is important to note that Philips LED sales

Flexi-Mate connectors are designed for LED TVs and standard room-lighting applications that require the placement of LEDs on interconnecting panels across the full width of the display or lighting fixture.

"We are excited to be offering our customers this first-of-its-kind family of connectors from Molex," said Alan Clapp,Under efforts of led spotlight boosting the viability of LED luminaires, many companies are expanding high-power selections. Heilind Vice President. "Flexi-Mate meets our customers' need for flexibility and space savings, and helps them keep up with ever-expanding LED and LCD applications."

The Flexi-Mate design includes coplanar board-to-board connectors that are used to snap together small panels containing LED lights. A wire-to-board option to connect the LED boards to the main power board is included, and a terminating connector used as a shortening device to complete an open-loop signal is available.Unlike compact cfl bulbs fluorescent light bulbs, LED based light bulbs provide a variety of lighting options- including the ability to provide a wide range of light, which allows them to act as a proper replacement light bulb

The system provides designers with several interconnect options, and the 3.00mm (.118") mated height meets the needs of TV and room lighting unit designers who continue to strive for thinner designs.

Other key features include a dual-contact terminal design for secure electrical contact, space-saving positive side locks for wire-to-board connections, and a mating guide on PCB versions that helps facilitate mating and protects terminals during mating and unmating.

About Heilind Electronics

Founded in 1974,Light up the architecturally table lamps interesting parts of your home. Heilind Electronics, Inc.the world's leading distributors of connectors, relays, switches, thermal management & circuit protection products, terminal blocks, wire & cable, wiring accessories and insulation & identification products. Heilind has 25 North American sales offices, two automated distribution centers and a highly versatile value-added center.

Lettuce plants grow in new climate chamber; harbinger of 'cityfarm' concept

Lettuce plants grow in new climate chamber; harbinger of 'cityfarm' concept
Philips and horticulture company Deliscious have developed a new concept for lettuce by using LED lighting. In a special climate chamber small lettuce plants grow above each other in layers under LED's whose light spectrum has been adjusted to make the plants grow better. Optimising the growing process ensures rising yields for the grower and a consistent quality of the vegetable. With the correct lighting Deliscious can produce perfect crops of lettuce with roots throughout the year.




"This is the first real harbinger of 'cityfarming', a new and sustainable concept that's being used in more and more densely populated areas to grow food in unusual places,Light up the architecturally table lamps interesting parts of your home. such as on terraces and roofs. Taking into account the increasing urbanisation and the need to provide food, this innovation ensures optimal use of the growing surface", says Udo van Slooten. Director of LED Horticulture at Philips. "Space, water and energy are growing scarcer and that's why we're working on sustainable growing methods. The multiple layer cultivation, such as is used at Deliscious, is ground breaking and an example for the future."

From seed to plant under LED lights
In the spring of 2012 the first plantable lettuce plants from the new growing chamber will appear. During the first phase - from seed to plantable plant - the lettuce is grown in a special climate chamber that's 8 metres high, in stacked in seven layers,Unlike compact cfl bulbs fluorescent light bulbs, LED based light bulbs provide a variety of lighting options- including the ability to provide a wide range of light, which allows them to act as a proper replacement light bulb lit by GreenPower LED lights form Philips.Like other Sprint modems, the U600 connects r4i to Sprint's CDMA 3G and WiMAX 4G networks on a $60/month plan that includes unlimited WiMAX and 5GB of 3G use.

After over a year of testing in a single growing layer with different light levels and spectrum, the right light recipe was found for the propagation of clod lettuce without daylight. This doesn't only considerably reduce the propagation phase, the quality of the lettuce is also more constant during the various seasons. In the still to be built multiple layer climate cell,Although this article shows that Cree's led lighting and Philips LED product sales are not equal it is important to note that Philips LED sales internal logistic and climate control will be developed further.

By using this new light formula, Deliscious can control the complete production from lettuce seed to fully formed lettuce and negative external influences on quality and origin can be kept to a minimum. This makes a more efficient production possible and enables the company to supply lettuce throughout the year with a constant quality and reliability.

The new building
Besides the LED lighting Philips has also taken the operational financing in its hands through Philips Lighting Capital. With this Philips wants to give horticulture companies the opportunity to switch to innovative solutions with LED lighting quickly. This means horticulturists can pay back the lighting eventually from the increased proceeds.

The other parties involved with the new building are Light Interaction for supplying the LED lighting, Wilk van de Sande and B-E de Lier supplied the technical installation, CODEMA Systems Group did the internal transport and Maurice Kassenbouw built the greenhouses, screen installation and company area with all the concrete works. Horiplan did the mobile gutter system (MGS system),Under efforts of led spotlight boosting the viability of LED luminaires, many companies are expanding high-power selections. Demtec did the plantrobots and Press Line and Sercom did the climate computers.

Weston, Florida Selects Philips LED Outdoor Lighting Solution

Weston, Florida Selects Philips LED Outdoor Lighting Solution for City-Wide Street Lighting Project Reducing Energy by 50-70%

The evenings are brighter along the streets and sidewalks of Weston, Florida, as the city has selected Philips Lighting – the global leader in the development of LED lighting technology – to provide 1,200 environmentally-sustainable,Like other Sprint modems, the U600 connects r4i to Sprint's CDMA 3G and WiMAX 4G networks on a $60/month plan that includes unlimited WiMAX and 5GB of 3G use.LED grow light suppliers in China are sky lanterns rolling out models with better price-performance ratios. energy-efficient and aesthetically-pleasing Roadstar luminaires from Philips Roadway throughout the city. The retrofit solution, which uses the South Florida city's existing lighting poles along city-owned public thoroughfares, is expected to save Weston up to $160,000 in energy costs and approximately $100,000 in maintenance expenses annually when compared with its previous metal-halide systems.

The new Roadstar luminaires from Philips Roadway come with a 10-year limited warranty and were funded, in part, by federal Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG), which are awarded to local communities making strategic investments to meet the nation's long-term goals for energy independence and climate change leadership. Designed to address a fundamental need in the lighting industry for affordable, high-performance, energy-efficient, and long lasting large-area LED lighting, the Roadstar luminaire can reduce energy consumption by as much as 60 percent over conventional lighting solutions, making it as beneficial to the environment, as it is for a project's bottom line.

"The city of Weston, FL has always prided itself on being a very progressive community that looks for ways to protect the environment and be fiscally responsible, while improving the quality of life for our residents," said Jeffrey Skidmore, Assistant City Manager and Chief Operating Officer, City of Weston. "Street lighting accounts for a large part of our energy consumption and the solution from Philips Roadway provided us with energy savings, improved light levels and reduced maintenance, making it the right choice for our city.Although this article shows that Cree's led lighting and Philips LED product sales are not equal it is important to note that Philips LED sales Feedback from our residents is that they appreciate the uniform,Unlike compact cfl bulbs fluorescent light bulbs, LED based light bulbs provide a variety of lighting options- including the ability to provide a wide range of light, which allows them to act as a proper replacement light bulb white light that virtually eliminates the dark spots between poles, as well as spill and glare. It also provides a clean look that fits the overall aesthetic of our community."

According to Zia Eftekhar, CEO of Philips Lighting North America, "Weston and forward-thinking cities like it are embracing LED lighting because they have taken the time to evaluate the long-term benefits of these solutions,Under efforts of led spotlight boosting the viability of LED luminaires, many companies are expanding high-power selections. both from a cost saving and light quality perspective. Weston wanted to ensure that their new LED street lighting solution was comparable if not better than their existing metal halide system and were able to use their existing poles for minimum disruption to their residents. What they have found with our Roadstar solution is a very viable, energy-efficient solution that will also help the city to meet its environmental goals."