Energy modeling is a hot topic in new construction projects as well as building retrofit, renovation and facility management. Federal, state and local governments are not only holding private firm construction to higher green standards, but the public sector overall is getting increased pressure to obtain higher LEED ratings and to produce high-rating energy proficiency analysis. (Read more in our earlier article: GSA Moves to LEED Gold for All New Federal Buildings and Major Renovations) If you’re a stranger to energy modeling, green building, or sustainable design, here are three resources that can help bring you quickly up to speed on mandates, implementation tips, and future of sustainable buildings.

Assembling, operating, and maintaining critical pieces of machinery are a daily responsibility of maintenance mechanics in the military. Amphibious Assault Vehicles (AAVs), in particular, are a perfect example of military land/water machinery that must be constantly maintained in to avoid potentially serious or fatal incidents. The military technical documents, used for assembly, operations, and maintenance of these multi-ton beasts, are typically static paper drawings. Normally kept in a three-ring binder, the documents are prone to get crumpled, dirty or even lost making life difficult on the mechanics. Needless to say, navigating away from clumsy, static, paper documents towards an electronic system of managing and accessing their technical documents is a welcome change.

To many people, the phrase “Some assembly required” is the kiss of death when purchasing something. If you have bought anything from IKEA you understand how frustrating it can be to put together a dresser or a coffee table using little more than a wrench and a set of visual instructions. In most cases there is not a ton of pressure riding on the person who is assembling IKEA furniture, but what if you had to assemble, or operate, or maintain a critical piece of machinery that was responsible not only for the success of your job, but for the lives of your coworkers. This is the case for operations and maintenance mechanics in the military.

Graphics rendering requires high-powered computing systems, and many times hardware is not up to par, causing digital design programs to freeze up and crash. More than just frustrating and time-wasting, this can sometimes result in flaws within the models that require a long correction process, or in the worst case, escape unnoticed into the final design. Since hardware issues are the cause of such design nightmares, the best way to overcome this obstacle is to find an appropriate computing solution that can handle the heavy workloads that are routine in the digital design world. BoXX Technologies’ range of desktop and mobile computing products (now available on GSA Schedule) are tailor-made for high-end design software such as Autodesk 3ds Max, that features highly demanding rendering processes, and massive file sizes that require high-end hardware to run smoothly.

Today, GIS enables the mapping of locations and objects, the placement of intelligence into the objects and the use of tools and applications to derive knowledge from this converged data, often for the public good. Take AIDS.gov, for example. AIDS.gov is an internet portal for all Federal domestic HIV and AIDS resources and information, provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human services.

On August 1, 2007, the I-35 W Bridge in Minneapolis, Minnesota collapsed injuring 144 people and killing 13. The official accident report cites the cause for collapse as poor quality control, insufficient design review procedures, and a lack of due diligence in weight monitoring of construction equipment parked on the bridge. Investigative reporter, Bill Dedman, reported the immediately available details of the accident noting the bridge had recently been rated Among the Nation’s Worst. In 2007, the I-35 bridge ranked barely better than 4% of the nation’s bridges.

Tomorrow, April 22, is Earth Day 2011 and the global organizers of this annual celebration of our planet are once again asking us all to make a pledge to help achieve “a billion acts of green.” Now, we all know that, as the U.S. economy’s largest consumer of energy, the Federal government is grappling with significant energy issues – but it’s not all bad news. From the multiple benefits of cloud computing, building information modeling (BIM), virtualization, and smart grids to simple acts like putting lighting controls in the hands of office workers, the federal government is already achieving specific gains in its sustainability and green efforts as mandated 2009’s Executive Order 13514. So, in honor of Earth today we picked our “best of” articles and insights that show just how the public sector (and those that serve it), with the help of technology, can and is, going green.

Good day [acronym]! I’m excited to be posting live from the Autodesk Make Your Most Amazing Ideas Happen Virtual Event – from my desk in Herndon, VA. Our good friend, Autodesk Technical Evangelist, Lynn Allen, recently posted about her presentation on AutoCAD 2012. Right now, I’m exploring all virtual aspects of the event including the exhibit hall, auditorium and industry specific resources. Here is a shot of the main exhibit hall where you can find an Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Plant & Government booth in the upper left hand corner.

Earth Day 2011 is on April 22 but Google Earth Day is taking place all week long and is showcasing just how government agencies are putting Google Earth to work, for the good of our planet!

This blog entry was submitted by Nancy Mann Jackson. Nancy Mann Jackson is a freelance journalist who writes regularly about local government and sustainability issues. Learn more about her at www.nancyjackson.com. As local and state governments grapple with changing environmental stormwater regulations, some face lawsuits over their stormwater policies. But others, approaching stormwater control from an economic development angle, are finding MS4 solutions that do more than just meet EPA regulations; they also help build stronger communities.