Community: Project management

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3 Answers

Quickly listing neighborhood amenities by LEED category

I am working on several LEED for Homes Midrise projects which are pursuing points under LL5 Community Resources. LEED outlines several categories of resources, like:

Arts and entertainment center, Bank, Community or civic center, Convenience store, Daycare center, Fire station, etc.

Asked By Kris Knutson | May 17 13

0 Answers

Audit Report Software

I'm looking for advise on residential audit report software. I had used "Recurve" software until they discontinued their service. I am looking for something with similar features in the long run that would be compatible with BPI and Calif. incentive programs (i.e Title 24, CEC requirments, etc.) but any program that produces a thorough, professional report to hand to clients is also of interest. Any suggestions?

Asked By Shawn Ellsworth | May 10 13

1 Answer

Soy foam insulation smell

We recently had soy foam insulation applied to our dining rom and living room wall and a garage wall. We had situation where the original siding of the house on the garage level was not properly secured to the framing and there was air coming from outside the house getting trapped between the wall directly above it (dining room/living room) causing the sheetrock or dry wall to smell. We removed the sheet rock and insulation. There was no mold or any rodent infestation but the wood was old and smelled.

Asked By Stephanie Ciletti | May 6 13

11 Answers

First time General Contractor

Hello:
First, let me begin by saying that I have never built a house. I have, however, lived in 2 homes that I had built. Also, I am a skilled in finished carpentry, tiling, plumbing, and can hold my own in general framing and electrical work. For over 35 years I worked in Information Systems (my day job) specializing in project management.

Asked By Mike Turner | Dec 24 12

4 Answers

We need someone to advise our contractor

We are building a home in Fairfield county, CT on a pre-existing foundation. Our contractor and designer are family, and although they are very good, they have limited experience building green homes. We would like to hire someone with experience that can work with us on an applying energy efficient design technique's as well as insulation, HVAC and other green features. How do I go about finding a person that does that?

Asked By GORDON PLAUT | Aug 29 12

2 Answers

Exterior foundation deterioration

I bought my home 10 years ago. The dining room was added to the original home, off of the kitchen. The outside concrete foundation on the dining room portion, outside exterior is starting to dust/crumble off, exposing the chicken wire mesh that was used under the concrete. It looks as though a poor grade of concrete was used, the rest of the house is in excellent shape.

Asked By Deborah Stueve | Jul 29 11

2 Answers

The KISS rule

This is really more of a rant than a question. Sorry. And this is not for homes only, but for commercial building, primarliy, which is what I work on as an architect.

Asked By Joe McNally | Mar 7 11

4 Answers

Looking for integrated design help in RI

I am acting as contractor on the renovation of my home in Rhode Island.
Major interior renovation, all new exterior, all new doors and windows, new roof.
I have become dis-satisfied with my architect's knowledge about such issues as insulation technology, passive cooling, etc.
I am looking for someone to take over the design of exterior wall details, door & window details and roof details as well as a whole-house heating and cooling plan.
Is there a national registry of design professionals in this field?
Any recommendations?

Thanks in advance for your help.

David

Asked By David Bettridge | Feb 19 11

7 Answers

How to tell if a contractor knows how to build air tight?

I've been reading a lot of the content in the blogs here and the recurring theme seems to be that the tighter you build the home the better the energy efficiency. However I've also seen indications of nightmares caused by homes having been improperly built thereby trapping in moisture and causing rot.

So my $10,000 question (hopefully not literally) is how do you determine if a contractor you're considering hiring really knows how to properly build an air tight home?

What questions should you ask?

Asked By Jay Hersh | Feb 10 11

13 Answers

For green building, start with a builder or an architect?

I'm considering building a green home, particularly with regards to energy efficiency. I anticipate having a lot of detailed drawings, because unfortunately many "green" techniques for framing, insulation, and moisture management seem to be new to people, and I don't want to leave things open to interpretation. My basic question is, should I try to find an experienced green builder first, or should I start with an architect? I've read that a prerequisite for a good design and well-built structure is a charrette with everyone involved, but who will likely be the leader?

Asked By Andrew | Dec 19 09

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