Blogs

How We Move Forward

By Mark Dorsey, CAE, FASAE posted 3 days ago
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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 Editorial Staff posted 11 days ago
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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 Editorial Staff posted 15 days ago
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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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CSI Studio: Michael Riscica of Young Architect

By CSI Editorial Staff posted 17 days ago
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Michael Riscica , founder of Young Architect , sat down for a series of interviews in the CSI Studio during the Master Specifiers Retreat in January 2020. View all the interviews below, and subscribe to our YouTube channel . Thinking about taking the CDT ® exam? Register here
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Award Recommendations, A Guideline for Design Professionals

By Kevin O'Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT posted 22 days ago
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Award Recommendations, A Guideline for Design Professionals 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. Design professionals often assist project owners with evaluating bids received from prospective contractors and furnish to owners written recommendations on awarding the associated construction contract(s). Many such recommendation ...
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Virtual Site Observations: CSI Members Discuss COVID-19 Questions in Connect Community

By Peter Kray posted 04-24-2020
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From Contract Clauses for Virus Claims questions, to Social Distancing Design discussions, the COVID-19 pandemic is generating a lot real-time interaction on the CSI Connect Community Page right now. Set up an account and log in to get immediate feedback on any of your construction industry concerns.  Below are are some of the early discussion points of an ongoing conversation about the practicality of “Virtual Site Observations:” Many designers and architects have projects reaching substantial completion during this COVID-19 lock down that are in need of site observations or punch visits, and in some cases clients are requesting that we perform those observations ...
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Competitive Bidding: Use Care when Requiring Submittal of Non-Price Information

By Kevin O'Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT posted 04-23-2020
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Competitive Bidding: Use Care when Requiring Submittal of Non-Price Information 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 competitive bidding for construction contracts, especially public work, it is critical that the project’s Instructions to Bidders, in coordination with the bid form, establish a clear, fair, method ...
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COVID-19 Crystal Ball: How this Crisis Will Transform the Construction Industry

By Peter Kray posted 04-17-2020
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COVID-19 has already transformed our lives at home and at work. From a current discussion on the CSI Community, CSI members discussed what they think its long-term impact will be. It’s proven that we can do a lot more design work remotely. I think it would have taken 10 years for my firm to be this comfortable with this much staff working remotely, but we are seeing that our folks are still quite productive. In fact, our firm signed up for the Architecture 2030 commitment in December, and our internal firm leadership review of the required sustainability plan happened about three weeks into our new stay-at-home protocol. The Partners are now talking about ...
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Self-Care During Quarantine: CSI Members Share Their Top Tips

By Peter Kray posted 04-09-2020
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COVID-19 has had an impact on all of us, changing the way we live, and the way we work. Which is why it’s more important than ever to take care of your personal health. In the interest of sharing our ‘good health’ tips, a recent CSI Community Connect post asked members, “What are you doing to ensure your mental and physical health while sheltering in place?” Here are some of those top tips. Please do share your own insight, or use the Community Connect forum to discuss any topic regarding being a construction industry professional during this global pandemic.    We are sheltering at home to avoid getting sick or getting someone else sick. Avoiding ...
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CSI Community—3 Ways Construction Pros Deal with the Challenges of COVID-19

By Peter Kray posted 04-01-2020
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In an open letter to CSI members and construction industry professionals posted last week, CSI Board Chair Ellen Kay Crews, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT, SFP, FMP stated, “It’s often been said that the single most important element of CSI is its people—you, and this network of friends and colleagues across the country that contribute to each other’s personal and professional success. Please understand our community is something you count on now more than ever. One of the real-time resources she called out in that letter is the CSI Connect Community Page . Here are some of the timely conversations CSI members are having about the impact of COVID-19 on their profession, ...
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10 Questions with Michael Riscica of YoungArchitect.com

By Matthew Switzer posted 03-23-2020
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CSI Director of Marketing and Communications Matthew Switzer sat down to interview Michael Riscica AIA, founder of YoungArchitect.com, at CONSTRUCT 2019 in October to discuss the state of the construction industry, and especially how he uses his online-based platform to help architects succeed passing tests for licensure and beyond. Here are the top 10 takeaways from that conversation.   Tell me about how and why you started YoungArchitect.com I got my license as an architect 2013. When I started the process, it was nothing like what I was led to believe it would be. I was told it was going to take about six months and was maybe a 200-hour project. It ended ...
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CSI’s Top 10 Tips for Working from Home

By CSI Editorial Staff posted 03-20-2020
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COVID-19 has had an immediate impact on how all of us live and work. As we adjust to new standards for ensuring our own health, as well as the health of our personal and professional community , working virtually, or “Working f rom Home” (WFH) , has become a critical element for maximizing our business opportunities while minimizing our exposure risk.   Did you know that approximately half of CSI’s staff are dispersed throughout the countr y and work virtually every day? Yep!  Many of us are used to remote work.     For those professionals who are new to WFH, or even those experienced pros who may be adjusting ...
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2020 CSI2EYE EVENT: A DAY OF BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH KNOWLEDGE SHARING

By Beth Winkler posted 03-16-2020
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2020 CSI2EYE EVENT: A DAY OF BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH KNOWLEDGE SHARING   Over 70 design, construction and manufacturer professionals came together on Thursday, March 12 to share their knowledge with one another on new product and system solutions in the areas of low slope roofing, insulation, metal composites, concrete repair, windows and doors, security solutions, architectural lighting, rainscreen systems, moisture management and more.  Design and construction professionals met one-on-one for 20 minutes throughout the day with technical manufacturer reps to ask questions, get answers, learn something new and develop relationships to help on ...
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Bid Items—Keep Your Bid Form Simple

By Kevin O'Beirne, PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT posted 03-12-2020
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Bid Items— Keep Your Bid Form Simple by Kevin O’Beirne PE, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CDT   Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this seventh 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.   It is amazing how design professionals and owners often include an inordinate number of bid items on their projects’ bid forms. When quizzed about why they do this, the reason is often a mumbled, “Well, we sort of like seeing something ...
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Three CSI Members Share Their Local Chapter Shout-Outs!

By Peter Kray posted 03-03-2020
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Local CSI Chapters form the immediate, local community for CSI members, with their own initiatives, culture, and yearly events to bring construction industry professionals together. A recent CSI Community Connect post asked members to, “Celebrate Your Local CSI Chapter! What is it about your chapter that you enjoy the most, or that you think makes it special and unique?” Here is how three members responded:  The Mississippi Cooking Team! I have discovered that CSI members, like the scouts in my old Boy Scout Troop, certainly respond to the old adage, “Feed them and they will come.” We hold our annual Transfer of Power meeting each June on a Saturday. Outgoing ...
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Women Who Build – The Present and Future of Women in the AEC Industry

By Ken Lambert, CSI posted 03-02-2020
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Women Who Build – The Present and Future of Women in the AEC Industry By Ken Lambert Editor's Note: CSI is pleased to publish this blog from Ken Lambert, current CSI Chapter President in New Hampshire. 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. Recently I participated in the 5 th annual “Women Who Build” conference in Amherst, Massachusetts. This year there were 300 attendees, which was roughly 20 percent more than the year prior. Out of the 300 present, about 10 percent ...
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150+ Attendees Pack the 2020 Building Enclosure Event

By Beth Winkler posted 02-27-2020
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150+ Attendees Pack the 2020 Building Enclosure Event It was a packed house at Maggiano’s in Chicago on Tuesday, February 25, 2020. 150+ attendees gathered to hear Steven Doggett, Principal Building Scientist of Built Environments, Inc. present his latest research findings on water resistive barriers. Water-Resistive Barriers (WRBs) have evolved to serve multiple functions.  Despite these advances, performance expectations still reflect over-simplistic assumptions and problematic testing methods.  Interfaces with modern wall components also remain ill-defined with respect to the WRB’s primary function of liquid water resistance.  Industry trends toward ...
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Your Certification Journey: How CSI Can Help You Succeed

By Tracy Petrillo posted 02-20-2020
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Your Certification Journey: How CSI Can Help You Succeed   We want people to be successful at achieving certification. That’s why CSI invites you to continue—or begin—your certification journey. Hopefully, all of the AEC community continues to learn and to set new goals that have a positive impact on them both personally and professionally. One of CSI’s biggest resources is our ability to offer industry-recognized credentials that identify your expertise and dedication within the profession, so that it’s clear what level of expertise you bring to the work you do. And it doesn’t matter at what stage in your career you begin your journey. Whether you have ...
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How I Earned My CDT: A Conversation with Priscilla Lee

By Peter Kray posted 01-30-2020
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How I Earned My CDT: A Conversation with Priscilla Lee The Construction Documents Technology (CDT ® ) certification provides a comprehensive program of study for anyone seeking to enhance and demonstrate knowledge of writing, interpreting, enforcing ,  and managing construction documents. It is a valuable resource for project architects, contractors, contract administrators, material suppliers, and manufacturers’ representatives, all of whom are realizing the advantages of being Construction Documents Technologists. Priscilla Lee of San Francisco was one of the construction industry professionals who put in the time and effort to earn her CDT in 2019. ...
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JANUARY 2020 CHAPTER MEETING: INTERIOR ARCHITECTURE: THE SECRETS OF A SUCCESSFUL CROSS-COLLABORATION

By Beth Winkler posted 01-24-2020
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90+ attendees gathered on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 at East Bank Club in Chicago for our January Chapter Meeting. It was our first chapter meeting of the new year and provided a great opportunity for networking and knowledge sharing. The night lead off with our President Andrea Baird welcoming our members and guests. Andrea recognized our 16 new members since the last chapter meeting and that the membership is sitting strong at 307 members. She also shared the Chapter’s new mission statement that was just approved by the board. To advance the greater Chicago area design and construction community’s knowledge of building information management, construction ...
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