April 28 Event a Highlight of the Vectorworks Design Summit Columbia, MD (March 20, 2015)—The iconic “Rocky Steps” will lead attendees of the Vectorworks Design Summit to a Customer Appreciation Party at the Philadelphia Museum of Art on Tuesday, April 28, 2015. Hosted by global design software developer Nemetschek Vectorworks, Inc., the party will bring together architecture, landscape and entertainment design visionaries, Vectorworks software engineers and global partner product providers for a night of fun, which begins at 7 p.m. and ends at 11 p.m. EST. In addition to dinner and an open bar, attendees will enjoy Back2Life, a high-energy, eight-piece dance band, as well as access to world-class holdings of European and American paintings, prints, drawings and decorative arts, including the current Japanese exhibit, "Ink and Gold: Art of Kano." Party attendees will also get to see the visual impact of a Vectorworks design first-hand as a local Vectorworks user has signed on to light the museum party. "Having such an iconic museum as a backdrop to the software training and networking I will experience as an attendee at the Vectorworks Design Summit is such an asset to all members of the design industry," said Luc Lefebvre, OAQ, senior project architect and BIM manager at King + King Architects. "The venue will serve as a perfect complement to the Summit's ground-breaking discussions and networking events, providing additional inspiration through creative artistic and architectural achievements worldwide." Taking place at the Sofitel Philadelphia hotel on April 27-29, 2015, the Vectorworks Design Summit will provide dynamic keynote presentations, plus engaging thought-leadership breakouts, product development insight, fun evening events and training to help designers make the most of Vectorworks software and transform the world with great design. View agenda and speaker details at http://redirect.aecdaily.com/s18122/www.vectorworks.net/design-summit#agenda. The Customer Appreciation Party is included with the cost of registration to the Summit, or event tickets can be purchased individually. Registration and ticket information is available on the Vectorworks Design Summit webpage.

When fluid-proofing a joint it is important to consider what fluids will potentially pass through the joint; the ramifications if they do; the hydrostatic pressure applied; and the life expectancy of the joint sealing system. The answers to the aforementioned questions should ultimately determine the type of joint sealing system used. For example, if the primary concern is rainwater infiltrating the building envelope, a simple joint sealant or caulk will be adequate to waterproof the joint. A joint sealant functions by adhering to both sides of the joint. When sealant adhesion fails, so does the waterproofing function. Sealant is usually composed of silicone or urethane, and the manufacturer-listed lifecycle is usually 5 to 10 years, but because proper joint preparation procedures are often not followed, a more realistic lifecycle is 3 years. However, if the joint is designed to prevent the passage of fluids other than water, such as fuel oils, solvent, acids, and other aggressive chemicals, only a chemical resistant waterstop such as Earth Shield® will block the fluids, resist degradation, and provide the necessary federal regulatory compliance. Earth Shield is manufactured from a fully cross-linked thermoplastic vulcanizate (TPV), which provides broad-spectrum resistance to a variety of aggressive chemicals, long life span (entire lifecycle of structure), and excellent physical properties (tensile strength, elongation, etc.). Unlike sealant, TPV waterstop does not rely on adhesion to function, but instead is installed in the center of the joint, spanning the entire length of the joint, and acts as a dam to prevent the passage of fluids. Therefore, if care is taken during installation, TPV waterstop will provide a leak-proof barrier for the life of the structure. Additionally, Earth Shield Chemical Resistant Waterstop provides the necessary federal regulatory compliance that sealant does not. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Title 40, CFR 265.193 states: Secondary containment for tanks must include one or more of the following devices: 1. A liner (external to the tank); 2. A vault (constructed with chemical resistant waterstops in place at all joints); 3. A double-walled tank; or 4. An equivalent device as approved by the Regional Administrator. Due to aesthetics and functionality, concrete vaulting is usually the preferred method to contain hazardous chemicals. This is usually accomplished by placing the tank or process area on a concrete slab and surrounding it with short containment walls (usually 3 to 4 feet in height). Within the concrete joints (control, construction, and expansion), Earth Shield TPV Waterstop will span the joint preventing the passage of hazardous waste to the environment should a catastrophic spill occur in the primary vessel or process area. Because sealant is a maintenance item, with separation or failure occurring generally within 3 years of installation, and requiring constant maintenance throughout the life of the structure, it should not be considered as a stand-alone barrier system when the criteria is containment of hazardous substances.

What do you use when you have a visual message, or many messages, to post for public consumption? Answer: a bulletin board. But while you need the flexibility to change these messages frequently you also need to maintain visual order. Now the answer is not so certain. Add the extra challenge of placing the visual display in a high traffic and very public space, meaning sharps such as thumbtacks and pushpins should be avoided, and now a common bulletin board is clearly not the answer. Bulletin boards, aka cork boards, are a commonly relied upon tool, and are assumed status quo for relaying notes, message posting, and other visual communication to a varied public. They allow for messages to be posted as needed and changed at will. And we assume the standard always works just fine. But not so fast. There are a number of gotchas with this approach. Standard bulletin boards, you know the kind made of corkboard, and sometimes other materials as well, and require staples or thumbtacks for attaching papers, quickly become unkempt and disorderly. You’ve seen, or used, them countless times. Messages quickly become covered with other messages, nothing is structured or easily read, and the entire approach to clearly sharing news quickly becomes disheveled. A visual hodge-podge! With the few exceptions of users who methodically organize and maintain their postings (and are the only ones making changes), these information platforms become a place to completely avoid instead of a magnet to those seeking information. This is why you’ll seldom see a bulletin board photographed with messages posted to it in office supply catalogues. They simply don’t maintain a tidy appearance. These tack boards, or memo boards, also pose risks and safety hazards from sharps, especially when children are concerned, due to the very thumbtacks and staples that inevitably stray to the floor or the hands of our curious youth. A potential place for chaos, clutter and tears. This was the exact scenario recently encountered by a community library in a Chicago suburb. They needed to share the library’s activities, events and services with their visitors. To ensure that the information was readily available to the library’s daily traffic, the postings were to be placed in the lobby, through which every visitor would pass. For the Bensenville Community Public Library, the standard bulletin board approach was not a viable option. They desired a professional-appearing display and one that stayed that way. Further, because the ideal location was immediately above a drinking fountain, they also needed to prevent water splashes on the postings, and avoid using staples and pushpins, etc. Their search for how to create an uncluttered bulletin board uncovered the Boardless Bullentin Board. Was it the perfect solution? Absolutely.

Product available in Anvil beginning June 2015 Native Trails is expanding its popular Vintner’s Collection with the addition of the Bordeaux Wall Mount wine-barrel vanity in Anvil finish for 2015. This award-winning vanity reincarnates an authentic piece of California’s wine country into a functional furniture piece that is suited as a wall mounted bathroom vanity or as a wet bar. Bordeaux Wall Mount in Anvil is available beginning in June for purchase in showrooms across the U.S. and Canada. “Bordeaux Wall Mount is always an instant conversation piece,” said Naomi Neilson Howard, founder and CEO of Native Trails. “The new Anvil finish was inspired by the popularity of our Americana Vanity in Anvil, where we’ve shown how reclaimed wood can take on a classic – or distinctly contemporary – look in this soft black finish. It creates a transitional style option for our popular Bordeaux, and we expect it to be a customer favorite for 2015.” Bordeaux is made from California wine country oak barrels and staves that have outlived their original five-year lifespan. To produce the Wall Mount in its final form, artisans carefully disassemble and modify the barrel, then finish the piece with multiple custom-blended waxes that are hand rubbed into the reclaimed wood bath vanity. Bordeaux Wall Mount has received many professional accolades, including "Innovative Furniture Product of the Year" from the Decorative Plumbing and Hardware Association (DPHA), "Innovative Eco-Design" from U.S. Green Building Council – California Central Coast Chapter (USGBC C4) and the prestigious Green GOOD Design award in 2013.

PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For the fourth time, Dow Electronic Materials, a business unit of The Dow Chemical Company (NYSE:DOW), has received a New Product Introduction (NPI) Award from Printed Circuit Design and Fab (PCD&F) Magazine for its MICROFILL™ platform, this time with MICROFILL™ LVF 4 Acid Copper. As the Internet of Things advances, speedy and stable signal transmission across wireless networks is critical. Dow MICROFILL LVF 4 Acid Copper offers excellent microvia filling and panel plating uniformity for circuit boards to enhance signal transmission between smart devices. Dow MICROFILL solutions have won four NPI Awards from PCD&F, including EVF Solution for microvia fill, THF Solution for through-hole fill, and LVF 3 and LVF 4 Solutions for blind via fill in High-Density-Interconnect circuit boards and IC substrates since 2009. “The developments in plating achieved by Dow Electronic Materials with its MICROFILL line are nothing short of remarkable,” said Mike Buetow, editor-in-chief of PCD&F. “We are thrilled to recognize Dow for its continued achievement.” The NPI Award, in its eighth year, recognizes the leading new products from the previous year. Awards are selected by an independent panel of industry engineers. Dow Electronic Materials will showcase MICROFILL LVF 4 Acid Copper and other innovations in CPCA show on March 17-19 and CTEX, JPCA, Productronica, TPCA, and HKPCA shows in 2015.

Conference Examines How Architecture, Landscape and Entertainment Design Visionaries Transform the World with Vectorworks Software Columbia, MD (March 4, 2015)—Designers who dream of transforming the world are invited to join a community of visionaries at the 2015 Vectorworks Design Summit on April 27-29 at the Sofitel Hotel in Philadelphia, PA. The event features breakout sessions by leaders in the architecture, landscape and entertainment industries, as well as opportunities to network with Vectorworks® software engineers, power users, third-party partners and other professionals during educational sessions, meals and evening events. Registration is now open at www.vectorworks.net/design-summit. "Every day, designers choose Vectorworks because it’s a tool that allows great design to materialize from inspiration, exploration and discovery," says Nemetschek Vectorworks' Chief Marketing Officer Stewart Rom. "The Design Summit will provide a gathering point for our community of users to generate new energy for upcoming projects, sharpen their vision and share pioneering designs. I hope attendees leave the event feeling moved to continue creating unexpected and exciting design solutions." Keynote Speakers The Vectorworks Design Summit begins Monday, April 27 with optional, pre-conference training in Vectorworks software and a welcome dinner. Tuesday's schedule opens with a presentation by CEO Sean Flaherty, who will discuss how Nemetschek Vectorworks supports the creative process and helps designers in their journey toward working smarter and more efficiently. Flaherty's presentation will be followed by an inspirational keynote message from design visionary Leo Van Broeck, a founding partner of BOGDAN & VAN BROECK in Belgium. Van Broeck will share his theory that the design of attractive, dense and high-quality urban areas is a catalyst for changing how much space people think they need to lead enjoyable and meaningful lives, and how that belief has led to his active participation in the promotion of spatial quality and awareness, the domain of urban density and optimal land use. Nemetschek Vectorworks' Chief Technology Officer Dr. Biplab Sarkar will open Wednesday's sessions with a keynote address, providing unprecedented development insight into the Vectorworks line of CAD and BIM design solutions, including features that will be in Vectorworks 2016. Adrian McGregor, FAILA, RLA, MAIH, MPIA, managing director of Australian landscape architecture and urban design firm McGregor Coxall, is Wednesday's Closing Speaker. McGregor transforms public spaces across the world into living, breathing works. His firm has completed work in six nations, focusing on sustainable design in the public domain and urban settings, going beyond the reduction of environmental damage and using regenerative approaches to actively advance each site’s ecology. McGregor has been recognized for his work in sustainable design, as well as in mediation, helping communities, authorities and developers to work together to create better-informed designs. Breakouts and Expo Hall Confirmed breakout session speakers at the Design Summit represent firms and industry partners including ROJO Architects, MORRIS, Holcombe Norton Partners, Inc., Exhibit Logic, LEVENBETTS, The Small Group, Bluebeam Software, Architecture Is Fun and more. Sessions will examine a wide range of topics from communicating design ideas, moving from 2D to 3D and using smart CAD tools for sustainable site design to utilizing Vectorworks as a BIM tool and rendering for success. Vectorworks engineers and product experts, as well as third party partners like MAXON Computer, Asite and Synchro Software, will also provide product training and answer attendee questions in the Design Summit’s Expo Hall. For the academic community, a student track offers tips on what design firms look for when hiring and University of Pennsylvania graduate student Diego Bermudez shares how he turned a school project into $10,000 as the winner of the 2014 Richard Diehl Award and Vectorworks Design Scholarship. There will also be speakers representing Columbia University, Parsons The New School for Design, School of the Art Institute of Chicago, and Philadelphia University. Register by March 31 to Save The early-bird registration fee is $399 and expires March 31. Beginning April 1, registration is $499. There is an academic rate for students and instructors of $99 and credentialed press can attend for free. Attendees can also enjoy a discounted room rate at the Sofitel Hotel, the location of all conference activities except the evening events, situated only minutes from Philadelphia’s historic attractions. Visit www.vectorworks.net/design-summit to view the growing list of speakers, sessions and events, and to register online.

OAKLAND, N.J., March 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Following its conversion from traditional to Lean manufacturing methods, Amerlux® establishes the new QuickShip Program to deliver a broad range of task-specific, energy-efficient lighting solutions that meet immediate customer needs and tight construction schedules. The QuickShip program will offer a variety of lighting products, including Hornet, Evoke, Cylindrix, Contour, GRUV, Linea, Varieta and Avista, beginning March 2, 2015. Amerlux is a leading manufacturer of energy-efficient lighting solutions for the retail, hospitality, commercial and outdoor lighting markets.