Schinnerer's RM Blog

Efficient Experimental Construction

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:56:00 GMT

Out of Denmark we have more news in green construction: Danish architects built an experimental house using just a computer, a printer, and 820 sheets of plywood. First, a 3D model was created and translated into a manufacturing template which was then sent to a computerized milling machine (the “printer”) that cuts the pieces of plywood. The home was built as part of a project intended to experiment with mass-customizing houses in an efficient manner with minimal environmental impact. Some of the environmentally friendly features of the house include the fact that the project uses no concrete, wood is the only wall material used with the exception of glass windows, only a small amount of steel is used, and the structure only touches the ground at the screw pile foundations. This manner of producing homes is attractive due to the transportability of the digital techniques. As long as the raw materials are available, the digital file could be delivered to an area and homes could be produced rather quickly, which might come in handy to a region that has been struck by natural disaster.

Gazing into the Future

Tue, 01 May 2012 12:39:00 GMT

“It’s alive, it’s ALIVE.” No, we’re not talking about Frankenstein monsters. We’re talking about the possible next generation of buildings. The SmartPlanet blog recently ran a piece on the future life of buildings and how these buildings will be loaded with sensors that automatically adjust to the environment around them. The Media-ITC building will use “a nitrogen based fog and smart temperature sensors that collect information about the outside environment." The sensors will cause cushions to "adjust, inflate, deflate, and become opaque.” These sensors are only part of a network that monitors the entire building, making it function like it has a living skin. This particular building is only one of many new designs using cutting-edge technology and construction techniques to bring buildings into a modern urban environment.

Parking Garage Claims

Fri, 27 Apr 2012 12:21:00 GMT

From 2001 through 2010, claims in the Schinnerer and CNA professional liability program involving parking garages were most often brought against architects (42%), civil engineers (20%), and structural engineers (19%). The following is an example of a parking garage claim:

An architect entered into an oral agreement to provide architectural and engineering services for an office structure and garage. The architect retained a structural engineer as a subconsultant, and the structural engineer in turn retained a post-tension design subconsultant. During construction, a number of tendons placed within the poured concrete slabs were prematurely cut by the contractor. To repair the decreased ability to provide tension to the tendons, a coupler was secured to the end of the tensions and detensioning chair was used to draw the tendons taut during the tensioning process. During this process, one of the cables pulled free, instantly killing the worker in the detensioning chair. The architect only had vicarious liability for the subconsultants; there was no direct liability. Also, the architect did not have construction site responsibilities when the plaintiff was killed. The architect was able to obtain a dismissal of the claim brought by the employee’s family, but expenses totaled $92,000.

For more information including risk management advice, please see our entire parking garages claims study (access limited to current policyholders and brokers). This study was updated with current statistics in September, 2011.

Green Buildings Surviving Disasters

Tue, 24 Apr 2012 12:42:00 GMT

The ability of a building to withstand natural disasters such as hurricanes and earthquakes is not currently taken into account by the United States Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system that rewards buildings for being sustainable. However, this may eventually change, as architects have been pointing out that a green building is one that doesn’t have to be rebuilt after a disaster. This is a valid point, due to all of the energy and materials that are necessarily expended during new construction. While it may take years for LEED to incorporate the resiliency of a building into its rating system, LEED does recognize that the ability to withstand disasters is an important aspect of sustainable structures.

Rating System for Civil Infrastructure Projects Released

Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:43:00 GMT

The Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI), an independent non-profit entity set up by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC), the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the American Public Works Association (APWA) has released a new infrastructure rating system called Envision™. The new rating system is intended to provide a project assessment tool that analyzes not only how infrastructure projects are delivered but also takes into account how long they last, accounting for durability, flexibility, and utility of the constructed works. According to ISI, the rating system is intended to provide designers, decision-makers and the public with the tools to evaluate and rate infrastructure projects against the needs and values of the community, recognizing efforts that replenish and restore natural resources. The Envision System is intended to evaluate infrastructure throughout its full life with rating systems for design and planning, construction, operations, and decommissioning phases. This initial release of Envision™ addresses the design and planning phase; subsequent phase ratings will follow.

Additional information on the Envision rating system can be found at http://www.sustainableinfrastructure.org/.