Wall construction

 In the abstract, walls are assemblies of multiple functions:

1. exterior finish
2. support for exterior finish
3. air barrier
4. thermal insulation
5. vapor barrier
6. structure
7. interior finish

Professionalism

I sent this email to my team:

I expect each of you to do your job and do it well.

 

The goal of becoming a professional is not an overnight phoenix (rebirth from ashes). It is more like the construction of  a building. One begins with a foundation and then makes additions as one pursues the specific segment of architecture that one wishes. One does not build one’s professionalism and career in a vacuum. It takes mentors, professional organizations, coworkers, bosses, subordinates, and outside consultants.

 

One outside consultant I have used makes a free to public podcast and for those that register, online public forums.

 

Their mission is:

• Every Manager Effective®
• Every Professional Productive®

Here is a link to a current podcast:

 

https://manager-tools.com/2021/04/giving-updates-staff-meetings-part-1-hof-2021

 

Q&A on accessible path of travel, stairs, handrails, guardrails

 

When do we need a interim rail on stairs – Monumental stairs (the main path of exit should have rails on both sides)

Where the required exit width is wide you need intermediate rails. Each hand rail can serve 30” of exit width, so you can have a single pair of handrails serve up to 60” of exit width. (60” = 300 people of exit width).

When do we need the tighter coverage (4” openings) and when we can just have an intermediate horizontal rail Where the fall distance on the other side of the rail is 30” or more.

At maintenance stairs / ramps (no public) the opening between rails cannot allow the passage of a 21” sphere in place of 4” sphere (typical requirement).

How long the level landing rail at the bottom of the stairs needs to be Extension of the handrail at the end of a stair run is 12” plus the length of the typical tread. (Ramp handrail extension is 12”)

What the clearance are for path of travel.

Sidewalk = 48” CLR, Cut Thru Islands = 48” CLR, inside building path of travel = 36” CLR,

Sleep Tips

 If you haven't heard before, sleep is important for human beings. It provide a time and space for healing of the body. Sleep is where the brain has internal rather than external stimuli. Sleep is where the brain has time and space to sort all the information absorbed during the last waking period. The one sleep study that impacted my opinion of sleep the most is where they experimented to see how long people could stay awake. Let's just say that they had to end the experiment for safety reasons. A doctor friend said that a lack of sleep leads to premature aging. So if you want to get old looking quick..limit your sleep. now for the tips...

1) Start to make the place you sleep special. Limit the other activities you do in that room. Begin to train your brain that when you go into this room that sleep will soon follow.

2) Remove sleep distractions from you sleep space. Limit the electronics. If possible have ZERO electronics. Charge you phone somewhere else. Make the room as dark and quiet as possible.

3) Set up a sequence of tasks where the final result is sleep. For example, 

• Breathing exercises.
• Have a warm beverage.
  
• Have a shower or bath.
• Put on special clothes that you only wear when you are going to sleep. 
• Write in your journal.
• Brush your hair.
• Brush and floss your teeth.
• Read or recite a poem.
• Go into your sleep room.
• Say a prayer.
• Get into bed.

4) Make the sequence your own. Include elements that make sense for you and your culture. The list above is not meant to be exhaustive. Add or delete elements. The important part is to do the same sequence every time you want to sleep. Your body and brain will get into a routine.

This has worked for me. I have heard it called sympathetic magic. For me it works like magic. I often fall asleep within five minutes of my head hitting the pillow.

Rest well.

Schedule Issues in your Revit Project

A symbolic note family can help track some of the coordination items or other issues in the model. This is a way to actively note in a view issues that need attention.

1. Place the tag

2. Edit the type

a. Duplicate type

b. Assign it the next number in the sequence

c. Add your initials & a description

d. Use the drop downs to place the dot in the column where it affects specific disciplines.

We used this system in the Language Academy ORG project to keep track of issues and share them with our consultants.

You can right-click on the schedule, click “show” and it will hyperlink you to the location of the issue.

This photo was taken before the year 2000. It was taken with a Pentax K1000 and digitized with the Kodak Photo CD process.

Petrol vs Batteries vs Fuel Cells

Petrol is the fuel of modern economies.

Solar for all its virtues is still more expensive in both land and $$$.

Petrol is the most dense, portable, relatively safe, energy storage medium. No current battery tech even comes close. Batteries also have significant energy losses over time. Batteries are much more subject to temperature variances.

Fuel cell technology is much closer in energy density and storage than batteries. Fuel cell tech comes close to Petrol in terms of overall performance. The only problem with Fuel cell tech is that it does not have the infrastructure that both electricity and petrol have in place.

Perhaps come day, solar + batteries will be a viable option on cost and performance. Today is not that day.