Attic fans were a big deal in the 70′s [...]]]> I’ve often written rebuttals to  the design and energy sectors want to “go Green.”  From it’s start with solor water heating, none of it has really worked well, lasted very long or achieved the benefits that the companies, including the energy companies such as PG&E touted.

Attic fans were a big deal in the 70′s They were to help take some of the burden off of the air conditioning system by sucking out hot air in the attic and by negative pressure, suck in outside air through the attic vents. First of all a ten or twelve inch fan isn’t going to do much with trying to pull air out of an attic space of a 1,500 – 2,000 sqft home (average size back them). What happen was that not only did the air conditionaer run, so did the attic fan with a net increase of power.

There were many “programs” to help you install these through the local power companies.

These days there are many firms now offereing to install solar panels on your roof. Many for “free.” The facts are that solar technology, especially in small applications ois expensive. The average [cost] of a small killowatt system for a home averages in the thirty to fifty thousand dollar range.  Remember, this isn’t completely erasing you from the power grid. It is providing power back in to the grid durring certain times of the day and year when the system is at it’s peak operation. Of course that means that during those times the energy sent back in to the system, or simply not taken benefits you in that your panels are helping or even powering a good portion of your energy consumption for those few hours.

The installation of these systems for a reasonable price is made is made possible by the rebates one receives from the the energy company (passed through from government subsidies), the manufacturer (passed through from government subsidies) and also from the government itself. Just look at your tax forms filed every year on April 15th.

In essence the government is paying out a lot of “rebates” for all of that “green energy.” But wait, the government doesn’t really have their own money do they? They have your money don’t they. Now with Solyndra they have more of your money.

The next time you consider going to one of those now popular seminars, or read articles such as “Tops in Green” think about who is really paying for it, your clients all.

My first thought is to hesitate to name the company but when [...]]]> How important is client retention? Most of you who read this would go huh?-everything. Recently I was in a situation that made me ask that question. Not of myself but of a company that I was doing business with through a third party.

My first thought is to hesitate to name the company but when you treat customers badly, you should take the press for it. My wife and I have been slowly remodeling a home over the last twenty years. OK, really slowly. In our defense we are very meticulas (picky) about what we’ve done, how we’ve done it and the quality is important.  We’ve paid cash rather than taking out loans. We’ve also done much of the work ourselves.

Since we’ve been in the house for over twenty years it’s also safe to say that we’ve literally been through the house twice. So much that we have come to calling our remodeling projects phases. At last count I’m pretty sure we’re on phase twenty two or three.

Our latest project is the kitchen. It started with me declaring sometime towards the end of last year that I wasn’t going to put up with our range any longer. I wanted a decent gas cook-top to prepare my epicurean conquests and our existing stove just wasn’t cutting it. The difference was that I thought I would just get the stove, cut it in to the existing tile and start cooking.

That was last February. Apparently I didn’t know that you just can’t order a cook top, cut it in to the tile and start cooking. There is a certain rule that when you expose old tile to new ideas, the tile must be replaced. If your going to do that, you may as well find a tile mural to to center the whole kitchen color scheme on.

Much of our decor is Asian theme. Our furnishing vary from new to antique Tibetan and Chinese furniture. With that, you have nowhere else to go but a Chinese mural. After purchasing that and making sure it comes intact so can start you’re search for new counters and wall material to match. After considering numerous solid counters, granite and others including synthetic we embarked on a task of finding tile. After shopping all the usual places such as DAL, Arizona, Bedrosians we embarked on a Internet search to far away places.

The color we were looking for was something in green, a Chinese green or celadon. After several weeks of searching my wife happened to go back to DAL thinking we would have to settle on something else. If you think about it for the most part you have a selection of Tuscany or Tuscany. Neither of which appeal to us. I don’t know how we missed it before. Maybe it was a new line or the sample board was hidden in all of the other visits we’ve made but there on a sample board was celedon tile. Even better, a unique finish called Terra Crackle. A hand made tile that is custom glazed with a crackle finish with a celadon color. Though expensive, it was exactly what we were looking for. Though we contacted the manufacturer on a couple of occasions with questions, we never heard back from them. maybe that should have been our first indication that they didn’t take client retention seriously. Besides, we were working through DAL tile, a reputable  firm and let’s face it, maybe they would answer to DAL.

We made the order and set off to wait for the tile to arrive. Six weeks, then eight. We were told that the manufacture decided to re-run the “V” cap because it didn’t match. Wow, that’s customer service and better yet quality control (we thought). At last the tile arrived. We scheduled our installer and went to go pick up the tile. Not only was it a different color than the sample on their sample board but it was also a different color than the sample they sent to us to approve. Better yet, the “V” cap that they re-made looked like it was from a different tile company entirely.

Our first thought was to reject the entire order. Though we could accept the balance of the tile though it was quite different than anything we were given, if consistent-we would install it except the “V” cap did need to match. We gave them through DAL two weeks to manufacture the matching pieces. In the mean time we started looking at alternatives. At this point in anticipation of starting the counters we had removed the original tile and back splash. Of course this was the weekend before picking up the new tile.

For three days DAL tried to contact the company. Remember, my wife and I had tried to contact them early on. On the fourth day they finally returned the calls. “That’s as good as we can do” was the response. My turn to go huh? Luckily while waiting for their response we chose a back up plan to go with another product. One that we had used in another room in our house. A granite called rain forest.

At this point we did decide to take possession of the splash material, a “subway” tile. In the next week the kitchen will be finished and I’ll be able to cook with the stove top that I bought back in early march. It may take a few meals to get the bad taste of the lack of customer service we received from a manufacturer in dire need of quality control and customer service.

Though Terra Green Ceramics has a unique line of tile products, after our experience I would not recommend them to anyone. In fact I would discourage anyone from doing business with them. I do not know if their problem is quality control or simply customer appreciation but if the treatment we received from them is indicative of their service, they are not long for this world.

Is customer retention important? You bet it is. By this post I have spread the word to a few thousand. By the tweet I am about to post it will extend to a few hundred thousand.

Do not do business with companies that do not appreciate your business. Unfortunately, I believe that Terra Green Ceramics is one of them.

As the industry has evolved into a more collaborative approach, many companies are having to re-evaluate their needs in the short term and [...]]]> Many companies made the move to static project management software several years ago. With companies such as Timberline, Meridian, Primavera and a host of smaller companies, there was much to chose from.

As the industry has evolved into a more collaborative approach, many companies are having to re-evaluate their needs in the short term and long term. Of course the term “long term” isn’t too well known in the software industry. The reason is that there are two distinct influences in software development. The first is the software itself. This includes the functions or modules, and the platform and GUI (User interface). The second influence is twofold. (1) the software behind it (code) and as important, the hardware requirements such as RAM and speed. (2) The operating environment whether it is web based or friendly and or is the compatibility strictly to one operating system, Windows or MAC. For the most part Windows still is the choice or for better terms the operating system for most project management and collaborative software systems. It’s not that many of us haven’t yearned for a more stable and robust environment.

Projects today are faster paced, leaner and are under more scrutiny by owners and the regulators (bane of our existence). Developers, contractors, subcontractors and designers are now collaborating on many aspects of the project that once was the private realm of each individual. Some are brought kicking and screaming, others recognize the importance and frankly, the possibilities of true joint ownership of ideas. Drawing files and specifications were once just issued by the architect or engineer of record. In some cases there’s been an attitude shift. If all of the party’s to the project have the same goal, the responsibility of selecting materials and finishes can be shared to those most familiar with the applications.

Because you have now spread a component that once was completely done in one office to multiple entities tools, such as software and communication become critical. Where postage was once important, band width has now taken it’s place. Even though there lots of new buzzwords. BIM, IPED etc. design and project management still has much of the same components and requirements. There has to be a balance.

Drawing management, and design is now shared across networks and the Internet. As technology has improved, files have become more robust but also larger. 2D files have increased in size but working in a 3D atmosphere can lead to file sizes from the low tens of MB to hundreds. Few email systems are capable of handling the data. This has spurred the growth in online or cloud management of projects. Products such as Buzzsaw, newforma, Bentley, Prolog, and Primavera are leaders in the project management industry. The company with the largest share of the construction market, Sage has chosen so far to stay out of cloud computing. At least within their construction and project management side. What they all have in common is differences in industry focus. Whereas Prolog and Primavera have always been focused on project management, Sage has a vast group of software’s. They bought out Timberline, which included accounting (which was and still is their mainstay), and estimating. In my opinion, project management for them was just to keep up in the construction market. I don’t think they ever took it serious. How can I say that or these things? I was a Timberline and Prolog consultant for many years. Though I was a user and did train people on Primavera’s products, including scheduling-I did not choose to go down the certification path. Buzzsaw, newforma and a few others are more design collaboration focused. Like the others, they allow you to manage PM tasks such as RFI and submittals, they have a special place for design. Especially Buzzsaw and Bentley. Since both are design software companies, their integration of drawing files, whether BIM or 2D is much more seamless. In fact both of their design systems integrate bidirectional.

A project of old had seven stages, starting with entitlements. Space planing or needs fulfillment is usually second. Conceptual and schematic design follow. CD’S are next, typically with project bid out and construction following. With some, claims was the last stage. Guess what, nothing has changed. One big difference is in the last two-three stages. With a collaborative approach the budget is updated throughout the process and much of the bid out can be to minor trades. At least this is the case in design build. In design assist the bid scope can be much clearer and the bids closer.

A company looking to develop collaborative relationships has to have big shoulders. When the market first formed, it was primarily owner driven and paid for. Now days owners see the benefit of teams that are already set up to collaborate and have the systems in place. That means that the costs are also shifting from the owner to the consultants and contractors. Some would say that the owner pays for it anyway. I say as it’s more accepted and learned, it will just become a business model.

So what does it take to fulfill these lofty goals of speed, accuracy, and budget? Software has nothing to do with it. It’s about ego.

From [...]]]> This post was actually done a week ago. In the process of completing the site I noticed a few things that were not working properly. Depending on your browser, you might even notice a little bit of leftover HTML at the top left of the header image. I haven’t chased that one down yet.

From June 4th:

I announced several months ago that the site was changing. The focus of the company is shifting from reselling and consulting to providing knowledge and opinion and advice on technology solutions for the AEC industry.

This is it. Though the theme may change on this website and content will shift, I hope it will stay the informative as my previous sites. This is year 15 for fineline management.

I’m going to start by loading the help files I had on my previous sites (Articles & tips). Though I haven”t written about Timberline, now Sage, I continue to use it and support it. I did retire from active consulting on it a year or so ago which is why you might have noticed my site felt a little dated.

What am I doing now? A few years ago I became tired of traveling all of the time, spending nights in hotel rooms and surrounding myself with clients instead of family and friends. I went back to the profession that I spent so many years in and loved which is construction and development. Doing so allowed me to free up personal time for the other interests and activities that I do/did or wanted to do. A little travel (for pleasure), design (I’ve neglected to say I’m a fine art major) and land development and entitlement. I also didn’t tell you that with my design experience I have been using AutoCAD since the late nineties and moved on to Revit Architectural a few years ago. Ah, another business. Somewhat. I’ve mostly done what I would call playing with it. Though my education started and ended up in fine art, I took a couple of zigs and zags. One of which was architectural design. It was a natural for a engineering/fine arts major. CCA (California College of Art) started their architectural program while I was there and, what the heck, I was there anyway. I didn’t graduate with an architectural degree, I’m just dangerous as heck. I’ve had a fine arts background with an eye for building elements and have actually built something unlike most architects that I work with or went to school with. Not that there are not good ones out there. My career has been spent helping architect’s “vision” become build able.

I intend to write about some of the design tools, share some things such as 3D objects or other design tools and methods that I might think could be useful to you.