reminder of where accessibility laws come from...

The Architectural Barriers Act (ABA), a federal law created in 1968 that stipulates all buildings, other than privately owned residential facilities, constructed by or on behalf of, or leased by the United States, or buildings financed in whole or in part by the United States, must be physically accessible for people with disabilities.

 The Rehabilitation Act is a federal law first passed in 1973. The purpose of Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act was to make sure that people with disabilities will have the same opportunities in federally funded programs as people without disabilities. For example, this section is very important in the design of schools and universities. Both physical access to the buildings and spaces, as well as equal access to participation in the programs, must be available.

Thanks to ICC for summary

Thanks Steve

Here is a great blog post that brings up a major BIM/Revit issue.
Who owns the model? The creator of it.
What happens when it is shared to a contractor? They use it to do area take-offs and they build to the model and ignore the documentation.

Heavy Stuff.

The Pocket Book of Patriotism

This book includes a history of the world compared with the history of the United States. It marks notable events from science, religion, arts, popular culture, war and disaster. The second half of the book is a collection of documents that influenced our present day United States. It is well worth a read and could easily be used as a reference.

Learn about the world

Test

The above website brings together facts from the CIA with Google Maps. You can see where your country ranks compared to others on many issues.

BMW Energy Efficiency Building

Take a look at the building described here. A design with a purpose.

Kitchen Remodel is almost done.

Wind powered building

I've seen numerous examples of wind generators attached to buildings. The typical problem is that the cyclical action of the generator starts a vibration in the structure that makes the buildings noisy. Another problem is the generators themselves detract from the look of the building. Take a look at this one.