The Easterday Construction Co., Inc. website was looking a bit dated and with changes in computers around here, I didn’t have a program that allowed me to edit it. I’ve also been reading about the various things that make a site visible and there was no doubt that ours was lacking. When we first put it up in 2004 I thought the “Under Construction” moniker was a cute visual play on words for a construction company site, but it was no longer cutting it. The previous editing program made adding content such a chore that it was hard to find the time and ambition to add content and work with the site. Since I do most of this at home or on lunch hours, procrastination due to frustration took over.
I spoke to Pat Renneker of Satellite Software, our web hosting company, about it. He suggested since I was using WordPress for the blog and was comfortable with it, it made sense to switch the website over to that format as well. Pat did all the transfers for me. He also updated and transferred the blog so that it is a more seamless part of the site. He went above and beyond for me and I appreciate it. I’m sure there are some glitches yet to figure out, so if you see anything, let me know. Hopefully it will be easier to add content and refresh the site with the new tools, but there will be a learning curve.
I am using the ITWORX II theme which Pat helped me select. It offers a myriad of options which I am starting to explore. Hopefully you’ll be seeing additional changes and additions in the coming weeks.
Last Friday I spoke at Career Day for the Culver Middle School. This was a presentation to the seventh grade class. The class was broken into 4 groups and they made the rounds between several of us who had volunteered to speak. Last year I had to compete with Angela Ridenhour’s presentation on Photography. Apparently she was the favorite. This year one of my fellow presenters was a police officer from the K-9 unit with a police dog. What did W.C. Field’s say? “Never work with animals or children.” I’m guessing I was upstaged. <sigh>
In any case, I did a presentation on Landscape Architecture since it is National Landscape Architecture Month and I hold a Bachelor of Science in Landscape Architecture from Purdue University. I made it somewhat a duel discussion on construction as well since I was introduced as working for Easterday Construction Co., Inc. I was able to draw on my experience from last year, so not much preparation was required. I learned last year that having at least a loose outline was important as by the third or fourth time it becomes difficult to remember what I had said to the current group vs. the preceding groups.
I discussed the profession, the degree requirement, licensing requirements and a general range of what the degree qualifies you to do. I also took them through an impromptu white board sketch of the considerations in developing a lot. I discussed solar heat gain, wind rows and topography considerations as well as the relationships with other homes on adjacent lots. I was also able to discuss the various things happening in Culver with the recently annexed land on the south side of Town and how I have participated in helping revise the Zoning Ordinance and help with guiding decisions on how the land may be used in the future.
It was an interesting experience. The first group was not particularly vocal, but the remaining groups had a mix of interesting and off-the-wall questions. Each group had a different area of interest which actually made it kind of fun. There’s no way I want to become a teacher, but it was somewhat gratifying to think I made a positive impression.
Apparently I actually did. An employee told me that he had a daughter in the class who came home talking about what I had said and actually discussed some of the points that I made. That was fairly impressive. Maybe the dog didn’t take top honors this year?
Anyway, this was a good way to give back to the community. As seventh graders they have a lot of time before they have to decide what they will do with their lives. Hopefully I influenced a few kids and gave them some career options that they hadn’t previously considered. If I did, it was worth a couple of hours on a Friday afternoon. Maybe next year (if asked to participate) I will bring along my dog!
Last Wednesday I attended a presentation/seminar on the Indiana Energy Code presented by Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana (ABC) and Newport Ventures. Newport Ventures is supporting the State of Indiana in the adoption of the new Indiana Energy Code by conducting stakeholder meetings, developing a compliance roadmap and conducting training on the new code.
The presentation was informative and will no doubt be useful. Though Easterday Construction would not normally be involved in designing the systems discussed, it is still good for us to have a working knowledge of these things. It helps us understand them when we find them on plans, it gives us the ability to discuss them with clients before the design phase begins, and it also allows us to take the best practices found here and apply them to situations where it is not necessarily required by code.
Some of the things presented were already prevalent in the industry as “‘Best Practices”. These mainly related to insulation standards, optimized framing and building envelope tightness. Others such as changes in electrical systems and HVAC systems for reduced energy consumption have been available, but it has been left to the Owner or Developer’s choice as to whether to pursue them. Many have been promoted by the U.S. Green Building Council and tracked in their LEED Rating System and Certifications in recent years. The Indiana Energy Code is based on standards developed by ASHRAE (The American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers). While LEED and ASHRAE share some goals, their standards vary, but suffice to say that following ASHRAE standards are usually the minimum requirements for a project path toward LEED certification.
I have no doubt that all of the standards presented to me on Wednesday will save energy, as defined by the energy necessary to heat, cool, light and generally operate the facility. I was dismayed that when I asked who was researching the Return On Investment (ROI) for these systems, I was told no one. Isn’t it a bit premature to put these practices into law without assessing the final cost? Apparently not, as this was part of a Federal program where Indiana received funds to implement this.
As part of the discussion, the changes to a building HVAC system were discussed. Additional zone divisions will be required. Additional duct sensors, motorized dampers, thermostats (7 day programmable thermostats with off-hour setbacks and controlled overrides only), ducted returns (no return plenums), economizers and heat recovery systems for fresh air intakes including CO2 sensors to determine optimum fresh air requirements and low pressure fan systems will also be required. Again, nothing here struck me as ineffectual for reducing operational energy consumption… But what does it mean if you look at it holistically including construction and maintenance?
These are just a few of the things that came to my mind during the discussion. Things which could be project killers.
There is no question that Easterday Construction will comply with the new standards. It’s the law now. It currently applies to commercial and industrial projects in Indiana, but we will take what we consider the best of these things and discuss them with residential clients as well. Some of them make sense. Some of them that may not make sense to me today, may do so in the future. I sincerely hope that someone is doing the research to prove that the front end expense (in dollars and energy consumption) of complying with these regulations will pay for itself.
Congratulations to Russell Voss for successfully completing OSHA 10 Hour Safety Training through Associated Builders and Contractors of Indiana (ABC). Easterday Construction is committed to safety and we appreciate Russell stepping up to take this training. We look forward to his help in keeping our job sites safe.