Energy Star tax creditsSoftware And The Data
Change is in the wind. Software and information technology forces a break with the past. For generations, we engineers depended on drawings. The desktop PC, and software, such as Autocad, changed our dependence into a 2-d CAD. Stephen Roth wrote in the recent issue of Consulting Specifying Engineers magazine. HVAC cooling and heating load analysis [...]
Concerns brought up by Howard McKew of Engineered Systems magazine in the July 2009 issue. He said “Owners, Please Demand More from your IPD team” (Integrated Project Delivery ) McKew cites the fact that the new IPD approach being promoted by the AIA is possibly a lawyers dream to make money in this economic downturn. [...]
Continue reading about Owners: Demand more Energy Modeling for the bottom line
In my opinion, “The 8th habit”, by Stephen Covey, (Free Press, 2004) should be required reading for all business people, including building owners, managers and designers. He said that successful team work includes all of the following: Focus on the wildly important Create a compelling scoreboard Translate lofty goals into specific actions Hold each other [...]
Continue reading about Accountability and measuring performance: Metering to assure energy savings
FranklyMLS.com is a superb web site that I use for searching and analyzing residential properties in this, the DC/Maryland/Virginia region. It’s my favorite tool because it is fast, easy and returns latest MLS data in a format I can analyze in Microsoft Excel, text and numericals. No gobble-dee-gook. Other web sites that use this MLS [...]
Lately, we ( my partner and my team) have been looking daily and diligently for rehab properties, and making offers (or trying to ) on the ones we like. However, a peculiar thing is happening with bank-owned (REO ) home in northern VA. There have been rumors of dishonesty and unscrupulous operators. And we are [...]
Continue reading about Dysfunctional Multiple Listing Service
An interesting web site Denver Home Values made this 2007 commentary. Its a bit dated, but it discloses the lack of widespread standardization of the data. “The difficulty of dealing with the many legal and technical issues has not prevented a few national real estate conglomerates from attempting to build a national database of listings [...]
Continue reading about Aha! A national MLS database does NOT exist
Recently, I have been using a slew of various web sites to research real estate listings. Most real estate web sites sport tools such as active maps that activate displays on a list on same page. There are two kinds of these. 1. Mouseover links on the map highlight individual properties on an “active list” [...]
Continue reading about Web sites for searching real estate listings
The April issue of Building Design and Construction magazine has a pretty interesting article entitled, BIM + IPD: Three Success Stories, by Jeff Yoders. He writes on some recent projects done using the Integrated Project Delivery approach that uses the Building Information Modeling– leveraging the synched database model inside Autodesk‘s REVIT and REVIT MEP software– [...]
I design HVAC most of the time, but for the plumbing designer entry in BIM {{wiki}}, I would like to offer these Advantages of BIM for the plumbing engineer : Fixture schedules can be synchronized or linked to the architects schedule with a mere key stroke. Fixture schedules , plans, riser diagrams, sections and details [...]
Continue reading about for BIM{{wiki}} some Benefits of BIM to the Plumbing Designer
HVAC DATA model from LBNL
BetterBricks.com
Database of Energy and $ Incentives
From Horsepower to Hearpower, Part 1: The Foundations of Power and Energy
Oil Industry started (Drake's well in PA)
The Energy Collective
Architecture 2030
Jerry Yudelson
