CSI Project Solutions

Maintenance Tips: Washing Machines

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According to the Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components, which was prepared in 2007 by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the average life expectancy of a washing machine is 10 years. While washing machines are not made to last forever, performing simple maintenance will help to ensure they last as long or longer than expected, and will actually reduce the likelihood that your washing machine will be the cause of significant water damage to your home.

Maintenance Tips: Dryers

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Dryers remove moisture by blowing hot air over wet, tumbling clothes. The hot, moisture-laden air is exhausted outside the home through a dryer vent duct. According to the Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components, which was prepared in 2007 by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the average life expectancy of a clothes dryer (gas or electric) is 13 years. Dryers are a fairly simple appliance with a long life expectancy as compared to other appliances, but present both personal and property hazards. Timely dryer maintenance will reduce potential problems and ensure it is functioning as excepted.

We're Going Nuclear! (Again)

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On Tuesday of this week, President Obama announced construction plans for the first new U.S. nuclear power plant (actually two new reactors at an existing plant) in almost three decades.  Touting the benefits that nuclear power offers to the environment (in particular, fewer carbon emissions as compared to similar-sized coal burning plants), the U.S. government will back $8.33 billion in loans for the reactor additions to the Alvin Vogtle Electric Generating Plant in Burke, Georgia.  The loans program is run by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and has previously sponsored infrastructure projects concerning wind turbines and cleaner coal burning power plants.

Guardrails: Design Criteria, Building Codes, & Installation

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Designing and Installing a Safe System
Almost every commercial and public building, whether it is an office building, sports arena, place of worship, or school building, contains a guardrail system. Guardrail systems are installed to provide safety and protection for the building occupants and are placed at or near the outer edges, of flights of stairs, ramps, landings, platforms, balconies and accessible areas of roofs. They will also be found at the perimeter edge of any opening or accessible surface, such as an open­ing for a stairway, or at a location where operating conditions require limited access to a designated area in order to guard against accidental falls.

A Remarkable Torch Starts The Olympics Opening Ceremony

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The Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics evoked a sense of awe in Carla D'Errico, freelance writer of travel and architecture, who gives her response to the ceremony in an interview below. In short, the artistic directors David Atkins and Ignatius Jones deserve the highest esteem for their spectacular video arts show. In addition, while the Olympic torch may seem to be of little consequence when it comes to sustainability, the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics Torch that kicked off the ceremonies on Friday night is actually a remarkable example of green ingenuity.

 

2010 Olympics Begin: Vancouver Convention Centre

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In 1978, municipal, provincial, and federal Canadian governments began working together to plan the development of a convention center – complete with cruise line and hotel amenities -- on a waterfront property in Vancouver that had been used earlier in the century as a railway pier.

Nat'l Engineers' Week Presents The Future City Competition

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Middle School Kids Design Sustainable Cities to Help Those in Distress

At 7:30 a.m. on a winter Saturday, a time when most kids are still sleeping, professional-looking seventh and eighth graders were already buzzing around pushing carts that were loaded with table-sized futuristic city models and getting them into place for a day-long judging process. The projects that these students were rushing about represent hours of thinking, designing, researching, and collaborating with mentors and classmates to create: An Affordable Living Space For People Who Have Lost Their Home Due to a Disaster or Financial Emergency.

Kleen Energy and Clean Energy in the News

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The tragic explosion at the Kleen Energy plant in Middletown, CT on February 7th reminds us that construction is dangerous work.  Our sympathies go out to the families of those impacted by this recent accident.  The explosion apparently occurred while the crew was purging natural gas lines.  A nuance of this story is that this power plant was still under construction and not yet operational.  Also, there’s been debate in various blogs and news articles about potential fatigue among the construction crew.  Were they under too much pressure to get too much done too quickly?

Maintenance Tips: Bathroom Vanities

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Bathroom vanities are comprised of a base or furniture cabinet, a countertop mounted to the top of the cabinet, a sink, a faucet, and a drain stop assembly located at the bottom of the sink which allows water to drain or be collected. Maintaining each component can be overwhelming, given that there are several different styles, manufacturers, and types of materials used. However, there are only a few components that require regular inspection and/or maintenance to ensure proper function.

Extruded Polystyrene (XPS): Improved Wall Performance

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A building's wall system must constantly fight the invasion of rain, air, vapor and thermal attacks.The wall's ability to provide a barrier to each of these elements relies upon the use of appropriate materials, installed in the correct sequence.  There is no such thing as a perfect wall system; however, a wall system that performs with greater efficiency using new efficient materials is achievable.

When Power Tools Attack: Man Shocked By Table Saw

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While catching up on my daily dose of news, I came across a rather interesting story out of Olympia, Washington.   After a local woman found out that her husband was leaving her, she allegedly tampered with his power tools, switching the positive and negative wires in an attempt to get back at him.