Nordstrom Human Resource Paper

Nordstrom’s employees and management are the company’s most valuable resource. An article written in the Seattle PI describes exactly why this is true. It states that, â€Å"Nordstrom salespeople make decisions as if managing their own business; they are trusted to do what is right. Everyone else in the company is there to help the sales staff make the sale and please the customer† (Mulady, 2009). The way the employees are treated and valued is a perfect portrayal of the company’s mission of providing the best possible customer service and value to the customer.Even though the salesperson is the front man for the company, the human resource and management team act as the glue that holds the company together. The president of the company, Blake W. Nordstrom, says that people in support positions â€Å"like myself or someone in human resources that isn’t on the floor manning a register,† needs to understand that their job is to use the â€Å"e nergy and the activities they’re doing contribute to a better customer and employee experience† (HR Magazine, 2006).It is, therefore, extremely important that the workers in the human resource department stay connected to the selling process in order to stay connected with the employees, as it is this connection that helps the employees provide the best service to their customers. Company History and Background In 1887, 16-year-old boy named John W. Nordstrom left his home country, Sweden, for the city of New York City. He arrived with only five dollars in his pocket, unable to speak a word of English and started working in gold mines.One morning in 1897, he picked up a newspaper and read the front-page headline â€Å"Gold Found in the Klondike in Alaska. † Although the labor was hard he managed, in two years, to earn $13,000 in a gold mine stake and returned to Seattle. Back in the Northwest, John was eager to invest his money. In Alaska John became best friends with Carl Wallin, who owned a shoe repair shop in downtown Seattle and it was not long before the two decided to go into partnership and open a shoe store together. In 1901, the two opened their first shoe store, Wallin & Nordstrom, in downtown Seattle.This was the start of what would become the retail legend of Nordstrom, Inc. From the beginning, John's business philosophy was based on exceptional service, selection, quality and value. The company built a devoted customer base; and in 1923, the partners added their second store. In 1928, John Nordstrom retired and sold his share of the company to his sons, Everett and Elmer. Carl Wallin retired a year later and also sold his share of the company to the Nordstrom sons. The third son, Lloyd, joined the team in 1933.The company soon grew to become the largest independent shoe chain in the United States. By 1960, Nordstrom had eight stores in Washington and Oregon, and the downtown Seattle store became the largest shoe store in the co untry. By the early 1960s, the company was looking for new ways to spread its wings. Venturing into the clothing market, Nordstrom purchased Best Apparel, a Seattle-based clothing store, in 1963. Three years later, Nordstrom purchased a Portland, Oregon fashion retail store and merged it with their existing Portland shoe store.For the first time, customers were greeted with a selection of both shoes and fine apparel under a new store name: Nordstrom Best. Men's clothing and children's wear were added in 1966, expanding the store to meet the wardrobe needs of the entire family. Business prospered and within two years, two new stores opened in Washington. In 1968, the three brothers decided to retire and hand the company over to the third Nordstrom generation. The company was now led by Bruce, James and John Nordstrom along with Jack McMillan and family friend Bob Bender. The company went public in 1971.Just two years later, Nordstrom sales passed the $100 million mark and the company was recognized as the largest-volume West Coast fashion specialty store. This same year, the name was formally changed to Nordstrom, Inc. By 1975, the company had expanded into Alaska, and the first Nordstrom Rack was opened in Seattle as a clearance center for full-line store merchandise. Three years later, the company moved into the competitive California market; and by 1988, Nordstrom had made the big move to the East Coast with the opening of a stunning new store in Virginia.Organizational and Individual Relations and Retentions Nordstrom is a dynamic place to have a career because of the multitude of characteristics and backgrounds. Of the Company's total employment, 42. 2 percent are people of color and 72. 1 percent are women. On top of that, 31. 9 percent of the management population is comprised of people of color and 73 percent are women. Nordstrom empowers its employees to set their sights high and blaze their own trails. This is a place where the employees’ futur e success and growth are truly a result of their own efforts and achievements.They strongly believe in promoting from within, because this offers employees a unique opportunity to learn the company’s business from the ground up. Hard work, loyalty, competitive spirit and commitment to the customer are important factors employees need in order to grow within the company. Nordstrom Strategies Recognizing any success Nordstrom enjoys basic quality of their relationships with customers, employees, vendors and communities. Striving to be a socially responsible company and know that the trust of the customers is to have is not to be taken lightly.Making responsible business decisions is something Nordstrom has done for a long time. Nordstrom was one of the first retail companies to offer profit sharing to its employees in 1952, and each year donated millions of dollars to nonprofit partners across the country. Nordstrom was also the first among their direct peers in fashion-special ty retail to print on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)-certified paper with 30 percent recycled content. Recruitment, Selection and Training The company’s goal is to attract the best talent, so it makes good business sense to recruit from a diverse population.They achieve this by utilizing targeted media, job fairs, community organizations and college placement centers. Each of these methods helps the company find the individuals who support Nordstrom’s goals and values. The recruiting process is typically done online, where candidates can apply for job opportunities. Depending on the position, one will either start the online application process or be asked to submit a resume. Than the individual, whom skills and abilities match an open position, will be contacted by a recruiter, department manager or human resources assistant.After an initial conversation, a decision will be made. If there is a potential fit the person will set up an additional interview time where t hey will meet physically. Diversity Training forms an important part of Nordstrom's diversity efforts. The company had an Executive Vice President who looked after Human Resources and Diversity Affairs. In addition, Nordstrom had another Vice President who addressed issues regarding Corporate Diversity Affairs at the company. Equal Employment and Diversity The business of fashion is international, multi-cultural and diverse by nature.At Nordstrom, this makes for an exciting retail environment and value the richness it brings to our Company. One of the best ways Nordstrom has found to provide excellent customer service is by ensuring what reflects the communities it serve: â€Å"having a workplace that attracts and supports diversity, benefits both customers and employees. †(Nordstrom, 2009) Nordstrom believes each of their employees has the opportunity to realize their potential and contribute to the success of their Company. This philosophy is reflected in the company unders tanding that success comes from people.The broad range of experiences, backgrounds and cultures the employees bring to the company creates a unique atmosphere. At Nordstrom, ongoing efforts to encourage a diverse environment are found throughout the Company, from hiring and promotion to their Supplier Diversity Program. Nordstrom believes that one of the best ways to be a socially responsible business is to create a workplace where people can be financially successful and grow a rewarding career. Throughout their history, Nordstrom has created a workplace where people feel valued, outstanding performance is rewarded, and entrepreneurial spirit is encouraged.In the spirit of entrepreneurship, Nordstrom authorize its employees to run their own business within the company’s four walls. Although Nordstrom has been fortunate to have been recognized by Fortune magazine as one of the best places to work, there is always room for improvement. Employees at Nordstrom are most valuable resources and as a company Nordstrom is committed to support them through upholding diversity, offering workers with benefits and opportunities for career growth.Supplier diversity seeks out and develops relationships with qualified women-and minority-owned businesses are the keys to the Nordstrom Supplier Diversity Program. In 1989, Nordstrom launched the Supplier Diversity Program to help attract qualified vendors that might not otherwise consider Nordstrom as a potential client. Nordstrom recruits a wide range of women and minority owned vendors in three categories: merchandise, supplies and services, and construction. Since the program began, Nordstrom has spent more than $8 billion with minority and women-owned businesses. Legal Framework of Equal EmploymentAs Nordstrom contracts to manufacture products in various countries, it has an opportunity to address a wide range of factory issues throughout the world, especially workers rights. To address these concerns, Nordstrom creat ed a Social Responsibility team in 1994. This team works closely with company’s product group vendors to see that Nordstrom label products are made in accordance with applicable laws and ethical labor practices. Additionally, as a buyer of merchandise from around the world, Nordstrom expects the companies that they work with to do business by acting responsibly.Through the Partnership Guidelines, focusing on social responsibility in manufacturing, and by forming strong alliances with non-profit organizations the company can better protect the human rights of those in the companies supply chain. Nordstrom’s partnership guidelines cover topics such as forced labor, child labor, health and safety, harassment and abuse. The company social responsibility in manufacturing gives an overview of how the business upholds responsible relationships with vendors.Over the years, Nordstrom has formed strong alliances with third party organizations including Business for Social Respon sibility, the Fair Labor Association and Fair Factories Clearinghouse. These partners, among others, act as checks and balances for Nordstrom in its efforts to protect human rights. Forced Labor: Nordstrom will not conduct business with any Partner that uses involuntary labor of any kind; including prison labor, indentured labor, or forced labor. Overtime must be voluntary. Employees shall not be required to lodge ‘deposits' or identity papers upon commencing employment with the company or as a condition of employment.Child Labor Partners will not employ anyone under the age of 15, and or younger than the age for completing compulsory education, or under the minimum ages established by applicable law in the country of manufacturer, if higher than the age of 15. Furthermore, Partners of any kind must comply with all local laws pertaining to the restrictions on â€Å"young workers† under the age of 18, including restrictions on their exposure to situations in or outside o f the workplace that are hazardous, unsafe, or unhealthy, and Partners will provide adequate protection from such exposure. Nondiscrimination:Nordstrom firmly believes people are entitled to equal opportunity in employment. Although the company recognizes cultural differences exist, Nordstrom will not pursue business relationships with Partners who discriminate in employment practices (including hiring, wages, benefits, assigned duties, advancement opportunities, discipline; termination or retirement on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, gender identity, age, sexual orientation, national origin, marital or maternity status, work or personal affiliations, political opinion or social or ethnic origin, or physical, mental or sensory disability).Harassment and Abuse: Nordstrom expects its Partners to treat every employee with respect and dignity. No employee will be subject to any harassment, which includes any physical, verbal, sexual or psychological harassment or abuse. Partner s will not use monetary fines as a disciplinary practice. Furthermore, workers must be free to voice their concerns to Nordstrom or Nordstrom appointed staff, and must be allowed to participate in the Nordstrom audit process, without fear of retaliation by factory management. Health and Safety:Nordstrom seeks Partners who provide written standards for safe and healthy work environments and the prevention of accident and injury to the health of their workers, including adequate facilities and protections from exposure to hazardous conditions or materials. These provisions must include safe and healthy conditions for dormitories and residential facilities, and they must comply with local health and safety laws and standards. Wages and Benefits Partners shall set wages, overtime pay and legally mandated benefits and allowances in compliance with all applicable laws.Workers shall be paid at least the minimum legal wage, or a wage that meets applicable local industry standards, whichever is greater. Documentation and Inspection: Nordstrom intends to monitor compliance with our Partnership Guidelines and to undertake on-site inspections of Partners' facilities. Partners will maintain, on file, all documentation necessary to demonstrate compliance with these Partnership Guidelines, and will authorize Nordstrom and its designated agents (including third parties) to engage in announced and unannounced monitoring activities to ensure compliance, including confidential employee interviews.Nordstrom will review and may terminate its relationships with any Partner found to be in violation of the Partnership Guidelines, including denying access to approved monitors. Freedom of Association: Partners will respect workers rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining. Lawsuits: Nordstrom to Pay $292,500 to Settle EEOC Harassment Lawsuit On April 17, 2009 the U. S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission announced that Nordstrom will have to pay $292,500 to 10 form er employees and furnish other remedial measures to settle a harassment lawsuit.EEOC had charged that the department store manager harassed Hispanic and African-American employees based on their national origin, race, and color, and retaliated against those who complained about the harassment. According to the EEOC's lawsuit, a manager harassed the Hispanic and African-American staff at the Palm Beach Gardens and Wellington Florida’s stores. Even though the employees complained about the harassment, the company only did the minimum to help them. The alteration's manager retaliated against those who complained by continuing the racially offensive comments, unfairly berating mployees and citing them for alleged performance problems. Under the terms of a consent decree Nordstrom will have to pay for the damage and distribute its policy addressing unlawful harassment to all employees in the Wellington and Palm Beach stores; provide harassment training, post a notice on the resolu tion of the lawsuit, and submit a semi-annual report to EEOC on all harassment complaints received during the next two years. Working at Nordstrom Nordstrom has believed in promoting from within.The promote-from-within policy offers employees a unique opportunity to learn the business from the ground up and grow a rewarding career with Nordstrom. It's not uncommon for people who started on the sales floor or in the stockrooms to stay with the company for 20 years or more, taking on new assignments as they grow. The majority of executives began their careers with Nordstrom as salespeople or in the stockroom. Generally, Nordstrom looks for great sellers who love fashion and are passionate about helping customers.The idea of corporate social responsibility is not new to the company. Since the beginning Nordstrom has made every effort to run an ethical business where people want to work and shop. The social responsibility efforts help the company connect with customers and employees and help drive results. Striving to offer its customers the best possible customer service, social responsibility is a subject that requires continuous improvement, and is something that Nordstrom can always get better at. Jobs and Job AnalysisWhen one works at Nordstrom, each day is full of new challenges, friends and goals. At Nordstrom employees are encouraged to try new things and share their passion. This is a place to build a rewarding, lifelong career. Nordstrom Retail Internship Opportunities: Nordstrom is looking for individuals with a passion for retail who is motivated achievers and hardworking team players. As a Nordstrom Retail intern, the intern will receive mentoring and training in the exciting world of fashion through experiences that a person will not find in the classroom.During the internship the intern will have the opportunity to learn from the experienced people who bring the Nordstrom experience to life, gain hands-on experience by serving Nordstrom’s cus tomers, participate in sales and customer service events, gain exposure to a variety of management responsibilities, earn a competitive wage and receive an employee merchandise discount. Upon completion the intern will be offered an Assistant Manager or salesperson position, depending on availability and intern preferences. Nordstrom is proud to be named to Fortune magazine’s list of â€Å"100 Best Companies to Work For. Nordstrom’s believes this recognition comes from their desire to empower their employees to set their sights high and blaze their own trails. Nordstrom is a place where its employees’ future success and growth are truly a result of their own efforts and achievements. Nordstrom Stores and Merchandising: Nordstrom wants to be the ultimate fashion destination for its customers and provide a superior experience. From meticulous tailors to knowledgeable salespeople to innovative merchants who bring the latest trends and fashion to Nordstrom stores, their teams are comprised of talented people who work hard to delight the customer.The rewards for working at Nordstrom are many, employees find recognition for their unique talents and energies, they also work in an environment that gives individual freedom to excel and create their own career path, employees develop gratifying one-on-one relationships with customers and are able to choose from satisfying positions in commissioned sales, merchandising, Nordstrom restaurants, operations, support and Nordstrom Spa. Restaurants and Specialty Coffee:When employees work in one of Nordstrom’s restaurants or specialty coffee bars, they become an important part of a team that delivers professional and enjoyable dining and coffee experiences for Nordstrom customers. The employees will enjoy working with stylish, comfortable setting with outgoing co-workers who share the same passion for great food, coffee and service, also employees are able to bring their own personal passion for fo od and service to Nordstrom concepts featuring casual and classic dining alternatives and regional menus designed to suit Nordstrom customers.By working at the restaurant or coffee bars employees choose from an assortment of career possibilities, including line and prep cooks, cashiers, servers, hosts, bussers, dishwashers, chefs and management. Nordstrom Rack: Nordstrom Rack is where customers go for top-of-the-line fashion and accessories. An employee working on the Rack team has the opportunity to enjoy flexible hours, a friendly atmosphere and competitive pay along with benefits. Nordstrom’s created a fun, fast-paced, self-service environment that gives its employees the opportunity to grow.The employees learn the ins and outs of fashion retailing and customer service. They can choose their title from a range of positions in non-commission sales, customer service and stock. In addition, employees are encourage to choose the best position fit, full time or part time, in or der to find their inspiration. Compensation, Variable Rewards, and Executive Pay It is very important for a company to control what the executives collect in comparison to what a normal employee does. This has been an issue in business and politics because higher management have more rewards and more income than others such as; sales associates.For this matter Nordstrom has a compensation committee. The Committee â€Å"is responsible, subject to approval of the board, for establishing and maintaining a broad compensation program for the president and executives of Nordstrom in order to attract, retain and motivate key contributors to the success of Nordstrom and its affiliated companies, for reviewing and discussing with management Nordstrom’s compensation discussion and analysis, and for preparing an annual report on executive compensation to be included in the Nordstrom proxy statement†.Below are the list of duties and responsibility of the committee: †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"A nnually review and approve the corporate goals and objectives relevant to the president and executive’s compensation, and evaluate their performance †¢Salary paid to the President and Executives The grant of any cash-based bonuses and equity compensation to the president and Executives †¢The award of any benefits or perquisites to the President and the Executives †¢To review management's annual performance evaluation of the Executives and to monitor the annual performance process for executives not evaluated by the Committee †¢To prepare an annual report on executive compensation to Nordstrom shareholders for inclusion in its proxy statement or annual report on Form 10K in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission †¢To recommend to the Board where it deems appropriate that an employment separation, or change in control agreement be established with any Executive and the terms of such agreement †¢To review , approve, administer, amend, and/or make recommendations to the Board relating to all Nordstrom cash-based and equity-based incentive compensation plans †¢To review management's recommendations for, and approve as it deems appropriate, long-term incentive award levels or other incentives to non-Executive key contributors to the success of Nordstrom and its affiliates †¢To review and approve any benefit plans, retirement and deferred compensation or other perquisites offered to Executives, including eligibility and the level and types of benefits or perquisites provided †¢To consult with the President regarding significant organizational structure changes and to advise the Board regarding the implications on any Executive compensation or benefit programs concerning such changes †¢To undertake such other responsibilities, tasks or projects as the Board of Directors may delegate or assign to the Committee from time to time †¢To conduct an annual self-evaluatio n of the Committee's performance to determine whether the Committee and its members are functioning effectively in adherence to this Charter †¢To review and approve management's recommendation for contributions attributable to the profit sharing portion of Nordstrom's 401(k) Plan and Profit Sharing, and additional profit sharing payouts, if any †¢To review and discuss with management Nordstrom's CD;A and based on that review and discussion, recommend to the Board that the CD;A be included in Nordstrom's annual proxy statement †¢To receive periodic reports upon request by the Committee on Nordstrom's compensation programs as they affect all employees †¢To periodically review and make recommendations to the Board with respect toNordstrom's stock ownership guidelines applicable to Nordstrom employees and directors and to monitor compliance with the stock ownership guidelines by those individuals †¢The Committee shall establish such rules, regulations and proced ures as it determines appropriate and reasonably necessary for it to undertake its duties and responsibilities as set forth in this Charter †¢The Committee shall maintain appropriate procedures to ensure accurate meeting agendas and minutes are prepared and filed in draft form as soon as practicable, with such Meeting Minutes presented to the Committee for approval at the next regularly scheduled Committee Meeting.Such meeting agendas and minutes shall be filed in the Committee Minute Book upon approval †¢The Committee shall have the sole authority to engage any consultants, legal counsel or advisors to provide services the Committee deems necessary and advisable to carry out the foregoing responsibilities, to approve all of the terms of such engagement including compensation, and to terminate any such engagement† (Nordstrom, 2008) While talking about compensation, here is an example of how much Blake W. Nordstrom makes out of Nordstrom’s sales. Blake W. Nords trom has been CEO of Nordstrom for eight years and has been with the company for 34 years. He is 47 years old and ranks 11 within retailing. Blake W. Nordstrom’s total Compensation is 8. 15 million dollars; thus his five-year compensation 21. 21 million dollars. 6-Year Annual Total Return20% 6-Year Return Relative to Industry112 6-Year Return Relative to Market118Blake W Nordstrom's Compensation Vs. Retailing Medians Salary $0. 70 mil $1. 01 mil Bonus NA $0. 84 mil Other $0. 07 mil $1. 06 mil Stock Gains $0. 71 mil $0. 00 mil Total Compensation$1. 47 mil $4. 39 mil Nordstrom has different types of compensation for its employees. For example, when someone works at Nordstrom they get 40 percent off on all store merchandise. They also do recognitions such as; employee of the month. Since Nordstrom is a retail store, employees get special incentive programs and they also work for commission which gives employees an â€Å"incentive† to work harder and sell more; resulting i n them earning more money.Employees also get recognition awards that recognize individual employees for their performance or service. Benefits Nordstrom is a respectable company to work for because an employee receives a strong benefits package. In addition, they ranked 72nd in the list of the top companies to work for, and use to be at the 36th place. Even with the bad economy, no cuts were made in pay or benefits for their employees. Nordstrom state, â€Å"as a Nordstrom employee, you should feel confident that your health and well-being are among our highest priorities. To that end, Nordstrom offers comprehensive, flexible benefits to our employees and their families. † Below is a list of the different benefits offered at the company: Health Benefits:Medical/Vision – medical, vision and prescription drug coverage Dental – basic preventive dental services and orthodontia Employee Assistance Program – confidential consultations, information and referrals , 24 hours a day Income Protection: Life Insurance – financial protection in the event of a covered family member’s death Disability Program – income replacement to assist you if you are unable to work due to disability Long-Term Care – financial protection for you or an enrolled family member who can no longer perform covered everyday activities Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance – financial protection for you and your eligible family members in the event of accidental death or dismemberment Retirement Benefits: 01(k) Plan – defer a percentage of your pay as pretax deferrals, post-tax Roth deferrals or a combination of both. Nordstrom matches your deferral, dollar for dollar, up to 4% Profit Sharing – share in the Company’s success through Company contributions to your retirement account Flexible Spending Accounts: Set aside pretax dollars to pay for eligible health care, dependent care and commuter expenses Time off : Leave or Absence Program – time away to recover from an illness, care for a family member or serve in the military Paid time off – time off with pay for your personal and family needs Sabbatical program – six week of unpaid time off to use any way you like Life/Work Benefits:Merchant Discount – a 20% or 33% discount of regular employees and eligible dependents Group Legal Services – access to local legal assistance for a wide range of services Group Home/Auto Insurance – group, discounted insurance rates for auto, home, renters, and other personal property Discount and services/Work Stream Rewards – discount on high-quality goods and services Resources and Referrals/Life Care – counseling, education and referral services to help you make life decisions on everything from childcare and academics to financial services and retirement Employee Stock Purchase Plan: Purchase Nordstrom stock at a discount Additional Benefits and Ser vices: Direct Deposit Jury Duty Pay Nordstrom Bank Nordstrom Federal Credit Union U. S. Savings Bonds Supporting the Environment In 2007, Nordstrom recognized the need to centralize existing efforts and created a multi-divisional group of leaders to come up with a comprehensive social responsibility strategy.In order to do so, they talked to the employees and some of the best customers to learn more about what's most important to them when it comes to social responsibility. They focus on the following areas: Supporting Communities, Sustaining the Environment, Protecting Human Rights, and Caring for their people. Nordstrom hopes to develop stronger relationships with their customers and be a better global steward with this strategy. Nordstrom recognizes that the stores facilities make an environmental impact and for many years it has been involved in recycling, energy and water conservation and overall waste reduction. In 2008, Nordstrom formalized a commitment to the environment wit h the creation of social responsibility strategy.It’s the company goal to reduce the impact on the environment by focusing on resource conservation, waste management, packaging and product innovations and organic cotton development, as well as incorporating sustainable options throughout their restaurants. The company is trying to increase recycling and decrease use of harmful chemicals and toxins. Across the stores and operations, Nordstrom is taking a closer look at how to reduce impact on the environment through innovations in sustainable merchandise, eco-friendly bags and boxes, and organic cotton development. As a fashion specialty retailer, Nordstrom sells branded merchandise from vendor partners and contract to manufacture private label products. The company has decided to focus on one issue directly related to what it does, and it now funds an organization that increasing the world’s supply of organic cotton.In addition, Nordstrom restaurants and coffee bars ar e finding ways to have a healthy impact on their customers, employees and the planet. From organic teas and Fair Trade coffee to nutritional labeling. Supporting Communities Although the environment is an important component of social responsibility, Nordstrom recognizes that social responsibility goes beyond just being â€Å"green. † The company’s financial support and involvement is important to the diverse communities it does business with. Therefore, its social responsibility strategy encompasses some of its existing practices in community giving, the United Way and international development.Overall, the company wants to give back to the communities that believed in them. As outlined in its Contributions Guidelines, its community giving takes the form of cash contributions, community partnerships and volunteerism. The selected areas of focus are the arts and culture, education, health, community development and the environment. Each year, Nordstrom donates millions of dollars to non-profits organization across the country. They also implemented the â€Å"Nordstrom Scholarship Program,† which supports education in most of the communities where it does business. In addition, Nordstrom has been a strong supporter of the United Way for almost six decades.It also supports several global organizations and projects including the HER Project, Organic Exchange, and vendor education programs. Current Financial Summary Nordstrom operates outlet stores in addition to department stores. Nordstrom Rack outlets appeal to customers who like the department store and the labels it carries but not necessarily the prices. Outlet shoppers visit to take advantage of bargains on items that did not sell at the department store or did not make it as far as the sales floor when a product line was discontinued. Recent financial results suggest that, in the recession, outlets may be giving shoppers who are not inclined to indulge at their favorite luxury departme nt stores an alternative where they can shop and still feel financially responsible.In March, Nordstrom’s beat analyst comparable store sales predictions, a relatively positive development despite the fact that those sales, generated in stores open for a year, were off by 13. 5 percent. Outlets helped mitigate greater softness elsewhere with comps at Nordstrom rack up 0. 1 percent versus down 16. 9 percent at department stores. In the recession, Nordstrom has been adding rack locations not just to satisfy bargain hunters but also to take advantage of good real estate deals that have been emerging. The rack has been a great vehicle to offer Nordstrom products at an off price as well as other products that consumers buy. Nordstrom, Inc. (NYSE:JWN) reported net earnings of $81 million, or $0. 7 per diluted share, for the first quarter ended May 2, 2009. For the same quarter last year, Nordstrom reported net earnings of $119 million, or $0. 54 per diluted share. Included in the 2 009 first quarter results was a benefit of approximately $12 million, or $0. 06 per diluted share, related to the closure of the company’s 2007 federal tax return audit. Excluding this benefit, 2009 first quarter net earnings were $69 million, or $0. 31 per share. Net sales in the first quarter were $1. 71 billion, a decrease of 9. 2 percent compared with sales of $1. 88 billion during the same period in fiscal 2008. First quarter same-store sales decreased 13. 2 percent compared with the same period in fiscal 2008.

Pain Clinical Observation Paper

Alyssa Martin Fall 2012 Observation Experience Summary: Pain Clinic The mission and scope of the setting is to provide diagnosis and treatment of acute, chronic and cancer pain. Patients present to the pain clinic for relief and treatment for a variety of painful medical ailments which do not typically respond to conventional therapy (â€Å"Pain management center,† 2012). Those in charge at the pain clinic are the two board-certified pain management physicians, Dr. Dwarakanath and Dr.Henkle. There is also a team of nurses, physical therapists, and other professionals specially trained in a variety of techniques to manage pain. There are a number of techniques the pain clinic is able to perform, but there are two procedures that were the most widely used; the first being an Epidural Steroid Injection. This procedure is the number one pain management technique used in the clinic. It is specifically for radiating pain that is in the back/leg area or neck/arm area.The procedure es sentially includes corticosteroids being injected into the epidural space in the spine and decreases the inflammation and swelling in the nerves that are irritated, causing relief. Pre-procedure teaching mainly includes explanation of the sensations patient will feel, which include a small pin stick as local anesthetic is used. In addition, they are instructed to have a light meal before coming in, but if they are requesting to receive IV sedation, they are instructed to not eat at all 6 hours prior to the procedure (â€Å"Pain management center,† 2012).If they are diabetic or on blood thinners, it is important to know so that special considerations need to be made for that patient. The patient is also told that the procedure is performed with little discomfort and only takes about 5 to 10 minutes. After the injection, the patient may feel warmth or numbness in their legs or arms for about an hour due to the anesthetic. Because of this reason, patients are observed while they recover and are then sent home with a friend or family member, since they are advised not to drive due to possible residual weakness for a few hours.Post-procedure teaching includes information regarding the first few days after injection, where it is usual to feel increased back pain or discomfort from the needle being inserted. A second common procedure done is the Facet Joint Injection, which is usually done for non-radiating pain. This technique also reduces the inflammation or swelling of the tissue in the joint space (â€Å"Pain management center,† 2012). Pre-procedure teaching includes a lot of the same things as an ESI; the procedure only takes a few minutes, local anesthetic is given, and the steroid medication is injected.Post-procedure teaching involves letting the patient knows that they should not drive upon discharge and will feel the same increase of pain before relief as seen in ESI. They will be able to return to work and other normal daily activities the ne xt day. Potential complications of these procedures mainly include incorrect placement of the needle by the doctor. Because it is a delicate and difficult task to position the needle in an exact position, sometimes the physician accidently pinches a patient’s nerve and they feel a sudden rush of radiating pain in legs or arms, depending on where the needle is inserted.Additionally, sterile technique is extremely important during these procedures because the needles are entering directly into patients’ spines and joints, so potential infection in these areas could prove to be highly detrimental and dangerous. Overall, the experience in the Pain Clinic was an informative one. It was interesting to see the procedures done first-hand because it was done extremely quickly but is something that needs so much precision and expertise.The physicians made the techniques look easy, but not once did they falter with mandatory legalities such as the â€Å"time-out†, where ev eryone in the procedure room stops and verifies the patient, procedure, etc. that is to be performed. The staff nurses seemed in good spirits and verbalized enjoyment and passion for their roles, and that is what I found most valuable this time around. References Bare, B. , Cheever, K. , Hinkle, J. , & Smeltzer, S. (2010). Textbook of medical surgical nursing . (12th ed. ). Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams &Wilkins. Pain management center. (2012). Retrieved from

The Sociological Perspectives Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Sociological Perspectives - Essay Example The functionalist perspective views the world as a set of groups that coexist based on mutual need and cooperation. It is through this means that society is able to reach and maintain equilibrium. Durkheim, Comte, and Spencer pioneered this sociological perspective, but Robert Merton elaborated on the theory. He viewed societal consequences as being manifest, latent, and latent dysfunctional. Manifest functions are the positive and intended outcome of a group on society. Latent functions are the unintended consequences that help society maintain order. The latent dysfunctions are unintended negative results that continually upset and shape society. Our family was lower middle class and as such we filled the role of working in the factories and the mills. In return society provided us with adequate income and substantial opportunities. In doing so, our social class fulfilled its function and was rewarded by other groups in society through peaceful coexistence Karl Marx, the most well known conflict theorist, viewed the world as groups that were competing for the available resources. He generally defined conflict in terms of wealth and saw it as two classes; the bourgeoisie (capitalists) and the proletariat (workers).

English Renaissance Poetry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

English Renaissance Poetry - Essay Example The connection between art and nature in English poetry had begun and later flourished during the Romantic Period, especially with poets like Wordsworth, Shelly, Keats, Byron, Blake and Clare. "According to Ross, the earlier Renaissance, exemplified by the pastoral poets Sidney, Spencer and Breton, tended to see nature as a norm, art as a corruption (Richard Ross' analysis of Herrick, E. in C, XV, 1965, 171-180)1. But Taylor concludes that 'both Nature and Art were necessary to any accurate, complete view of the world'. Nature needs the nurture of man's art. In sixteenth century, word 'art' had a derogatory sense of 'false or counterfeit imitation.' While describing Temple of Venus, Spencer sees art and nature as working partners2: The synthesis of art and nature is existent throughout, but nowhere it is more apparent than in Book VI. Sidney is another poet/writer who made a great contribution in this direction, as admitted by many scholars over the years. Sidney celebrates poet's power in reinventing the nature. It was a peaceful period in history when there were no wars, arts were flourishing and natural ecology was untouched by man, people were good and just and literature was just emerging out of age-worn clichs. People in rural areas literally lived supported by Nature, and these poets were in tune with them, which can be seen by the harmonious poem The Garden of Marvell. The most per SPENCER AND THE FAIRIE QUEENE: The most perfect way art could imitate nature, is shown by Spencer's works. This English epic poem of Spencer published in 1590 in three books, was an allegorical work praising Queen Elizabeth I. In introducing pastoral kingdom to English literature, Spencer seems to have followed the footsteps of Homer and Virgil (Eclogues). As a matter of fact, all Renaissance humanists followed Virgil's footsteps in their veneration of nature, and combined it in various forms of arts. Sidney said "Pastoral was thought to be the humblest type of poetry" (p.943), and Spencer hoped to be the new pastoral Virgil of Renaissance. Pastoral poetry presents an idealistic picture of rural life, where Nature and Art combine together to create an Utopia or Shangri-la. These poets showed enormous understanding and compassion towards Nature and Art both. Usually it is the result of a humanist education and love for nature, which later reflected in the poetics of William Wordsworth. It has love, seduction, death, mourning, nature's ever-caressing and soothing presence, and the art that stems out of imitating the nature. Spencer's view of nature is always considered to have contained 'contradiction'. In the 8th canto of the 4th book, Spencer gives reasons for the decay of nature, while saying the world 'has runne quite out of square'..the heavenly bodies rove at random, even the sun it is feared, in time, "will us quite forsake". Spencer later gives a more harmonious picture of the nature: In sort as they were formed aunciently; And all things will reduce unto equality. (V.ii.32). In later days, pastoral poetry was strengthened by the mighty Shakespeare, while the early Renaissance poets only managed

Best practices for Organizational Change Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Best practices for Organizational Change - Essay Example The quantitative research on the other hand is focused on large scale surveys and research. Here the researchers can use methods like questionnaires and structured interviews (Leedy & Ormrod, 2009, p.94). This method involves gaining responses from more number of people however this is relatively a much quicker method than the qualitative research (Leedy & Ormrod, 2009, p.95). There have been a number of discussions and arguments relating to the differences among the two methods. The two methods involve a number of similar processes like the need for hypothesis and also use of literature to develop the questionnaires and the research tools (Leedy & Ormrod, 2009, p. 94). Both methods also involve the need for collection and analysis of data and each of these methods can be used either individually or combined (Leedy & Ormrod, 2009, pg. 94). The method used can provide different results for each of the methods as well as when the methods are used combined with each other. Research Proposal: Considering a research question where the researcher aims at identifying the impact of the changes in the personnel development and the training and development efforts on the employees of a particular company. Here there are basically two sets of individuals who can provide the best inputs into the question, i.e. the employers and the employees. In the case of a qualitative research method, the researcher will attempt to meet or interview the employers and managers in the company.

Post Election Violence in Kenya Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Post Election Violence in Kenya - Essay Example This paper will look into the extent the rigged election brought about the Post Election Violence and also how the other factors contributed to the violence. BACKGROUND During the 2002 election, the opposition of the country which was composed of many parties like, The Democratic Party (DP), led by Mwai Kibaki, Social Democratic Party (SDP), led by Charity Ngilu, Forum for Democratic Change in Kenya (FORD Kenya), under Kijana Wamalwa and a contingent of other minority parties joined hands in an attempt to oust the dominant party Kenya National African Union (KANU) from power. The coalition that was formed by the opposition parties was called the National Alliance of Kenya (NAK) and it was making very serious progresses towards bring an end to the KANU rule, which had been in power since independence in the year 1963. KANU felt threatened and President Moi, in an attempt to win the election tried various strategies in ensuring that the party would win the elections (The Nation, 2008). There were other developments in the ruling party KANU and one of the most destructive was the move by President Moi to support Uhuru Kenyatta to take the chairmanship of the party, which constitutionally would lead Uhuru Kenyatta to become the next president of the country if the party won the elections. This did not go down well with some major party officials who deemed that Uhuru did not have the experience to take up the responsibility that would be bestowed upon him. The president was relentless in his efforts to make Uhuru the president of the country. During the 2002 party elections, Uhuru won the chairmanship and some of the party officials, who also doubled up as ministers in the KANU... During the 2002 election, the opposition of the country which was composed of many parties like, The Democratic Party (DP), led by Mwai Kibaki, Social Democratic Party (SDP), led by Charity Ngilu, Forum for Democratic Change in Kenya (FORD Kenya), under Kijana Wamalwa and a contingent of other minority parties joined hands in an attempt to oust the dominant party Kenya National African Union (KANU) from power. The coalition that was formed by the opposition parties was called the National Alliance of Kenya (NAK) and it was making very serious progresses towards bring an end to the KANU rule, which had been in power since independence in the year 1963. KANU felt threatened and President Moi, in an attempt to win the election tried various strategies in ensuring that the party would win the elections. There were other developments in the ruling party KANU and one of the most destructive was the move by President Moi to support Uhuru Kenyatta to take the chairmanship of the party, which constitutionally would lead Uhuru Kenyatta to become the next president of the country if the party won the elections. This did not go down well with some major party officials who deemed that Uhuru did not have the experience to take up the responsibility that would be bestowed upon him. The president was relentless in his efforts to make Uhuru the president of the country. During the 2002 party elections, Uhuru won the chairmanship and some of the party officials resigned and formed a political movement of their own known as the Liberal Democratic Party

QuickTest or WinRunner Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

QuickTest or WinRunner - Essay Example Mercury QuickTest Professionalâ„ ¢ (QTP) and WinRunner (WR) are automated functional Graphical User Interface (GUI) testing tools created by the HP quality management and performance testing solutions subsidiary Mercury Interactive (now HP Software) based in Sunnyvale, CA, with R&D in Israel (Mar, 2007, p. 2) that allow the automation of user actions on a web or client based computer application. WinRunner was introduced in 1995 while QuickTest Pro has been available since about 2002 (LoPorto, n. d., p. 3).The Software Test & Performance 2006, Tester’s Choice Grand Award winner (Award-Winning QA by Any Other Name Would Smell as Sweet, 2007, para.1), Mercury QuickTest Professionalâ„ ¢ is a next-generation automated testing solution. It provides the industry’s best solution for functional test and regression test automation – addressing every major software application and environment including next-generation development technologies such as Web Services, Ma cromedia Flex, .NET, J2EE, and ERP/CRM applications (Mercury Functional Testing: Mercury QuickTest Professional , 2006, p.2). Mercury QuickTest Professionalâ„ ¢ uses the Keyword-driven testing concept to radically simplify test creation and maintenance. Its unique Keyword-driven testing approach enables the test automation experts to have full access to the underlying test and object properties, via an integrated scripting and debugging environment that is round-trip synchronized with the Keyword View (Mercury QuickTest Professional, 2007, para. 2).... d., p. 3). Over the past decade, WinRunner is one of the market leaders when it comes to automated functional testing tools. WinRunner utilizes a "Graphical User Interface (GIU) Map" approach to create an automated test script. Since each object within a test has a minimum set of physical attributes that make it unique (Korhonen, 2000, p. 26) hence WinRunner recognizes objects like buttons and edit fields by their unique properties.It can also be used to create automated scripts for applications created using a range of technologies, including Java, Siebel, PowerBuilder, and Delphi (Mercury WinRunner, 2006, p. 2). It has gain an enormous popularity and thousands of developers has gathered under its flag who have improved their skills in this product over the years of their professional careers. With Mercury WinRunner, the organization reduces testing time by automating repetitive tasks, optimizes testing efforts by covering diverse environments with a single testing tool and maximizes return on investment through modifying and reusing test scripts as the application evolves (Quality Assurance, n. d., pp. 1-3). Although WinRunner has proved to be an efficient testing tool and it has become an industry standard as functional testing technology, yet continuous technological development scenario has highlighted its few short comes or limitations over its applications. In a number of applications, WinRunner has fallen short to recognize a lot of texts, graphics and drop-down lists hence failed to make sure that all of the company's software 100% error-free. To be able to check all of the texts, graphics and drop-down lists, developers have to do more work. This really degrades the automation testers efficiency and makes it impossible for

The relationship between the ozone hole and the world corporate Research Paper

The relationship between the ozone hole and the world corporate pollution - Research Paper Example The nineteenth century and the earlier half of the twentieth century was a time of relative innocence (some would say ignorance) of how industrial processes would be affecting the environment we live in. People thought that the atmosphere, oceans, and rainforests of the world were limitless and unchanging. It is only during the 1960s and thereafter that serious inquiry into the effects of human activity on the ecology was conducted. Ozone is a molecule comprised of three atoms of oxygen, rather than the usual 2 atoms. It therefore has the symbol O3. The word â€Å"ozone† comes from the Greek word â€Å"ozein† meaning â€Å"smell†, because of its pungent odour. It was discovered in 1839 by Christian Friedrich Schà ¶nbein, when he detected a by-product of electrical discharges. It was only in the early twentieth century, however, when ozone was determined to be found in large quantities in the stratosphere (Reid, 2000). Most popular literature deal with the ozone hole, located over the Antarctic in the stratospheric level. This indicates a thinning of ozone in the place where it does the most good. It became so depleted in certain areas as a reaction to the pollutants released in the air by industrial processes, and in the household by the use of chlorofluorocarbons and other chemical products. Very few, however, know that ozone has been accumulating in a layer closer to the ground than the stratosphere, namely the troposphere. Closer to the earth, ozone is a poisonous substance and where it would touch the earth, it may cause deaths and damage to the lungs. The first relationship depicted above shows the formation of the ozone layer in the stratosphere, its proper location for greatest benefit. The ozone has varying effects on different types of ultraviolet radiation. UV-C, the ultraviolet ray with the shortest wavelength is the type most effectively screened, while UV-A, which has the longest wavelength, is that which passes straight through

Legalization of Marijuana Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 1

Legalization of Marijuana - Research Paper Example The economic feasibility of decriminalizing marijuana has become a much-discussed subject in recent years. The federal government presently spends a lot of capital on law enforcement to combat distributors and producers of drugs. By legalizing drugs this could eradicate much of the profit, bloodshed and corruption of that trade. If legalizing drugs is to have a positive effect on the crime rate, drugs must be made both inexpensive and available. Studies have repetitively suggested that prohibiting marijuana in the U.S. has not shown to be efficient or effective. According to the Drug Policy Alliance, â€Å"U.S. federal, state and local governments have spent hundreds of billions of dollars trying to make America ‘drug-free.’ Yet heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine and other illicit drugs are cheaper, purer and easier to get than ever before. (â€Å"England,† 2006) According to a report in The Economist (Case for Legalization, 2001), concerns that a growing drug-usin g and dependent population would emerge if marijuana was made more available are false. Although the magazine acknowledges that the price of the drug is artificially high, it attributes this to the difficulties involved in circumventing the law. The authors of this report indicate that it is only because of the high cost and the difficulty to obtain it that more individuals have not experimented with it. Instead, they become addicted, either physically or psychologically, to other, often more harmful yet legal substances such as prescription medications or alcohol. To support their argument in favor of legalization even should the numbers of suspected users rise, the Economist article (Case for Legalization, 2001) draws on the theories of John Stuart Mill. Mill’s ideas were founded on the concept that adult citizens should have the right to make their own choices regarding whether or not to participate in activity as long as it does no harm to others. This is a founding theor y that has been mostly ignored in decisions made regarding alcohol and tobacco, both of which have proven to directly cause significant harm to innocent others, but has not been ignored regarding Class C substances such as marijuana. However, the arguments that more people would become regular users of the substance are unfounded. In addition to the fallacies of the anti-legalization side regarding increased use, the damage perpetrated on those involved with marijuana far outweighs the benefits achieved by current legislation and yet continues to exist. Poor countries where the drug is produced are quickly being overrun by criminals and thugs, people who make breaking the law on numerous levels. Because production and exportation is considered a criminal activity, the actual criminals are finding success rather than defeat. Individuals within the rich countries who buy the drugs are often otherwise productive members of society. Smoking marijuana, for medical or other reasons, is of ten their only ‘crime’ yet they face a no tolerance policy that places them in prison, destroys their chances to continue being the productive people they were before and irreparably harms them in many other ways. Under legalization, governments would be able to standardize the quality, regulate the ages

Innovation Policy Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Innovation Policy - Essay Example Such countries have increased their focus on developing and enhancing technologies and this has helped in improving their profits. On the other side, there are countries that have developed export economies by utilising the technology that devised by importing countries. Policies of both these types of countries related to technological adaption have played a significant role in determining the international trade pattern. Role of technology in developing a pattern of trade had been formed with various other dimensions as well. In addition, the technological advancement has also received criticism for its role. Hence, the role of technology in trade policy is of immense importance not only for academic purpose but also from the perspective of an economist as well. Role of technology in trade is increasingly being considered as a game changing variable in international trade and economic scenario. Europe has enjoyed the benefits of technological development and it has dominated over t he years because of technological advancement. Europe at the moment is considering the other side of opportunities towards technological advancement as it is focusing on southern countries with import dependencies. Hence, the essay develops a review of literature on the role of technology in the international trade and economic environment. ... Krugman (1979a) has developed an equilibrium model that determines trade pattern as a result of technology adaption or improvement of countries. Krugman’s equilibrium model has two types of countries; north and south. Northern countries have been focussing on developing technological expertise that increases earnings per technological development and labour efficiency by not increasing the non-human input. Northern countries have also been focussing on developing new products and then export these products to southern countries with charging additional rentals or prices for innovation being offered. Referred countries with dominance on new product development also benefit with transportation-inn of movable capital that includes both increased foreign direct investment as well as skilled labour. Increased efficiency with technological advancement results in labour receiving higher wage rate despite of similar productivity rate as of southern side countries. On the other side ar e southern side countries, these countries focus on receiving technological advancement from developed (northern) countries. Southern countries focus on manufacturing old products and export them to north for meeting their demand. Hence, according to Krugman (1979a) technological developments determine the pattern of international trade. Apart from this north south model that determines the position of importer and exporter in international trade theory, Krugman (1979b) has also documented reason of trade between countries with similar technological position. Krugman (1979b) cites the reason for such trade i.e. trade between countries in north or south category as to be the economies of scale. Hence, adopting Chamberlinian approach for defining trade being

Isokinetic Devices Essay Example for Free

Isokinetic Devices Essay The word isokinetic is most commonly used in sports science and medicine. In these settings isokinetic defines a type of exercise or movement. Isokinetic movement is actually the opposite of isotonic movement which is probably the easiest way to think of it. Isotonic movement is the most common type of movement we human beings perform: Isotonic movement: In almost every situation, every day, we perform isotonic movements. In these types of movements we pick up a fixed weight, an empty pan basically anything that has weight. The weight of the pan is fixed but we decide how fast to lift it. We can lift it slow, fast, or anywhere in between. The key to this type of movement is we decide how fast it goes but the weight (resistance) remains constant. Isokinetic movement: In isokinetic movements the situation is reversed now we tell an isokinetic machine (the dynomometer) to move only at a certain speed (normally described in degrees per second). The machine will then vary its resistance against us to maintain that speed. This means if we push against the machine hard it will give back allot of resistance to maintain the speed it was told to go at. If we push or pull softly the machine reduces the weight to maintain the speed. To achieve isokinetic movement there are many different ways of developing the resistance, however, most people use an isokinetic device. Isokinetic devices are referred to as isokinetic machines and they vary vastly in technology and price. Most medical isokinetic machines are top of the range. They use a powerful motor to provide the isokinetic resistance to the force applied and then use a computer to keep the motion smooth, provide the acceleration and to record the results. In medical systems the components (the motor, gear box and computer control) are what make the machines so very expensive but they are also the parts that make them so very good. Other isokinetic machines use cheaper ways of developing the isokinetic motion. These methods include (but are not exclusively) hydraulic systems (water or oil commonly) clutch based systems (not really used anymore due to noise and running costs), friction based systems and elastic resistance machines. Advantages: * Maximal loading throughout whole range of motion. * Objective, reproducible and easily quantifiable. * Muscles easily isolated. * Safest form of exercise. * Few contraindications. Disadvantages: * Time consuming. * Requires a lot of training and skill to use. * Costly. * Results can be difficult to compare between machines. Other types of isokinetic / s: The most common isokinetic device used every day is a lift. Here no matter how many or few people get in the lift (which varies the resistance) the lift moves at a constant speed. Isokinetic is also be used in gas analysis: Isokinetic still means constant velocity or speed of motion but is used to describe the velocity of gas entering a sampler being the same as in a chimney or flue. Many isokinetic gas samplers work automatically. Two main types of equipment are produced: Automatic samplers used for dust and aerosol monitoring.

Cloud computing security

Cloud computing security Abstract The term Cloud computing becomes more popular day by day. As this is happening, security concerns start to arise. Maybe the most critical one is that as information is spread into the cloud, the owner starts to lose the control of it. In this paper we attempt to give a brief overview of what is described by the term Cloud computing and provide a small introduction to what we mean by Cloud computing security [Brunette, 2009]. Make a discussion of what are the security benefits that Cloud computing introduces and also the security risks that arise due to its adaptation according to [ENISA, 2009]. Index Terms Cloud, security, risks, security benefits. Introduction Cloud computing funds started to build in early 90s. The main idea behind cloud computing is to separate the infrastructure and the mechanisms that a system is composed of, from the applications and services that delivers [Brunette, 2009]. Clouds are designed in such a way that can scale easily, be always available and reduce the operational costs. That is achieved due to on demand multi-tenancy of applications, information and hardware resources (such as network infrastructure, storage resources and so on). According to [Mell, 2009] Cloud computing is composed by five Essential Characteristics, three Service Models and four Deployment Models as shown in figure bellow. More details on each of the above components can be found in [Mell, 2009] Security The way that security control is implemented on Cloud computing is most of the times similar to this of traditional IT environments. But due to the distributed nature of the assets security risks vary depending on the kind of assets in use, how and who manages those assets, what are the control mechanisms used and where those are located and finally who consumes those assets [Brunette, 2009]. Furthermore earlier we mentioned that multi-tenancy. This means that a set of policies should be implementing how isolation of resources, billing, segmentation and so on is achieved is a secure and concise way. In order to measure whether the security that a Cloud Provider (CP) offers is adequate we should take under consideration the maturity, effectiveness, and completeness of the risk-adjusted security controls that the CP implements. Security can be implement at one or more levels. Those levels that cover just the Cloud infrastructure are: physical security, network security, system security and application security. Additionally security can take place at a higher level, on people, duties and processes. It is necessary at this point to have understanding of the different security responsibilities that CPs and end users have. And also that sometimes even among different CPs the security responsibilities differ. Security Benefits [ENISA, 2009] in its report has spotted the following top security benefits that arise due to the use of Cloud computing. Security and the benefits of scale: when implementing security on a large system the cost for its implementation is shared on all resources and as a result the investment end up being more effective and cost saving. Security as a market differentiator: as confidentiality, integrity and resilience is a priority for many the end users, the decision on whether they will choose one CP over another is made based on the reputation this CP has on security issues. Hence competition among CPs made them provide high level services. Standardise interfaces for managed security services: as CPs use standardise interfaces to manage their security services the Cloud computing market benefits from the uniformity and tested solutions this introduces. Rapid, smart scaling of resources: Cloud computing is considered resilient since it has the ability to dynamically reallocate resources for filtering, traffic shaping, authentication, encryption. Audit and evidence gathering: since virtualization is used in order to achieve Cloud computing, it is easy to collect all the audits that we need in order to proceed with forensics analysis without causing a downtime during the gathering process. More timely, effective and effective updates and defaults: another thing that Cloud computing benefits from virtualization is that virtual machines (VM) can come pre-patched and hardened with the latest updates. Also in case of a configuration fault or a disaster caused by changes made on the VM, we can rollback to a previous stable state. Benefits of resource concentration: having all of your resources concentrated makes it cheaper to maintain and allows physical access on those easier. That outweighs most of the times the risk the disadvantages that this generates. Security Risks The following classes of cloud computing risks were identified by [ENISA, 2009]. Loss of governance: as users do not physically posses any resources, CPs can take control on a number of resources. If those resources are not covered from an SLA security risks arise. Lock-in: as we write this paper there is still no standardization on how to move data and resources among different CPs. That means in case a user decides to move from a CP to another or even to migrate those services in-house, might not be able to do so due to incompatibilities between those parties. This creates a dependency of the user to a particular CP.. Isolation failure: one of the disadvantages of multi-tenancy and shared resources occurs when the resource isolation mechanism fails to separate the resource among users. That can occur either due to an attack (guest-hopping attacks) or due to poor mechanism design. In present days attacks of this kind are pretty rare compared to the traditional Oss but for sure we cannot rely just on that fact. risk category covers the failure of mechanisms separating storage, memory, routing and even reputation between different tenants. Compliance risks: there is a possibility that investing on achieving certification is put under risk due to the following: The CP cannot provide evidence of their own compliance with the relevant requirements The CP does not permit audit by the cloud customer (CC). Also it is possible that compliance with industry standards is not able to be achieved when using public Cloud computing infrastructure. Management interface compromise: CPs provide to the users, management interface for their resources on public Cloud infrastructures. That makes those interfaces available over the internet allowing remote access applications or web browsers vulnerabilities to allow access on resources from unauthorised users. Data protection: CP is possible to handle data in ways that are not known (not lawful ways) to the user since the users looses the complete governance of the data. This problem becomes even more obvious when data are transferred often between locations. On the other hand, there are lot of CPs that provide information on how data are handled by them, while other CPs offer in addition certification summaries on their data processing and data security activities. Insecure or incomplete data deletion: there are various systems that upon request of a resource deletion will not completely wipe it out. Such is the case with Cloud computing as well. Furthermore difficulties to delete a resource on time might arise due to multi-tenancy or dues to the fact that many copies of this resource can exist for backup/ redundancy reasons. In cases like this the risk adds to the data protection of the user is obvious. Malicious insider: there is always that possibility that an insider intentionally causes damage. For that reason a policy specifying roles for each user should be available. The risks described above constitute the top security risks of cloud computing. [ENISA, 2009] further categorises risks into policy and organizational risks, technical risks, legal risks and finally not specific risks. Vulnerabilities The list of vulnerabilities that follows [ENISA, 2009], does not cover the entirety of possible Cloud computing vulnerabilities, it is though pretty detailed. AAA Vulnerabilities: Special care should be given on the authentication, authorization and accounting system that CPs will use. Poor designed AAA systems can result to unauthorized users to have access on resources, with unwanted results on both the CP (legal wise) and the user (loss of information). User provisiontion vulnerabilities: Customer cannot control provisioning process. Identity of customer is not adequately verified at registration. Delays in synchronisation between cloud system components (time wise and of profile content) happen. Multiple, unsynchronised copies of identity data are made. Credentials are vulnerable to interception and replay. User de-provisioning vulnerabilities: Due to time delays that might occur, credential of user that have earlier logged out might appear to still be valid. Remote access to management interface: Theoretically, this allows vulnerabilities in end-point machines to compromise the cloud infrastructure (single customer or CP) through, for example, weak authentication of responses and requests. Hypervisor Vulnerabilities: In virtualized environments Hypervisors is a small piece of middleware that is used in order to be able to control the physical resources assigned to each VM. Exploitation of the Hypervisors layer will result on exploiting every single VM on a physical system. Lack of resource isolation: Resource use by one customer can affect resource use by another customer. For example IaaS infrastructures use systems on which physical resources are shared among VMs and hence many different users.. Lack of reputational isolation: The resource sharing can result on one user acting in such a way that its actions have impact on the reputation of another user. Communication encryption vulnerabilities: while data move across the internet or among different location within the CP premises it is possible that someone will be reading the data when poor authentication, acceptance of self-signed certificates present and so on. Lack of or weak encryption of archives and data in transit: In conjunction with the above when failing to encrypt data in transit, data held in archives and databases, un-mounted virtual machine images, forensic images and data, sensitive logs and other data at rest those are at risk. Poor key management procedures: Cloud computing infrastructures require the management and storage of many different kinds of keys; examples include session keys to protect data in transit, file encryption keys, key pairs identifying cloud providers, key pairs identifying customers, authorisation tokens and revocation certificates. Because virtual machines do not have a fixed hardware infrastructure and cloud based content tends to be geographically distributed, it is more difficult to apply standard controls, such as hardware security module (HSM) storage, to keys on cloud infrastructures. Key generation: low entropy for random number generation: The combination of standard system images, virtualisation technologies and a lack of input devices means that systems have much less entropy than physical RNGs Lack of standard technologies and solutions: This is the case of lock-in risk, where users cannot move across different providers due to the lack of standards. No control on vulnerability assessment process: If CPs will not prevent their users from port scanning and testing for possible vulnerabilities and also there is no audit on the time of use (ToU) for a user (something that places responsibility on the customer) severe infrustrusture security problems will arise. Possibility that internal (Cloud) network probing will occur: Cloud customers can perform port scans and other tests on other customers within the internal network. Possibility that co-residence checks will be performed: Side-channel attacks exploiting a lack of resource isolation allow attackers to determine which resources are shared by which customers. Lack of forensics readiness: While the cloud has the potential to improve forensic readiness, many providers do not provide appropriate services and terms of use to enable this. For example, SaaS providers will typically not provide access to the IP logs of clients accessing content. IaaS providers may not provide forensic services such as recent VM and disk images. Sensitive media sanitization: Shared tenancy of physical storage resources means that sensitive data may leak because data destruction policies applicable at the end of a lifecycle may either be impossible to implement because, for example, media cannot be physically destroyed because a disk is still being used by another tenant or it cannot be located, or no procedure is in place. Synchronizing responsibilities or contractual obligations external to cloud: Cloud customers are often unaware of the responsibilities assigned to them within the terms of service. There is a tendency towards a misplaced attribution of responsibility for activities such as archive encryption to the cloud provider even when it is clearly stated in the terms of the contract between the two parties that no such responsibility has been undertaken. Cross cloud applications creating hidden dependency: Hidden dependencies exist in the services supply chain (intra- and extra-cloud dependencies) and the cloud provider architecture does not support continued operation from the cloud when the third parties involved, subcontractors or the customer company, have been separated from the service provider and vice versa. SLA clauses with conflicting promises to different stakeholders: An SLA might include terms that conflict one another, or conflict clauses made from other providers. SLA causes containing excessive business risk: From CPs perspective an SLA can hide a bunch of business risks when someone thinks of the possible technical failures that might arise. At the end user point SLAs can include terms that can be disadvantageous. Audit or certification not available to customers: The CP cannot provide any assurance to the customer via audit certification. Certification schemes not adapted to cloud infrastructures: CPs will not really take any actions to provide security measures that comply with Cloud computing security standards. Inadequate resource provisioning and investments in infrastructure: This vulnerability comes in hand with the one that follows. Provisioning of resources should be done carefully in order to avoid failures of the provided services. No policies for resource capping: CPs should make really well provisioning of their resources. Also end users should be able to configure the resources that are allocated to them. If the limits of requested resources exceed this of the available resources results can be unpredictable. Storage of data in multiple jurisdictions and lack of transparency: Multiple copies of users data can exist since mirroring of the data is performed in order to achieve redundancy. During that time the user should we aware of where are those data stored. Such a move can introduce unwanted vulnerabilities since CPs may violate regulations during this time. Lack of information jurisdictions: there might be a case where data are stored using high level of user rights. In that case end users should be aware of it in order to take preventing measures. Conclusion In this paper we tried to give a brief overview of cloud computing and discuss what security on Cloud computing means. Furthermore, we made it easy for the reader to understand what the benefits and risks of moving toward Cloud computing are. Vulnerabilities of Cloud computing are listed as those were described in [ENISA, 2009], allowing us to have a full view of what are the considerations that we should keep in mind when moving on Cloud computing. It is also well understood that exhaustive risk and security control is not recommended on all Cloud computing implementations. The level of control should always depend on prior evaluation. There are still lot of open research areas on improving Cloud computing security, some of those are; Forensics and evidence gathering mechanisms, resource isolation mechanisms and interoperability between cloud providers. References [ENISA, 2009] ENISA editors. (2009). Cloud Computing Benefits, risks and recommendations for information security. . [Accessed 25 March 2010] [Brunette, 2009] Glenn Brunette and Rich Mogull (2009). Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing, Version 2.1 [Accessed 25 March 2010] [Mell, 2009] Peter Mell and Tim Grance (2009). The NIST Definition of Cloud Computing, Version 15. [Accessed 26 March 2010]

Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings

Improving Energy Efficiency in Buildings Introduction Climate change is a major world issue, average temperatures have risen across the globe by 1oC between 1906 and 2005 with a more rapid increase over the last 50 years (Conserve Energy Future, 2017], this rise has been attributed to global warming (McGrath, 2017). Emissions of gases such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and Methane (CH4) contribute to this global warming and are known as greenhouse gases (NASA, 2017), though the Environmental Protection Agency in the United States of America stated in 2017 that CO2 was not a primary contributor to global climate change (McGrath, 2017). Energy use is a major producer of these greenhouse gases, governments around the world have put in place measures to reduce the production of these gases by introducing rules to improve energy efficiency (Conserve Energy Future, 2017]. In the UK energy use, can be broken down into 4 main areas, Transport, Domestic, Industrial and Services Sector (Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, 2016). This report will look at energy usage of buildings and techniques that can be utilised to improve a buildings energy efficiency. UK Energy Usage The breakdown of the UKs energy usage across the 4 main areas in 2015 was as follows (Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, 2016): Transport 40% Domestic 29% Industry 17% Services Sector 14% The fuels used to provide this energy were a mixture of Gas, Electricity, Solid fuels, Petroleum and Bioenergy (Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, 2016). Both industry and transport use large amounts of energy undertaking their processes be it production lines or the operation of various modes of transport such as trains or buses rather than the running of buildings (Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, 2016). Energy usage is fundamental to the operation of any building be it for lighting, heating, cooling, cooking or other services such as lifts (Wade, Pett and Ramsay, 2003), with most of this energy being provided by either gas or electricity (Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, 2016). Thus, Improving the energy efficiency of a building can considerable reduce the amount of energy that is used. Over the last 30 years there has been a considerable increase in energy usage by office blocks due to the rise in the use of technologies such as large computers and the increased use of air conditioning systems (Wade, Pett and Ramsay, 2003). In the service sector office buildings are second to retail units in the levels of energy that they consume, and these office buildings contribute to 1.1% of the UK CO2 emissions each year (Pothitou, Connaughton and Torriti, 2015). Figure 1: Energy Usage of a standard Office and Efficient Office, Source: (Knissel, 1999) To become more energy efficient a building needs to use less energy to undertake the same tasks or role (International Energy Agency, 2017), as figure 1 above shows, improvements from a standard office block to a super-efficient office block can reduce energy usage by 70% (Knissel, 1999) Lighting In a commercial office, the lighting uses up to 50% of all the electricity consumed (Irish Energy Centre, 1995) and 35% of the total the energy consumption of the building (Knissel, 1999). Lighting can be broken down into several types these being access lighting, task lighting, emergency lighting and effects lighting (Irish Energy Centre, 1995). For a building to become more energy efficient attention needs to be paid to the lighting design to reduce the level of usage, technological advances mean that improvements in the efficiencies of lighting can be done in several ways (Energy Saving Trust, 2017), some of these can also be applied to existing office buildings without too much work having to be undertaken other methods need major alterations to incorporate into older buildings and are more suited to new buildings or buildings going through major refurbishment (The Renewable Energy Hub, 2016). The simple replacement of existing lamps within light fittings can reduce energy usage, with more modern fluorescent tubes being 25% more energy efficient than older versions and compact fluorescent lamps using up to 75% less energy than an old tungsten lamps (Irish Energy Centre, 1995), these tungsten lamps having been invented over 100ÂÂ   years ago(Energy Saving Trust, 2017) Light Emitting Diodes lamps (LEDs) are also now available and are up to 80% more efficient than the tungsten lamps (Energy.gov, 2013), when invented in the 1960s LEDs were no more efficient than tungsten lamps it has only been in the last ten years that great improvements in their efficiency has been achieved (Energy.gov, 2013). This method of energy efficiency can be applied to existing buildings without too much trouble but does have a cost over and above normal maintenance costs of changing the lamps but by the energy saved the LED lamps can pay back their extra initial cost within 3 years. (Corkhill, 2014). Another area where lighting can be made more efficient is insuring that it is only used when required and that lights are turned out when not in use (Open Technology, 2016). The use of sensors such as proximity or absence detection also means that the lights come on automatically when occupied and turn off after a period of non-occupancy (Open Technology, 2016), the dis-advantages of this can that someone sitting still at a desk may not activate the sensor and the light may go out while they are still there. Office areas can also be divided into different lighting zones with different controls for each zone, lights then only need to be on in areas of the office that are occupied or being used (Knissel 1999) leading to further efficiency.ÂÂ   The use of daylight sensors to adjust the amounts of artificial light used when there is sufficient natural light helps reduce energy usage (Carbon Trust, 2017). This may be achieved by having lights that either switch off or dim depending on levels of natural light in an area and can be used alongside lighting zones so that the lights closest to the windows dim separately when the natural light levels increase (Open Technology, 2016). Dimming controls and timers can also be utilised to minimise energy usage, it may be that less lamps operate at a lower light level at certain times of the day such as during the evenings or night while cleaning of the office is being undertaken (Open Technology, 2016). The room layouts can also play a part in energy efficiency by positioning desks to make more use of natural light and by painting walls and ceilings light colours can maximise the effectiveness of the lights (Irish Energy Centre, 1995). Thermal Comfort All individuals working in an office want to feel comfortable and not to be either to hot or too cold no matter what time of the year it is (Seton, 2015). There are 6 factors which can affect the thermal comfort of people within an office environment, these can be broken down into environmental factors and personnel factors (HSE, 2016). The 4 environmental factors being Air Temperature, Air velocity, radiant temperature and relative humidity (Harish, 2017), the other 2 factors are personnel these being clothing and metabolic heat (HSE, 2016). The Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) have identified several elements of a building that will affect the thermal environment these being items such as glazing, ventilation, air tightness, thermal mass, plant and equipment, waste heat along with working patterns, activities and workforce profile (Seton, 2015). CIBSE also provide recommendations on the temperatures levels, air supply and illuminance to provide a comfort level that will be acceptable to 80% of the occupants (Woods, 2015), this does though mean that there will be 20% that do not find it comfortable (Woods, 2015). Due to personnel preferences, it is not possible to find settings that are acceptable to all occupants and the recommendations are levels deemed to be a healthy office environment (HSE, 2016) Figure 2 CIBSE Comfort recommendations for Offices Conditions Temperature (Â °C) Air Supply per person (l/s/person) Illuminance Noise Rating (NR) Summer (Light Clothing) 22-25 8 500 35 Winter (Warm Clothing 21-23 8 500 35 Source: CIBSE Guide A: Environment Design 2015 (Woods, 2015) Many office blocks have heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC) to maintain these comfort levels (Carbon Trust, 2017), figure 1 earlier in this report shows that in a standard office these systems use up to 42% of the all the energy consumed by the office block (Knissel, 1999). For the most efficient use of these HVACs systems it is important to design the buildings fabric to reduce the load imposed on these HVACs systems (Harish, 2017). For example, radiant temperature can involve both heat gain and heat loss through the structure, this is especially so near large windows, in these instances the structure can be designed with solar shading such as brise soleil or reflective blinds on elevations facing the sun to reduce solar heat gain (Harish, 2017). The windows can also be designed with triple glazed glass along with blinds that have thermal insulating properties to help reduce heat loss during the cooler months of the year (Harish, 2017). These measure help reduce the amount of work that either the cooling system or heating systems must undertake (Knissel, 1999), the disadvantage that any shading or blinds have is that they reduce the amount of natural light entering the building leading to the extra usage of artificial lighting. Heating in office buildings is usually provided by a central boiler (CIBO, 1997), the efficiency of the boiler can depend upon the fuel used, back in 1997 the typical energy efficiency for boilers based on fuel varied greatly as shown in figure 3. Figure 3 Typical Efficiency for New Boilers in 1997 Fuel Full Load Efficiency % Low Load Efficiency % Coal 85 75 Oil 80 72 Gas 75 70 Biomass 70 60 Source: (CIBO, 1997) Improvement in technology has meant boiler efficiency has greatly improved since 1997, micro combined heat and power (mCHP) boilers are now available for offices and domestic properties, prior to 2006 these were only economically available on extremely large scales (The Renewable Energy Hub, 2016). CHP boilers simultaneously generate useful heat and electricity making better use of the fuel being used (Ecoliving, 2017). Figure 4 Micro Combined Heat and Power Boiler Schematic. Source: (The Renewable Energy Hub, 2016). These combined heat and power boilers can be up to 98% efficient, with the electricity produced being either used by the building or returned to the main grid (The Renewable Energy Hub, 2016). A disadvantage of CHP is that it is only useful in a building that requires both hot water and electricity, if other methods are used for heating and hot water is only used for washing then a CHP is not practical (Dinneen, 2014). As well as improved efficiency of boilers and air conditioning systems better controls also help reduce energy usage, for every 1Â °C lower that the heating is run it reduces energy usage by up to 8% (Carbon Trust, 2017) so setting heating levels at the lower level of 21Â °C set by CIBSE rather than the upper winter level of 23oC can reduce the energy usage by up to 16%. In open plan areas controls to both heating and cooling should also not be accessible to the occupants as there could be instances where one individual turns up the heating in their area and another turns down the air conditioning in their zone and the two systems then try to work against each other (Carbon Trust, 2017). Some areas of a building such as computer hub rooms will require cooling all year due to the heat generated by the equipment within them (Wade, Pett and Ramsay, 2003), the use of a heat recovering system can be utilised to use this heat for other parts of the building reducing the load put on the heating systems and reducing the energy usage (Energytechs, 2017). These heats recovering units operate by using hot air from within the building to heat fresh cool air from the external environment (Energytechs, 2017) this warmed fresh air is then circulated around the building reducing the heating requirements (Wade, Pett and Ramsay, 2003) Figure 5 Heat Recovery Unit, Source: Energytechs, 2017 Conclusion Technology and energy efficiency of services for buildings is continually improving this can be seen by the advances in LED technology for lighting and the use of Combined Heat and Power boilers in smaller scale buildings that have advanced over the last 20 years (Wade, Pett and Ramsay, 2003). Buildings can only be built as energy efficient as the technology available at the time of construction, some energy efficiency measures can be installed later if the technology becomes available but this can be costly and disruptive (Wade, Pett and Ramsay, 2003) It is though important when considering energy efficiency of buildings services to ensure that comfort levels for occupants are maintained for the tasks they are undertaking and are not compromised to achieve great energy efficiency (Irish Energy Centre, 1995) Modern technology makes more use of automated controls to assist in improving energy efficiency within buildings, this helps to remove occupants interference with controls and the potentially unbalancing of the systems resulting in more energy usage. As already mentioned earlier in this report the guidance figures given by CIBSE will only be acceptable to 80% of the occupants (Woods, 2015) the other 20% will be looking to alter the settings to suit their requirements so good communication with the occupants on the reasons the strategy for control settings will help with the implementation of the energy efficiency measures (Irish Energy Centre, 1995). References Carbon Trust, 2017, [Online] Available at: https://www.carbontrust.com/resources/guides/energy-efficiency/lighting/ [Accessed on 15th March 2017] CIBO, 1997. Energy Efficiency Industrial Boiler Efficiency [Online] Available at: http://invenoinc.com/file/Energy-Efficieny-adn-Industrial-Boiler-Efficiency.pdf [Accessed on 25th March 2017] Conserve Energy Future, 2017. 35 Surprising Facts about Global Warming. [Online] Available at:ÂÂ   http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/various-global-warming-facts.php [Accessed on 14th March 2017] Corkhill, K. 2014. LED Payback Calculation [Online] Available at: http://www.jarvislights.com/led_payback_calculation_blog/ [Accessed on 23rd March 2017] Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, 2016, Energy Consumption in the UK [Online] Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/energy-consumption-in-the-uk [Accessed on 14th March 2017] Dinneen, P., 2014. Pros and Cons: Combined heat and Power (CHP) [Online] Available at: http://www.kinsley-group.com [Accessed 23rd March 2017] Ecoliving, 2017. What is CHP? [Online] Available at; http://www.ecolivinguk.com/combined-heat-power/what-is-chp/ [Accessed on 25th March 2017] Energy.gov, 2013. History of the light bulb [Online] Available at: https://energy.gov/articles/history-light-bulb [Accessed on 21st March 2017] Energy Saving Trust, 2017. Energy Efficient Lighting [Online] Available at: http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/home-energy-efficiency/lighting [Accessed on 23rd March 2017] Energytechs, 2017. Heat Energy Recovery Ventilation [Online] Available at: http://energetechs.com/heat-recovery-ventilation/ [Accessed on 23rd March 2017] Harish, A., 2017. How to Improve Thermal comfort in an Office Environment. [Online] Available at: https://www.simscale.com/blog/2016/07/improve-thermal-comfort-office/ [Accessed on 21st March 2017] HSE, 2016. The six basic factors [Online] Available at: http://www.hse.gov.uk/temperature/thermal/factors.htm [Accessed on 21st March 2017] Irish Energy Centre, 1995, Energy Efficient lighting in OfficesÂÂ   [Online] Available at: http://www.seai.ie/Publications/Your_Business_Publications/Technology_Guides/Energy%20Efficient%20Lighting%20in%20Offices.pdf [Accessed on 15th March 2017] Knissel, J., 1999. Energy efficient Office Buildings [Online] Available at:- http://www.iwu.de/fileadmin/user_upload/dateien/energie/energy_efficient_office_buildings.pdf [Accessed on 23rd March 2017] McGrath, M., 2017. Extreme an Unusual Climate trends continue after record 2016 [Online] Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39329304 [Accessed on 21st March 2017] NASA, 2017. Global Climate Change, Vital Signs of the Planet [Online] Available at: https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/ [Accessed on 14th March 2014] Open Technology, 2016, Intelligent Lighting Controls [Online] Available at: http://www.opentechnologyuk.com/ligo/ [Accessed on 15th March 2017] Pothitou, M., Connaughton, J. and Torriti, J. 2015, Energy Demand Working practices in Office Buildings [Online] Available at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/web/files/tsbe/MaryPothitou_TSBE_Conference_Paper_2015.pdf [Accessed on 14th March 2017] Seton, 2015. Thermal Comfort in the workplace [Online] Available at: http://www.seton.co.uk/legislationwatch/article/thermal-comfort-workplace/ [Accessed on 21st March 2017] The Renewable Energy Hub, 2016. Micro Combined Heat and Power [Online] Available at: https://www.renewableenergyhub.co.uk/micro-combined-heat-and-power-micro-chp-information/how-does-microchp-work-in-a-home-or-business.html#jump_21929 [Accessed on 25th March 2017] Wade, J., Pett, J. and Ramsay, L., 2003, Energy efficiency in offices: assessing the situation [Online] Available at: http://pett-projects.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/ACE-Research-2003-05-Energy-Efficiency-in-offices-Assessing-the-situation-report1.pdf [Accessed on 14th March 2017] Woods, P., 2015. CIBSE Guide A: Environment Design 2015, LONDON: Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers.

Existentialism Essay -- essays research papers

Existentialism is a philosophy about life that says being is more important than the indispensable everyday occurrences. It acknowledges an individuals freedom to choose and says with this knowing there comes an immense sense of responsibility. Despair, hopelessness and anxiety are characteristic of a person struggling with existential thoughts. Nihilism sums up this condition by stating that all values are baseless, nothing is foreseeable and that life itself is meaningless. The characters in A Clean Well Lighted Place and A Day’s Wait show signs of being both aware and unaware of these elements of existentialism.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the first story, A Clean Well Lighted Place, the old drunk man represents someone who realizes he has no actual plan or fate. His despair is over the realization that theoretically the afterlife does not exist. The drunken man and older waiter share this despair not only because they both realize a man’s need for a clean, well-lighted place but also because they both struggle to fill a void. The older waiter’s acknowledgement of nothingness in life is evident when he recites the prayer but fills in the perceived nouns God and heaven with nada or nothing. He feels a void with this realization that keeps him awake at night. His assumption that others share his insomnia is somewhat correct but what they, the drunken man and the waiter, actually share is a void. The young waiter has a wife to go home to and a bed, the old drunken man ...