Good Read: Top 10 tips to flourish in the current economic climate

A recently discovered, and now new favorite design blog is that of BUILD LLC. While reading some of their past posts, I came across their Top 10 tips for not only staying alive but attempting to flourish in the current economic climate. This is worth sharing, so here's the list:

1. Diversify: and we’re not talking about doing hand renderings in addition to being a CAD monkey. We’re speaking of real diversity; learn how to engineer a simple wood structure, sign up for a welding class, take on some construction management. The age of specificity and spending every day comfortably designing a certain type of project is over. We’ve learned enough engineering over the years to do a structural package for simple projects and remodels. It’s rewarding, brings the engineering cost down a bit for clients, and puts more work on our plates. We’ve also taken on our own finished photography and we’re never going back.

2. Get Scrappy: get your hands dirty, make something. There is always a market for sensible, useful products. In our case we opened a cabinet shop and we’re in the process of designing and manufacturing a pre-fab re-usable Christmas tree for the next holiday season.

3. Get humble: we don’t particularly care where you got your degree from and what your masters thesis was about. In the new economy, if you can’t do something useful then you won’t be needed. Each of us here at BUILD (partners included) have put in some elbow grease at the SPD shop refreshing and upgrading our knowledge of craft and putting quality together, physically. This includes sanding, sweeping floors and making dump runs too.

4. Time is always valuable: the extra time you have now is not “free-time”, it’s a valuable commodity to be spent in different places like marketing, networking and blogging. We’ve made time to rework the BUILD website and have established a design blog full of valuable content.

5. Become part of the new social network: if you’re not running a blog you need to become part of one. Tribes are being formed in the digital realm based on beliefs, philosophies and the trading of significant information; it’s also where the important conversations are happening. These tribes are banding together, promoting each other and helping each other tackle things like a tough economy. All it takes is seeking out some blogs that speak to you, following along and getting involved in the discussion – so hit that comments button. Most magazines are slow, static and have politically correct agendas to abide by; the blogging world is fast, fluid and can be brutally honest.

6. Eject the distractions like a virus: what you spend your time and effort on is more important than ever. Down economies are victim to marketing seminars, round-table lunch discussions and walk-in-without-an-appointment cold callers. Entire industries are set up to take advantage of the fact that you’ve got more “free-time” than before (refer to #4). If they are not directly and substantially useful, eject them. God help the unfortunate sales people that walk into our office with their optimistic smiles and binders full of irrelevant things.

7. Re-appropriate your skills: take all the skills you’ve accumulated and find new avenues for them. One of our previous diversifications was developing our own projects. Given the lack of financing available, we’re pointing our property development expertise to start up new ventures outside of, but supplementary to, architecture. We’re currently in the development stages of some secret projects that we’ll release in a future blog post.

8. Get (stay) small: wear more hats and push your team to take on a wider spectrum of responsibilities and skill-sets. We’ve been a team of 4 for years now and we plan on staying lean. We’re each wearing so many hats these days that there’s hardly reason to add to our team, at the same time each team member is critical to the overall operation. At the project level, revisit previous clients to see what limited services you can provide. The risk of small projects is diminished when you perform them for highly trusted clients.

9. Sharpen the focus: it seems that there is more of a lackadaisical cultural shift we’re mired in currently. Our economy and our industry have been kicked squarely in the _____ (pick your favorite colorful term) and it seems like we’re more easily distracted than ever. As a profession, we’re sliding deeper into procrastination. Recognize this ‘slide’ into distraction and reset the focus. Make sure you do at least 5 important things a day. Just being busy is unacceptable; taking worthwhile and seemingly ‘hard’ steps to progress is all that matters.

10. Keep working hard: it’s important to be intentional and deliberate even if you’re not billing. There’s still an enormous amount of work to do, it’s just in a different arena now. One of preparation for work you’ll get later.

The recurring theme here is staying focused and get your hands dirty. I've had a hard time putting structure on how to keep myself moving in the right direction and a list like this is nice to read over to remember how to stay on track.

High Hopes For Marcellus Shale Drilling

A few weeks ago I took a trip home to Renovo. Located in central PA, Renovo is at the epicenter of the Marcellus Shale drilling. There seems to be a lot of optimism and hope surrounding the drilling and it's promises of jobs and economic growth. I can understand- I remember when I was younger, there was a rail repair industry as well as more restaurants and shops. Sadly, most of that is gone now. I've moved away with most of other college-educated friends. Small towns like this seem to be headed in the wrong direction though time.

So with the influx of business and money the drilling could possibly provide, communities like Renovo seem a bit starry-eyed about the benefits. This may encourage some decision-makers to overlook the risks associated with drilling in your own backyard. I previously touched upon this in my position paper, but let's drill further into this discussion.

From DEP Marcellus Shale FAQ

What is Marcellus Shale and why the sudden interest in it?
The Marcellus Shale is a rock formation that underlies much of Pennsylvania and portions of New York and West Virginia at a depth of 5,000 to 8,000 feet and is believed to hold trillions of cubic feet of natural gas. This formation has long been considered prohibitively expensive to access but recent advances in drilling technology and rising natural gas prices have attracted new interest in this previously untapped formation. The geology of the Marcellus formation suggests that areas in the northcentral and northeastern regions of Pennsylvania that have not traditionally seen much gas well drilling might be especially productive.

How is Marcellus Shale different from other natural gas extraction?
Extracting natural gas from the Marcellus Shale formation requires horizontal drilling and a process known as ‘hydraulic fracturing’ that uses far greater amounts of water than traditional natural gas exploration. Drillers pump large amounts of water mixed with sand and other proponents into the shale formation under high pressure to fracture the shale around the well, which allows the natural gas to flow freely. Once the hydraulic fracturing process is completed, the used water, often referred to as “frac fluid,” must be treated to remove chemicals and minerals.

Water Contamination is a huge risk to the surrounding communities.

From Duane Morris:

"…Two principal concerns about groundwater contamination have been expressed. The first is that the fracing process itself will cause fracing fluids and/or natural gas to contaminate drinking water aquifers. The second is that fracing fluid mismanagement or other aboveground activities at the drilling site could result in surface spills or other events that in turn will cause groundwater or surface water contamination."

Overlooking how this could affect the nearby communities would be ignorant. Cleanup could cost in the millions of dollars, and often the drilling companies are not held responsible. When they are, often the lawsuits can take years to settle. I'm hoping that for the sake of friends and family back home, the right steps are taken and no decisions are rushed, all in order to give a shot of adrenaline to a small town.

SDN603 Sustainable Systems Projects

It seems appropriate that the first time I've had time to post about my projects for this class are a few hours after I completed my final project. That's just an idea of how demanding the coursework has been. Anyhow, my SDN603 Sustainable Systems Class, taught by two engineers, Shannon and Rob and from In-Posse, has been very intense. The course load has been an in-depth review of mechanical, water, electrical, and HVAC systems - How they integrate into a well-designed building, and how to make efficient improvements. It's a deluge of information, but I love the class. It's definitely the most valuable one thus far in the MSSD program. Here's a rundown of the things we've covered:

1. Case Studies
2. Daylighting
3. eQuest Energy Modeling (HVAC Analysis)
   
4. Sizing A Photovoltaic System
5. Water Budgets and Rainwater Harvesting
6. Final Design Project

Read on to learn about each of these in depth.

Is Sustainable Architecture Growing Too Fast?

If you're reading this, you're probably like me and sing praises for everything that is green and efficient. Think about the products that are new or still evolving in the green revolution; rainwater storage, photovoltaic systems, solar hot water heaters, wind and hydro power, intensive and extensive green roofs, organic insulation, to name a few… It's a transforming market where a lot of products are being introduced to help obtain levels of accreditation, be it LEED, EnergyStar, or any of the other standard. An interesting article forwarded to me from the Insurance Journal, highlights some of the concerns about construction defects from these products. Given that this is written from the perspective of the insurance industry, anything that strays from the norm is considered a liability, so take with a grain of salt. An interesting quote:

"While green buildings have many positive benefits, there is also strong evidence surfacing to suggest a direct correlation between new products and innovative design with building failures," says Paul Roecker, an attorney with Orlando, Fla.-based Roetzel & Andress, who focuses his practice on environmental litigation.

I'm sure many of us have never thought of the green homes and buildings as a liability, but they are. The truth is that many contractors, builders, and architects still don't fully understand the systems that are being installed and how to properly maintain them. It's an interesting thought. As we try and create homes that stray from simplicity, inducing complicated HVAC and electrical systems, water management, and synthetic insulation, we are stepping into a relatively untested world.

Still, I firmly believe that these flaws in green buildings need to exist to continue to move the industry forward. Just like any emerging technology, you want to get them to market quickly and safely, but to address and improve upon any defects as quickly as possible. With so many incentives to implement green features into buildings, people are taking advantage and buying whatever is on the market, so reliability of these products need to improve. Therefore, it's no surprise that insurers are coming up with green insurance coverage options.

I'm now a LEED Green Associate (!)

I have been studying for the LEED Green Associate Exam for a few weeks. I took it this past Saturday morning and passed! I'm really excited as this helps validate myself within the field and is a stepping stone that I've been looking to achieve. The exam itself lasts up to two hours, but took about half of that. The questions were a bit tricky, as all tests like this seem to be. If you're looking to take this exam, make sure you study from multiple sources, as the USGBC study guide left out some of the basic questions. The exam is administered by the GBCI (Green Building Certification Institute) for professionals who want to demonstrate green building expertise in non-technical fields of practice.

So now I can to use this logo with my name or on business cards. The LEED Green Associate credential denotes basic knowledge of green design, construction, and operations. After this, I'm now able to seek certification as a LEED AP+ specialty.

Copenhagen Study Abroad for 3 weeks

Whoa! An opportunity presented itself within the MSSD program to study abroad in Copenhagen, Denmark for a three-week summer semester. There are two summer sessions and I applied to and will be participating in the second summer session from June 11th through July 2. The course is entitled "Sustainable Technology and Culture: Energy and Responses to Climate Change" and the description reads:

The course is a study of the link between technology and culture in the creation and maintenance of a sustainable environment – ecologically as well as socially. Environmental best practice, sustainable environmental and social policy, environmental/green technologies and their dissemination. Visits will focus on the Danish energy industry, “clean tech” companies as well as relevant research centers.

It's a two week course followed up by a one week study tour to Oslo, Norway where we'll learn how modern communities are using energy efficient technology to reduce human impact on the environment, also tour some factories. I'm seeing this as an opportunity I couldn't pass on. Yeah it's going to cost me a bit of money, but I think the real value will be in the experience. I'm looking forward to updating the events from abroad.

Potential on Fleming St. In Manayunk

I'm getting the itch to buy a home. I've been keeping a lookout for affordable properties that meet this criteria:

1. are close to the train and bus lines
2. walkable neighborhood (restaurants, bars, parks all within a 15 minute walk)
3. hidden value in fixing up
4. have renting potential for long-term holding
   

Thus far, the two properties I've profiled here have these attributes, yet both haven't been right for me in one way or another. One had almost no space, and one was biting off more than I could chew.

And now, a property in the Manayunk neighborhood of Philadelphia has caught my eye. This property, located at 4353 Fleming St might just be in the sweet-spot. It's a short sale that has been on the market for a while and I've watched the price drop to a point where I think it's now affordable at 139k. It's 1000 sqft, with street parking and a small backyard space. Again, I had my agent Matt Mittman walk me through the property this past weekend, and the layout is very nice. Smaller than advertised, as it's realistically only a 2 bed 1 bath property. Someone was living in the basement in a makeshift bedroom and bath, both of which are of no value. Kitchen and Bath rooms both need compete renovations, and the electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems need to be looked at by an inspector and most likely replaced. That said, if the work costs what I have rough estimated, then this house could be very financially reasonable. I'll upload photos and more information shortly.

On a side note, I'm going to a lender next Monday to get pre-approved and to learn more about HUD 203k loan options. I'm trying to get in before the first-time home buyer's credit expires, but with it taking a while for things to fall in place with my income and credit rating, now is as soon as this has been possible for me. Also, short-sales often take longer to settle, so we'll see.

DVGBC Website Redesign Concepts

Getting involved with the Philadelphia DVGBC network through the Student Design Competition committee and the EGB (Emerging Green Builders), it was only a matter of time until this happened. Being so involved with everything else, I've been trying to avoid it at all costs.

From the onset, I've noticed that the DVGBC website was poorly designed. The branding, color palette and everything has been successfully and professionally established by BarberGale, but the website is a separate beast. Visually it has the branding nailed down, but programmatically, it appears to be an off-the-shelf blogging CMS, and it is now restricting the growth of the site. Recently, the DVGBC has made comments that they are looking to revamp it by putting a team together to address the issues.

The DVGBC Marketing committee has created a Website Redesign sub-committee. Now this is just getting ridiculous, committees within committees, that's like a Turducken! I know, and you know what have I done? Yes - I have gladly stepped up and am now a member of the team, creating mockups for the page layouts and offering technical advice… To tell you the truth I feel this is probably my best fit within the organization because of my background. I'm not quite ready to leave it all behind.

Here is the design I came up with for the Homepage layout after extensive and organized feedback from the rest of the team. It's the first of dozens of pages that need to have their structure addressed, and hopefully this will get us started on the right foot.