With the doldrums of winter behind us, spring like weather has been blessed us and brought on renewed energy. As plants sprout new growth, change is prevalent in all of our surroundings. The desire to clean out the old and freshen up the dingy happens more than any other time of year.

Along with this renewed energy, many people consider new projects for their business. It may be a remodel of the existing building, suite or a new ground up that is on the agenda. Whatever the plan, please be aware of the new changes that have been adopted regarding accessibility. New regulations went into effect last year, but are mandatory as of March 15 of 2012. Although most of the changes clarify previous regulation, while others give tolerances instead of hard dimensions, be assured that they will have an effect on your project. While some aspects my fall into a “safe harbor” others will require additional space for maneuvering or paths of egress.  If you need assistance with clarification or help in designing your project, we would be happy to help.

Our project spotlight this quarter is on a very different type of construction project for Structures and Interiors. This one has no connection to healthcare, dentistry, veterinary or even eye care. This unique project is a 40,000 square foot air condition self storage facility in Southlake aptly named Dragon Storage. This two story Carroll Dragon green facility sits literally yards from the actual Dragon Stadium which is home to theTexasState5A High School Football Champions of 2011. The project is constructed with a pre engineered structural steel building package,Austinwhite and Nicotine cave stone veneer and pre finished Dragon green, ash grey, and pennywise orange metal exterior. Although not a hospital this project had its own unique requirements for security, and access control. The specific project challenges were navigating the various municipal requirements and department from design through completion and occupancy. The building is a very striking facility on an extremely busy corner in one of the most fast pace and vibrant cities in northeast Tarrant county. We are very proud to have been chosen to be the builder of this facility and we wish our clients great success with this enterprise.

The end of the winter months brings spring flowers into bloom and with it new responsibilities for all building owners.  This is the perfect time of year to perform routine maintenance around our homes and commercial properties.    The main enemy to the longevity of all building structures is water.   Every building no matter how well engineered is just floating on this mud ball we call earth.  Damage from water can be devastating to any business and cause loss of income for you and your employee’s families.  If you know what to look for most of these sever issues can be avoided all together.

First of all start with a complete inspection of your roof.  The strong spring storms will damages shingles and roof penetrations.  This can allow water to seep in almost undetected until some type of damage is already done.  Check all roof penetrations for flashings that are loose or have caulk that has dried and cracked.  If all this looks good then move on to the gutters and make sure they are clean and free from leaves and debris.  This is often overlooked because you need a ladder to inspect but it is well worth having it cleaned before it causes rotting around soffits and eves.

Second you will need to walk around the building and check all windows and doors.  We use the best caulk available on the market but with this Texas heat all caulking products will deteriorate with age.  The areas where brick and stone meet window frames and expansions joints are the spots to check for signs of dried cracking caulk.  Repairing or replacing the caulking around windows and doors will help keep water out and possibly keep pests out as well.  Another added benefit will be the reduction of cooling bills from the loss of air migrating around windows.

The third item and possible the most expensive to fix is your building foundation.  Most of us around here are familiar with the large cracks you see in the ground on a hot summer.  We have black expansive clay in most of the metroplex that works back and forth with each wet- dry cycle.   If an even moisture level is not maintained around you property then it results in differential settlement.  Settling is a normal part of a buildings life but differential settling is when one section of the building sinks or rises faster than the rest.  This can lead to cracked foundations and even structural problems.  This can be prevented by being aware of your site’s water sources.   A large spike in your water bill should be a wakeup call to the possibility of a leaking water pipe somewhere on your property.   Make sure your irrigation system is in proper working order without broken sprinkler heads.  Over watering of your landscape is just as bad for your foundation as it is for your plants. The soil sound be moist but you should not sink into it when walking in your grass.   Give them just enough water to stay healthy and conserve the rest for us.

I hope all of you have had a great start to 2012 and may your buildings continue to be assets to your businesses.  All buildings require routine owner maintenance so give us a call if we can help you with this in any way.

More and more, cities are encouraging or even requiring new construction to be sustainable. There are many facets to sustainable design, and one is fostering an environment that is friendly to bicycles. Bicycles not only promote health and fitness, they also help to reduce the use of petroleum-based fuels as well as the CO2 produced.

According to iBike.org, here are a few reasons to promote and support bicycling:

• Most bicycles contain less than 30 pounds of metal and plastic
• Bicycling promotes physical and mental health as well as leaving a cleaner and quieter environment
• Bicycling is consistent with the Ethics of many religions to “do no harm”, which in this case, extends to the environment
• Bicycling is cheaper than owning and operating a car or truck
• Good cyclists have fewer accidents
• Cyclists tend to be leaders in their communities

See the full article here: http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/why-bicycle-101.pdf

Here at Structures and Interiors, we’ve noticed that cities are beginning to require bicycle racks as part of site planning, notably the City of Ft. Worth and the Town of Little Elm. More than likely other forward-thinking cities in the North Texas area will be joining this trend. There is good news for the denizens of Ft. Worth: the city is offering free bicycle racks!

http://fortworthtexas.gov/citynews/default.aspx?id=89786

Useful links:

http://www.ibike.org/encouragement/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainable_transport

http://www.ridelocal.org/

One very important factor to consider when determining the location of your new practice or the expansion of your existing practice is your electrical requirements.  Medical Offices typically consume more electricity on a day-to-day basis than a general office due to the multitude of equipment that is in operation at any given time.

Typical code requirements require a commercial electrical panel to be installed at 80% load capacity.   “Load Capacity” refers to the maximum amount of amperage designed to be pulled through the system at any given time. Installing at 80% or less load capacity allows for future expansion of components in the office that require electricity usage.  This is important for any office to allow for more future components to be installed that consume electricity and impose more “load” on the system.  It is also very important that the panel is not installed at full capacity due to the fact that you do not want circuit breakers to begin tripping and shutting down components that are consuming electricity that are vital to your business operation.  Circuit breaker tripping occurs when circuits begin to be overloaded due to too much Amperage being drawn through the circuits.  Circuit breakers are sized and designed to prevent the wires on that particular circuit from over-heating due to too much electrical current being transmitted through the wire.  In order to keep your practice safe, these individual breakers must be sized and installed correctly with their corresponding wire that is installed.  Circuits being routed incorrectly or the panel being overloaded will require costly re-wiring or an upgrade and replacement of the electrical service and panel.

One large source of power consumption in your office will be the heating and air conditioning system.   Electric heating consumes more energy than cooling.   If natural gas is available to your office space, utilizing it for heating your space will significantly decrease the electrical requirements for your space.    This is always beneficial for electrical loads imposed on the electrical panel and will allow for more components to be installed that consume electricity in the space.  Gas Heating may also make the difference between having a 200 amp service and being required to upgrade to a 320Amp or 400Amp Service which will be a cost increase to the project.

If you are considering a multi-tenant building with a shared electrical service, it is important to consider the distance from this service to your space.  The further the distance from the space, the more cost will be incurred because there are longer feeder wires required between the electrical meter outside and the panel inside the space.  Pulling these feeder wires is typically performed above the ceilings inside the building through a metal conduit.  If this conduit is not already installed, it will have to be installed after hours if it is being extended past existing businesses that may be presently operating inside the building.  If there are already feeder wires installed to your space, they could be undersized for your new electrical panel, and in this case, they will have to be removed and replaced by wires that are sized accordingly.

Your electrical system for your office is nothing to think lightly of or cut corners on.  The installation of an insufficient system can be detrimental to the performance and functionality of your office.  The installation of these systems must be designed and approved by a certified Master Electrician or a licensed Electrical Engineer in all cases.  The electrical system, along with the plumbing and HVAC system are the three most vital components of your office.  Next time we will talk about the HVAC (Heating, Ventilating, and Air Conditioning) system in your new space.

The design and construction of your practice will undoubtedly be met with obstacles. Whether your facility is a tenant finish out or a new building, making the right initial decisions can help keep small issues from becoming large headaches. The severity of these hurdles can be mitigated by taking the right steps in the right order. Leasable area, Site selection and lease negotiations are often completed before a contractor has been brought in to your team of professionals. One common obstacle we see when our interior design staff is brought on board to help create or complete the project plans is that the leasable square footage is based on incorrect assumptions.

Leasable area is measured from the center line of shared partitions to the outside face of a wall. In most scenarios, a property manager keeps a floor plan showing the building as it was constructed. As tenants fill up the building, the shared “demising” partitions are added to the floor plan to keep track of how much area is left to be rented. This floor plan is usually transmitted to a tenant in a drafting format for their space planner to work off of. The problem occurs when the existing “demising” partitions in the building are not in the same location as the existing “demising” partitions on the plan. One important role of the space planner is to verify the actual dimensions available to construct. A small error in leasable area can have big impacts on the recurring cost of the space.

Layout
Another common obstacle that we see with lease space selection involves the layout of the space plan without taking into account the foundation design, or in multi-story buildings, the structure location below. Many times with older buildings, the structural plans are not available. With a newer building this information is readily available. The positioning of plumbing fixtures above foundation beams or the building supports is typically not feasible to construct and the extra costs should be avoided.

Site development
There are many things to consider when selecting a site for a new building, but often times the focus is on land price, surrounding aesthetics and demographics.

One of the largest hurdles faced by potential building owners is the realization that site utilities are not available for the lot they have already purchased. This is most common in a property that is not part of a master planned development, but even on a “pad site”, the building owner can be responsible for completing the utility development for their lot.

The major utility costs to be on the lookout for are Sanitary Sewer, Water, Storm Drainage and Onsite Runoff Detention, Electric Delivery and Natural Gas Delivery. Another note is that site development costs will be almost the same for a 3,000 square foot building as they would be for a 5,000 square foot building. There is no price per square foot correlation. A general contractor or civil engineer can help you walk through your site selection process to minimize the potential for unforeseen costs.

Accessibility
Your professional space planner will be scrutinizing handicapped accessibility whether you are building your facility from the ground up or as a tenant finish out. Common accessibility problems include the following:

1) Rooms. Closed rooms that will be used by more than one person but not for a specific work function will need to have at least a five-foot circle available for wheelchair turn around. This includes all restrooms, offices, walk-in closets, and waiting and reception areas.

2) Doors. All latching doors need to be 36 in. wide in these areas. On the side of the door you pull from, accessibility standards require at least 18 inches from the edge of the doorknob to the nearest wall.

3) Counters. At your reception counter for both check-in and check-out, a 36-inch maximum height countertop should be installed 36 inches in width for accessible access. This can replace or be adjacent to a higher countertop.

4) Protrusions. Any object protruding from a wall in an egress area below 80 inches in height cannot protrude further than 4 inches except under rare circumstances. This includes countertops, wall sconces, televisions and any other fixed items.

5) Compliance. Any project over $50,000 in total construction cost is required to be registered and inspected for accessibility compliance, but all new work that is completed in a commercial setting is required to comply whether inspected or not. These are just a few obstacles commonly encountered while designing and constructing your new practice. Diligence by you, your real estate professional, and your design and construction team will keep these obstacles from becoming problems and ensure a successful project for all.

It seems like yesterday when we sent out our newsletter for December 2010. As we look back on the early months of 2011 it is very apparent that the coldest weather of the year will soon be upon us. With the lower temperatures once again comes the need to review the precautions necessary to help prevent frozen water lines. Below are several items which can easily be overlooked and the damage and resulting repairs can be very expensive.

Fire sprinkler systems can cause serious damage if not properly maintained. Auxiliary heat sources should be checked so they are working properly to keep a wet pipe system from freezing.  The addition of heat tape to piping that is over unprotected porches can help ensure the pipes there are protected. On a dry pipe system, the lines should be purged to remove any condensation that may have gathered in the piping. Since the heads are oriented down, condensation can gather at the head and freeze causing leaks or a broken pipe.

Building waterlines on outside walls are also prone to freezing.  At outside faucets, remove hoses and cover with a frost proof cover. In severe cold, leave the faucet open just enough to allow for a steady drip. On the inside, open cabinet doors and closets where possible to allow the heat to warm the wall from the inside. If extreme freezing weather or the possibility of freezing rain and power outages occurs, leave faucets on at a steady drip in the entire building to help prevent freezing in  case of a power outage.

Irrigation systems typically are not thought of since most are cut way back on watering times.  They do still run though and the water accumulating in unsealed cracks in paving and sidewalks can cause damage if it freezes. There is also the possibility of someone falling if they slip on an ice covered walkway. Freeze protectors are required by most cities to prevent the system from running in the event of freezing temperatures and citations can be issued if water on public streets and sidewalks is observed.

I hope everyone has a safe and prosperous 2012. If you need additional information or if we can assist you in getting your systems services for better protection please feel free to contact us.

How can you save money on your building cooling costs and protect the environment? The answer is as simple as a white roof. Traditional roofs are dark colored and absorb the visible light energy of the sun. The heat energy is transferred through the building materials into your conditioned space, driving up your cooling costs.

White roofs reflect most of the radiant energy, reducing building cooling loads and the urban heat island effect. A traditional dark colored roof can increase in temperature as much as 122　°F above ambient air temperature, while a white roof typically only increases 25 °F above ambient air temperature. That translates to about a 15%-30% reduction in cooling costs. Many manufacturers now offer white or light colored roofing membranes. There are even white tar roll on coatings available to “paint” over dark shingles with the same effect as white roofing membranes.

White roofs reduce pollution created by power plants by reducing energy consumption. As white roofs become more aesthetically acceptable, you are sure to see them on a building near you.