Blogs

2020 Class of Fellows Q&A with Elias S. Saltz

By CSI HQ posted 4 days ago
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2020 Class of Fellows Q&A with Elias S. Saltz The CSI College of Fellows has selected five new members to the 2020 class, including Elias S. Saltz, CSI, CCS, CDT®.   Elias was nominated through a rigorous application process, then elected by the Jury of Fellows for membership. Fellowship is one of the top two honors given by the Institute. Elias will be inducted during the virtual Honors and Awards Ceremony taking place later this fall. Here, he shares what the honor means to him, and how being a member of CSI has informed his life and career.   What does being a member of the 2020 Class of Fellows honorees mean to you? I’ve ...
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Partisan Professionals: Contractors Deserve Ethical Treatment

By Kevin O'Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT posted 11 days ago
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Partisan Professionals: Contractors Deserve Ethical Treatment by Kevin O’Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT   Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Kevin O’Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT. If you have an   idea or opinion you would like to share with your colleagues in the construction industry, please contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at  pkray@csinet.org . He would love to help publish your thoughts. In managing their myriad priorities, architects, engineers, and geologists are obligated to behave ethically, both by their licensure and codes of conduct established by non-profit, professional organizations. However, ...
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Congratulations to the 2020 Class of CSI Fellows

By CSI HQ posted 13 days ago
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The CSI College of Fellows has selected five new members to the 2020 class. Each was nominated through a rigorous application process, then elected by the Jury of Fellows for membership. Fellowship is one of the top two honors given by the Institute. The 2020 Fellows are: Alan Mitchell Horne Sr., CSI, CDT®, AIA, LEED AP, NCARB, USGBC; Elias S. Saltz, CSI, CCS, CDT®; Lee Ann M. Slattery, CSI, CDT®, CCPR; Robin E. Snyder, Esq, CSI, CCS; and William Sundquist, CSI. The new Fellows will be inducted during the virtual Honors and Awards Ceremony taking place later this fall.  “CSI has been a valuable resource for me from the early days of my career. I could ...
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Product Reps Should Involve Both the Designer AND the Subcontractor/Installer

By Ken Lambert, CSI posted 21 days ago
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Product Reps Should Involve Both the Designer AND the Subcontractor/Installer By Ken Lambert, CSI Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Ken Lambert, Director of Industry Development and Technical Services for the International Masonry Institute. He can be reached at  klambert@imiweb.org . If you have an idea or opinion you would like to share with your colleagues in the construction industry, please contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at  Pkray@csinet.org . He would love to help publish your thoughts.   Though I am no longer a manufacturer representative, or technical sales rep, I was for several years. Of course, everyone ...
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Let's Build Camp To Host Advanced Program for Alumnae

By CSI HQ posted 07-08-2020
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Let's Build participants hold a design meeting Let’s Build Construction Camp for Girls will host an advanced camp July 27-31 for young ladies that have been with the organization for multiple years. The advanced camp was created as an opportunity to immerse the campers into the entire process of designing and building a project.  Partnering with Habitat for Humanity of the Lehigh Valley , this project also became a valuable fundraiser bid item during their “Toast For Hope” fundraising event. Since January, the advanced campers have worked with the winning bidder and SCF Architecture to identify the client’s needs, research shed and material options, ...
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Standards, Integration & the Digital Future: CSI Discusses CROSSWALK with OSCRE International  CIO Ian Cameron

By CSI HQ posted 07-07-2020
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Standards, Integration & the Digital Future: CSI Discusses CROSSWALK with OSCRE International CIO Ian Cameron   Last week CSI unveiled CROSSWALK SM , the first agile API that integrates fundamental construction industry organizational standards. This new technology connects CSI’s MasterFormat ® , UniFormat ® , and OmniClass ®  for the first time, and accelerates the communication cycle from designers to specifiers to contractors and subcontractors, so that they can build with more accuracy, more safely, with significant savings in cost and time. ( Read our CROSSWALK announcement. ) OSCRE International is an international data standards ...
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Why History’s Most Iconic Buildings were Built by Masons

By Peter Kray posted 07-06-2020
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In a recent blog , Ken Lambert discussed why so many of the world’s most iconic structures were built by masons.  Here, other CSI members share their thoughts:   Stone and masonry are durable and indeed have led to many beautiful, iconic, and durable buildings in the world. Stone and masonry as we know it has been around since at least the 14th century. Building with stone—literally “stones” goes back much earlier. Stones were also a method to obtain food by brining down animals. Great skill and training is a trademark of a good stonemason. Constructing with masonry, as used in this particular blog, takes longer time schedules than steel, tilt-up concrete, ...
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2020 CONSTRUCT Joint Statement

By Mark Dorsey, CAE, FASAE posted 06-30-2020
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CSI and CONSTRUCT are committed to the safety and wellbeing of attendees, exhibitors, staff and CSI members. We are continuing to monitor COVID-19, specifically in the Dallas area, combined with local guidance. CONSTRUCT, an Informa Markets show, made the difficult decision to transition CONSTRUCT 2020 to a digital experience. CSI fully supports this decision.   The CONSTRUCT and CSI teams understand the importance of connecting and celebrating the architecture, engineering, and construction communities. Therefore, we are excited to offer a unique virtual event that will allow the industry to source, learn, network, gain inspiration and overcome challenges ...
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President Message: Utilizing Digital Technology To Drive Engagement & Connection

By Brad Schwab, CSI, CDT posted 06-27-2020
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There is no denying that you, our members and our partners, are facing a lot of uncertainty due to COVID-19 as we head into our 2020/2021 Fiscal Year. One thing I am certain of is you can count on CSI Chicago to be there for you all while we continue our mission to advance the greater Chicago area design and construction communities knowledge of building information management, construction technology, and project delivery methods to improve facility performance while fostering relationships and promoting education. Our plan for this upcoming year is simple, utilize digital technology to drive engagement and connection. Our chapter has always done a great ...
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How to Have a Cost-Effective and Minimal Impact Drainage Model by Sophie J. Parker

By CSI HQ posted 06-25-2020
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How to Have a Cost-Effective and Minimal Impact Drainage Model By Sophie J. Parker Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Sophie J. Parker, Editor in Chief at Surehand Inc. If you have an   idea or opinion you would like to share with your colleagues in the construction industry, please contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at  pkray@csinet.org . He would love to help publish your thoughts.  https://surehand.com Leaks can be problematic in drainage runs on any building and may lead to a myriad of issues if undetected and unresolved. Unfortunately, leaks in these systems are often harder to identify than in clean water ...
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Claims Preparation: Claims Should be Clear, Complete, and Documented

By Kevin O'Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT posted 06-16-2020
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Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Kevin O’Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT. If you have an   idea or opinion you would like to share with your colleagues in the construction industry, please contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at  pkray@csinet.org . He would love to help publish your thoughts.   In construction, change proposals and claims are written demands from one party to the other seeking an adjustment in contract price, contract times, or other relief under the contract. While many people tend to think of claims as assertions by contractors, in fact, both the owner and the contractor may assert a claim against the other ...
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CROSSWALK Creates Greater Accuracy and Efficiency for Construction Industry

By Mark Dorsey, CAE, FASAE posted 06-11-2020
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CROSSWALK SM   Creates Greater Accuracy  and Efficiency  for Construction Industry    This is the Digital Engine for the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Owner (AECO) community   The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) today unveiled CROSSWALK, the first agile API that integrates fundamental construction industry organizational standards. This breakthrough technology connects CSI’s  MasterFormat ® ,  UniFormat ® , and  OmniClass ® for the first time, and accelerates the communication cycle from designers to specifiers to contractors and subcontractors, so that they can build with more accuracy, ...
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CROSSWALK Creates Greater Accuracy and Efficiency for Construction Industry

By Mark Dorsey, CAE, FASAE posted 06-10-2020
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CROSSWALK SM   Creates Greater Accuracy  and Efficiency  for Construction Industry    This is the Digital Engine for the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, and Owner (AECO) community   The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) today unveiled CROSSWALK, the first agile API that integrates fundamental construction industry organizational standards. This breakthrough technology connects CSI’s  MasterFormat ® ,  UniFormat ® , and  OmniClass ® for the first time, and accelerates the communication cycle from designers to specifiers to contractors and subcontractors, so that they can build with more accuracy, ...
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Meet the 2021 CSI Board: Director-at-Large George Wade Bevier

By CSI HQ posted 06-08-2020
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The 2020 CSI Board Election results are in, and beginning in July the AEC industry will welcome a new board of talented, respected, and goal-driven members to keep driving the association into the future. Full Election Results: https://www.csiresources.org/institute/csi-election   Meet Director-at-Large George Wade Bevier, FCSI, CCS, LEED AP, SCIP, USGBC, CDT ® and read about his goals for the board.   How did you first become involved with CSI, and how has that helped your professional experience grow?   I was hired to become a specifier back in 1998 with the caveat that I would get my (then) CDT certificate and follow this with ...
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Building for an Equal Future — CSI Supports the Rights of Everyone

By CSI HQ posted 06-05-2020
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At CSI, we believe that a robust, diverse, and inclusive community is a prerequisite to ensure all architecture, engineering and construction professionals realize their full potential. To that end, we cannot tolerate discrimination, racism, and dehumanization of family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, or anyone who seeks a better future afforded us in a free society. Our communities and social fabric are at a crossroads. Watching, yet one more time, news of innocent people dying needlessly at the hands of those who are supposed to serve and protect is intolerable. And somehow so much worse while we are all feeling the effects of isolation and anxiety from COVID-19. ...
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The Beauty and Architectural Significance of Masonry Buildings

By Ken Lambert, CSI posted 06-02-2020
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Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Ken Lambert, Director of Industry Development and Technical Services for the International Masonry Institute. He can be reached at  klambert@imiweb.org . If you have an idea or opinion you would like to share with your colleagues in the construction industry, please contact CSI Content Strategist Peter Kray at  Pkray@csinet.org . He would love to help publish your thoughts.   While recently reading an article from Architectural Digest (Sept. 2017) which listed the 50 most “iconic” buildings in the world, I found it interesting and relevant that the majority of these structures are of masonry ...
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CSI Discussion Forum: Learning from the Past and Looking to the Future

By CSI HQ posted 06-01-2020
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In this second edition of the CSI Discussion Forum, Construction Specifications Chief Executive Officer Mark Dorsey, FASAE, CAE, moderates a discussion with Erica Kennedy, AIA, CSI, CDT, NCARB, architect and business development with ODA architecture, William Sundquist, CSI, regional sales manager with Whitacre Greer, and Andrea Zawodny, CSI, CCS, LEED AP, senior associate and senior specifications writer for HOK, about how COVID-19 is impacting the ACE community, and what future changes panelists see as it relates to their practice and trends in the industry. Listen to the entire discussion.   Erica Kennedy: Typically, we do a Monday morning management ...
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How We Move Forward

By Mark Dorsey, CAE, FASAE posted 05-27-2020
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How We Move Forward: A Message from CSI CEO Mark Dorsey, FASAE, CAE A few weeks into the COVID-19 shutdown, William Sundquist, a friend and CSI board member, found his dining room furniture in the backyard, not because he put it there, but because it had been sucked out the of window during a tornado —while he was in the house. I got an early text from him with the pictures. After he assured me he was OK, my next question was, “What next?” He said, “Well, we move on.” Another CSI member lives near him, and he spent the night at their house. The two of them went back, collected some things, and he settled in for what will be a months-long stay at a local ...
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Meet the 2021 CSI Board: Treasurer William A. Hayward, Jr.

By CSI HQ posted 05-19-2020
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The 2020 CSI Board Election results are in, and beginning in July the AEC industry will welcome a new board of talented, respected, and goal-driven members to keep driving the association into the future. https://www.csiresources.org/institute/csi-election   Meet returning Treasurer William A. Hayward, Jr., (Chip), CSI, CCCA, CDT ® , and see what he believes are CSI’s ‘top opportunities.’ How did you first become involved with CSI, and how has that helped you professionally?   I first became involved with CSI in 2006, when a fellow worker invited me to a CEU dinner program, and I realized that I still had a lot to learn ...
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Learning in the Time of COVID-19: Engineering Management Student Joel Martinez Shares His Story

By CSI HQ posted 05-15-2020
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COVID-19 has had a profound effect on how and where people chase their professional goals—especially in regards to continuing education. In this CSI Q&A, Joel Martinez, a Construction Engineering Management student at California State University Long Beach (CSULB), talks about how he is studying for the CDT exam, and also why he is optimistic about the construction industry’s future. Why is the AEC industry a profession that attracted you? Construction attracted me because of its complexity and because of its massive influence. Relatively recent trends in BIM, CAD, and VDC are becoming cornerstones of the construction industry, and new technologies ...
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