LEED Indoor Environmental Quality This portion of the LEED Scorecard really brings to focus all the opportunities to use clean finishes, ones with fewer emissions that contaminate the air we breathe. According to the LEED Reference Manual, Americans spend 90% of our time indoors. That means cleaning the indoor air starts from the materials we use like […]
Construction Construction is widely believed to be the oldest profession; simple prehistoric structures as old as 1.7 million years have been discovered near fossils of human ancestors. Early builders were certainly engineers as well. They relied on their instincts to determine how to build the strongest structure using materials readily available to them. Proof of […]
What’s new online? The USGBC has made 3 major changes to their program. I am extremely impressed with their ability to take suggestions from organizations world-wide and turn the site into a more user-friendly interface. Harmonized Scorecards Credits and Prerequisites are now common along all the major rating systems. In the old system, the scorecards for Commercial […]
Field Measurement This is a term often used in construction. So many things need to be measured in the field to verify compliance with the drawings. With respect to earthwork, this means measurement of the volume of earth to be cut or filled, or both cut and filled. We’ll talk more about this in a […]
A Simple Explanation Put yourself in a project manager’s position. It’s the beginning of the project, and you need to begin excavation for footings. You have some important decisions to make: Will you need to keep some soil on site for backfill operations? Will you have room on site to store earthwork for backfill operations? Do your […]
Earth + Work = Earthwork? Earthwork pertains to working in the earth. Obvious I know, but it makes you sound very knowledgeable when you refer to it as earthwork rather than saying ‘digging’. Earthwork generally relates to excavation (taking dirt out of an area), hauling (moving dirt from one place to another), and placing (literally […]
LEED Energy and Atmosphere Fig 1: Renewable Energy (Photo: ref) This section of the LEED Scorecard relies on building modeling and the beautiful results technology can bring to the table. We also look at Commissioning, which is sometimes hard to grasp in concept if you haven’t been in the industry long enough. We’ll break it down into layman’s […]
Estimating There are many times throughout a project when it is necessary to perform an estimate or take-off. The first time will typically be completed before a bid or offer is made. Estimators for a company must quantify the costs involved with the project they are working on. An estimate comprises of all the costs involved to complete the […]
The critical path method (CPM) is an algorithm for scheduling a set of project activities. It is an important tool for effective project management. It is also guaranteed to show up in one form or another on the PE Exam. Below you will find explanations and examples on how to calculate the CPM for a project. Understanding Critical […]
Cranes The construction industry has benefitted from cranes since the Grecians used a pulley system with stones ensemble dating back to 515 BC. Many could be used with a pulleys and wheels, making them one of the first large pieces of equipment to aid man’s work before power and gas were available. The Breakdown Types […]