Today, a guest post on green design by the folks at University Alliance, in partnership with the University of San Francisco’s higher education program. They offer an online master certificate in supply chain management, and sustainable supply chain management.
The unemployment rate in the United States is not going to magically decrease. So what can the government and investors do to help create jobs for Americans? Building more energy efficient infrastructures comes with many benefits, including an influx of jobs, energy cost savings, and a more sustainable future. Most people believe in sustaining the environment, but many feel concerned that green building construction is too expensive. Let’s look at some specific facts to analyze green solutions in a realistic way: where has “going green” worked, why has it worked, how does it actually create jobs and who is going green in American right now?
While Americans continue to wrangle over the financial efficacy of green solutions, green power has taken off in Taiwan, Korea and Hong Kong. LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a rating system for the design of green buildings. Taipei 101, the second largest building in the world which is located in Taiwan gained the LEED designation. South Korea plans to grant extensive economic stimulus to green ventures while China will construct 35 million meters of green buildings in Beijing. In answer to both the growing global pressure and the American green movement, President Obama has created a Better Buildings Initiative committed to the idea that green buildings preserve energy and create jobs.
Countries that succeed in creating green buildings have chosen to make the investment. While investing in efficient energy use promotes both job growth and environmental stability, investment options need to be clearer. Solar heating, harvesting of rainwater and natural lighting are just a few practical ideas which can create great savings for each of us.
Change is naturally difficult in a poor economy. Unemployment has doggedly stuck to the 9 percent level. That forces the question: will green buildings truly create jobs or not? Job growth partly depends on the sectors of the economy that create jobs at a medium to high percentage rate. For instance, the energy sector and the manufacturing sector create jobs at a much lower rate than do the construction sector and the government sector. This means that when we invest in the construction of green buildings or in green renovation, we are putting our resources into a sector which creates a high level of jobs on average. Green building projects do promote reliable job growth.
Many green building initiatives are on the rise in America. Siemens has announced four hundred positions in green technology across thirty-nine states. In Baltimore, one of the largest roof-mounted solar installations will soon be built. Projects like these create work, foster innovative thinking and control energy costs for both companies and the government. But above all, they give other companies a viable path to follow. Additionally, the president’s Better Building Initiative will give a tax credit of as much as $1.80 per square foot for buildings that fully utilize green solutions.
So much depends on how we perceive green energy. Is this a standard we want for all buildings or is it a standard that only the wealthiest can achieve? Though U.S. companies are leading the way in green technology including smart lighting, energy management, and efficient heating, we have yet to realize our complete potential in the construction of green buildings. At this time, understanding the jobs that can truly be created through green power could create both amazing and sustained change.
What do you think? Do you believe that green buildings and green renovation can help kick start the U.S. economy? Share your thoughts in the comments section, below.
Want to learn more about how to use project management as a risk avoidance tool? Sure you do!
Join the Hall & Company folks for this month’s free webinar entitled, “Effective Project Management Practices as a Key Risk Management Strategy.”
The webinar will discuss:
1. The essential elements of a solid Project Management Plan and why “Planning a project will not guarantee success, but failure to plan will guarantee failure.”
2. Why your project’s scope, schedule and budget are considered a “three-legged stool” and how to manage the big risks associated with project changes.
3. Why effective communications are absolutely essential to project success, why poor communications have been described as the biggest contributor to project problems and what every project manager needs to know about communicating with their clients.
4. Ensuring quality in every aspect of project delivery as a fundamental risk management strategy. The quality of the project and project deliverables will be remembered much longer than the project’s schedule, budget or project manager!
5. Why project risks need to be identified, understood and managed so they don’t become business risks for your firm.
When? THIS Tuesday, February 21, 2012 at 1pm EST
This presentation has been approved for AIA Continuing Education credit (1LU).
Happy listening!
Photo: (c) Mike Quinn via Creative Commons license.
Today we welcome another guest author to the blog– Jonathan Newby. Jonathan is in the brokerage business, and runs a website relating to brokerage fees. Thanks Jonathan for your sharing your thoughts today.
Arbitration may be a better alternative to some construction disputes, assuming that you use a qualified and skilled arbitrator or arbitration panel. Here are five benefits for using arbitration over litigation:
- Arbitration means that the decision maker is an experienced industry professional instead of a lay jury.
- Arbitration can provide better protection for your assets by minimizing your risk of large losses sometimes seen with jury verdicts.
- Arbitration can provide flexibility in scheduling, versus court where you are told when and where to show up without much room to negotiate.
- Arbitration can put an end to your case faster. The time taken by an arbitrator is usually less than that to get a case to court to resolve a construction dispute.
- Arbitration costs can be much less when compared to the one charged during any other legal process like litigation.
These are five reasons why arbitration may be better for your construction dispute, so consider using an arbitration provision in your next construction contract.
Editor’s Note: As I’ve previously noted, there are pros and cons to arbitration in lieu of trial. The better venue is in part based on the type and size of contract, as well as numerous other subjective considerations. Discuss whether arbitration is appropriate for you with your construction law attorney.
Thoughts, comments, or questions? Drop Jonathan or me a note in the comments section, below.
Photo (c) freefoto.com.
A lawsuit could cost your company thousands, or hundreds of thousands, of dollars. You will spend more time with your lawyer than you’d like– time you’d otherwise be able to spend on your business. Sound fun? Of course not.
What can you do to lessen your risks of a lawsuit?
Take a few minutes right now to download my free 6 page white paper entitled 7 Critical Mistakes that Engineers & Architects make that Sabatoge their Projects & Invite Litigation. If you know what these critical, yet common, mistakes are, you can take steps to minimize your risk of being sued.
Check it out by going to the right hand side of the blog’s main page and submitting a request for your free copy today.
As a design professional, you have likely seen your share of construction estimates. You may be in charge of evaluating bid proposals and/or in reviewing projects for value engineering possibilities. Of course, you are almost certainly involved in submitting your own proposal estimates for architectural or engineering services on a project.
I saw a recent blog discussion on construction estimates, and how owners view them. In the situation discussed, a contractor was losing business because his estimates were in nice round numbers, creating the suspicion in the owner’s mind that the numbers were not carefully put together.
One commentator, a civil engineer, said:
As a Professional Civil Engineer and owner’s representative, I am very leary of proposals received that are round (up or down) unless I’ve done business with this group before and am aware of it. I agree with the other comments that it appears as if the bidder has not put much effort into their proposal.
What do you think? Are you leery of an estimate that is a nice round number? Do you round your own estimates? Does an estimate of $21,975 look more legitimate than an estimate of $22,000? Share your thoughts, and your practice, below.
While you are at it, consider taking a 20 question, 10 minute poll on cost estimating processes and best practices. The survey planners are trying to collect as many responses as possible from industry professionals.
The data collected from this survey to develop a benchmark report about construction estimating. Once prepared, the report will available to anyone as a free PDF download from the survey planners’ website.
———————— Photo credit: Håkan Dahlström.Apologies for the late notice, but this one just crossed my desk: Tomorrow, January 26, 2012, at 2pm EST, Architectural Roofing & Waterproofing Univer
sity will present a free webinar entitled
“Code Changes, Point Programs and the Roofing Industry.”
Here’s the description from the presenter:
Webinar will discuss issues that are important to both roof performance and to assure the new Code requirements are met. A few lessons learned and industry needs will be presented along with things that can or must be done in the meanwhile. It is not all bad news; after all, we are the industry problem solvers. As new problems arise our value and opportunities increase.
Attend this webinar to learn:
• How to identify and avoid trouble with new regulatory requirements
• New approaches and product to best avoid constructability and performance issues caused by compliance with new regulatory requirements
• Solutions to problems encountered and venues to help share solutions utilized
• How to think forward concerning the pitfalls associated with implementation of new technology and regulations
Speaker: David R. Hawn, FRCI, RRC, CEM, President, Dedicated Roof and Hydro-Solutions, LLC
Webinar qualifies for 1.0 AIA Learning Unit
Registration is required.
Do you know of upcoming webinars, seminars, or conferences that you think readers of this blog should know about? Drop me a line or comment below.
In North Carolina, as in 39 other states, there is no special certification for structural engineers. As structural engineering becomes more complex, is specialized certification an idea whose time has come?
“Increasingly, structural engineers, architects and construction firms work together at the earliest stages of a project,” says Jon Schmidt, Associate Structural Engineer and Director of Antiterrorism Services at Burns & McDonnell and Chair of the Editorial Board of STRUCTURE Magazine. “In today’s world of complex structures and 3D modeling, structural engineering is a partnership among architects, contractors and engineering firms. The structural engineer must be able to offer insightful and pragmatic suggestions, and doing that requires strong technical knowledge, depth of experience and problem-solving abilities that have been well-honed over time.
“To this day, only ten states actually license structural engineering as a unique discipline; among these ten states, the requirements vary substantially. This has made it very challenging for contractors to determine what skills and experience structural engineers bring to the table,” says Schmidt. “In the 40 states that do not specifically license structural engineers, they are typically licensed as Professional Engineers. This is a generalist license that does not distinguish between structural engineering and related disciplines such as civil engineering. As such, engineers in these states are allowed to perform structural engineering tasks, yet there is no formalized way to know if they possess the in-depth skills and experience that can make all the difference in a major project.” (For a state-by-state look at the 10 states which do license structural engineering, click on the map above to enlarge the image).
SECB certification is the structural engineering profession’s self-imposed benchmarking process that was initiated in 2003, when the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations (NCSEA) voted to establish an independent entity to develop a process of certification. One of the biggest challenges the structural engineering profession faced, until SECB was formed, was that there were no clear benchmarks by which to evaluate the skill levels of professionals in the discipline.
Eight years after its formation, and over 1,752 certifications later, the goals of SECB remain, since there is still no national licensing process for evaluating the discipline-specific skills and expertise of structural engineering professionals. SECB hopes to transform its certification process into the basis for national licensure.
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What do you think? Should a national licensure program be established? What about other disciplines within the engineering umbrella– should there be separate certifications for those disciplines too? From a legal standpoint, if an engineer has the SECB designation, he may be seen as holding himself out to a higher standard of care. With a higher standard of care may come increased liability. Is this fair for an engineer who voluntarily studies for additional certification?
Share your thoughts on certification and specialization in the comments section, below.
Top Design Products of 2011 (Tue Tip)
ED+C (Environmental Design & Construction) magazine recently released a list of its top 10 design products for 2011, based on reader requests for additional information.
Topping the list? The Energy Star LED lightbulb.
Most popular type of product? Materials relating to air quality.
Item which made the best picture for this post? The Invisi Series II toilet by Caroma, which is designed to maximize floor space by making smaller bathrooms more roomy and luxurious while using the company’s award-winning Smartflush technology.( The half flush uses 0.8 gallons-per-flush (gpf) for liquids, and the full flush uses 1.28 gpf for solids for an average volume of 0.9 gpf.). Funky little toilet, isn’t it?
What do you think were the top design products of 2011? Share in the comments below.
Photo (c) Caroma.
Rapunzel vs. the Structural Engineers
A little light-heartedness for your Friday morning………….
Do your kids’ eyes glaze over when you tell them what you do for a living? The only exposure many kids have to architects and engineers is Mike Brady (thru Brady Bunch re-runs) and NASA folk. If you don’t work for NASA (and I’m pretty sure you aren’t Mr. Brady), then you may have trouble generating enthusiasm within your brood. Never fear! How about showing your kids exactly how *you* would design Cinderella’s pumpkin-turned-carriage, the smart little pig’s brick house, or, better yet, Rapunzel’s castle.
Yes, that’s right– there are now sketches circulating the web showing a prototype castle for the long-haired beauty, all part of a challenge created by NYC architect Andrew Bernheimer and his sister (and children’s book author) Kate Bernheimer. They asked three A/E firms to create designs for popular fairy tale stories. Guy Nordenson and Associates had the coveted story currently popular with 4 year old girls everywhere: Rapunzel. They created a design to meet the story: a “tower that stood in a forest and had neither a door nor a stairway, but only a tiny little window at the very top.” When asked about the key structural elements, the structural engineers responded, “We were able to meet the Grimms’ strict design requirements by employing a slender tower design of vertical cylindrical stems that are joined by intermittent outrigger beams with a reinforced space at the very top for Rapunzel’s long captivity.”
Create your own fantasy design to show your kids that yes, you are too cool!
(Hat tip to Behold the Architect for the story).
Sketch via Design Observer.
Have you made it your New Year’s resolution to practice better risk management at your Firm this year? If not, you should! There is always something you can do to lessen your risks of a lawsuit. Here’s an easy one: make plans to attend the next Hall & Company webinar, entitled: “Lessons Learned: Practical Advice on how to Avoid Professional Liability Insurance Claims and Manage Professional Liability Insurance Exposures“.
The presentation promises:
1. An overview of some of the largest professional liability insurance claims Hall & Co. has seen the past 20+ years
2. A review on how these claims could have been avoided
3. A review on how these claims could have been better insured
4. And finally, a discussion on how these claims could have been better managed.
- When: Tuesday, January 17, 2012
- Time: 1:00 pm EDT/12:00pm CDT/10:00am PDT
- FREE to attend, and the class is approved for AIA Continuing Education (1LU). Preregistration is required.
Do you know of an upcoming conference, webinar, seminar, or presentation that others might benefit from? Please share and let me know.
Photo: (c) Leo Reynolds via CC.
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