Efficiency: You wouldn’t purchase a jet airplane to get to the other side of town, right? It would not address the need directly and it would cost a fortune to run and maintain. The same is true for your heating, cooling, and ventilation system.If your system is oversized as many are in residential projects, it means that you are paying more than you need to maintain the air temperatures in your home. Your goal should be to get a system that is right sized. If the right sized system runs for an extended period of time, it will filter air and control humidity, while maintaining the comfort levels in your home. This right sized system will cost less to install and to operate.
Comfort: No matter what you have heard, bigger is not better when it comes to HVAC systems. An over-sized air conditioners will not dehumidify the air inside your home. The typical air conditioning units need 10 minutes of running before the coils get cold enough to cause condensation. This the needed to dehumidify the air in your home. If the system is oversized, the thermostat will be satisfied in under 10 minutes (short cycling) well before the unit is able to remove a significant amount of moisture from the air. This creates a cold, clammy condition that is not comfortable. A right sized air conditioner should produce relative humidity levels of less than 50% in the cooling season inside your home. This will improve your indoor air quality and feel more comfortable. Heating season comfort is also impacted by over-sized heat pumps. They produce supply air that is roughly 100 degrees, compared to furnaces that produce supply air that is 125-135 degrees. The result is a heat pump having to move more air around the house to deliver the needed amount of heated air. If a heat pump is oversized, more air than is necessary will be moving around the house, creating drafts, and causing complaints about comfort or causing you to turn up the thermostat. Heat pumps should be right sized based on the insulation, orientation, air leakage, windows, and size of the home.
Air quality: If your system is over-sized and therefore not properly dehumidifying, you’ll most likely have moisture problems. This could result in strange smells, mold or mildew growing in areas that don’t receive much air flow, excessive presence of dust mites, etc. Air quality will be impacted unless the system is right sized.
The same conversation seems to happen in every organization in the construction industry. How do we get more people involved and active in the organization? How do we get emerging professionals to join? The same ideas are discussed – start a blog, social media, fun events at a local bar, or maybe try a lunch meeting instead of dinner. So what is the answer, why are you involved in professional organizations? What value do you see in giving your time to the industry?
My favorite industry organization is CSI. I will always renew my dues with this organization and know that investing my time in it delivers huge benefits back to me. CSI brings me the most value of any of my other organizations through professional contacts, technical articles, and most important, they make me feel included, valuable, and accepted. To me this is the key to getting more people involved – make them feel needed, wanted, and equal. I look forward to CSI events because I know they are going to be interesting, but also because I know the other people attending want me there and will treat me as an equal. At one of the first CSI meetings I attended out-of-town years ago, I was asked by Mitch Miller to express my opinion to the entire group about the organization – me, one of the youngest people in the room. They wanted to know my thoughts and wanted to include me. That is added value for anyone in any organization.
At a meeting last night of the local AIA chapter, the discussion centered around the future of the chapter and the organization. AIA brings a huge value to the industry for architects and I believe to our clients. However, not all architects join and those that do join, many don’t get involved. The dues are high, the meetings are not held in my town, and I have been reminded that I am not equal many times. So why pay the dues (highest of all the other organizations I belong)? Last night one experienced architect in the room said the most important thing is having the initials behind your name – it helped her advance a career through the public sector. Another idea was you get to participate in the design awards (these awards seem to go to the same firms every year so they have little value to me). Another architect said it is your duty to belong to your industry association: “As a member of this profession you must join, get involved, and advance the profession.” I think these are all great reasons to belong to the AIA. However, that is not a reason to join and be active when there are many other ways to give to your community, advance your career, and be recognized for your work as an equal.
The reason I join a professional organization is to advance my skills. Yes, it is that simple and selfish.
So why did I join AIA (not paid for by my firm, I paid my own membership until I became a partner): it provides me with connections to peers who want to compare notes, teach best practices, and discuss the future. I miss having monthly meetings where I could meet the best and brightest in the industry now that I don’t have local meetings to attend. Getting to know Patricia Jessee, Jim Boyd, Mark Humbertson, Jeff Sties, Kurt Keesecker, Jimmy Grigg, Bill Daggett, Steve Davis, and Candy Smith has allowed me to grow as an architect and better serve my clients. Even if I have not had deep conversations with all of these architects, I know their work, personality, and styles and learn from observation and even emulation. I joined AIA to be a better architect.
What I want more of from AIA is help with being a better architect. I should not have to do all the work to find the experts to learn from, that information should be shared to every member and every member should feel included, valuable, and equal. AIA staff on the national and state level should know my name, know what I do, and know what I need from the organization. They should reach out in a personal way, not in a blind email sent to all members. In our profession, it is very easy to focus on the flashy, expensive design solutions, and the firms with project photography budgets bigger than most of my total design budgets. I need an AIA that promotes the value of all scale of firms and projects and treats me and my small firm as an equal.
Design matters. If you are building a new home, proper planning and design will provide you with the most energy-efficient, durable, and healthy home. There are many things that are done in new home construction that are considered standard, that might or might not be healthy, durable, or energy efficient. The design phase is a chance to set the performance standards for your builder to incorporate into your new home (and the price of your new home). Without an architect, you have to rely on the builder to set the design standards for you.
Design matters. Setting the performance standards, designing the spaces that work for you, selecting the right products for your design are key decisions that should be done prior to getting a price for the construction. We frequently work hand in hand with a builder to make sure we keep the budget in check while in process with the design. Decisions can be made as a team, which will provide the best solution to you at the best value.
A water management system does more than just protect your home from driving rain.
A proper water management system protects from bulk moisture and vapor drive from inside and outside the home. This includes an appropriate house wrap, flashing at wall openings, and the right insulation to name just a few details.
There are many places that the durability of a home can be caused into question. However, the most important design element is getting the water management system correct. If the system is not thought through completely you could have major structural damage in just a few years.
Storm water has always been an issue on the construction site. Your contractor had to manage run off, clean truck tires before leaving the site, and install bio-ponds. All of these strategies have become common place in the industry.
Now stormwater is becoming an issue for a wider audience. In order to protect the Chesapeake Bay, new regulations are coming for localities. This will most likely impact you and your home. Staunton and Charlottesville have already instituted a “storm water management fee” that is calculated by the percentage of impervious service on your property. In other words, the larger your home, the longer your traditional driveway, and the bigger your patio, the more you will pay.
There are many strategies you can implement into your property design to reduce your fee. Vegetated walls, pervious pavement and vegetative roofs are just a few of the things you can do to your home. Protecting the Chesapeake Bay will benefit all of us for future generations, stiffer stormwater regulations will help with that goal. However, reducing your stormwater fee is something that will pay dividends to both protecting the bay and your wallet.
It is very common to find insulation in the floor joists above your head in an unfinished basement or crawl space. Unfortunately, for homes in our area, this is not where you need insulation. I will go as far to say “it is a complete waste of money.”
As a general rule the entire envelope of your home should be insulated. If your basement, attic, or crawl space has duct work in it, then it is part of your home’s thermal envelope. Insulating the walls of the basement or crawl will increase the overall efficiency and comfort of your entire home.
Insulation, specifically fiberglass insulation, is often used in the floor joists in a basement or crawl space. If it is not in contact with the floor surface above, then it does not perform as intended. If you push the fiberglass in place then you smash the R-value out of the insulation so it does not work. If you want to insulate between floor joists, I recommend using spray foam insulation, but again, just insulate the walls.
maintain. The same is true for your heating, cooling, and ventilation system.If your system is oversized as many are in residential projects, it means that you are paying more than you need to maintain the air temperatures in your home. Your goal should be to get a system that is right sized. If the right sized system runs for an extended period of time, it will filter air and control humidity, while maintaining the comfort levels in your home. This right sized system will cost less to install and to operate.
