Preserving human dignity

The practice of preserving human dignity and rights means not using products that are made in '˜sweat shops', using child labor where the rights of children are not considered or obeyed and employing a diverse group of individuals that eliminates prejudice and discrimination against all races, age and gender.

Throughout Europe all nations are committed to the processing of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to divert as much of our organic waste as possible away from landfill. This is a high priority for the United Kingdom if we are to reach Government recycling targets which are designed to ensure we comply with required landfill diversion rates as set by the EU Landfill Directive.

LED bulbs - the paradigm is shifting - I bought some bulbs from Cree and Lighting Sciences, sold under the “ecosmart” ™ brand from Home Depot. The Lighting Sciences bulbs will go into my bathroom. The CREE bulbs will go into the bedrooms, family room, and the kitchen. Over their 35,000 lifespan, each LED bulb will outlast 14 or 15 incandescents, or 4 or 5 compact flourescents and will use 16% of the power of the incandescent bulbs or 75% of the power of the compact flourescents.

At this level, an organization begins to recognize that something needs to be done. Perhaps outside forces such as industry regulations or stakeholders’/stockholders’ concerns are driving some action; however, there is no real strategy in place. In fact, if industry standards are driving whatever sustainability action currently exists, the organization is most likely acting out of shear conformance.

The sustainable steel joist floor begins with lightweight structural steel joists. These typically have formed channel or tee edges at top and bottom, separated by a thin sheet web, punctuated with holes for the routing of mechanical and electrical components. Joists are spaced frequently and uniformly, and are held in relative position to one another by snap-in bridging that spans between successive joists, ‘bridging’ them together and stiffening one to the next. Then floor and ceiling surfaces are applied, straddling the bearing edges of multiple joists.

Virtualization optimizes the use of physical computing and networking hardware through software that improves utilization, reduces cost and saves energy. According to a recent Forrester Research survey, nearly half of U.S. enterprises have implemented some form of server virtualization to address utilization rates and drive efficiencies from a more consolidated server population.

In simple terms, the acetylation process transforms the free hydroxyl groups naturally present within the wood into acetyl groups (which are also naturally present, though in an initially lesser quantity). The elimination of the free hydroxyl groups means the elimination (or severe restriction) of the wood’s tendency to absorb and lose water. The wood therefore achieves greater dimensional stability, as there is little or no water movement to cause swelling, shrinkage or warping.