Update to Envision™Rating System

An updated version of Envision™, the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure rating system, is now available. 

The new version of Envision™ includes significant alterations as the result of public comments submitted since July 2011 and the merging of the ISI rating tool with a similar tool developed by the Zofnass Program for Sustainable Infrastructure at Harvard University.

Details associated with the individual credentialing process, including training schedules, fees, application procedures, and guidelines for individual infrastructure project submissions for ISI accreditation, are also available.

For questions or additional information, please contact Bill Bertera, ISI Executive Director, at 202-218-6725.

Infrastructure Sustainability Rating System

The American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the American Public Works Association (APWA) and the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) recently joined together to create the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) to develop a new infrastructure rating system to assess the sustainability of civil-engineering projects.

ISI’s "EnvISIon" rating system aims to do for infrastructure projects what the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program does for buildings.  EnvISIon is just one of many initiatives currently underway by a variety of professional organizations (such as SURF!) and academic institutions that are studying and measuring sustainability. Through the creation of guidelines and performance benchmarks for sustainable design, construction, maintenance and remediation practices, these new tools will allow risk managers, corporate executives and directors to make better decisions.

EnvISIon is now available for public comment through December 9, 2011.  Practitioners and interested parties may critically review the tool and its assumptions and make comments or suggestions prior to its actual release for commercial use early in 2012.  All comments will be reviewed and considered in confidence by the ISI Technical Committee.

AFCEE Technology Transfer email newsletter

The latest AFCEE Technology Transfer newsletter is now available.

Topics covered in this issue:

• AFCEE Moves to Lackland AFB, TX
• Save the Date for the 2011 Air Force Restoration and Technology Transfer Workshop
• AFCEE FY11 Broad Agency Announcement (BAA) to be Advertised in October 2010
• AFCEE Announces FY10 BAA Awards
• AFCEE Offers Next Version of Sustainable Remediation Tool (SRT) – Free to the Public
• New Contact Information for Assistance with Air Force Chemistry Questions
• ITRC Offers Free Internet-based Training Classes
• ITRC 2-Day Classroom Training On Vapor Intrusion Pathway
• ITRC Fall Meeting – Save the Date
• OSD-Funded Site Demonstration Opportunity
• SERDP and ESTCP Partners Symposium – Save the Date
• Last Chance to Submit Abstracts for the 2011 RemTEC Summit

To subscribe, contact Erica Becvar at erica.becvar.1[at]us[dot]af[dot]mil.

Registration Open for 2010 Air Force Restoration Technology Transfer Workshop

The 2010 Restoration Technology Transfer Workshop will be held in San Antonio, Texas, April 6-9, 2010. The three-day, five concurrent track schedule, with a fourth day of optional short courses, includes over 120 technical presentations, exhibitors showcasing their latest equipment, products, technology, and services, and many networking opportunities.

This "RIP Today, RC Tomorrow, Optimize Always" workshop, held in partnership with the AFCEE Restoration Program Management Office (R-PMO), brings together hundreds of professionals from military services, industry, academia, and local, state, and federal agencies, to translate ideas, success stories, case histories, current trends, and technologies into solutions for environmental restoration.  The workshop highlights the latest technologies with proven case studies, presented by today's leading experts. In a classroom setting, world-class presenters provide cross-feed and networking opportunities between environmental consultants, restoration managers, team chiefs, academics, legal and public affair officers, and policy makers.

For more information, visit the workshop website, or contact the Workshop Coordinator, Erica Becvar.

NASA Develops Chemical-Sniffing Device for Your Cell Phone

Jing Li, a physical scientist at NASA-Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California, and his colleagues have developed a prototype device that brings compact, low-cost, low-power, high-speed chemical sensing capabilities to cell phones.

The device Li developed is about the size of a postage stamp and is designed to be plugged in to an iPhone to collect, process, and transmit sensor data. The new device is able to detect and identify low concentrations of airborne ammonia, chlorine gas and methane. The device senses chemicals in the air using a "sample jet" and a multiple-channel silicon-based sensing chip, which consists of 16 nanosensors, and sends detection data to another phone or a computer via telephone communication network or Wi-Fi.