Social Media in Construction

It used to be that all you needed to be a contractor was a truck, a hammer, and a dog. While those are still good fundamentals, add to that at least a smart phone – and a computer. All joking aside, the use of technology has seen an exponential growth in the last year: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google. Can this be harnessed for construction?

It already has. Take YouTube as an example. This is an amazing tool to distribute video to the masses, and the quality ranges from solid science to raving hysteria. But GenX’ers are increasingly savvy and detached, which gives them a healthy dose of skepticism to help pick out the facts from fiction.

Companies can use this to their advantage. Short, concise infomercials can deliver a message with a visual imprint (see Concrete Network – LOGIX) or project reviews. YouTube can be very good forum for providing specific installation detailing ( Spackling paste 3D). It would seem that a customer service dept. could take their most frequently asked questions, produce a YouTube, and then just direct customers to view the training on their own computer. A laptop computer can bring this same training to a jobsite – where a visual explanation may help overcome language barriers.

For a builder’s further education, there are several good “channels” on YouTube that have filtered the uploads, and are reliable sources of information. GreenBuildingAdvisor is linked to the website of the same name, and includes some of the seminars of BuildingScience.com.

Not to be missed are the more sensational videos. My favorites are hotel in China built in 6 days! And for a quick booster in thermodynamics, how about the rap version of convection, conduction & radiation? … and the Worst Construction Mistakes and…

O.k. - so YouTube can be addictive, it can be educational, it can be a good promotional venue. But it is here, and is a tool which can be harnessed for our industry.

Wise Water Use – Innovative Technology

I will admit to being a bit of an old-fashioned purist when it comes to energy efficiency and “green,” believing firmly that the proper design, integration and installation of building systems adds more to the bottom line of life cycle analysis than any amount of “cool” technology. On the other hand, there is some very innovative technology which is hitting the market - and worth keeping tabs on.



Quench Shower for Beginers



As water has been a favorite topic lately, let’s start there. Coming to us from Australia, the driest continent on earth (expect for the recent floods…) are some products which help capture and conserve water. Starting with Quench Showers. It allows you to stand in the shower for therapeutic, operatic, or whatever other effect without feeling guilty about wasting water, as it recirculates the water from your shower pan. (AFTER you’ve finished the shampoo and suds phase

Next is the CSIRO Aerated Shower. While aerated water is not a new concept, these folks have come up with a new method involving a Venturi tube, which “makes the water droplets in the stream hollow and the bubbles expand the volume of the shower stream.” Sounds most interesting, but more importantly, consumer test groups seemed satisfied with the water pressure, and overall perception of showering.

And in the rain catchment department, the Tornado gutter downspout flushes gutters 5 times faster than the typical downspout - great for those torrential rains which could result in overflow gutters, and basement flooding problems… (trick question, does the water spin in a different direction in the US than it does in Australia?) .

With ever increasing low-flow fixtures, there is a potential problem with the sewer line being oversized and not fully “flushing.” One future-proofing technique is to design now for the smallest volume, recognizing that water fixtures will likely go through a few more iterations of downsizing. A solution for currently oversized systems is the Drainwave, which uses the house graywater to help flush out the blackwater from the toilet.

So we never got past Australia, and yet have only touched on a fraction of the inventions from “Down Under.” So much to learn.

Urban Revitalization

Today’s blog is a kudo to the Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority for their innovative approach to solving an age-old problem - how to revitalize a downtown?. Last week I had the pleasure of speaking with Roger Vest, the VP of Real Estate Development, who graciously shared his time to offer my colleague and I some insight into the real nitty gritty work of redevelopment.

First, a bit of background. The canvas of urban development has historically been painted with a broad brush, big commanding strokes, leaving behind a severely altered landscape. The liberal use of eminent domain could sweep up entire blocks, demolish them for replacement with big civic structures, and gentrify old warehouse districts with liberal sprinklings of Starbucks. The poor were relocated - out – to housing projects which were isolated, poorly built, and designed for perpetual dependencies.

The days of the heavy handed approach are mostly gone, as states like Virginia deny the use of eminent domain unless over 50% of the area is blighted. What has emerged is a more judicious approach of revitalization of the community fabric. I think of this as shining the light on the good aspects of the neighborhood, and providing the infusion of support to getting the community back on track. But just how to accomplish this?

STEPHANIE KLEIN-DAVIS The Roanoke Times

100-year-old house on Salem Avenue renovated

through a collaborative effort of agencies

pooling their resources.

Mr. Vest explained to us a brilliantly simple idea which he initiated in Roanoke a few years back. Rather than following the previous model of multiple agencies preparing competitive bids for HUD funds, these folks decided to collaborate on one single bid, dividing up the work to best suit the skills and talents of the agencies. Now while this might seem obvious, simple and yes - even good business in the end – it was undoubtedly the result of a great deal of persuasion and bureaucratic skull-cracking.

This coalition further decided the city would be best served by targeting one neighborhood at a time, helping it get to the tipping point, and then moving on to the next area. This coalition approach allows not only for a broader orchestration of housing, retail, transportation and park space, it also calls for a neighborhood commitment to the community, such as a community garden project.

HURT PARK TOWNHOMES Roanoke,

Here’s how it works. RDA buys/ finds/ remediates the properties and gives them to the Total Action Against Poverty (TAP) Group, Blue Ridge Housing Authority, or Habitat for Humanity for renovation or new construction. These agencies, in turn, meet with the city zoning and neighborhood groups to determine the design and the right mix of housing. This coalition is funding the learning curve for contractors to train on new “green” building techniques, and providing apprenticeships to further spread this new way of construction.

It takes a few years to “turn around” a neighborhood, but then it begins to attract new homebuyers and investors, willing to get in at the lower property prices and invest in the remodeling. In all, some 130 houses in the neighborhood have been touched by the effort, not including the new town houses.

As Baby Boomers age, and look to find walkable communities with access to urban amenities, these affordable neighborhoods are becoming increasingly attractive. In Roanoke, neighborhood groups are standing in line – hoping they’ll be the next one to enjoy the supportive hand of this government outreach.

Details, Details

Expounding on theory is easy. The challenge is taking these great ideas to the jobsite. In residential construction, this workforce is ever-changing, rarely apprenticed to their trade beyond a day or two, and often multi-lingual (excepting English). How, then, to explain the complexities of water and air management, heat loss?

Notice that the question here is how to transfer knowledge. While Building Science is complex in amalgamation, it is relatively straightforward in the component application. Air leaks can be explained, as can the link between air and heat. In showing a worker a specific application, for example the need to lap the housewrap in a manner that the water can flow down – it can help to do a small mock-up – and splash water on it.

Or better than words, what about having a “details room” at the construction site. (NOTE: Idea credit goes to Gary Klein, whom I’ve mentioned in a previous blog re: structured plumbing. He is one of a group of Californians who are truly pushing the envelope. Recommend Home Energy Magazine to tap into this well of progressive, yet very scientifically based thinkers and builders.)

Details. Structural construction details are common in construction drawings. Architectural details are increasingly available through BIM. But what about the details of air/water/heat? Suppose you looked at your plans from the perspective of air/ water and heat leakage. Identify the critical construction elements which are related to these elements and make a mock-up. Chances are many of these are common to much of your construction, and can be re-used on future sites.

A great aspect of a model is that it transcends language. But to ensure comprehension in the translation, learn to ask questions which require an answer that relates to the topic. Avoid yes/ no questions. Ask for their input, their suggestions on how to best achieve the detail. (Another Klein-ism).


Consruction Detail - Window Flashing
with Foam Exterior -  YouTube

A final step can be a visual presentation. Choose one of many from YouTube (suggest the GreenBuildingAdvisor ) or film and post your own. Call the workers together, pull the video up on your laptap – and voila – a mini-training session.

The success or failure of the energy efficiency and durability of construction is often dependent on the details, more precisely, the point of hand-off of those details to the installers. I’d be interested in hearing from you if this details room approach has worked for you, or links to YouTube.

Thanks for Thinking

Connections

The other day, in a design charrette, one of the more astute architects pointed out that the crux of our project was going to be connections. Our challenge was to build demountable buildings which were also thermally efficient. The design evolved to a panelized system. The key was to make sure the physical connections between wall panels were air and water tight.

At the next meeting, I was able to propose a great solution, a SIPS panels which I had learned about based on another set of connections – with people. Thanks to a very wide and active network, I had access to “human” resources for ideas, products and designs. It takes a village…

Diffusion Ventilation
photo: Peter Aaron, Esto 

Much of my research these last weeks has been about cataloging case studies which show that “deep green” buildings - a.k.a. those with more than a token PV panel on the roof - require an integrated design and delivery process to work. There needs to be a connection between the people involved in the project. Bringing them all to the table – at the same table and the same time - to shape the structure, the life systems (aka heating, plumbing, ventilation), the constructablility, and the value desired in the outcome.

This process positions the architect and the engineer to join their formidable and complementary skills to create a shape and structure which is elegant, efficient, and durable. It allows the HVAC and energy expert to not only work around structural elements, but even to draw inspiration from them. Take the example of ingenious a displacement ventilation system built into the exposed steel columns of the Sculpture Building at Yale, which introduces air at low velocities and at higher than usual supply temperatures for increased energy efficiency and improved thermal comfort. KieranTimberlake Architects credits the accelerated schedule on this project which called for lots of collaborative meetings of the top talents from each firm.

GFX Drain
Recovery

This requires a mindshift. For example, plumbing. While it is true that at its core, the basic concept of delivery plumbing through some enclosed mechanism hasn’t change since the Roman viaducts, what about the connections? There is the question of the mechanical connections, looking at probabilities of failure and providing access to maintenance and replacement - calling perhaps for PEX tubing where the connections are always at access points. Or “connecting” the heat from the drain water to the incoming water, to capture the otherwise lost energy. Or connecting the water heating element and the space heating element. Or even connecting the concept of delivering water with the concept of adaptive space re-use, and designing accordingly.

As we first noted in our design charrette – the energy efficiency of the building was contingent on good connections. Energy leaks are not typically through the middle of a product, but in the connection to another product. This may be disparate materials, but often it is because energy “leaks” happen at the intersection of trades. Because each trade keeps to their “silo” scope of work, but there is “hole” guy to come in an connect all the gaps left between the trades – like insulation cut out around electrical or the sequence of waterproofing from the roof to the walls.

Getting the right connections, both system wide and in the devil of the detail is at the heart of great buildings. Getting to this level of integration is about the right people, with the right attitude, getting together at the right time.

Engineered vs Structured Plumbing

There is a pattern in the green building which seems to repeat. Some group of public calls for change, a few analytical sorts figure out the core reasons and develop a systems approach, and the manufacturing sector comes up with the products. So far, so good – except that the analytical guy often gets forgotten. The problem with systems improvements is that it isn’t easily packaged and sold. Don’t get me wrong – I came from the manufacturing world and have great respect for the innovations brought to market by these great entrepreneurs. But I also experience the frustration of knowing that a component piece was only a piece if not designed into a whole solution.

And so it is with plumbing. There are many environmental issues concerning water - source pollution, safety of drinking water, capture of rainwater, graywater. But the one aspect which every project can impact is the amount of water consumption. Low-hanging solutions include low-water landscaping, and low-flow fixtures. The marketplace has come up with many “engineered” products to address these needs.

The more elusive goal is that of reducing system waste in both water and heat. Energy is lost and water wasted in waiting for the hot water to arrive at the fixture. Gary Klein, the eminent water efficiency expert, who just wrapped up 19 years with the California Energy Commission, has been at the forefront of advocating structured plumbing. If the basic structure of the plumbing system is not efficient, then the “engineering” of the fixtures may not be maximized. So – plumbing systems should be designed, instead of merely “roughed in.”

This isn’t any great news. The USGBC LEED system recommends structured plumbing, but without any real reference to resources. Short of living in California or attending one of Klein’s seminars, I found this terrific presentation which he has made available on-line: Water Distribution: Getting Hotter Water Faster. While I won’t presume to condense this volume of exacting information, the basic design principles include improving the delivery of hot water, improve and use the cool-down phase, and use structured plumbing.

Gaiam Shower Head

One point which Klein has made in his work is that the eventual success of a “green” plumbing system is dependent on the owner expectations and comfort. Take, for example, a “low-flow” sunflower shower head. I was recently in a house which had two such shower heads, because the owner felt the water stream from one wasn’t sufficient. A friend of his did the same, but added a wall mounted hand-held unit - which was the most effective – as one can direct a strong enough stream of water to wash out the lint between the toes!

And not to forget the impact of the shower surround on the amount of water used. It is fairly typical for people to turn on their water well before they get into the shower, partially to allow the hot water to arrive, but also to let the heat from the water warm up the cold tile surround. So a bit of well-place insulation, or even the placement and direction of a heat vent can be part of the plumbing solution.

People will protest that there is no need to conserve water, because they live in a “wet” area. Which would be fine if they were showering in collected rainwater. But the water delivered to their faucet has costs of removing impurities, transporting, and finally heating. Conservation of culinary water is not just for desert environments.

Sustainability in plumbing is about optimizing levels of systems, from a global perspective down to the choice of toilets. I urge you to tap into Gary Klein’s work, even just to appreciate the complexity of it.