As 2009 pursues its dreary fade into the sunset and the economy chugs along in lackluster
fashion let’s all resolve to make 2010 a year of personal achievement in the SW Region. There
is no better way and no better time than now to REGISTER, SIT FOR and PASS the CDT Exam —-
or, if you’ve already done that —- then muster the initiative to take and pass one of the
Certification Exams (CCS, CCCA or CCPR) offered by the Construction Specifications Institute.
Passing one of these exams is guaranteed to boost your personal sense of accomplishment, give
you a leg up on the competition and improve the community of construction professionals in
our cities and our region. The biggest obstacle to pursuing the CDT or a CSI Certification is
you. If you don’t register TODAY then you risk missing the limited opportunities to sit for the
exams.

The annual Spring National Exam period is March 29 through April 3, 2010. During this period
the exams are given at your local Prometric Testing Center. In order to sit for an exam during
that week you MUST be registered by January 29 (for the early bird exam fees) with final
registration occurring on February 26, 2010.
For the most complete information on CSI CDT and Certification exams go to www.csinet.org
and click on the left hand CERTIFICATION menu bar. You’ll see extensive information on all the
CSI exams with support information on how to study and prepare for taking your exam of
choice.

Your local CSI Chapter and member colleagues are your primary source for preparing for the
exams. Watch for member announcements of upcoming CDT Training workshops, study
sessions and self study guides.

Education and Certification are among the primary missions of the Construction Specifications
Institute and Certification can be an important step in your career ladder! Take responsibility
for your future. There is no better time – SIGN UP TODAY – in order to sit for and pass a CSI
exam in March!!

Submitted by
David Vaughan, CSI, CCPR
Albuquerque Chapter CSI Past President
SW Region Certification Chair

Over the next couple of months, you may be receiving a couple of chapter surveys. Although we are all guilty of hitting the delete button when it comes to mass emails, the The CSI Albuquerque Chapter Board of Directors highly encourages you to take a few minutes to respond to the few questions on each survey. Your input is part of what makes every meeting and event the chapter holds a success! 

There are also a variety of committees that could use your help now and as we move closer to holding the 2011 CSI Southwest Regional Conference in Albuquerque! If you are interested in helping with this event's planning committee, the upcoming February chapter Bowling event, or any other committee (Arrangements, Technical, or Marketing), please contact me at 505.934.0345 or stirlingmorris@pellasw.com or any other board member; all of our contact information can be found at the chapter website, www.csiabq.org.

Stirling Morris, CSI, CDT
President Elect
CSI Albuquerque 

 by Carter Slusher, Modified Bitumen and Insulation Systems Engineer, Firestone Building Products Co



After serving primarily as an unoccupied storage facility for nearly 15 years, the historic Lister Building in Lovington, New Mexico, began its road to renovation with a new roofing system specified to replace an aged, badly damaged, and leaking built-up roofing (BUR) system.

Identify Building Needs

    Built in 1931 by I.W. Lister, the two-story building is owned today by the Lea County Museum. Constructed with a unique slip-form concrete method of the early 20th century, the building’s exterior features a decorative façade that includes parapet walls ranging from three feet high along the back and sides to more than seven feet high in the front. Over the years, the existing 7,000-sq.ft. roof was repaired and patched several times. Multiple layers of built-up roofing materials formed a rigid and heavy covering over a wood-plank deck.

    Additionally, two peaked, triangular-shaped saddles had been constructed on the rooftop to help move water toward scuppers. Both 130’-long structures, which were covered with shingles, are about ten feet wide at the building’s rear and narrow to a point at the front. Combined, they represent about 30% of the roof surface. Reroofing the local landmark presented several challenges:

•     Remote location – Lovington is a small town located about 300 miles southeast of Albuquerque, New Mexico, and 200 miles southwest of Amarillo, Texas, making the coordination of materials, equipment, and installation crews difficult.

•     Limited access – The building is adjacent to a movie theater and sits directly across the street from the county courthouse. Proximity to these public facilities and surrounding areas created concerns about fumes, odors, and smoke.

•     Tight quarters – Improving drainage around the two unusual rooftop saddles was further complicated by three skylights set between them on the relatively small roof.

    According to Vickie Crenshaw, president of Crenshaw Consulting Group in Hobbs, New Mexico, reroofing the Lister Building was a challenging, yet rewarding project because the goal was to design a long-term maintainable roof system while improving drainage and addressing the aging parapet walls without modifying the building’s exterior architecture.

    Due to the poor condition of the old BUR system, a complete tear-off was required. Seeking a balance of high performance and cost effectiveness, a two-ply, cold-applied Firestone SBS modified bitumen system was specified.  The total system offers the sustainable, maintainable, and reliable protection needed on the nearly 80-year-old building.

    “A cold-applied SBS system was a great fit for this project because fumes, odors, and smoke from a traditional built-up roofing system application would have affected the nearby public facilities and activities held in the area,” Crenshaw said. “Plus, using a kettle to pump hot asphalt up two stories with another facility adjacent to the Lister Building would have been a difficult process.”

                    

Tear-off and Replace

    Amarillo, Texas-based Construction Services, a Tecta America Company, handled all aspects of the complete tear-off and roof replacement project. After removing the existing system down to the wood deck, Construction Services nailed a Firestone MB base sheet over the deck to establish a good installation surface.

    Next, a layer of 2.5” Firestone ISO 95+(TM) polyiso was mechanically fastened to the deck. Where needed, tapered insulation was used to add slope and ensure positive drainage. Using multi-purpose cold adhesive, Construction Services then adhered a half-inch-thick, high-density polyiso cover board to the insulation, followed by a Firestone SBS modified bitumen base sheet and a white, granule-surfaced Firestone SBS FR cap sheet.

    According to Tracy Honea, project manager/estimator for Construction Services, keeping the roof surface clean and not letting the adhesive get too cold or too warm is among the biggest challenges encountered when working with cold adhesives. “It is not a big problem; you just have to be aware of it,” he explained. “We installed the cold-applied system over a two and a half week period and the adhesive cured out very well.”

    To avoid potential slippage of the membrane on the two peaked roofs at the center of the building, Construction Services saddled an entire roll of SBS modified bitumen over each ridge to ensure both sides had the same amount of material. Since the rooftop can be seen from a nearby building, this procedure ensured no sheet ended at either ridge, making it a more visually appealing roof surface.

    Cold-applied systems use asphalt more efficiently. There has also been an increase in the FM and UL approvals with cold-applied systems in recent years.

Coming Together

    To assist the Lea County Museum in making this project a reality, Firestone Building Products donated all roofing materials and provided specification direction and on-site technical support; Construction Services supplied the new skylights and roof hatch; and Steve Gendron, principal of Albuquerque-based Upland Corporation, Firestone representatives for New Mexico and Vickie Crenshaw donated much of their time and expertise.

    “Restoring the Lister Building was an urgent need for the Lovington community, and it would not have been possible without the outstanding support of everyone involved,” Harris said. “Working together, the team showed a great commitment to southeastern New Mexico and helped preserve a piece of our history. Best of all, the roof is performing great and we couldn’t be happier.”

If you think the NCS needs to be modified, now is your time to change it the ballot submission period is now open.  The ballot submission period is the method by which the changes to the NCS are proposed, debated and ultimately voted upon to amend the current version of the NCS. Each proposed amendment must be documented on an NCS ballot form. Three forms have been developed to submit a proposed change to the NCS:

·         a CAD Layers Ballot Form,

·         a UDS Symbols Ballot Form, and

·         a general Multiple Components Ballot Form for amendments other than layers or symbols amendments.

 

The forms must be submitted through the balloting module of the portal.  Ballot forms are located on the balloting tab of the collaboration portal.

To gain access to the member portal go the NCS website at www.buildingsmartalliance.org/index.php/ncs/ and click on the “Member Portal Login” link.

 

We invite you take a tour of the new collaboration site by clicking on the “Take a Tour” video located on the portal landing page. The portal overview and the NCS balloting overview videos describe how to navigate, use, and submit a ballot to amend the current version of the NCS.

 

The ballot submission period will run through February 6, 2010.

Dear CSI Albuquerque Members and Friends,

This month’s president’s message highlights a change in our December 14th luncheon program.  Our planned presenter had a conflict and will not be able to attend.  We are fortunate to announce that the new December program will showcase the New Mexico Tri-Lab Building currently completing construction in Albuquerque.  The presentation will be given by representatives of Jaynes Corporation General Contractors who are building the project. 

The NM Tri-Labs project is truly a great and unique example of home-grown innovation in local construction delivery.  As a case study, it is instructive in many ways.  First of all, the building type itself is amazingly complex and an enormous amount of attention to detail in the planning and design stage was obviously demanded from the architects, Studio Southwest Architects, Inc. The presentation by Jaynes will briefly explain the qualifications-based process used to select the contractor and will go into detail on the creative tools and systems that are being used to administer the construction.  This will be a good opportunity for our members to hear about such things as BIM, electronic submittals, creative tools used for quality assurance in the field, employment of special consultants by the contractor, and commissioning – just to name a few.  The local nature of this project lends special educational value to this program since we hear about many new means and methods of constructing a project, but have few opportunities to hear from local companies who are actually exploring them.  BIM is a great example of a national trend in design and construction technology that for many reasons, has not reached its full potential in New Mexico.  Here we have a case study that shows the value of BIM, which, even in its limited use on the project, illustrates some cost and time saving benefits.  It also makes us think of taking the next logical step to more extensive implementation.  As more design firms become comfortable with and knowledgeable about incorporating BIM produced by parties usually not part of the design team (subcontractors), the full potential of the technology will be approached.  As we know in New Mexico, it takes a while to absorb and decide how to utilize new things happening elsewhere in the U.S. whole-hog.  No one wants to be a ‘guinea pig,’ and most often, for good reason.  But here we have some local folks dipping their toe in the water of innovation and they seem to like it.  I assume they also consider the experience to be profitable to the bottom line for most everyone involved.  Come to the December 14th luncheon presentation and be well-prepared to ask questions.  Did I also mention that they are striving to achieve LEED Silver?

See you there,

Andre Larroque, CSI, CCS, CCCA, AIA, NCARB

I called a life long friend of mine recently because we haven’t communicated in the longest time; no calls, no emails, no visits, no Facebook quips – both of us were guilty. And although it made perfect sense after he said it, the truth is we haven’t talked much because there wasn’t a particular need to fill in the blanks of each other’s lives. Between the social networking updates and each of our wives keeping each of our family’s blog sites updated, there wasn’t much to say at all. I knew exactly what he had been doing the week before and what he had for dinner the night before last, and he knew exactly what I was thinking earlier that day and how much my son was enjoying his new bike; and all of this without a single conversation – not one direct word between us. It scared me. It spooked me, and it’s not even Halloween!

And with an uncanny stroke of eeriness a day later, I had the exact same experience during a CSI webinar for the Product Representation Practice Group. The main hot topic of discussion was how to evolve manufacturers’ websites to the design professionals’ needs. And I didn’t say it, but I was thinking it the whole time: why? If you were to ask me to support switching over (100%) to electronic design manuals in architectural libraries, for electronic submittals in lieu of antiquated, file-hogging hard copies, and doing take-offs completely online, I would be first in line; heck, I would camp out two nights before just to be the first in line. But that’s not the answer. That is to say, this switch will never be done effectively 100%, and it will never be perfect or even close to perfect.

Design professionals need the human touch. They need that product representative – not just to puke out product information or pass along a three part CSI formatted specification for any given product, but to give their assessment for any given project in the construction process. Notice: I didn’t say “sales” representative. If you want a sales representative, go to Lowe’s. Because believe it or not, most of your “product” representatives know more about their product line(s) than you will ever want to know. If you want a project to be a success, don’t turn away any product representative that shows up at your office. You will never find anyone more in touch with the human condition than a person that wants to talk to you, face to face.

In my opinion, there are three sides to every story: your side, my side, and the truth. This is my blog, and it doesn’t make me right. But it doesn’t make me wrong . . .

What is one thing that is common to every individual, relationship, team, family, organization, nation, economy and civilization throughout the world — one thing which, if removed, will destroy the most powerful government, the most successful business, the most thriving economy, the most influential leadership, the greatest friendship, the strongest character, the deepest love?

On the other hand, if developed and leveraged, that one thing has the potential to create unparalleled success and prosperity in every dimension of life. 

That one thing is trust.

New Mexico Ethics Alliance presents internationally acclaimed author, Stephen M.R. Covey and the SPEED of TRUST Workshop

Thursday, November 19, 2009
7:30 am - Noon
Hyatt Regency Albuquerque

Spend the morning with us and learn why nothing is as fast as the SPEED of Trust.  This fast-paced and engaging workshop is based on Covey’s New York Times best-selling book and dramatically reveals TRUST as the hidden variable that always affects two outcomes: speed and cost.  Mr. Covey makes a compelling case for the economic and social benefits of building high-trust relationships.

Engineers: this workshop is eligible for 4 hours of professional development ethics credits!

To Register and for More Information, Go to www.nmethics.org

Not a LEED Accredited Professional but suddenly you’re on a LEED project?  The LEED Tool-kit was created to help LEED project team members understand green building principles, the LEED rating system, and your role in the certification process.  This session will introduce this new tool, developed through a grant from the Energy Conservation and Management Division, show you how it works, and explore some of its almost 1200 pages of information.  Four tool-kit modules guide you through: Green Building Foundations, LEED for Project Teams, LEED for Design Teams, and LEED for Contractors.   It was designed to let you target the specific areas of your interest or browse through the wealth of facts, figures, articles, and sample LEED documentation.  Learn how the LEED Tool-kit can quickly bring you up-to-speed for your next LEED project.

Learn about how the tool kit can help you answer questions like: How do I learn the basics about green building concepts? What incentives are available for LEED buildings? How much does it cost to do LEED? How did other projects achieve EQ 8 (daylight & views) credit?  How do I track construction waste?  I’m a building owner and I don’t know anything about LEED – how do I get started?
 
The Albuquerque Chapter of Construction Specifications Institute is proud to present a seminar to introduce this important new tool for using the LEED rating system at the 10th Annual Albuquerque CSI Continuing Education Conference, October 14th, 2009.  Online Registration is now available at www.regonline.com/csicec2009.  There are still seats available in this important class.  Make sure that you register today to ensure yours. Program 6B – LEED Tool-Kit will be jointly presented by Kris Callori and Susie Marbury, and earns 1 HSW SD CELU.

Kris Callori, AIA, LEED AP is a LEED Accredited Professional, Architect, and Principal of Environmental Dynamics, Incorporated (edi), an architecture and sustainability consulting firm with offices in Albuquerque, NM and Boynton Beach, FL.  She has been an active LEED AP since 2000.  She was the LEED AP for the first LEED Certified building in New Mexico and nationally for the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the first LEED Silver building in Albuquerque, the first LEED Certified school in Arizona, and the first LEED Silver hospital in Oklahoma.  Since 2000, she has been instrumental on over 60 projects applying for various levels of LEED certification.  The edi office in Albuquerque is LEED NC Gold certified and the edi office in Florida is applying for LEED CI Gold.  Currently her office is working on 3 projects attempting LEED Platinum certification.
  
 
Susie Marbury,  a LEED™ Accredited Professional with a Master of Architecture from the University of New Mexico, administers the Energy Efficiency and Green Building programs for the State of New Mexico’s Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department.  Susie previously provided LEED consulting services for a local architecture firm and brings a broad understanding of the issues involved in making the built environment more sustainable.  As the past Executive Director of the Green Alliance, Susie was instrumental in establishing the U.S. Green Building Council New Mexico Chapter and currently serves as the Chapter Chair.  In her capacity with the state energy office, she assisted in passing the legislation for and is currently administering the New Mexico’s Sustainable Building Tax Credits and the DOE sponsored “Moving Toward Zero Energy Homes” program. She also manages other initiatives including the State Energy Program’s stimulus funding, improving building codes, and providing education and outreach for energy-efficient building practices.  Throughout her career, Susie has established strong partnerships with collaborating organizations and sustainably-minded professionals, in the belief that it will require all of us to make green the norm and solve our climate change problems.
 

Are you tired of negotiating needless change orders and time extensions?  Are your A/E liability insurance premiums steadily increasing?  Are you frustrated by piles of RFI's both before and after your projects bid? 

Errors and Omissions typically account for 50 percent of all change orders, with the rest due to unforeseen circumstances and changes in user requirements.  Through the use of REDICHECK, a simple interdisciplinary coordination checklist and overlay checking process, errors and omissions can be greatly reduced.  If the design team does not discover and correct interdisciplinary errors and omissions during the preparation of contract documents or during a final quality assurance review, the contractor almost assuredly will, and at the most inopportune time.  In severe cases, litigation results.  The REDICHECK system reveals simple techniques to catch these errors when correction on drawings is all that is required.

The Albuquerque Chapter of Construction Specifications Institute is proud to present a full day technical seminar on this important quality control system for construction documents, at the 10th Annual Albuquerque CSI Continuing Education Conference, October 14th, 2009.  Online Registration is now available at www.regonline.com/csicec2009.  There are still seats available in this important class.  Make sure that you register today to ensure yours.

The REDICHECK system will be presented by William T. Nigro, it's originator.  Bill is retired from the Civil Engineer Corps of the United States Navy, where he was Course Director for Design Contract Management.  He is a registered architect in the state of Florida, and has conducted many quality assurance seminars for the AIA, Clemson University, private A/E firms, and the government.  The REDICHECK firm has provided training for over 8,000 architects and engineers.

Dear CSI Albuquerque Members and Friends,

September has been a busy month for us in preparing for the 10th Annual Continuing Education Conference & Product Show on October 14th.  This is our premiere event of the year.  Our general interest in event quality was given an early preview on September 14th with the successful lunch meeting and tour of the Hotel Andaluz project in downtown Albuquerque.  Pulling off this tour, given the logistical challenges involved, was no mean feat!  Much credit goes to the hard work and planning of the Programs Committee headed by Peter Holloway.  Special kudos goes to our Arrangements ‘czarina,’ Chris Morrison and Ron Burnstein, Education Committee Chairman. Ron and his firm Studio Southwest Architects arranged permission for the tour with the owner and provided ‘tour guides’ to make sure we accessed a great deal of the project and got all our questions answered.  Chris handled the miraculous feeding of attendees at the Alvarado Transportation Center staging location two blocks away and managed the ‘orderly’ departure of tour groups.  I would also like to thank Darren Sand from Goodman Realty, who gave what I can only describe as a perfectly timed and informative pre-tour presentation.   Finally, recognition is due Victor Rosenthal and the entire communications team who effectively got the invitation message out to the membership about the event.

Member events such as these are a good example of the way our chapter can get things done in a successful manner.  The essential element is the quality of the cooperation among capable team members that inspires confidence that the communication and hard work necessary to pull these things off will happen. Our theme for the coming CEC & PS is “Quality Control in Construction Documents:  Getting it Right”.   What is there worth doing if “getting it right” is not the ultimate objective?  We think that this year’s CEC & PS will provide attendees with some good information towards that goal.  I am personally looking forward to Michael Chambers’ lunchtime keynote presentation on “Interdiscipline Coordination: Creating a Coordinated Team”.  It takes a coordinated team to pull off a highly-ambitious member tour of a downtown hotel in the last stages of major renovations.  It takes the same kind of cooperation among team members to create a successful design and construction project on a much larger scale.  That is, in essence, what CSI is all about.  We thrive upon, and live by the team approach. CSI promotes it by developing the means to organize and communicate among team members.  All that’s left is the hard work necessary to make it happen.  Please consider becoming an active participant in the CSI Albuquerque Team by joining any of the impressively capable chapter committees.

See you at the CEC & PS!