Construction Informer

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Podcast Show Notes

The continued drumbeat about cloud computing [earlier CI Post] keeps the topic at the forefront of conversations those in construction are having about how to leverage the cloud and still maintain security and functionality. One aspect of cloud computing is file storage and it’s not as simple as setting up an account with an online backup service. You have files that are constantly being modified and you need a seamless backup that takes into account the needs of users while creating multiple versions of files and making them easily available if something goes wrong.

Join me in a conversation with Andres Rodriquez, the CEO of Nasuni Corporation. Nasuni bills itself as the gateway to cloud storage. Andres offers perspectives on the security of the cloud, the bandwidth issues, why the cloud is evolving as it is and what to expect from the file storage solutions like the one his company provides.

Also, learn about the free offer from GoToMeeting. Save time and money by getting your team together on GoToMeeting. Right now, hold your meetings online for just $49 a month. Try GoToMeeting free.

In this podcast you can learn how cloud storage through an intermediary helps to simplify the task of putting your files online. For many people in construction, architecture and engineering this episode may serve as an introduction to file storage in the cloud, and it may help others visualize how the real world interacts with the virtual world of cloud computing.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 18:00 — 6.4MB)

Residential Water Heating Gets Greener

A.O. Smith’s Cirrex Solar Thermal Water Heating System makes it easy for contractors to install an energy saving appliance for customers. It comes as a kit so you don’t have to mix and match components from several suppliers. The savings to the home owner are significant, not only in terms of energy bills, but also because of the incentives available. The same incentives offer to make the installer a star for holding down costs.

Get a FREE GoToMeeting Trial

Save time and money by getting your team together on GoToMeeting. Right now hold your meetings online for just $49 a month. Try GoToMeeting free.

Look Beyond Your Construction Fence for Risks

Lockton offers a free white paper that details the risks contractors face beyond their fences. Some of these things can get pretty serious and many managers don’t have a habit of assessing risks beyond the fences.

Health Care Builders Pay Heed

Fifty-eight percent of health care building managers are looking to invest in energy management initiatives, and they are more likely to do so than those in other industries. Johnson Controls’ survey unearthed the numbers. Those who build for health care can find some valuable background here.

Wireless HVAC Automation Opens New Opportunities

Now, residential heating and cooling moves toward zone control with wireless technology. Advector’s systems also offer the installer the chance to get in on the ground floor of the continuing move to wireless technology.

Bascule Span View looking north at the construction of the Bascule (drawspan) Contract. The outer loop bridge (foreground) will be operational in mid-2006. The new bridge will be 20 feet higher than the existing bridge which will reduce the bridge openings from a current 250 times a year to 65 times a year. The contractor is in the process of testing the drawspans. There are four drawspans for each bridge. (Photo Credit: PCC)

The two sides to the debate about what the economy needs- more spending or less spending- will no doubt go on until political fortunes are secured. But in the meantime, it’s instructive to reflect on the success of public works projects, both in terms of the improvements to infrastructure, and their short term benefits to the economy.

One way to divide them up is of course by their costs. Boston, San Francisco, West Virginia, Ohio, Indiana, Texas, Connecticut, Virginia and Maryland host the top 10 most expensive projects according to this article at Construction Management Schools.

Just the bridge work on the Woodrow Wilson bridge between Maryland and Virginia totals almost a half billion dollars with more than 10 million man hours of work invested so far.

Even as far back as the 1800s, public works projects have often moved communities to new heights of innovation. According to the Census Bureau it was July 1891 that the town of Bellfontaine, Ohio became the first to use concrete for a roadway.

The residents of Bellfontaine, Ohio, had a lot to talk about this week in 1891 — an eight-foot wide section of Main Street, where horses were hitched, had just been paved with concrete by engineer George Bartholomew, who supplied his own materials. This was the first use of concrete as a road surface in North America. This experimental section not only proved to be sturdy, it still exists.

By Chuck Nibblere

Manufacturers continue streamlining power tool designs.

In recent years, as the interest in DIY projects has increased, so too has the market for power tools. Now, women and homeowners who previously shied away from doing their own home improvements are picking up power tools in greater numbers. But while general consumers are leading the growth in the power tool market, recent advancements in higher-end power tools for contractors are also improving sales.

Lighter, More Powerful and Multi-Purpose Power Tools

Since lithium-ion batteries entered the market in 2005, power tools have become smaller, lighter and more powerful. Lithium-ion batteries pack more power into a smaller package, last longer and don’t dip in performance when their charge is almost depleted, unlike previous battery types. Manufacturers are also revisiting tool designs to create more compact and ergonomic versions. Even tool appearance is being overhauled to look more stylish and to capitalize on the increased consumer interest in electric power tools, as opposed to hand tools, air tools or welding tools.

“Lithium-ion has been the catalyst for this,” says Mark Herman, national product manager for the Graybar Electric Company, in an article in Electrical Contractor. “With its unique capability of keeping the power band at a very high level through the charge cycle, professionals, and especially electricians, clearly prefer cordless. There is a wide variety of professional tools powered by either 12V or 18V lithium-ion platforms to fit any number of applications. Lithium-ion is where power tools are going and demand will continue to grow.”

Convenience is a big part of why cordless power tools are so popular, and now tools with multiple uses are attracting consumers and contractors alike. This generation of tools is packing more functions into compact sizes, enabling multiple tasks to be completed with one tool instead of many. This extends to the batteries that can be used with multiple tools, and chargers that can also recharge cell phones or MP3 players.

Professional Power Tool Trends

While professionals tend to buy their tools less frequently, they’re also willing to spend more on them since they rely on them every day. The gap between DIY and professional tools is starting to widen as manufacturers seek to address the needs of the contractor. With 36-volt batteries, now even hammer drills can go cordless. Microcomputers and sensors are also integrated into certain professional-grade tools to make them “smarter”—this includes having a drill automatically stop to prevent over-tightening of a screw. This reduces errors and creates a flush alignment, providing professional results much quicker and easier.

Multipurpose power tools help contractors become more efficient; they don’t have to constantly switch tools or hunt to find the one tool they need for a particular job. Sanders can now switch instantly from random orbital sanding to rotary motion and back again. Even anti-theft features are being added to higher-priced tools, since theft is a big concern for professionals.

Due to their popularity and ease of use, power tools will continue to outpace the growth of flooring tools, sheet metal tools and plumbing tools. Manufacturers are working overtime to bring out tool options for general consumers and professionals that wouldn’t have been possible even a few years ago. The power and efficiency of the lithium-ion battery has allowed traditional designs to be revamped, resulting in better ergonomics and slimmer packaging to benefit the environment as well.

All of these trends are expected to continue as long as power tools remain indispensable to both homeowners and professional contractors.

Chuck Nibblere is a regular contributor to Ebuilders.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 7:50 — 3.9MB)

Full Podcast Transcript

Use the following links to easily find other articles in this series.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

It seems like a good time to finish up the series I’ve been doing on the end of easy oil, or peak oil as it has come to be known. You can easily find the other posts on the blog by using the search tool with the term “peak oil.”

For those of you who are just tuning into this series you have to think about oil from the big picture. It is the cornerstone of far more industries and businesses than just being fuel for vehicles and home heating. Just think about plastics and the picture will start to come into focus. Then think about oil shortages and imagine whole industries with limited supplies, and the picture comes into sharp focus.

When the relentless hemorrhage of oil flowing into the Gulf of Mexico started, I recalled some of the figures people had bantered about to describe the amount of oil laying in America’s offshore areas. Enough to supply oil independence many said. The official estimate though is 76 billion barrels, according to the Energy Information Administration. That seems like a lot of oil, but the US consumes that much all by itself in just 10 years time. So I started wondering about the well-heeled, manly-attired woman who’s been strolling across my TV screen extolling the wonders of oil and the jobs it creates and how oil is here to stay. There’s plenty of it. Let’s get at it and use it up.

Where exactly does that kind of thinking come from? Well, I’ve come up with a sentence that describes it, and it goes like this: “We’ve been living on oil for so long we don’t know any other way to live, and so we’ve just got to keep living on oil.” And of course we all know who pays for the ads. Its the stockholders of oil companies. They could be your father, your brother, the old lady down the street, your minister and certainly many of the politicians you know. According to an American Petroleum Institute ad, oil company stock is a large part of America’s retirement fund, being invested in by pensions and as much as 75 percent of the mutual funds followed by Morningstar. And of course, judges – yes judges. It’s interesting to note the numbers of judges who have been recusing themselves from cases involving the BP debacle because they have vested interests in the company. All of this just shows how terribly, deeply America is invested in oil.

And so, what America gets is exactly what it invests in, and in this case that’s an economy based on a commodity that will run out.

Does it really matter what the timeline is for the oil running out? I mean, if the peak hits  by 2030 that will affect many people who are alive today, but what if it doesn’t get serious until 2075? Well, one beneficial thing that means is the current crop of investors, politicians and all the others with vested interest in keeping the oil economy alive, may very well be checked out. You have to wonder about the sincerity of all the talk regarding saddling the next generation with debt, as many of the same voices, heavily invested in oil, turn a blind eye to the nation’s sickening dependence on a commodity that is running out, ultimately leaving the next generations without even the means to produce their own food, or keep the heat on during a cold winter night. The sad truth is we are so invested in oil that imaging a world with limited amounts of it, or worse, one without it, is almost, well, unimaginable.

So, in one way, it does matter when the oil runs out because if it was known for absolute certainty that supplies would be highly squeezed by 2030, our energy policies would be far different today. The well-heeled woman wouldn’t be strolling across my TV screen, and we’d be well immersed in coming to grips with our energy hoggishness, and far more deeply involved in developing alternative energy sources. And I’m talking about things far more enlightened than using corn for fuel.

Construction is a massive user of petroleum. And construction, (and I’m including architecture and engineering here as well), is in a prime position to become a leader in weaning the country from oil.

Here’s how it starts. It starts with architects, contractors, design build teams, and owners asking themselves some tough questions like:

• Is it possible to build on this site using mostly the raw materials that are here?
• Am I building simply for the money? Are there more important things that could be informing my decisions?
• How can we involve local artisans, craftsmen and others who have access to locally available materials that will do the jobs and create the products that we need so we don’t have to bring things in from far away?
• What is already available on the site that can be repurposed for our purpose?
• Is it possible that a thatched roof will add insulation value, be easily repairable and allow us to NOT have to use petroleum products for the roofing?
• Is it possible that going backward, is really going foreword?
• How can we make this abandoned building into one that is being used again?
• Could this site grow enough bamboo, or hemp, or straw, or flax to provide the bulk of the materials for the structure I envision?

And perhaps the one question that should be asked more than any other:

• Should I even build on this site?

Forty years ago, out in the deserts of Arizona, Paolo Soleri must have asked many of these questions as he set about to inspire the building of compact cities. Called Arcology, the concept avoids sprawl, uses just two percent of the land most cities use for the same size population, and takes advantage of natural earth processes for heating and cooling. This kind of thoughtful building is not nurtured in breakneck development driven primarily by the need to produce profits. No. It is for builders, architects and engineers who see their work as art, and who are willing to see the madness of the current economic model for what it is. A mad rush to nowhere.

The new economy has to transcend oil and if construction can do it, then so can everyone else. All it would take would be some wise construction leaders to pick up the banner, focus attention and be inspiring.

Sadly though, if the nation as a whole cannot get over its fragmented protection of self interest, then the oil economy will go on, until it’s too uncomfortable to continue. By then though, it will probably be too late.