Award-winning roofing contractor in Downer #39;s Grove, IL
Looking for a certified, award-winning roofing contractor serving the Downers Grove area? Learn more and get a free estimate: http://www.baltichomeimprovemen...
By: Baltic Home Improvements
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Award-winning roofing contractor in Downer's Grove, IL - Video
Quakertown, PA (PRWEB) January 14, 2014
Jurin Roofing Services, headquartered in Quakertown, PA, spent January 7th and 8th certifying and re-certifying their employees in the CERTA (Certified Roofing Torch Applicator) program. The purpose of the CERTA program is to provide roofing professionals with the necessary safety training to enhance professionalism and reduce personal injuries and property losses caused by the use of roofing torches.
CERTA delivers these requirements through a certification program where authorized trainers deliver effective behavior-based training to roofing workers. Eric W. Jurin, CEO of Jurin Roofing Services is a certified CERTA trainer and conducted the training at their Quakertown training facility. Eric Jurin has been a CERTA trainer since 2005 and a certified torch applicator since 2007. He has also performed safety training on behalf of the NRCA for their Fall Protection class in February 2010 in New Orleans at the NRCA convention titled Roofing Industry Fall Protection A-Z.
Janice Davis, Manager of NRCAs University and Risk Management has worked with Eric Jurin since 2005. Eric Jurins years of roofing experience make him an excellent CERTA trainer. His ability to apply his years of field knowledge to the CERTA training materials allows him to not only present the information but to ensure understanding of real world application.
In 1986, the Midwest Roofing Contractors Association (MRCA) in conjunction with industry organizations, the Asphalt Roofing Manufacturers Association, and the United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers developed a program to train roofing workers in the safe application of torch-applied roof systems. In 2003, insurance industry representatives approached the NRCA (National Roofing Contractors Association) to address concerns about increasing incidents and losses occurring from roofing workers' torching activities. The need for focused safety training addressing torching activities became apparent. NRCA arranged with MRCA to adopt and revise the CERTA program.
The current CERTA program provides the best practices and newest industry requirements for torching activities. There is no comparable training program available in the roofing industry.
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Jurin Roofing Services Continues to Maintain High Safety Standards through CERTA Roofing Torch Training
It pays to be eco-friendly--literally. These seven home improvement ideas will help you save energy as well as money on your next electric bill.
Energy savings is certainly on a lot of people's minds as Winter 2014 has kicked off in fearsome fashion across the United States. Yet savings know no season, and are sometimes affected by a timeline of when energy investments will have paid for themselves. Unfortunately most products don't come with this information clearly stamped on the box, but that's where we come in! Here we examine seven popular product categories to see how long it might take before you realize any returns on investments.
is devoted to finding the best deals on consumer goods, whether or not they're from an advertiser. For more great offers visit dealnews.com, which works with advertisers to craft offers for readers.
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Low-Flow Shower Heads
A low-flow showerhead can save lots of money on utility bills. But not all such heads are made equal, so theres something to be said for sacrificing thequalityof your shower for thequantityof your savings. One showerhead that earns solid reviews is theEvolve Roadrunner II(from $39.95 with about $13 s&h, a low by $12). This showerhead allows you to warm up the shower, then cuts the flow to a trickle once the water hits 95 degrees. Then, you pull a cord on the showerhead to resume the normal flow of water, thus saving on hot water costs.
Payback Time:Evolve claims its showerhead will pay for itself in two months time, and estimates an annual utility savings of about $250. Of course, how much you save depends on your water use, utility rates, and whether you sing "Happy Birthday" in the shower or "Bohemian Rhapsody."
Plastic Window Wrap
Taping up your windows isn't kind of home accoutrement that will win you any awards from Architectural Digest, but some people swear by plastic window wrap as a way to keep energy costs down by keeping the cold out. It's a simple fix, too: by putting plastic film over a window (and this works best for older windows), you cut down on the heat loss through the pane. This does nothing to control heat loss through a low-quality frame, though.
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7 home improvements that pay for themselves
A plan to build a four-story office building on Vallejo's waterfront that hit a stone wall of resistance in mid-2012 is back -- with its developer eying new digs.
Waterfront developer Joe Callahan pitched a plan two years ago to build a split 106-space parking garage and office building at Maine Street and Mare Island Way, with designs to compete in a bidding war for a Veterans Administration federal lease.
The Vallejo City Council subsequently voted down the needed city zoning plan changes in August 2012, accompanied by acrimonious public outcry over the proposal.
On Wednesday night, the city Beautification and Design Review Board will get its first look at the project -- now eyeing a site two blocks closer to downtown and current home of the Vallejo Housing Authority building, at Georgia and Santa Clara streets.
This week's meeting will be a study session only, city Senior Planner Michelle Hightower said. City officials want to give the newly constituted board a chance to discuss the project without the pressure of a decision. Any recommendtion would occur at the earliest at the panel's Feb. 13 board meeting, Hightower said.
If this modified project were to move forward, the building now occupied by the Vallejo Housing Authority would be demolished, with that city division relocated to the nearby John F. Kennedy Library, according to a city Planning Division staff report.
In an October interview with the Times-Herald, Callahan said the city's years of legal conflicts with its downtown developer, Triad Downtown Vallejo, had hindered his efforts to move forward, but that he was gearing up for whenever the dispute was resolved.
Triad was suing for alleged breach of contract after the city severed ties with the company in mid-2009. Tonight, the Vallejo City Council will consider approving a settlement with the firm.
With January's seating of a new City Council, Callahan could also be facing a more sympathetic voting majority. Two recently departed council members, Marti Brown and Stephanie Gomes, were fierce opponents of Callahan's during the developer's initial waterfront planning stages -- dating back to 2004, to the point of litigation and a subsequent settlement agreement more two years later.
Callahan did not immediately return a call to his office for comment Monday afternoon.
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Proposed Vallejo four-story office space and parking lot design under review
MIAMI, FL (PRWEB) January 14, 2014
A roof overhead is the most basic shelter requirement, says Chris Noe, president of Venetian Builders, Inc., Miami, which installs quality patio covers, sunrooms and screen pool enclosures in South Florida.
It helps explain why insulated patio roofs generated more business for us among homeowners in Hollywood, Fla., in 2013 than did any other home expansion option, Noe said.
A roof goes up quickly and shelters its users from two basic elements rain and the suns heat, Noe said. Just those two capabilities expand the functionality of a patio or deck. The shade will keep sunlight off the side of a house, reducing heat buildup and cooling bills. It will increase outdoor relaxation, including at dinner time, when outdoor dining and cooking are no longer slaves to heat or rain.
And the shelter from rain can extend the time outdoors that children and their parents can enjoy, especially during the season of frequent afternoon showers.
Insulated aluminum roof panels can carry electricity for ceiling fans, Noe noted. That means the roof goes beyond passive temperature reduction by creating a breeze artificially when nature doesnt provide one, and at a lower cost than air conditioning for an enclosed room, he said. Cables are inside the panels, invisible to people enjoying the outdoor space.
Patio roofs lend themselves to conversion, Noe added. Most screen patio covers have an insulated roof, which means part of the job is already done if a homeowner decides later to enclose the patio with screen to keep out bugs, birds and other pests, or with windows to create a sunroom, Noe said. We custom design every structure we build, and we can plan and engineer for these eventualities.
Patio roofs are usable virtually year-round in the South Florida climate, Noe said.
Venetian installs Florida rooms, screen patio covers, patio roofs and screen pool domes in all South Florida communities, including not just Hollywood, but also West Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Boca Raton, Deerfield Beach, Davie, Weston, Homestead, the Keys, and the Biscayne Boulevard corridor and Coconut Grove in Miami.
Detailed, written estimates are free. No-cost at-home consultations include curbside access to the Venetian mobile showroom.
Originally posted here:
Insulated Patio Roofs Prove Most Popular Home Addition in Hollywood, Fla., Among Customers of Venetian Builders, Inc ...
JOHNSTOWN Rick Jefferson was sound asleep when fate awakened him Dec. 13.
At 7 a.m., the contractor and remodeler was awakened by a stranger knocking on his rear door.
Upon answering the door, he found a young woman asking for help.
I think I am going into labor, Jefferson quoted the mother-to-be as saying.
The woman did not have a telephone or a car so she started walking down the alley until she found someone with a vehicle to take her to the hospital, Jefferson said.
I asked her how far along she was, and she said eight months, Jefferson said.
Thinking that the woman was probably in false labor, he ran upstairs to change out of his night clothes before driving her to the hospital.
So Im upstairs changing clothes and I heard her scream.
I ran downstairs and she was lying on my kitchen floor.
She screamed again and said that her water just broke, he said.
Originally posted here:
Hornerstown man an unexpected hero
SOMERSET, N.J. -- Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA), the global leader in lighting, today announced the introduction of their new InstantFit LED T8 that reduces the cost for facility managers replacing fluorescent tube lighting with energy efficient LED technology, known as LED tube lamps (TLEDs). TLEDs use up to 40 percent less energy compared to linear fluorescent tube lighting and require less maintenance due to their long lifetime.
Philips has led the way in designing an instantaneous 'click-to-fit' LED retrofit alternative for linear electronic instant start fluorescent tube lighting. Currently, installers need to re-wire the ballast to replace linear fluorescent tubes with TLEDs[2. This is due to a wide variety of electronic ballasts that exist in fluorescent tube lamps today. The Philips InstantFit LED replacement tube requires no re-wiring as it includes a smart electronic design that is compatible with existing electronic instant start ballasts and sockets. The result is a dramatic reduction in the time it takes to change from fluorescent to TLED lighting - from over 20 minutes per fixture to a matter of seconds and an equally dramatic reduction in installation costs.
''We studied the process for replacing fluorescent tubes with LED technology step by step to tackle those issues that dissuade facility managers and installers from making the switch. We found speed and simplicity were key,'' said Rene van Schooten, CEO Light Sources and Electronics at Philips Lighting.
Ramon Silvero, product manager of the lighting department at Gas Natural Fenosa, a Spanish natural gas utility company, said, "The savings made are spectacular." Mariano Herranz, maintenance technician at Gas Natural Fenosa added, "Using the new LED tube does not need any special operation. You just substitute the old tube for a new LED one."
Philips estimates that the installed base for fluorescent tube lighting today amounts to 12 billion (lamp) sockets globally. Linear fluorescent tube lighting with instant start ballast is one of the most common types of general lighting used in shops, offices and industrial spaces. In the United States, the estimated square footage of office space alone that could be positively impacted by installing the InstantFit solution is 7.4 billion square feet[3. So, the opportunity for energy and costs savings is huge. If current fluorescent lighting was replaced by TLED lamps globally it would result in savings of over 55 billion dollars in energy costs or the equivalent of energy generated by 210 medium sized power plants[4.
The InstantFit breakthrough is a new milestone in Philips' innovation record for the TLED market. In April 2013, Philips announced the creation of the world's most energy-efficient lamp suitable for general lighting, unveiling an LED tube replacement prototype that produces a record 200 lumens per watt of high-quality white light (compared with 100lm/W for fluorescent lighting) without compromising on light quality.
Philips' InstantFit LED replacement tube will be available in the first quarter of 2014. Visit http://www.philips.com/tled for more detailed information about availability.
About Royal Philips: Royal Philips (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHIA) is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people's lives through meaningful innovation in the areas of Healthcare, Consumer Lifestyle and Lighting. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips posted 2012 sales of EUR 24.8 billion and employs approximately 114,000 employees with sales and services in more than 100 countries. The company is a leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as male shaving and grooming and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at http://www.philips.com/newscenter.
[1 Calculated on the basis of an average sized supermarket that is typically equipped with approximately 1,000 double-tube fixtures and taking an average of 2 minutes to replace which includes every step from unpacking to installing, including positioning and climbing of ladders. The actual physical tube replacement takes a matter of seconds. [2 For optimal operation and maximum lifetime, LEDs need a constant current, which is the main task of a driver [3 Source: Philips [4 Source: Philips
CONTACT: Silvie Casanova, Philips Lighting, Tel: 781-879-0692, E-mail: silvie.casanova@philips.com
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LED T8 Lamps readily replace fluorescent tubes.
13 hours ago
Now it's not just people robots are also connected by internet thanks to RoboEarth. Next week, after four years of research, scientists at Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e), Philips and four other European universities will present this online platform through which robots can learn new skills from each other worldwide a kind of 'Wikipedia for robots'. This brings the development of robots that can carry out caring or household tasks a big step closer.
The greying population means there is an urgent future need for robots to take over caring or household tasks. To enable robots to successfully lend a mechanical helping hand, they need to be able to deal flexibly with new situations and conditions. For example you can teach a robot to bring you a cup of coffee in the living room, but if some of the chairs have been moved the robot won't be able to find you any longer. Or it may get confused if you've just bought a different set of coffee cups.
Worldwide sharing
"The problem right now is that robots are often developed specifically for one task", says Ren van de Molengraft, TU/e researcher and RoboEarth project leader. "Everyday changes that happen all the time in our environment make all the programmed actions unusable. But RoboEarth simply lets robots learn new tasks and situations from each other. All their knowledge and experience are shared worldwide on a central, online database. As well as that, computing and 'thinking' tasks can be carried out by the system's 'cloud engine', so the robot doesn't need to have as much computing or battery power onboard."
Opening a box
It means, for example, that a robot can image a hospital room and upload the resulting map to RoboEarth. Another robot, which doesn't know the room, can use that map on RoboEarth to locate a glass of water immediately, without having to search for it endlessly. In the same way a task like opening a box of pills can be shared on RoboEarth, so other robots can also do it without having to be programmed for that specific type of box.
Explore further: Cloud-computing platform for robots launched
(PhysOrg.com) -- We tend to assume that robots need human input in order to understand the world around them. In the near future humans may not even be a part of the robotic-learning equation. Soon, robots ...
(Phys.org) Researchers of five European universities have developed a cloud-computing platform for robots. The platform allows robots connected to the Internet to directly access the powerful computational, storage, and ...
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Robots learn from each other on 'Wiki for robots'
14 hours ago by Nancy Owano
(Phys.org) Philips is offering a new deal in tube lighting that can save on energy, installation time and ease labor costs. Philips' new development, announced earlier this month, offers supermarkets and large stores a proposition difficult to turn down. Philips has announced a drop-in LED bulb design that offers 40,000 hours of life. Called the InstantFit LED T8, the replacement tube is, according to Philips, the world's first LED replacement tube that requires no rewiring. The company said the InstantFit lamps were tested with a variety of ballasts to make sure there was compatibility with most Instant Start ballasts. Philips noted how this replacement involves a simple switch that cuts considerably the time it takes to replace the old fluorescent lights. "We studied the process for replacing fluorescent tubes with LED technology step by step to tackle those issues that dissuade facility managers and installers from making the switch," said Rene van Schooten, CEO, light sources and electronics at Philips Lighting "We found speed and simplicity were key."
The company described the Philips InstantFit LED T8 as "a true Linear LED retrofit that replaces existing 4' T8 fluorescent lamps. No wiring is required when replacing T8 fluorescents with the InstantFit lamp, which helps to reduce maintenance and labor costs." A maintenance worker can perform the task of fitting in the tube lamps in a very short time. According to Philips, "the average supermarket can now switch to LED lighting in four days instead of four weeks."
The InstantFit LED T8 lights save about 41 percent in electrical costs over an equivalent fluorescent tube. Also, the Philips InstantFit LED T8 lamps contain no mercury and virtually no UV or IR light. According to Philips, if current fluorescent lighting were replaced by TLED lamps globally, it would result in savings of over $55 billion in energy costs, or the equivalent of energy generated by 210 medium-sized power plants. (The reference to "TLED" stands for LED tube lamps.)'
Philips did not specify price but the company announcement said the Philips' InstantFit LED replacement tube will be available in the first quarter of 2014.
Philips overall prides itself as being one of the world's largest manufacturers of lightbulbs and lamps as well as innovators in light emitting diode (LED) lighting. By 2020, Philips has predicted that 30 percent less energy will be used for lighting compared to 2006 due to energy-efficient lighting adoption. They said the savings translates into a 515 million-ton reduction in CO2 emissions.
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Philips Lighting's Harry Verhaar, head of global public and government affairs, said, "With increasing population growth and urbanization, the demand for light is growing. The good news is that the resulting increase in energy demand is being compensated for by gains in energy efficiency as a result of the adoption of energy-efficient lighting.''
Explore further: Philips LED bulb with rad design set for January arrival
More information: http://www.lighting.philips.com/main/led/masterled/ledtube/index.wpd
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Philips eases switching fluorescent tubes with LED replacements
