Public Infrastructure

Authentic panels save time, money over polypropylene and deliver an aesthetic first

Bringing installation ease and a highly desirable ledgestone aesthetic, new Foundry Stacked Stone siding expands The Foundry’s Stone Collection of premium vinyl siding. Foundry Stacked Stone features bold, rugged texture cast from hand-selected North Carolina quarried stone, an enhanced coloring process that delivers scores of vibrant undertones and tonal differences, and an innovative first for the stone siding market - the only textured grout line for added authenticity.

New “How-To” Video Features Modular, User-Friendly Format and Vivid Animation

Converging pocket doors offer an ideal solution in situations where conventional swinging doors would rob too much space or where a room’s design or furniture would encumber swinging doors. This videoshows how to make a dramatic double pocket door installation simple and easy. The secret is the Johnson Hardware converging pocket door kit, which connects two pocket door frames. Converging pocket doors take up no wall space and save up to 28 sq. ft. of floor space. The video demonstrates how to complete this project properly in the shortest time possible. The 11-minute video describes the process in a dozen steps via crisp animation that moves at a manageable pace and lets the viewer stop and review scenes as needed.

Here are some typical questions about space–saving pocket doors and building tips for installing pocket door frames:

Bronze, a new color in Johnson Hardware’s popular Series 2610 Wall-Mount Hardware offering, broadens design and decorating possibilities and makes the hardware compatible with a wider range of architectural styles. It works particularly well as a warming accent in rooms painted in deeper, bolder colors like dark green, burgundy, purple, or brown. The Series 2610FB hardware also is available in aluminum.

Contractor to Contractor: In this first of a two-part series, contractor-turned-homebuilder Fernando Pages Ruiz introduces permeable pavement, which allows rain and snow to seep into the ground.

What is Pervious Pavement?

Pervious concrete came to the attention of the building community in the United States after Congress passed the Clean Water Act in 1987. With restrictions in the amount of storm water runoff permitted from roads, parking lots and other impermeable surfaces, some developers began to look for environmentally-friendly alternatives. They found it in an exotic, water-sucking concrete first tested in Florida about 30 years ago as a flood-control device. Engineers placed highly porous concrete paving in spots along Florida roadways frequently submerged by heavy downpours. The permeable surface provided a quick-drying roadway that didn’t stay flooded after the storm.

This is the fifth article in Buildipedia's series on U.S. Infrastructure, following the January 8, 2010 feature on dams, "It’s About Dam Time!"

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) assigned the United States’ DRINKING WATER infrastructure a grade of “D-” on their 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Easy access to fresh water is a modern convenience that we might take for granted in our daily lives.

Carbon dioxide (CO₂) is a by-product of human respiration. Each time we exhale, CO₂ is released into the atmosphere around us.  Currently, CO₂ sensors can be used to automatically control ventilation systems in buildings equipped with Building Automation Systems (BAS). This is referred to as Demand Control Ventilation (DCV).

Bird control is a method of deterring birds from landing, roosting, and nesting in and around a building. In less extreme examples, birds in buildings can impede the productivity of workers and create additional building maintenance and cleaning challenges. In more extreme cases, they can damage capital equipment and create significant safety hazards. Fortunately, there is an entire industry in existence which offers various products and techniques for the control of birds, including bird spikes, bird shock tracks, netting, fragrances, wire arrays, and bundled wire stands, among others.

The Cost and Reliability of Electricity Service

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) assigned the United States’ ENERGY infrastructure a grade of “D+” on their 2009 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure. Electricity generation is the first of three installments on energy and covers nuclear, coal and natural gas, and hydro-electric power generating facilities. Electrical transmission and distribution will be covered in installments two and three as we follow the path of electricity from a power generating facility to your home or business. The goal is to provide an overview on how electrical power is delivered, including issues of current concern.