Writing short reports for clients
You’ve just completed the project, and now you need to sit down and write the report. Staring at the blank computer screen, you wonder why it’s so hard to write […]
Insights
Accessory dwelling units combat homelessness
Accessory dwelling units provide an independent living space outside the primary residence on a property. It might be a smaller house in your back yard that you rent to short- […]
Why do scientists keep changing their minds?
One reason vaccine holdouts give for not trusting authorities such as the Centers for Disease Control is that these scientists are constantly changing their minds. At first they recommended that […]
Evaluating aggregates using ASTM C1778
ASTM C1778, “Standard Guide for Reducing the Risk of Deleterious Alkali-Aggregate Reaction in Concrete,” can help you decide how best to mitigate expansions due to reactive aggregates. It covers both […]
ASTM C1074 predicts the strength of concrete in place
Despite our need for durability and high performance, the most common design criterion for concrete is compressive strength. Usually we specify the 28-day strength, that is, the compressive strength after […]
The anti-malaria house
Malaria, a debilitating and sometimes fatal mosquito-borne illness, has been the object of many prevention efforts. Most of them focus on the vectors, various species of the Anopheles mosquito. To […]
Finishing air-entrained concrete requires a light touch
When finishing air-entrained concrete, less is more. Hard-troweled surfaces and air-entrained concrete don’t mix. If you need to entrain air—that is, if the concrete will experience cycles of freezing and […]
What else can solar panels do?
We’ve all seen arrays of solar panels on rooftops. They convert the sun’s energy into electricity, lowering the homeowner’s electric bill—and maybe even adding power to the grid. On a […]
Sustainable building design in traditional architecture
Now that things are opening up again, I’m looking forward to traveling. One thing that interests me is local architecture, especially traditional architecture. Sometimes we can be rather snobbish about […]
Specifying tests for durable concrete
Throughout my career, our industry has been pursuing performance specifications for concrete. That is, we want specifications for what the concrete must do, not what it must be. The sticking […]