April 12, 2023
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The Washington State Building Code Council's latest code updates are made with an eye to energy conservation and, among other things, will require heat pumps for space and water heating in new residential buildings. Overall, the codes are expected to slash the state's CO2 emissions by 12.1 million metric tons over 30 years, although the transition will put additional strain on the power grid.
Full Story: The Columbian (Vancouver, Wash.) (tiered subscription model) (4/10) 
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This latest case study covers a set of standards for biodegradable plastic that help determine the percent biobased carbon present in a product or fuel. These standards have helped make the environment cleaner, landfills less toxic and the future brighter.
Full Story: ASTM International (4/12) 
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The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday proposed an update to its Mercury and Air Toxics Standards that would subject coal-burning power plants to new limits for mercury, lead, nickel, arsenic and other pollutants. Compliance could cost somewhere from $230 million to $330 million, but may translate to up to $3 billion in environmental and health benefits.
Full Story: The Hill (4/5),  The Associated Press (4/4) 
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The National Precast Concrete Association's Plant Certification program for manufactured precast concrete facilities has been approved by the Rhode Island Department of Transportation. Rhode Island joins 40 other states and 75 municipalities in the program.
Full Story: Concrete Products (4/5) 
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ACI advocates for standardized cleaning product labeling
(Pixabay)
Unlike food, drugs and other products, cleaning product ingredient labels are not currently standardized at the federal level, which could lead to confusion in the marketplace if states create a patchwork of different labeling laws, writes American Cleaning Institute President and CEO Melissa Hockstad. ACI and its members are urging Congress to establish a national standard based on California's cleaning product ingredient communication law to ensure consistent, transparent and accessible information about cleaning product ingredients for consumers.
Full Story: LinkedIn (3/28) 
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Improved materials testing throughput can help you reduce bottlenecks and speed up new product and component development. In this paper, we explore how. Download for an examination of five methods that can help speed up your testing process.
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INDUSTRY FOCUS: Aerospace
The Bell 407GXi three-axis autopilot system has been certified by the UK's Civil Aviation Authority, and the option will be available on new 407GXi helicopters or as a retrofit. The autopilot, offered in both two-axis and three-axis versions, comes with envelope protection and a stability augmentation system.
Full Story: AVweb (4/6) 
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Universal Hydrogen, a startup based in Hawthorne, Calif., completed a test flight last month of a turboprop aircraft powered primarily by a hydrogen fuel cell. "This technology has the potential to be a game-changer on the industry's path to zero-emission flight," said Derek Kerr from American Airlines, one of the companies that has invested in Universal Hydrogen.
Full Story: Los Angeles Daily News (4/12) 
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University project to be first US lunar rover
(NASA/Liam Yanulis)
A team of students and faculty at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh are behind the first autonomous US lunar rover to be rocketed to the moon. The wheeled Iris rover will be aboard NASA's Commercial Lunar Payload Services program to launch this spring, and its mission will be mainly visual as it captures images for geographic study.
Full Story: Live Science (4/7) 
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Georgia Tech is among 14 universities receiving dollars from the Federal Aviation Administration for research to reduce noise pollution. Specifically, Tech will study the noise-reducing possibilities of mounting jet engines over wings as well as helping with noise prediction models for supersonic craft.
Full Story: AIN Online (4/10) 
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THE CUTTING EDGE
IIT Hyderabad and Simpliforge Creations have used robotic 3D concrete printing to manufacture a prototype pedestrian bridge off-site in less than two hours. Simpliforge's specially developed extrusion and software system helped optimize the bridge's form and limit material use.
Full Story: Construction Week (4/10) 
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ASTM NEWS
ASTM International's Symposium on Shear Testing of Soils will be held Jan. 29 to 30, 2025, in Houston. The event is sponsored by ASTM International's soil and rock committee (D18) and will be held in conjunction with the committee's January standards development meetings.
Full Story: ASTM International (4/10) 
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