During the winter months in Alaska, interior and exterior lighting play a large role in safety, health, and productivity. Alaska has the second-highest electricity costs in the nation, second only to Hawaii. The average kilowatt-hour (kWh) cost is approximately 19 cents per kilowatt-hour, with the national average being approximately 10 c/kWh. Even this isn’t a complete picture; for example, Fairbanks is 24c/kWh and Galena is 60c/kWh. With the use of energy in mind, saving on costs can be as easy as changing out existing fluorescent and traditional bulbs for LED lights.
Tech Talk
One-year Post-quake
On the morning of November 30, 2018, the earth awoke the residents Southcentral Alaska with a 7.1 magnitude earthquake. For Anchorage, it was the second-largest earthquake to strike the area in the short time it has been a city. After the quake, the hard part was over for many and the only recovery was cleaning broken glass, straightening photos, and calling loved ones. For PDC Engineers the work was just beginning. As the hours passed that morning, more and more phone calls began to come into the Anchorage office.
Do I Need an Engineer for my Residential Project?
It’s construction season, and we frequently get calls from homeowners wondering if they need an engineer for their project. Sometimes it’s something simple like a new deck, while others are more complex like an addition or new construction.
Is it time to shovel your roof?
We all saw pictures of the Dome collapse over this past weekend, but the Dome is the exception to the rule of what facilities are designed for here in Anchorage. In the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) the minimum required snow load is 40 psf. This is a minimum required by the MOA regardless of the pitch or type of roofing you have on your roof. Some critical facilities or new facilities with flat roofs may be designed for higher loads.
Drone Field Testing – Part 2
Wow! Drones can collect surprisingly accurate data. I’ll save you from a discussion of the technical details, but the bottom line is that drones clearly have a place in data collection. With surveyed ground control factored in, the drone collected imagery with approximately 2” horizontal and 4” vertical accuracy.
Indoor Air Quality
Have you fallen asleep in meetings even after a good night’s rest, or felt like you were not able to concentrate? Do you sometimes wake up with a slight hangover, even when you didn’t have any alcohol the night before? Do you sometimes feel hot in crowded rooms, even if the temperature is not high? Do you often feel terrible after a long flight? You may be feeling the effects of excess carbon dioxide (CO2).
Drone Field Testing – Part 1
It’s a beautiful spring day when I pull into the parking area – one of those clear blue sky days that makes the Fairbanks winter a distant memory. I’m at the north end of the new Tanana River railroad bridge near Salcha, not entirely sure what to expect from the drone demonstration I’ve come to watch.
Cracks after an earthquake; should I be worried?
The ground starts moving; the house starts shaking; rumbles, cracks and pops are heard throughout. This is a scene all too familiar to people who live in earthquake prone regions. As the building stops moving you’ll probably walk around to assess any damage: knocked over books, shuffled cabinets, large cracks in the walls, dogs barking. Wait, what? Was that crack there before? Should I be worried?