Energy is put to good use in Antarctica
Capturing and using heat that would otherwise go up the exhaust stack is an interesting idea anywhere. At McMurdo Station, Antarctica, recaptured energy (it is called "waste heat" here) is an important part of the heating system, and it is put to very good use. ...
A call for common sense with WaterSense
Consider me spoiled when it comes to using scald-guard style shower faucets. So much so that my recent experience, repeated each day for four days, using...
Software solutions from Trane and Carrier
Trane Trace 700, www.trane.com/commercial, is a design and analysis tool that, used in the planning stage of a building project, can help HVAC contractors...
The ultimate comfort system Part 2
What's in a name? When I decided to undertake this project, it was my goal to show other contractors and designers that it was possible, in fact feasible,...
Be proactive closely review contracts
The landscape of subcontracting is changing with the depressed economy. Due to layoffs, businesses folding or other catastrophes, there are many small...
What you need to know about public work
By now it is clear that nearly every segment of the construction economy has been adversely affected by the recession. As private work, starting with...
Scheduling basics: the CPM approach
We've covered work load management, estimating, inventory control and labor. The next basic is job scheduling. So, you were either invited to bid a job,...
Two new Web-based sharing solutions
If you've ever put together a company newsletter, but gave it up because of the many details and costs involved, and because the news became old all too quickly, you might want to take advantage of MagCloud, a web based self-publishing print-on-demand (POD) service. ...
Captive insurance cuts business costs
The Internal Revenue Code is not a friendly creature. It is designed to take your money. Yet, there is a section of the Code, Section 831(b), dealing...
Water heaters, tax credits and financing
Water heating has been a commodity for way too long. Homeowners seemed unwilling to pay more than $120 at a home center for what was essentially a pot...
The 1.28-gpf limbo: how low can we go?
I'm on a toilet binge seriously! While I was admiring our newest 1.28-gpf water closet's performance the other day, it struck me that I've been working...
Observations about the art of service
It is sometimes easy to forget how important service is to the customer especially since businesses are so consumed with the bottom line and what they...
The ultimate comfort system Part 1
Ever since I got into hydronic heating, I have had a dream to have a system that would incorporate every reasonably available method of heating as it...
Giants stay giant because of their resilience
I'm no longer surprised at how well the nation's largest mechanical contractors seem to handle everything that's thrown at them. In the depths of the...
Labor management is key to productivity
The original intent of this column was to discuss how to maximize production in manpower by scheduling and project phasing, but with the onset of the...
Size matters when adding an indirect water heater
Recently I received a number of questions, like the following one, from readers about sizing indirect water heaters: I am considering an indirect and...
Servicing high efficiency boilers Part 2
This month's column touches on an aspect of servicing high efficiency modcon boilers that many contractors don't think about the paperwork associated...
One for the office, and two for the road
Madcad.com v3.0, www.madcad.com, is a web-based subscription service that provides online access, in HTML format, to building codes and standards from all major content providers....
T for C clauses set no limits on termination
Back in the olden days of construction, once a contract was entered, the contractor had the right to complete it and be paid the full price. Over time, the concept of a “Termination for Convenience” (T for C) clause arose....
BIM knowledge is necessary for job bids
Back in 1980, I was the systems architect/analyst and building trades consultant for DataSonix, the second digitizer-based construction estimating software...
The basics: handling plumbing inventory control
Inventory control is an area that can either make your plumbing/mechanical subcontracting business more streamlined and profitable, or bleed it....
How to create an effective lifetime plan
If you die and don't have an estate plan, think of the havoc your family and business will face. I want to give you many reasons to do not only your estate plan, but also an easy-to-do lifetime plan. ...
Help my water heater isn't working
Looking back, I thought it was a one-of-a-kind Rube Goldberg job. Someone's twisted idea for cobbling together a cheap indirect-fired water heater to...
When a business partner goes bankrupt
No one likes to think that the people they buy from or sell to might not be around tomorrow. But the situation can be even worse if the person or firm files for bankruptcy because then the rights of others who do business with the debtor are controlled by federal bankruptcy law, which often produces results that you would not expect and that you don't like. And I cannot think of an industry that is more severely impacted by court-imposed delays than construction. ...
Servicing high efficiency modcon boilers
Many faithful readers of my column know that I have a modcon boiler in my home. In fact, as soon as I get done with my special project in the mountains...
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