This protocol was written for the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) to be used by the public as a tool for assessing building cost and performance measurement. The primary audiences are sustainable design professionals, asset owners, building managers, and research professionals within the Federal sector. The protocol was developed based on the need for measured performance and cost data on sustainable design projects. Historically there has not been a significant driver in the public or private sector to quantify whole building performance in comparable terms. The deployment of sustainable design into the building sector has initiated many questions on the performance and operational cost of these buildings.

Wide-angle surveys have been an engine for new discoveries throughout the modern history of astronomy, and have been among the most highly cited and scientifically productive observing facilities in recent years. This trend is likely to continue over the next decade, as many of the most important questions in astrophysics are best tackled with massive surveys, often in synergy with each other and in tandem with the more traditional observatories. We argue that these surveys are most productive and have the greatest impact when the data from the surveys are made public in a timely manner. The rise of the 'survey astronomer' is a substantial change in the demographics of our field; one of the most important challenges of the next decade is to find ways to recognize the intellectual contributions of those who work on the infrastructure of surveys (hardware, software, survey planning and operations, and databases/data distribution), and to make career paths to allow them to thrive.

The Wind2H2 system is fully functional and continues to gather performance data. In this report, specifications of the Wind2H2 equipment (electrolyzers, compressor, hydrogen storage tanks, and the hydrogen fueled generator) are summarized. System operational experience and lessons learned are discussed. Valuable operational experience is shared through running, testing, daily operations, and troubleshooting the Wind2H2 system and equipment errors are being logged to help evaluate the reliability of the system.

This report documents the status of the Sandia National Laboratories' Wind Plant Reliability Database. Included in this report are updates on the form and contents of the Database, which stems from a fivestep process of data partnerships, data definition and transfer, data formatting and normalization, analysis, and reporting. Selected observations are also reported.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) FMCSA commissioned the Wireless Roadside Inspection (WRI) Program to validate technologies and methodologies that can improve safety through inspections using wireless technologies that convey real-time identification of commercial vehicles, drivers, and carriers, as well as information about the condition of the vehicles and their drivers. It is hypothesized that these inspections will: -- Increase safety -- Decrease the number of unsafe commercial vehicles on the road; -- Increase efficiency -- Speed up the inspection process, enabling more inspections to occur, at least on par with the number of weight inspections; -- Improve effectiveness -- Reduce the probability of drivers bypassing CMV inspection stations and increase the likelihood that fleets will attempt to meet the safety regulations; and -- Benefit industry -- Reduce fleet costs, provide good return-on-investment, minimize wait times, and level the playing field. The WRI Program is defined in three phases which are: Phase 1: Proof of Concept Test (POC) Testing of commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) or near-COTS technology to validate the wireless inspection concept. Phase 2: Pilot Test Safety technology maturation and back office system integration Phase 3: Field Operational Test Multi-vehicle testing over a multi-state instrumented corridor This report focuses …

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Although the pay gap between men and women in the U.S. workforce has narrowed since the 1980s, numerous studies have found that a disparity still exists. In 2003, we found that women in the general workforce earned, on average, 20 cents less for every dollar earned by men in 2000 when differences in work patterns, industry, occupation, marital status, and other factors were taken into account. Other research indicates that this disparity existed for federal workers as well. For example, a 1998 study showed that the pay gap between men and women in the federal workforce decreased significantly between 1976 and 1995, but in 1995 white women still earned 14 cents less for every dollar earned by white men and African-American women earned 8 cents less for every dollar earned by African-American men after available factors related to pay were taken into account. In light of concerns that a pay gap may continue to exist between men and women in the workplace, Congress asked us to examine pay disparity issues and the role the federal government has played in enforcing anti-discrimination laws. In agreement with Congressional …

We studied variation in productivity in headwater reaches of the Wenatchee subbasin for multiple field seasons with the objective that we could develop methods for monitoring headwater stream conditions at the subcatchment and stream levels, assign a landscape-scale context via the effects of geoclimatic parameters on biological productivity (macroinvertebrates and fish) and use this information to identify how variability in productivity measured in fishless headwaters is transmitted to fish communities in downstream habitats. In 2008, we addressed this final objective. In collaboration with the University of Alaska Fairbanks we found some broad differences in the production of aquatic macroinvertebrates and in fish abundance across categories that combine the effects of climate and management intensity within the subbasin (ecoregions). From a monitoring standpoint, production of benthic macroinvertebrates was not a good predictor of drifting macroinvertebrates and therefore might be a poor predictor of food resources available to fish. Indeed, there is occasionally a correlation between drifting macroinvertebrate abundance and fish abundance which suggests that headwater-derived resources are important. However, fish in the headwaters appeared to be strongly food-limited and there was no evidence that fishless headwaters provided a consistent subsidy to fish in reaches downstream. Fish abundance and population dynamics in …

During the 110th Congress (calendar years 2007 and 2008), Matthew Allen, a Sandian nuclear scientist, served as a Congressional Fellow on the Committee on Homeland Security in the House of Representatives. This report is an informative account of the role staffers play in assisting the members of Congress in their oversight and legislative duties. It is also a personal account of Matthew Allen's experience as a committee staffer in the House of Representatives.

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