Weatherization Department
The Friday * Report Friday April 4,1997
FromWright Energy's
Weatherization Network Since 1984
970-349-0551 fax
970-349-0923 voice
MichaelR@WrightEnergy.com
WebSite
http://NationalGuild.com
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A Clean Plant is a Healthy Plant
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By Russ Clark, Phoenix AZ
Plants need to be cared for, of course. We had a situation here recently where a potted plant was downright disgusting with mold or bacteria or both. Anyway, a horrendous situation. The owner was having asthma attacks which at first were believed to be somehow related to the HVAC system and something coming through the ceiling supply register into his
cubicle. Ultimately it was realized that the air coming out of the
supply register and washing down the adjacent wall over the plant was then transporting "whatever" around the room. The plant was removed and the "IAQ" problem was solved. The lesson here is to always check out the potted plants inside buildings because that is a source of moisture for molds and probably bacteria also. The "critters" need moisture to really
get fired up!!!!
Editors note: Thanks again to Russ for his observations. If this situation can develop in Phoenix, a very dry climate, it might be wise to take a good look at your plants, especially in more humid areas.
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High Tech Brothers Work to Build New - Better Engine.
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When they've already changed the world, what are two brothers
supposed to do as retirement looms? For Ben and Harold Rosen, the answer is to try to do it again.
The Louisiana-bred, Caltech-educated Rosens have embarked on their biggest challenge ever--to produce a clean, efficient and powerful automotive power source that will do nothing less than replace the internal combustion engine.
If that sounds familiar, it is. There have been countless schemes to rid the world of the noxious power plant.
But the Rosens, working out of a modest research lab in Woodland Hills, Calif., with a small staff and budget, are no ordinary tinkerers. And their approach--a hybrid electric system that combines a gas-burning turbogenerator, essentially a
miniature jet engine, with an exotic flywheel that stores energy like a battery--is getting serious, albeit skeptical, attention.
Ben, 63, is a bona fide Silicon Valley legend. A onetime engineer turned Wall Street analyst turned high-tech venture capitalist, he helped finance more than 80 start-up companies, including such powerhouses as Compaq Computer and Lotus Development. Worth more than $100 million, he remains chairman of Compaq, which three years ago surpassed IBM as the world's largest maker of personal computers.
Harold, 70, is a gifted inventor and celebrated former Hughes engineer. He pioneered the development of geostationary satellites that have made today's instant global telephone and television communications possible. He holds more than 50 patents.
Such credentials give the Rosens instant credibility, nor does it hurt to have Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen among their investors. Some think they have the technological and entrepreneurial heft to accomplish in a few more years what Detroit says is unlikely, if not impossible, in the foreseeable future.
"I would put a bigger bet on Rosen & Co. succeeding than I would on the car companies and the national labs," said David McLellan, former chief engineer of Corvette and now a consultant. "They are smart and agile."
With luck, the Rosens say they can begin mass-producing the power source for a lean, green and mean machine within six years. Unlike electric vehicles now hitting the road, their approach promises no compromise on creature comforts or performance: double the driving range of today's gasoline-powered cars, virtually pollution-free, and with sports car-like acceleration.
"We are trying to change the fundamental technology of the automobile," said Ben, who admits that the ambitious endeavor is far from a sure thing.
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Those Who Won't Stand for Something, Will Fall for
Anything
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The Original
Silicone Door
Weatherstrip®
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800-832-2992 Voice
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