Current Call to Action

>>Over $35,000 Available for Fla. Students Pursuing Careers in Building and Construction

The Future Builders of America (FBA) is offering over $35,000 in scholarships to Florida students pursuing careers in the building and construction industry. Applications can be found at www.futurebuildersofamerica.org and are due to the FBA office by April 20, 2015.

A recent survey by the National Association of Home Builders found 46 percent of builders reported a worker shortage last year. That's the highest across the nine trades surveyed since 2000, and even slightly higher than the peak of the housing boom in 2005 when housing starts were running at the pace of about 2 million a year, or about twice the current rate.

FBA President, Alan Anderson said, "The scholarship program and FBA overall is critical to the future of our industry in Florida. The building and construction industry is growing and the opportunity for qualified workers in coming years in substantial."

>>Revision of ASHRAE IAQ Guideline Open for Public Comment -- Due May 11

Public input is being sought into a proposed revision of ASHRAE’s residential indoor air quality guideline.

ASHRAE Guideline 24-2008, Ventilation and Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings, is the companion guideline to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 62.2-2007, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality in Low-Rise Residential Buildings. Guideline 24 provides information on achieving good IAQ that goes beyond the requirements contained in Standard 62.2 by providing explanatory and educational material not included in the code-intended standard.

A revision of the guideline is currently open for public comment until May 11, 2015. To learn more or to comment, visit www.ashrae.org/standardsactions.

>>Do You Want Your Big Idea for Building Energy Efficiency to Become a Reality?

Source: buildings.ideascale.com

Collaborate with ORNL to make it happen! The Building Technologies Office (BTO) invites you to send ideas, comments, and votes to buildings.ideascale.com, the new ORNL Buildings Crowdsourcing Community. Administered by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), the website has been launched as part of the Energy Department’s efforts to reduce energy consumption in homes and buildings and enhance U.S. competitiveness in manufacturing. Read more here or here.