By the PEs in Construction Group,  January 2019.   

Chairman of the ASHRAE Technical Committee on Building Energy Performance (TC 7.6), Dennis Landsberg P.E.  will discuss the Impact of the 2016 changes to the NYS Energy Code on building design at NYSSPE’s 2019 NYC Engineers Week Celebration Event, which will be held on Monday February 18th, 2019 at the Time Square Marriott Marquis in New York City.  The presentation will focus on changes covering each building system and how that may impact building design choices.  The 2016 State Code is based upon the 2015 International Code and 90.1-2013.  The code has provisions for Residential buildings, which are defined as single family and multi-family buildings of three stories or less, and commercial buildings, which are all buildings not defined as residential buildings.  To achieve compliance, there is a prescriptive path, a component performance paths allowing tradeoffs and a custom path that relies on modeling.  ASHRAE also has workbooks for specific building types that achieve 30%, 50% or more above code, and that can be downloaded for free.  Topics covered include a brief introduction of the  code that the NYS standard adopts, the new compliance paths, the three climate zones in NYS, full/part load efficiencies for Unitary Air Conditioners, major changes to Energy Recovery Ventilation and new categories introduced to Domestic Hot Water.

The presentation on the design implications of the 2016 Energy Code updates will be part of a series of 6 presentations (6-PDH) celebrating Engineers Week on Monday February 18, 2019 with some very interesting topics focused on infrastructure improvements and green/energy efficient measures.  The PE’s In Construction Group of NYSSPE is organizing this presentation series in conjunction with the Association of Towns of the State of New York (AOT) at the AOT 2019 Training School and Annual Meeting.  This will be the Association of Town’s 86th Annual Meeting. The event attracts elected and appointed officials from more than three-quarters of the state’s 932 towns.

To find out more information about the presentations and the 2019 National Engineers Week celebration event in NYC, CLICK HERE [Read more…]

By the PEs in Construction Group,  February 2019

Lewis Tesser, Former Chair of the New York State Bar Association’s  (NYSBA) General Practice Section will discuss and answer questions regarding ethical and legal aspects required by (and expected of) professional engineers and architects at NYSSPE’s 2019 NYC Engineers Week Celebration Event, which will be held on Monday February 18th, 2019 at the Time Square Marriott Marquis in New York City.  The purpose of the engineering ethics presentation is to provide an overview of ethical conduct and legal aspects required of professional engineers with primary emphasis on the big picture of being a professional in New York State. Mr. Tesser will discuss concepts and/or nomenclatures of:  What it means to be a professional; obligations; licensed vs. unlicensed Engineer; what requires an engineer’s stamp; attaining License in other States; exemptions from licensing requirements; hiring unlicensed engineers; unprofessional conduct; avoiding problem areas and communicating.

The engineering ethics presentation will be part of a series of 6 presentations (6-PDH) celebrating Engineers Week on Monday February 18, 2019 with some very interesting topics focused on infrastructure improvements and green/energy efficient measures.  The PE’s In Construction Group of NYSSPE is organizing this presentation series in conjunction with the Association of Towns of the State of New York (AOT) at the AOT 2019 Training School and Annual Meeting.  This will be the Association of Town’s 86th Annual Meeting. The event attracts elected and appointed officials from more than three-quarters of the state’s 932 towns.

To find out more information about the presentations and the 2019 National Engineers Week celebration event in NYC, CLICK HERE. [Read more…]

By the PEs in Construction Group,  January 2019.   

Former NYC DOT Traffic Commissioner, Sam Schwartz P.E.  will discuss the pros and cons of driver-less cars at NYSSPE’s 2019 NYC Engineers Week Celebration Event, which will be held on Monday February 18th, 2019 at the Time Square Marriott Marquis in New York City.  Mr. Schwartz will discuss the adaptability of driver-less cars to urban roads and lay out the future of driver-less traffic.  While there are some major benefits—fewer crashes, less parking, and greater productivity while motoring, there is also a need to be aware of the big concerns. Autonomous vehicles (AVs) will affect family and work life, business, politics, ethics, the environment, travel, and health. City planning will change significantly as AVs will dominate transportation over the next generation. The streets cape, as we know it today, may be dramatically altered.  Mr. Schwartz will provide an overview of the concepts discussed in his latest book NO ONE AT THE WHEEL which will provide a road map for how to respond to the inevitable changes that autonomous vehicles will bring.  Stakeholders and citizens will need to work together with government to maximize the benefits of this technology while minimizing its downsides.

The autonomous vehicles presentation will be part of a series of 6 presentations (6-PDH) celebrating Engineers Week on Monday February 18, 2019 with some very interesting topics focused on infrastructure improvements and green/energy efficient measures.  The PE’s In Construction Group of NYSSPE is organizing this presentation series in conjunction with the Association of Towns of the State of New York (AOT) at the AOT 2019 Training School and Annual Meeting.  This will be the Association of Town’s 86th Annual Meeting. The event attracts elected and appointed officials from more than three-quarters of the state’s 932 towns.

To find out more information about the presentations and the 2019 National Engineers Week celebration event in NYC, CLICK HERE

Mr. Schwartz is currently President, and CEO of Sam Schwartz Transportation Consultants, a firm that specializes in transportation planning and engineering. In addition to his 1982 to 1986 post as Traffic Commissioner at the New York City Department of Transportation, he has served as an adjunct professor of engineering at Cooper Union, Long Island University, and Brooklyn College.  Mr. Schwartz is also the Inaugural Ted Kheel Fellow at Hunter College’s Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute. Among the many roles he has held throughout his career, he is the acclaimed author of Street Smart: The Rise of Cities and The Fall of Cars, and No One at the Wheel: Driver-less Cars and the Road of the Future (2018). He also pens the “Gridlock Sam” and “Transit Sam” columns in the New York Daily News and Downtown Express.   [Read more…]