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Hi there. The Chamberlin Man here.Did you know you can keep your roof cool and decrease your energy costs to boot with a white, reflective roof system or roof coating? And right now we all need to save a little dough on those A/C bills.Here is some cool info about solar reflectance and its benefits. Take a gander when you have a moment and send this around the office. Maybe your colleagues could learn a thing or two, also.EPA’s Cool Roof Site Cool Roof Savings Calculator
Reshaping the Construction Industry
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As reported on Construction Citizen last week, some construction workers who helped build luxury student apartments on the University of Texas campus in Austin have alleged that they were horribly mistreated by subcontractors hired by Hensel Phelps. Now the Daily Texan reports that the problems are even more widespread than we had originally told you. Thanks to pressure from The Daily Texan, Construction Citizen, and the Workers Defense Project, workers will recover the overtime pay they had previously been denied. The following article by Bobby Blanchard was originally published in The Daily Texan. Reprinted with permission.Construction workers in West Campus apartment complexes allege mistreatment, unpaid wagesOf the three West Campus apartment complexes that opened to more than 1,000 students this fall, at least two were built by construction workers who claimed they were mistreated.
September 10, 2013
The Bank of America Tower in the city of New York was given the designation of LEED Platinum as the first tower in the city to achieve that rating. According to Al Gore, one of its early tenants, the building was to be perhaps the most sustainable high rise in the country and a model for other buildings.Unfortunately, according to World Property Channel, an article in the New Republic disclosed that the building is the largest “energy hog” in the city, not a good thing.The articles point out that while the LEED certification process looks good on paper, has implications for architects and owners, can achieve tax breaks for owners and developers, and is an attractive tool for leasing agents looking for “green oriented” tenants, the operating realities of those buildings may not meet expectations of the users and the proponents of the LEED process. World Property Channel Global Editor Kevin Brass writes:“The Bank of America experience shows how easy it is to undermine good intentions. There really is no mystery behind the building's energy usage. A third of the leasable space is filled by huge financial trading floors, packed with electricity-guzzling computers and monitors, not to mention the servers and the systems needed to cool the space and equipment.
September 09, 2013
I know it sounds strange, but as we have reported previously, strange things happen in Las Vegas every day. According to Arabian Business, “The Harmon Hotel tower, co-owned by MGM Resorts International, was designed as a 48-storey component of the AED31.2bn ($8.5bn) CityCenter project, which opened in December 2009.” The “Harmon project” was designed to be a non-gambling hotel and retail project that is located at the entrance of the CityCenter development underwritten by Dubai World, the investment arm of the government of Dubai.Investigators found that there were structural flaws in the concrete structure’s reinforcing steel that could possibly lead to a collapse of the building in a strong earthquake. The Las Vegas Review-Journal reported: “Chukwuma Ekwueme, the Southern California-based structural engineering expert for CityCenter, said more than 7,000 defects were observed during the fourth testing phase. Ekwueme said 100 percent of the elements tested contained at least one defect that required repair. Almost all elements contained multiple diverse defects.”Construction was halted, and the court recently granted demolition permission for the unfinished building. The Arabian Business article continues:
September 06, 2013
Have you ever received an invitation to a function at the last minute where you wanted to attend but you’re already booked? Frustrating isn’t it? I hate it when I receive an unsolicited bid invitation to bid from an unknown prime contractor three days before a bid due date. The MWBE bid process is like living the Ray Charles’ song, “You Don’t Know Me”. We see each other’s firm name on a list, we see each other in public, but we don’t take the time to get to know one another or our capabilities in time to make a viable team for the bid.Brother Ray’s song was in my ear as I witnessed the dissention and frustration at a recent City of Houston Office of Business Opportunity meeting. The new Minority and Women Business Enterprise forms meant to streamline the current arduous M/WBE process were introduced to a room of contractors, subcontractors and business owners, Black, White, Hispanic, male and female. When the phrase “good faith effort” was brought to the forefront, new business owners and old established firms took sides.
September 05, 2013
Editor’s note: Construction Citizen is proud to partner with AGC America to bring you AGC Chief Economist Ken Simonson's Data DIGest. Check back each week to get Ken's expert analysis of what's happening in our industry.Construction spending hits four-year high; AGC survey finds challenges filling positionsCheck out Ken Simonson's upcoming speaking schedule.Construction spending in July reached a four-year high of $901 billion at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, up 0.6% from June and up 5.2% from July 2012, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday. Census revised up the totals for June and May by $12 billion and $7 billion, respectively, which may lead to an upward revision in the second-quarter estimate for growth in gross domestic product (GDP) later this month. Private residential spending increased 0.6% for the month and 17% year-over-year. Private nonresidential spending rose 1.3% and 2.0%, respectively. Public construction spending fell 0.3% and 3.7%. Of the three residential components, new single-family construction grew 0.5% and 29%; new multifamily spending, 0.1% and 39%; and improvements to existing single- and multifamily buildings, 0.8% and 1.4%. The three largest private nonresidential components (in descending order of current size) all increased from one and 12 months ago: power construction (including conventional and renewable power plus oil and gas fields and pipelines) 0.5% and 5.0%, respectively; manufacturing construction 2.9% and 0.8%; and commercial (new and renovated retail, warehouse and farm), 1.7% and 2.6%.
September 05, 2013
University Calls the Allegations “Concerning”Students attending classes at the University of Texas at Austin this fall have a chance to “Live Big. Live Better” at some new luxury apartments on campus, but they might be shocked to hear the stories of workers who built those apartments. The website for the 2400 Nueces Apartments, which were completed this summer, proudly says a student can “share your life with an exciting community of friends while enjoying one of Austin's newest first-class highrise communities.” Apartments are available for less than $800 per person. Those prices are made possible through terrible mistreatment of workers, according to workers and their advocates.Complaints have been filed with both the U.S. Department of Labor as well as the City of Austin, the Workers Defense Project said. Conversations with workers who helped build the apartments reveal they often weren't allowed to stop and get a drink of water even when the temperatures in Austin soared over 100 degrees.
September 04, 2013
Five Regional Events Set for the West and SoutheastThe MCM & CIC Crane Operator Rodeo continues its cross-country competition to round up the best crane operators in the West and Southeast. From October until March 2014, five additional Regional Qualifying crane operator skills competitions will take place to introduce young people to crane operation as a profession, and to educate local governments and businesses about the role training, experience, and certification plays in safe crane operation. Safety and risk managers working for contractors and crane rental companies are also encouraged to attend to learn more about OSHA requirements for crane operator certification and the options available in the marketplace. The regional and championship events are a partnership between Maximum Capacity Media (MCM), the publisher of Crane & Rigging Hot Line magazine, and Crane Institute Certification (CIC), an independent certifying organization providing OSHA recognized, NCCA accredited certifications for mobile crane operators and riggers.Previous Regional Qualifying events took place in New England, the Northeast and Midwest United States, and Canada from June to August, 2013. The top two operators from each Regional Qualifying Crane Operator Rodeo will advance to the
September 03, 2013
Nissan joined GM and announced this week that they plan to have cars that can drive themselves in production by 2020, but I am not sure that will be soon enough after what I saw on the way to breakfast.As I turned north onto one of the main thoroughfares in Houston Friday morning, I saw a woman driving a very large black SUV with a cell phone in each hand on the steering wheel as she made her way through rush hour traffic. Sure, we are all used to seeing folks with their cell phones glued to the side of their heads, but one in each hand seems a bit extreme even for Houston. And yes, I know that she at least had both hands on the steering wheel. I wonder whether there were kids in the back seat?So, Nissan’s announcement that they are working with the scientists and designers at MIT and the University of Tokyo to have “a commercially viable autonomous driving system in multiple vehicles by 2020” might need to be accelerated by a few years. John Capp, GM's director of electrical controls and active safety technology told reporters that each driver of these vehicles would still be in control and able to override the computer system.
August 31, 2013
My architectural colleague, Bob Borson, is an architect and blogger in Dallas. He “pens” a blog site called Life of an Architect. I read each and every one of his blogs since he writes about subjects that any of us who are architects or who are in the construction industry will find interesting.This week’s subject is an extension of the series of Bags that he started by showing everything he carries in his messenger bag. His list ranged from the sublime to the truly useful and even some items that I use from time to time like graphite pencils and sketch paper.This week he does a very structured layout of the items that can be found in the typical drywaller’s bucket. The bucket is imperative because the drywall contractor’s tools would destroy a messenger bag in a few days. nbsp;
August 29, 2013
