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THE WINNER'S CIRCLE

Indianapolis Chapter CSI Newsletter

 May 2012

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Greetings!

It's a new....track....record!

Well, maybe we won't be seeing anyone driving through our meetings at 230 mph, but we do have many things going on in the chapter that you need to know about, and what better way to tell you about them than this handy dandy newsletter!

Be sure to not only review this month's meeting info, but also be sure to register for the Awards Banquet to be held July 21, 2012!
 
As always, please send comments, articles and suggestions to me as they may come up.

 

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 Indianapolis Chapter CSI Newsletter Editor

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Upcoming Events
Programs Committee
 

Indianapolis Chapter CSI May Chapter Meeting: SPECIFICATIONS JEOPARDY!

Thursday May 17, 2012 from 5:30 PM to 9:00 PM EDT

SPECIFICATIONS JEOPARDY! This months meeting will be a fun filled game show based specification challenge. Test your knowledge on everything from Division 1 to Certification to Products! Audience members will have the chance to compete as Alex Trebek (or a suitable fill in if he is unavailable) asks questions in the form of answers and demands a

Riverwalk Banquet Center

 

2012 Indianapolis Chapter CSI Awards Banquet

Thursday June 21, 2012 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM EDT

Skyline Club - One America Building

View from the Tower
Pete Kerfoot, CSI, CDT 
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The Indianapolis Chapter, Bud Reed Memorial Golf Outing held the first week in May was a smashing success for several reasons. There was some concern that an early May outing would be too cool, but actually the temperatures were comfortably warm. The forecasted rain stayed away, so the weather cooperated for an enjoyable afternoon of golf in Central Indiana. The second thing worth mentioning was the high turnout of attendees. You can ask Chris Hughes, our Golf Chair for the exact count, but we believe being early in the year was a contributing factor. The third thing to mention was the amount of sponsors. A big thank you goes out to all the sponsors this year, for as we all know, the event just couldn't happen without them. But the high sponsorship speaks volumes for a growing, optimistic feeling of a new encouraging wave in our economy. Thanks to all for pushing through with a positive attitude, and thanks to Chris and all the volunteers for making the event a success.

 

This month's Chapter Meeting Presentation will be a fun event called 'Specification Jeopardy'. The participants will be presenting their answers in a question format. There is sure to be opportunity for foibles, humor, and yet an educational experience for all. The meeting is at the Riverwalk Banquet Center in Broad Ripple on Thursday, May 17th. I hope to see you there for a fun and educational evening.

 

  

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Greening of the
Heartland

USGBC

 

At Greening the Heartland 2012, we will explore interdependent elements of sustainability. While green buildings are critical components in the design of sustainable communities, their key advantages rely on relative pathways and infrastructure - a context we will address in the conference as watts, water, waste and wheels. Providing our buildings with clean energy, a precious supply of water, the efficient use of materials while minimizing waste, and a convenient and sustainable means of arrival results in truly green buildings and sustainable development.

The theme BUILDING COMMUNITY indicates our genuine desire to bring people together to share visions and solutions for sustainable communities in which to work, play, learn and live. We will also seek to join business and community leaders with green building professionals and product suppliers to achieve greater understanding of how environmental, economic and social trends of the maturing 21st century will influence our Heartland communities.

 

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2012 Codes Seminar

AIA Indiana

 

The seminar focus is on the use of the adopted Codes as a pre-design tool. Required primary design issues are covered including occupancy classification, components of the means of egress, egress arrangement, protection of building structures, life safety systems requirements, and accessibility.

 

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Table Tops

Jeremy Hoffman

Indianapolis Chapter CSI

 

The Indianapolis Chapter of CSI is accepting reservations for Table Tops for upcoming Chapter meetings.  The list of programs for upcoming Chapter meetings is published in this newsletter, the web site, or contact Program chairman Andy McIntyre, so if you would like to target a particular meeting, make sure to get your reservation in early.  We do have a limit of four spaces available for Table Tops in a standard meeting room and 10 if we have a double room.

 

Table Tops are an opportunity to promote your company, products, or services to all attendees of our regular chapter meeting during the social hour.  There is a maximum of 20 minutes for Table Top presentation at a regular Chapter meeting.  You have the floor for maximum of five minutes during the dinner to communicate to the entire group if there are four presenters. If there is a greater demand, the 20 minutes will be divided by the number of presenters and rounded down to the nearest 30 seconds.

 

The Table Top presentations are FREE, one time, to new members, and cost current Indianapolis Chapter members only $75.  Non-members get the same opportunity for $125.  A 30 by 60 table with a cover and skit will be included.  All proceeds go to support the Chapter.

 

Another opportunity for a Table Top is during an Education Seminar.  The cost is if you combine it with the Chapter meeting and Education Seminar the cost would be $100 for current members and $150 for non-members.

 

If you would like to schedule a Table Top for a future meeting or seminar, contact:

 

Jeremy Hoffman - CREW Technical Services

[email protected]  or (317) 713-7777

Make sure to put 'Table Top Request' in the subject line  

Certification Quiz
Jack Morgan - Quizmaster
 

 

1. Change Orders are:

 

a. Prepared by the Contractor

b. Prepared by the Architect/Engineer

c. Prepared by the Owner

d. Prepared by the Owner's legal counsel

 

2. The general organization of most standard agreement forms is:

 

a. The Preamble, The articles, The Affirmation, The Signatures

b. The Introduction, The Articles, The Agreement, The Signatures

c. The Preamble, The Articles, The Agreement, The Signatures

d. The Introduction, The Articles, The Time of Performance, The Signatures

 

3. The type of bond that assures suppliers and subcontractors will be paid is?

 

a. Payment Bond

b. Roof Bond

c. Performance Bond

d. Bid Bond

 

4.The builder's risk policy covers the value of the construction and the value of the tools and equipment used to build the project.

      

a. True

b. False

 

5. During bidding, the contractor questioned some unclear language in a specification.  How should this be corrected?

 

a. Issue the addendum immediately

b. Discontinue use of the specification section

c. Telephone call from the Project Manager

d. Rewrite the unclear language at the next regularly scheduled update


 

 

 

Answers located at the end of this newsletter....

 
 
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Chapter Photos
March 2012

 





 
We hope you have enjoyed seeing these previews of the latest images from our events.  To view more, visit our online photo album.
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Scholarships
Education Foundation 

 

You have the opportunity to donate directly to the foundation in a secure way in order to boost the number and financial quality of the scholarships.  The donations to this foundation are tax deductable.  If you are considering this good deed and have any questions about the tax aspect, please don't hesitate to contact the Foundation.

 

 

 
2012 Great Lakes Region Conference
Great Lakes Region
July 19th-21st

 

This year's conference will be focused on providing leadership training and opportunities for chapters to share ideas and learn from each other.  The conference has a new condensed format. The Executive Committee meeting and region board meeting will be held on Friday morning. All region members are invited to the board meeting if they choose.

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What have architects given up?
Curmudgeon Corner
  

 

When architects were Master Builders, they were responsible for an entire project, from beginning to end. Over the years, as buildings became more complex, the architect became the leader of a team of professionals, a Master Builder by committee. However, along the way, a number of things fell aside, leaving others to take on essential functions that apparently were no longer important to the team. The first of these was extensive knowledge of building materials and construction, encouraged by the separation of architecture into separate fields of design and construction.

 

Since then, architects seem to have less interest in - or less time to address - other things, such as complete design, site services, and estimating. Yes, many architects provide some of those services, and some do better than others, but some have simply allowed others to take them on. And some project delivery systems have reduced the architect's role whether they liked it or not.

 

Why are architects not fighting to keep these lost services, and allowing others to take more control? Perhaps they are not willing or able to accept the associated risk.

 

Complete Design

Architects should know in advance that the completed building and its systems will satisfy all of the owner's needs. Architects spend a great deal of time working on space planning and circulation, but the physical space of a building is only part of the total design. The building also must provide a suitable environment for its occupants; systems should be easily operated and maintained; finishes should be durable, easily maintained, and easily replaceable; and the energy consumption should be within limits established acceptable to the owner.

 

The architect who concentrates only on spatial and aesthetic qualities, paying little attention to building systems, is not doing the job. The new buildings may look nice, and they may win awards for the architect, but often they don't work as expected. The building envelope leaks, operating costs are too high, mechanical systems are noisy and hard to balance, lights are needlessly bright in some areas but inadequate in others. It's easy to blame the consultants, but the architect is ultimately responsible.

 

The consequences of the lack of complete design are evident in the demand for commissioning. A separate professional is now called on to analyze building systems, project operating costs, and verify correct operation of those building systems before the owner accepts the building as complete. All of these could be done by the architect's team.

 

Site Services

Architects are not responsible for many of the problems encountered in construction. Owners want the most bang for their buck, and they sometimes make poor decisions, sacrificing long-term considerations for lower initial cost. They often encourage architects to cut fees and services in a bidding war, resulting in less time for design, reduced quality control, and less time at the site. A lot can go wrong in a few days, and many problems are concealed by following work. Poor connections, lack of concealed supports, improper materials, and a host of other defective work may go unnoticed for years.

 

Saving the cost of site observation by the architect is false economy, and architects should fight to keep this unique opportunity to make sure that their own interests, as well as those of the owner, are protected. It's odd that many owners now hire independent representatives and testing agencies to oversee their projects. As architects have given up this basic service, others have moved in to fill the void.

 

Estimating

One of the owner's most important concerns is the budget, and the owner relies on the architect to come up with a design that can be built with the available funds. Shouldn't an architect know enough about costs to design a building that is within the owner's budget? Unfortunately, many design professionals have little knowledge of construction costs, and owners find that bids vary substantially from estimates. Independent estimating firms now offer their services to owners and architects alike. Some owners require the architect to provide estimates, which then are verified by other estimators. To me, that suggests lack of faith in the architect, at least in this area.

 

Construction Management

Architects aren't the only ones who have given up some of their traditional duties. Construction managers have done an excellent job of carving out their own niche, taking over the juicy parts of the architect and the contractor, while leaving the architect and contractor responsible for whatever goes wrong.

 

There is nothing inherently wrong with construction management. With it, owners can benefit from early involvement of someone with knowledge of construction processes, costs of systems and products, and current market conditions - that someone, in most cases, not being the architect.

 

These are some of the things architects choose not to do. Next month, we'll look at changes that have reduced the architect's responsibilities, at the same time increasing the importance of the contractor.

 

p.s. It seems a few readers were a bit put off by the first article in this series, What happened to the Master Builder? Some of my questions may be uncomfortable, but they must be asked. While architects remain leaders of the design team, much of what they did in the past is now done by others, and their importance will continue to decrease unless architects do something to reverse the trend.

 

Certainly, a well-trained, experienced architect is able bring much to any type of construction project. Architects are generalists, trained to seek optimum relationships and dimensions of spaces to meet the requirements of the owner's program, at the same instilling beauty, from the overall form to the smallest detail. And that, I will argue, is one heck of a job description; it presents a challenge that is virtually impossible to meet. Practical requirements often force the architect to make decisions based on incomplete information, and make it impossible to work out every detail.

 

� 2012, Sheldon Wolfe, RA, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CSC

 

Follow me at http://swconstructivethoughts.blogspot.com/,  http://twitter.com/swolfearch

 

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Board of Directors' Minutes

Online Archive 

 

Minutes of the Indianapolis Chapter CSI Board of Directors can be read here.  Please contact the president with any comments or questions.
Standing Reservations 
Meeting Arrangements Committee
For those of you who know you will be attending each chapter meeting and don't want to mess with making sure they have a spot each month, the Chapter offers to its members in good standing the Standing Reservation List.
 
Please review the terms of this program at the following link.
Quiz ANSWERS:  1. - b; 2. - a; 3. - a; 4. - b; 5. - d 
In This Issue
Tower
GTHL
AIA Seminar
Table Tops
Quiz
Photos
Meeting Innformation

Date: 
May 17, 2012

Location:
Riverwalk Banquet Center

Fee:
Members: Free
Guests $20
Students: $5
Retired: $5

Time:
5:30 Social Hour
6:30 Dinner
7:15 Mtg/Program 
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