Compared with the air quality monitoring methods of even a few years ago, today’s air monitor system offers its users a quicker, more effective, and comprehensive way to assess potential environmental hazards.
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Compared with the air quality monitoring methods of even a few years ago, today’s air monitor system offers its users a quicker, more effective, and comprehensive way to assess potential environmental hazards. In reality, information equals power. The more we know, the better decisions we can make. If we have only half the important details, we will make weak decisions. Let’s use some history to drive this home. Although the Allied Forces ultimately won WWII, overconfidence from the D-Day invasion and the quickness with which the Allies pushed the Germans eastward across France, caused Eisenhower to underestimate the tactical abilities and determination of Hitler’s army. This resulted in the disastrous Operation Market-Garden in the Netherlands and the Battle of the Bulge in the Ardennes. Because of lack of current data in the Market-Garden strategy, the Allies were not in Berlin by the end of 1944 as they expected. Instead, by December of 1944 the Germans had broken through into the Allies’ line of advance in the Ardennes and caught us ill-prepared. Poor intelligence cost tens of thousands of lives. This is perhaps one of the most dramatic examples of “not enough information”, but it makes the point. Amazingly, with the communication capabilities of today’s wireless, cellular, Internet and other “instantaneous” technologies, many choose NOT to use this power to gather all the project information that they can get. Bruce Groves makes a presentation at the New Jersey Clean Air Council’s (NJCAC) annual meeting on April 13th that focused on – a technical dialogue from multiple experts on how to measure and identify the effect of air pollution (and other environmental stressors) on the cumulative health issues of the public. The meeting aimed to bring professionals from varying disciplines to discuss technical approaches, academic research and general opinions on how to reduce this pollution and therefore improve the health of the affected populations. Maybe this daily air monitoring process looks familiar to you? Collecting samples at the end of the day from every instrument, downloading the data and then studying the data to see what had happened. Snow, rain, ice, cold…the daily routine didn’t vary much! After accepting the learning curve, the ease of operation and the effectiveness of the new technologies of the Greenlight System have allowed me to provide more effective support to the site construction team. As a LEED AP-certified professional who specializes in Indoor Environmental issues with a focus on fire and life safety, I was very interested in some recent articles that are creating awareness of critical health and safety problems inherent to the green building movement — especially commercial buildings with new hazards that must be identified to protect building occupants and mergency responders. As part of a standard, pre-work permit inspection by the local township, it was discovered the exterior of a church (and local pre-school) had been painted with lead-based paint! Unfortunately, the estimates to remove and repaint the church were far beyond the church’s budget. At the acrimonious and finger-pointing church review meeting, a voice suddenly called out, “I’ll take care of it for half the cost of the lowest estimate!” Salvation! However, when the contractor began the job, Dust control is an important way to keep what’s in the ground out of the air and out of your lungs. The standard method for controlling dust is to spray water on the ground. This practice works fine until your water truck freezes solid. So, what do you do when Jack Frost is nipping at your nose and the dust is flying in the air? The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ended 2010 with two announcements that impact Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). The first of these announcements involves polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in school environments. EPA’s second end-of-2010 announcement involves testing for radon, as January is National Radon Action Month. Two easy ways to start 2011 off on the right foot — follow the EPA’s recommendation by eliminating two significant and relatively easy IEQ concerns, PCBs and radon, from your building. Why do we care about particles floating around in our air? Bruce Groves explores how the environmental air monitoring in the future will be able to locate (in real time) the place, the direction of the pollution source so that we can take measures to stop or reduce the indicated pollution sources. The goal AND end result are to develop as clean a living and working area as possible. New standards were announced on October 25th from the DOT and EPA to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in heavy-duty trucks and buses. The standards, which are set to be phased in on new vehicles in 2014, will include requirements to improve fuel efficiency which benefits businesses, the shipping industry, and cities and towns. |
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