Model Airplanes

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Article source: http://www.rexburgstandardjournal.com/opinion/columns/the-powerful-play-goes-on/article_49ded28a-4926-11e6-b4d2-a72d92c55221.html

How Cities Are Taking the Lead on Green Building

MARGARET WALLS: Cities in the U.S. are leading the way on climate and energy policies—especially policies targeting commercial and residential buildings, which can account for up to 75% of total energy use in cities.

Fifteen cities now have benchmarking and disclosure laws, which require building owners to report their buildings’ annual energy use to the local government. These include the early adopters of Washington, D.C., Austin, Texas, and New York, which passed their laws in 2008 and 2009, and Portland, Ore., Atlanta, and Kansas City, Mo., all of which adopted them in 2015. Some cities have also adopted “stretch” building energy codes, which require that new buildings achieve higher energy efficiency than set in the base code. For example, Boston has a stretch code that requires buildings be 20% more efficient than the code established in the 2012 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Others are looking to creative financing programs, such as Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs that allow building owners to pay back low-interest energy efficiency loans through property taxes. And many cities have established renewable energy requirements. Complementing these programs are often an array of utility or state government rebates and other incentives.

The benchmarking and disclosure laws may be having the greatest impact. They require commercial, and in some cities, multi-family residential property owners to report annual energy use and use the Energy Star software program to benchmark that energy use relative to other buildings. The laws are intended

Article source: http://blogs.wsj.com/briefly/2016/07/14/the-future-of-cities-green-building-to-driverless-cars-at-a-glance/

Consumer Reports magazine says Tesla should “disable automatic steering” until it changes the software to require drivers to keep their hands on the wheel.

This comes after two recent crashes, including a gruesome Florida incident in which the driver was killed, involving Autopilot, the automaker’s the semi-autonomous driving system.

“‘Autopilot’ can’t actually drive the car, yet it allows consumers to have their hands off the steering wheel for minutes at a time,” Laura MacCleery, vice president of consumer policy for Consumer Reports, said in a Consumer Reports blog post. “Tesla should disable automatic steering in its cars until it updates the program to verify that the driver’s hands are on the wheel.”

Automatic steering is one part of the Autopilot program. Other parts can control brakes and the accelerator.

The Tesla owner’s manual does say that the driver should keep his hands on the steering wheel, but the system will still work without the driver touching the steering wheel at all for long periods.

In the blog post, Consumer Reports also criticized Tesla (TSLA) for naming the system “Autopilot.” The magazine said that the name, and Tesla’s own marketing messages, imply the system has more competency and control than it does.

Related: Driver in Tesla Autopilot accident would

Article source: http://money.cnn.com/2016/07/14/luxury/consumer-reports-tesla-autopilot/

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Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/17/magazine/the-american-who-accidentally-became-a-chinese-movie-star.html

Image source: Getty Images.

Property and casualty insurance is one of the true wonders of the stock market. Companies that exemplify sound underwriting and grow policies have handily crushed the performance of the broad market.

Property and casualty insurers write policies against the most basic risks including damages and loss to your property (hence property in the name), as well as the liability (casualty) for potential damages you might cause another person. Car insurance is one of the best examples, as it insures your property from loss, while shielding you from liability in the event you cause loss to someone else’s property. Insurance companies, particularly PC insurers, may be the most attractive group among the financials industry, which includes everything from banks to real estate investment trusts.

Markel (NYSE:MKL), Safety Insurance Group (NASDAQ:SAFT), and Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE:BRK-A)(NYSE:BRK-B) are some of the very best PC insurance stocks on the market today. Here’s why buy-and-hold investors should wait for a fat pitch in these three well-run insurers.

Bank on Buffett

The Oracle of Omaha’s masterpiece isn’t a PC insurer in pure form — it also happens to own a railroad, an airplane-parts manufacturer, and a reinsurance operation, too — but it has recently offered investors the chance to buy at some of the lowest multiples in recent history. That may happen again.

Berkshire Hathaway’s core property and casualty insurance units include the likes of GEICO, which, despite having a rough 2015 as low gas prices encouraged

Article source: http://www.fool.com/investing/2016/07/13/3-best-property-and-casualty-insurance-stocks-to-b.aspx

In general, finding a large chunk of a 5-ton, 123-foot commercial airliner in your backyard isn’t a good thing. 

But it’s a different story when that chunk has been artfully upcycled by British father-daughter team David and Emily Palmer into an elegant outdoor space.

David was already working with the aviation industry through his IT recycling business when he realized that most airframes are just scrapped –  an absolute waste, in his eyes, of a valuable and well-engineered structure.

Enter his daughter Emily, then studying for a furniture design degree at a top London college. During a talk over tea a new company, Dapper Aviation, was born, and they decided to buy an old Airbus A320 from Turkish airline AtlasJet.

“It was a huge leap of faith to buy our first plane,” David said in a press release, “but we’re delighted with the result.”

The Aeropod consists of the original “well-engineered” aluminum fuselage complete with insulation and aircraft windows outfitted with a highly insulated back wall and low emissivity glass doors. Electricity and water can be installed upon request.

Aeropods don’t come cheap, ABC News reports, costing $28,000 to $32,500. But despite the price tag,  David and Emily say they’ve already had inquiries for Aeropod offices, home cinemas and even a sauna. 

The pair’s first Aeropod, which still bears part of the AtlasJet logo, was delivered to a garden in Suffolk back in April. That model was outfitted as a lounge, complete with a recycled Rolls Royce jet engine for

Article source: https://weather.com/travel/news/uk-father-daughter-create-unique-outdoor-spaces-from-recycled-airplanes