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Making Offshore Engineering Pay Off
Most manufacturers can easily tick off any number of practical reasons either for building new factories in China, India, Vietnam, and other low-cost nations or for buying parts from suppliers based in those countries. Simplified supply chains, better inventory management, and sharply reduced costs are among the obvious benefits. But the same group displays less enthusiasm for offshoring design and engineering.
Water Treatment: Not Just a Third World Issue
Donald R. Keer, P.E., Esq. MDCSystems® Consulting Engineer In March the United Nations celebrated World Water Day 2013 by choosing Water Cooperation (supplying clean, accessible water to vulnerable communities) as its theme. With continuous pressure being put on...
“No Damage for Delay” Clauses – An Update
“No damage for delay” clauses continue to divide the country and the courts on their application and interpretation. Although owners and prime contractors insist on enforceability, the net result typically shifts the risk onto the party least likely to negotiate fair limits, to control events on the jobsite and absorb the ultimate cost. Nevertheless, these clauses are found in most construction contracts in some form or another.
Getting Back On Track: Turning Around The Construction Project “Heading South”
Corporate owners and tenants who build in urban centers such as New York City are an “at risk” group. Getting everything “on line” quickly is expensive. Difficulties encountered during a failure in design or construction can be catastrophic if practical solutions are not developed promptly to get things back on track.
Risk Management in Design
In previous editions of the MDCAdvisor®, our contributors have addressed risk issues relative to budgeting and cost estimating as well as overall risk considerations. A key contributor to almost all of the potential project risk scenarios is the conception, development and execution of the design process for the project.
What’s That Smell?? Mold – The New ‘Asbestos’
E. Mitchell Swann, P.E. MDCSystems® Consulting Engineer Mold cases have become almost as prolific in the legal world as the little fuzzy devils themselves in the real world. Mold is a hot topic and claims associated with mold, mildew and related IAQ issues including...
ASHRAE Central Florida Chapter – Sustainability – Undefined Success in a Defined World
This Seminar Will Include
- key green building elements
- specific green risks
- the source of risk
- management/mitigation strategies
- and more
Pennsylvania Solar Energy Rebate On Hold
Amal Kabalan MDC Systems® Former Consulting Engineer How Consumers Can Still Save Energy Last July Pennsylvania state officials announced the $100 million consumer and small business solar energy rebate program -- part of a $650 million Alternative Energy Investment...
Dispute Resolution Methodologies
Stephen M. Rymal, P.E., Esq.
MDC Systems®
Consulting Engineer
In the construction industry, there are several alternative dispute resolution (ADR) methodologies designed to provide a means to resolve disputes without resorting to formal litigation in court. Some projects set up dispute resolution boards (DRBs) to address disputes in real time before the parties harden their positions and carve them into stone. The advantage of DRBs is that they meet regularly with the parties to recognize and address disputes at their earliest stage when the inherent risks can be truly estimated, appreciated, and shared…
Reasonably Relied Upon…
As a strong component of the sustainability initiative in buildings, energy use is rightfully taking its place as a leading metric in evaluating a building’s performance. Further emphasizing the importance of performance measurement is the expected roll out of an industry wide “Building Energy Performance” label which is intended to provide an objective comparison of energy use between buildings. Rating systems like Energy Star along with model energy codes look at both predictive energy use models and actual usage as crucial to determining a building’s true performance and rating. The USGBC’s newly issued LEED v3.0 rating system requires the initial certification, recertification and by extension the possibility of decertification of LEED buildings to be tied closely to comparisons of modeled and measured energy use over time.
The CSI Effect: The Increasing Role of Forensic Evidence in Construction Litigation
Leigh Erin Schmeltz, Esq.
As demonstrated by the popularity of CBS’s television show CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, the intriguing field of forensic science is capturing the attention of many across the nation. Beyond entertainment and education, however, forensics plays a very real and crucial role in civil investigations, using technology to investigate and establish facts in the civil courts. Evidence that illustrates wrongdoing, negligence and malfeasance through photographs, detailed reports, and testing can mean the difference between an adverse judgment and a complete discharge from liability.
Advanced Energy Design Guide
The Advanced Energy Design Guide was developed to provide contractors and designers with a simple approach to exceed energy savings of ANSI/ASHRAE/IESNA Standard 90.1-1999 by 30%. Without resorting to time consuming analysis, the guide offers a means for construction professionals to provide owners with more value through a combination of optimized process and proven design practice. Written for office buildings no greater than 20,000 square feet, the guide is meant as a supplement to the 90.1 standard, with an outline that reads more like a textbook than code specification. The energy saving goals and means are broken down by building component; envelope, lighting, HVAC, service water heating, and more. Hour-based energy analysis software verified the 30% savings in energy. This guide provides detailed tables, climate zone-specific examples, and stepwise methodology.
Is Changing Climate Driving Water Management Processes?
Written by Donald Keer, PE In light of the ongoing drought in the Midwest which is affecting food production, transportation and industry operations, a review of Federal recommendations is appropriate. Not only is corn production stunted but the Mississippi River was...
Much Ado About Stucco
By Michelle N. Delehanty, PE, PMP
MDC Systems® Consulting Engineer
In recent years, the popularity of stucco siding for houses has soared. Or, depending who you ask, it’s the notoriety that has increased so steadily over the past decade. Good or bad, stucco is being talked about among builders, homeowners, and even in the news.
I Love it When a Plan Comes Together – Integrated Project Delivery
In our last edition of the MDCAdvisor® we talked about BIM (Building Information Modeling) Systems and the impact of that technology on the way projects are done and the way team members relate to each other. We are going to climb the tree a bit higher to see what changes in the landscape make BIM possible – beyond really neat computers.
Systems Thinking – A New Paradigm for Successful Projects
How can a large, well-funded capital project fail to achieve its technical, cost and performance goals and why is this still acommon outcome? These projects are typically undertaken by teams of personnel from the Owner, Architect and Engineer firms and Contractors. How can such a collection of talent, carefully selected based upon experience and references, fail to deliver?
A Global Owner Talks About Project Execution Completion
Interview with Joe Gionfriddo, Global Construction Process Owner of Proctor & Gamble
MDC Systems®’s Mitchell Swann met with Joe Gionfriddo at this year’s McGraw-Hill Global Construction Summit in Beijing, China in April 2006. Mr. Gionfriddo, the Global Construction manager – Corporate Engineering at P&G, was a part of a Panel Program entitled “What Do Global Owners Need?” which featured speakers form a number of global owners. We thought his comments and viewpoints were very insightful and would be of value to our Advisor readers. Below is a short interview we conducted with Joe Gionfriddo.
Construction’s Seven Deadly Sins
The Seven Deadly Sins of a Construction Project that Regularly Lead to Claims
(And How to Avoid Them)
From a project’s inception, an owner will typically have a vision of how they imagine their project will end. A ribbon cutting on a bright sunny day, surrounded by contractors, architects, and engineers alike all happy with the project’s outcome, on time and under budget, with motivation to continue on to additional shining successes in the future. Typically, this vision begins to fade as reality sets in…
Risk Management – Recognizing and Prioritizing Project Risks
One of the biggest components in successfully managing your capital program is a strong risk management plan. A project risk assessment is usually performed during project kickoff with all stakeholders contributing to the list of risks because the earlier in the...
Information Management in an Electronic Age
John P. Sieminski, Esquire Burns, White & Hickton, LLC Information Explosion The world is going digital and the business world is no exception. It is estimated that over 90% of new information is created on an electronic device in digital form. Of that electronic...