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Is Anyone Doing an Arc Flash Analysis? Get your FREE subscription PRINT or DIGITAL page 33 A CLB MEDIA INC. PUBLICATION • OCTOBER 2009 • VOLUME 45 • ISSUE 9 T&B_lug_EB_Oct09.indd 1 9/30/09 11:09:38 AM In the rush to label everything, is anyone doing an arc flash analysis? Also in this issue... • LED parking lot lighting (Page 7) • WorldSkills 2009 wrap-up (Page 16) • New guy on the block: PM # 40063602 The Running Man (Page 25) Nexans_EB_Oct09.indd 1 10/7/09 1:20:10 PM EB_Oct09_1-22.indd 1 10/13/09 2:34:26 PM Standard_EB_Oct09.inddEB_Oct09_1-22.indd 2 1 9/29/0910/6/09 2:06:3512:50:25 PM PM lectrical FROM THE EDITOR E usiness THE AUTHORITATIVE VOICE OF BCANADA’S ELECTRICAL INDUSTRY Putting smart grid October 2009 • Volume 45 • Issue 9 into better perspective am officially declaring that ‘smart grid’ should no longer be and the wind isn’t always blowing! We need to infuse our electrical spelled with any capitalization. Although IEC and NEMA infrastructure with the intelligence it needs to monitor, measure, ELECTRICAL BUSINESS is the magazine of the Canadian electrical I continue to capitalize the thing, I believe this just makes bill, etc., electricity from all kinds of other sources, as well as be able industry. It reports on the news and publishes articles in a manner the whole notion a little too high-and-mighty for my liking. to ramp up tried-and-true standby methods (like hydro, nuclear, that is informative and constructive. It’s time smart grid was brought down from the 30,000-ft etc.) when shortfalls are anticipated. level to ground level... to my level. A smart grid allows us to flex our power resources to their Editor There’s no question that the smart grid is revolutionary—a fullest capability—giving us insights into the system we never Anthony Capkun - [email protected] paradigm shift, in fact—but there’s nothing mystical about it. had before—and will simplify the interconnection of new power Publisher It’s all about making our current electricity grid more intel- projects to existing backbones. This is all pretty cool stuff. John MacPherson - [email protected] ligent, and it goes hand-in-hand with new, possibly very green Now, smart grid also has some big problems, the biggest of Account Manager and small (note that “green” is not capitalized) methods of which may be storage. When you produce excess energy, and Scott Hoy - [email protected] power generation, electric vehicles and more. no one’s around to use it, where do you put it? Battery tech- EB Editorial Advisory Board Before going any further, I should thank Ravi Seethapathy nologies (pick any one) are way too expensive to be seriously Tom Crist, Kerry Heid, Ron Bergeron, Stephen Tatrallyay, Dan of Hydro One and the folks at EEMAC (who got Ravi to considered for storage of this magnitude, but here’s where the Mott, John Vickery, Ian Dempsey and Pierre Dowd speak at their latest Industry Speaker session) for opening my electric car comes in. Some people think that excess power Art Director eyes just a little bit wider on the subject. could be distributed across, and stored on, the batteries of Svetlana Avrutin - [email protected] Our current, aging electrical infrastructure is based on a thousands—if not millions—of electric vehicles. Production Manager large-scale power generation model, where gigawatts of elec- When you have a smart grid, such power distribution can Robert Russell - [email protected] tricity are produced before being shunted long distances to the be facilitated. Same goes for when you plug in your electric Creative Director customer. It’s a pretty linear model, which keeps things nice vehicle into someone else’s outlet; a smart grid will know who Einar Rice - [email protected] and tidy, and straightforward. No problem. When something plugged in and where, and where to send the bill. Manager, Production breaks down, we may be inconvenienced for a while—like the While smart grid—and, especially, electric cars—is still Lisa Drummond - [email protected] Blackout of 2003—but, eventually, we’ll find the problem by pretty far off from being a daily reality, the point is that it Circulation Manager just following the powerlines. will become a reality. For your reading pleasure, check out: Judy Antoniadis - [email protected] But we find ourselves in the 21st century. We’re seeing the rapid • www.nema.org/gov/energy/smartgrid Subscriber Customer Service Representative development and deployment of new power generation alterna- • www.iec.ch/zone/smartgrid Kristen Schulz-Lacey - [email protected] tives, like solar, wind, run-of-river, biogas, etc., and we need a way ... and start thinking now of how you and your business can to not only include them in our grid, but a way to manage their fit into this future. contributions and shortfalls. After all, the sun isn’t always shining 240 Edward Street, Aurora, ON L4G 3S9 Tel: 905-727-0077 Fax: 905-727-0017 President Stuart Morrison Vice President, Media, Publishing Niel Hiscox CONTENTS Vice President, Finance/Corporate Development Kent Milford Vice President, IT and Operations David Overall On the cover and page 10 Director, Professional Group In the rush to label everything, is anyone doing an arc fl ash analysis? Karen Lorimer Director, Manufacturing Group Nowadays, arc fl ash is the hot topic in electrical safety, with a lot of advice and information Nigel Bishop being disseminated in articles, courses, software, etc. And while it is clearly a part of CSA Director, Editorial and Production Z462, “Workplace Electrical Safety”, practically nothing is being said about preventive Jackie Roth maintenance for switchgear. Director, Facility Management and Logistics Steve Dale Director, Human Resources Denise Desrosiers FEATURES DEPARTMENTS Director, Product & Business Development Todd Phillips 7 LED parking lot lighting: a look at Bradford District High School (case study) 4 Industry News Director, IT 8 Personalities Phillip Damianidis Part of Bradford District High School’s retrofi t included new parking lot lighting, with LED fi xtures as the source. What’s the verdict from those who work under them? 9 Calendar 11 Mind Your Safety SUBSCRIPTION RATES: 12 University of Alberta takes top marks in refl ective retrofi t (case study) Open season on pranksters Canada: Single issue $7.00 • Ten issues: $35.00 (including tax) The university decided to replace its existing lighting with a retrofi t incorporating a refl ective material 14 It’s Your Business USA: $59.00 (US) and International: $75.00 (US) per year that would save the institution enough energy to pay for substantially improved lighting, campus-wide. What is profi t and how do you get more United States Second Class Postage Paid at Lewiston, NY of it? (Part 3 of 3) (USPS-741-470) US POSTMASTER: send address changes to ELECTRICAL BUSINESS, P.O. Box 8145, Lewiston, NY 14092 22 Vehicles & Accessories 16 WorldSkills 2009 wrap-up Buying your next work truck (Part 2): Over 1000 competitors from all over the world fl ocked to Calgary chassis selection The contents of Electrical Business are copyright by ©2009 CLB Media for WorldSkills, where they competed for Gold, Silver and Bronze 28 Products Inc. and may not be reproduced in whole or part without written consent. medals in their respective skilled trades fi elds, including Electrical CLB Media Inc. disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, completeness 32 Multimedia Resources Installation, Information Network Cabling and Industrial Control. or currency of the contents of this publication and disclaims all liability 34 Code File in respect of the results of any action taken or not taken in reliance upon Resistance grounding and Rule 10-814 information in this publication. REPRINTS: Contact The Reprint Outsource at (877) 394-7350. 18 Lighting design for safety and worker productivity 34 The Code Conundrum With commercial and industrial work, lighting comprises a major fraction of the total connected load, so PAP Registration No. 10774 it begs a closer look at options and good design principles. page 28 Send address changes to: ELECTRICAL BUSINESS 240 Edward Street, Aurora, ON L4G 3S9 24 The Hackman cometh Return Postage Guaranteed EBMag was in Ottawa to take in the action as Lenox’s Lee Breton Canada Post - Canadian Publications Mail Sales Products dismembered a Zamboni for Roger’s House. Agreement 40063602 ISSN 0013-4244 Printed in Canada 25 New guy on the block: The Running Man The emergency lighting world is on the brink of a revolution, as The Running Man gears up to make his debut for egress lighting. 26 Flexible solar strips light up campus bus shelter at McMaster No more waiting in the dark at this campus bus shelter thanks to new, fl exible solar cell technology. www. mag.com • OCTOBER 2009 • 3 EB_Oct09_1-22.indd 3 10/6/09 12:50:36 PM INDUSTRY NEWS Garrad Hassan joins Germanischer Lloyd Legrand launches strategic branding initiative Garrad Hassan (www.garradhassan.com)—based in Bristol, Legrand (www.legrandna.com)—a global player in prod- United Kingdom—is joining Germanischer Lloyd to form a ucts/systems for electrical installations and information fully integrated technical assurance and consulting company for networks—is launching a strategic branding initiative in renewable energy (www.gl-group.com). the North American marketplace. The company says it The companies are merging with the aim of being a leading will “establish its trusted global brand on behalf of all global independent provider of consulting, engineering, turbine current brands and partners to build awareness of what’s design, certification, measurement, project management, strategic possible in this category, and generate increased interest advice, inspection services and software products for renewable and demand from end customers”.
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