CSI Project Solutions

Late payment to the contractor is one of the main causes of relationships souring during construction projects. The contractor is unhappy. Subcontractors are unhappy. Suppliers are unhappy. The engineer has to field all of these complaints -- and often the blame. Incomplete payments, due to disputed work or progress, lead to damaged relationships as well. Late payments do more than effect relationships, however: They can severely cripple a contractor’s ability to continue and complete the work.

Third-party verification, the basic concept at the heart of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program, is both its greatest strength and its greatest burden. The U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) has long struggled to establish a practical system in which a series of independent verifiers work seamlessly together to achieve building certification.

The New Museum is not exactly new anymore. Upon its completion in 2007, the blocky, mesh-clad structure generated some controversy: a rainbow-hued "Hell Yes!" affixed to its facade rebelliously declared its arrival on the Bowery, the main street of the eponymous neighborhood in lower Manhattan. SANAA's eye-catching design for the the 33-year old New Museum oscillates between the Bowery's infamous past and its inevitably gentrified future.

Construction is about building, and not only in the sense of infrastructure: building professional and cordial relationships between the three principals on a project results in a better facility constructed on time and within budget. The relationships between the owner (or developer), the contractor, and the engineer (or other design professional) are defined by the General Conditions of the Construction Contract, published by the Engineers Joint Contract Documents Committee (EJCDC).

The City of Takoma Park, Maryland, needed to replace a failing retaining wall that supports a roadway in a small residential development. The Linden Avenue site is directly adjacent to Sligo Creek, which is a tributary of Anacostia Creek, a river undergoing a significant restoration effort. T. E. Scott & Associates, Inc., designed a replacement for the failing retaining wall infrastructure, created a pocket park for the local residents, and provided water quality treatment for the unmanaged watershed. This combination of aesthetic and environmental improvements adds value to the project. We’ll look at some stormwater flow design calculations, a storm water flow splitter, an urban modular wetland unit, a step/plunge pool, and an interesting retaining wall design.

Paint failure occurs for many reasons, but moisture is a common cause. It is important for a homeowner to not only notice moisture problems, but to hire a competent painting contractor who can identify their causes and make the necessary corrections. Moisture as a source of paint failure falls into three general categories: systemic moisture, structurally caused moisture, and moisture caused by human error.

The U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC's) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program is the nation’s leading standards-based green building program. In 2009 the USGBC released its most recent version of the rating system and embarked upon its latest stage of development.

When Denver’s commercial real estate industry outlines criteria for developing a successful project, it typically starts with whether the site provides any views of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Front Range to the west of the city. It follows, of course, that these units hold a value premium, as owners will pay more for this look at the mountains, a source of comfort and inspiration and an iconic representation of Colorado’s strong sense of identity.

The Denver Art Museum may well be the most prominent expression of Denver’s cultural heart. Daniel Libeskind’s 146,000 sq. ft. extension to the museum, The Frederic C. Hamilton Building, was a joint venture with the Davis Partnership and houses Modern, Contemporary, Oceanic, and African Art collections. The original museum, which opened in 1971, was Italian architect Gio Ponti’s first American commission and boasted an exterior of Italian tile and the innovation of stacking its galleries vertically, which sought to combat the “museum fatigue” that resulted from traversing the long horizontal layout typical of museums at the time.

The time between receiving bids (or a proposal for sole source work) and the start of construction is a busy time for the contractor, the owner, and the design professional. The design professional must quickly check the bids and verify that the low bidder truly has the qualifications to do the work, then prepare the contract documents for signatures. The owner needs to proceed through the necessary steps to award the project, which include having financing ready. The low bidder must begin to expand upon the data assembled during the bid phase and prepare for mobilization.

In our last article on DIY painting basics, we discussed setting up an effective workspace and managing the workflow. We're now ready to work, and we'll discuss tips on preparation and finishing your interior painting project. Painting serves two purposes -- to beautify and to protect surfaces. Beautification takes a more prominent role in interior painting than in exterior, where protection is your higher concern. Proper surface preparation is equally important in achieving both purposes. Preparation is the most time-consuming and difficult aspect of any painting job, although it is also the most important. Proper preparation will produce a finish that will look great and last far longer than poor preparation will.

The Bertschi School, an independent elementary school in Seattle, Washington, has a history of emphasizing sustainability. In 2007, it was the first school in the state to have an elementary classroom building awarded LEED Gold certification. Now, with a new 1,425 sq. ft. science classroom scheduled for completion in November, the school is attempting to comply with an even more stringent green building rating system, the Cascadia Region Green Building Council’s Living Building Challenge.