Design Risk-How to Design a Brave New World
A journey of one thousand miles begins with the first step. However, any journey carries with it some element of risk and possible pitfalls along the way. To better your chances of reaching your desired destination, it is important that the first step be a step in the right direction. Design is often the first major step in executing any project. As that ‘first step’, design is a key component of a project’s overall risk potential. Following is a discussion of some risk elements in the design process.
MDC Systems Engineer Wins Presidential Grant for Best Green Business Idea, Washington, DC
Washington — To Amal Kabalan and her fellow entrepreneurs, the plight of schoolchildren in Guinea presents a fairly basic need that inspired a simple but creative business response. Guineans don’t have much access to energy for light. Kids wear backpacks. Why not attach a solar-powered device to the backpacks, collect energy on the walk to school, and then use the stored energy to power lamps so the children could study at night?
The idea earned the 27-year-old Lebanon native $3,000 in seed money to start the venture with her new business partners — people she had met just days before and who had been selected by Athgo International, a nonprofit organization that sponsored the competition in partnership with the World Bank Speakers Bureau.
Litigation Strategies In Construction Disputes: Being Cost Effective and Winning
John E. Osborn and Eric L. Guhring
Originally printed in The Metropolitan Corporate Counsel, October 1999
Why Excellent Inhouse Counsel Facilities Cost Effectiveness And Winning
Cost effectiveness and success in the resolution of construction disputes is determined by a recipe. The recipe is different for each dispute because the characteristics and ingredients of each construction project and the participants and their quality vary widely. It is clear that the quality of inhouse counsel significantly affects the cost and success of the dispute resolution.
Common Documentation Problems
James M. McKay, AIA, P.E.
Former MDC Systems® Project Manager
Construction is, to a great extent, a paper business. In addition to a completed building project, an end result of the construction process is reams of documents. From initial project concept through completion, an extensive paper trail is generated.
Water Treatment & Distribution
Donald R. Keer, P.E., Esq. MDCSystems® Consulting Engineer Clean water is necessary in almost every aspect of an industrialized society. Ironically; the greater the industrialization, the harder and more expensive it is to treat water to ensure its purity. Moreover;...
Inoculate Your Project Team to Prevent Construction Failures
Robert C. McCue, P.E.
MDCSystems®
Consulting Engineer
If you are seeing a rise in problem projects and difficult work-outs, take steps now to inoculate your project team for success and profitability. Basic PMBOK training is certainly necessary but not entirely sufficient to ensure success in today’s fast-paced project environment.
Solar Analysis Report
Amal Kabalan
MDC Systems®
Consulting Engineer
Today there is a lot of dialogue about ‘being green’, ‘energy efficiency’, and ‘carbon footprints’. One of the main promises of campaigning politicians is investing in renewable energy technology. Every other commercial on TV or in a magazine speaks about green energy. Solar power is a major component of the renewable energy mix. By now, most people know that solar energy is a pollution free technology; it has the potential to reduce your carbon footprint and provide clean energy for future generations. In 2010 state imposed rate caps on electricity are set to expire, and utilities are positioning themselves for massive rate increases in Pennsylvania.
Fukushima – The Rest of the Story
Fukushima - The Rest of the Story[1] ( AKA Paul Harvey ) By Robert C. McCue, P.E. The complete Japanese investigation of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant disaster of 2011 was recently released in a 641 page report ( the “Official Report”) with the conclusion that...
Construction Defect Inspector Protected Against Contractor Defamation Suit
Where homeowners retained an inspection firm to investigate the cause of their leaky roof, the inspector issued a report stating that the roof had been installed years earlier over fiberboard roof insulation that was soaking wet, thereby causing the later leakage. When the homeowners then sued the contractor for construction defects, the contractor brought a third party defamation action against the inspector, asserting that the statement about the roof being installed over wet insulation was false and defamatory. Summary judgment was granted for the inspector by the trial judge, and this was appealed by the contractor. On appeal, the court found that the statement by the inspector could indeed be actionable as defamation, but that a conditional privilege existed to publish the statement to the homeowner to serve the purposes of the contract between the homeowner and inspector. There are several lessons to be learned from this decision as explained herein. Downey v. Chutehall Construction, 86 Mass.App.Ct. 660, 19 N.E. 3d 470 (2014).
Building Envelope Investigations
MDCSystems® has performed building exterior envelope investigations for over forty years on all types of residential, commercial and industrial buildings. Some of these investigations have included unique aspects of work concerning: