August 30, 2010

Well it took some time, but the results are in. After the new roof was completed in January of this year on the St. Mary’s school roof, several things have happened. They include;

My son has graduated from the school, yeah Jaren!;

DuroLast Roofing has completed several new projects in Southern California over the past months, Congratulations Scott Franklin;

Bligh Roof Company has completed several projects, including the new roof on the Stardust Room of the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Way to go Jay, Tim, Randy and the rest of the guys. AND The school has provided me with their SDG&E (San Diego Gas and Electric) bills for the first two quarters of 2009 and 2010.

With this information, we can compare the energy use from 2009 Pre DuroLast roof installation to the energy use Post DuroLast roof installation. All things considered, we now have a good idea of what the benefit is after installing the new white PVC roof membrane above and beyond stopping the ongoing leaks that were occurring every year.

You can read more about this project at www.westernroofing.com You can go to the July/August archives for the article on this roofing installation.

I reviewed the temperatures for the periods that are being compared. The average temperature in Aliso Viejo, CA., in January 2009 was 72 degrees and in 2010 it was 66 degrees. The average temperature at the school in June was 73 degrees in 2009 and 74 degrees in 2010. Over the first and second quarter the temperatures (with the exception of the one listed for January above) were almost even from 09 to 2010. With that in mind, we can review the energy use and dollars paid to see what the savings would be after installing the new DuroLast PVC white reflective membrane on the school.

The verdict is what we expected and what the school was very pleased to see. Over the first two quarters the schools energy use was down meaning they were paying less in heating and cooling bills. The average savings was 14% over this timeframe. As you might expect it was a little lower during the cooler days, however it was up to 20% in June of this year with the average temperature being almost the same. What is the school’s dollar savings. First of all, you have to remember this is a private school that depends solely on the tuition and donations for funding. So to save money at all is a great benefit. Over the course of 2010, the school could realize up to $20,000 in savings for the 12 month period. That my friends, is a wonderful reality!

The head of school and the board should be happy. We hoped for this benefit and with the help of DuroLast, Bligh Roof Company and Larry Schuler (Head of building and grounds committee) the school can move on to teaching the young leaders of tomorrow. Oh, yeah and hopefully they will call D 7 when they need assistance on the remaining roof areas! That should help them save even more money! Talk to you soon.

Or as they call it across the pond “The Open Championship”. This is one of the oldest championships that exists in sports today. This year they celebrated the 150th playing of the event at of all courses, the Old course in St. Andrews. Obviously, being there was a very special time and I cannot write enough to explain how awesome this experience was. But I will try.

While making plans to go with my son Jaren, I had to decide on the mode of travel, place to stay and things for my wife Janick to do while we were at the tournament. Well, first of all, anyone planning on going to a British Open event needs to know that you cannot plan far enough ahead. I made reservations in April for July and we ended staying in Edinburgh, Scotland. This seemed like a long way from the golf course (it showed it to be an hour) but it turns out, it was a great place to camp while attending the Open.

We arrived on Wednesday night after a 12 hour journey from LAX through Paris to Scotland. After checking into our hotel “The Chester Residence” we quickly went to bed to catch up on sleep. In the morning, we were able to scout the city and transportation. The train station was 10 minutes by cab and the train took you to a stop just outside of St. Andrews. Then a bus ride into the course and you were dropped off right outside the 15th hole. This main entrance was perfect for accessing the entire course.

So off we went, an hours ride on the train, 10 minutes on the bus and golf all day. We did this for 3 days and caught the early trains up and the late train back each day. An average of 10 hours on the course each day was not enough! The course has no shortage of viewing spots for golf. We quickly learned a few things. If you watched the event on TV, you knew that it rained at times. Well, we planned ahead and had our rain pants and rain jackets on each day. That was the most important aspect of the trip. It rained each day for some period and the wind blew each day as well. Without the rain gear, we would not have survived. Some of you know this, but the main lesson learned, when you plan on traveling to Scotland, make sure you bring the rain gear. And don’t buy the cheap stuff! You will need Rain pants, not wind pants. At any rate, the course was fantastic. What you don’t see on Television is the large greens that dot the course. Many of the greens are over 100 yards wide because they are shared by two holes. The outward hole #3 would be shared with the inward hole #15. Each of the shared green combinations adds up to 18. So while you are playing #8, the guys on putting on #10 just off to the right. Needless to say, this creates some interesting golf. Holes #7 through #11 can all be viewed from a couple of locations (see map insert). This is where we spent most of our time as well as on #17 (the Road Hole) and #18. By sitting on #11 tee box in the stands you can view golf on all of these holes. If they had waiters serving food, it would have been heaven. Oh yeah, and the bathrooms were a bit too far away. But that was ok.

The main thing you take away from St. Andrews is the history. This is unmatched in golf. From Old Tom Morris to Bobby Jones, and even Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer you have great stories of golf and tradition. Tiger showed up but couldn’t putt, a theme to be repeated numerous times the remainder of the year. Nick Faldo played and you could see he was over matched in an attempt to capture another Open title. We saw Rory McIlroy play his heart out a few rounds and you can see why this kid is going to be great some day. But over the four days, it what Mr. Louis Oosthuizen from South Africa was the better golfer. He played the event of his life striking the ball effortlessly and putting like he grew up on the greens. You could see in his game on Saturday, that each shot was easy. He never looked pressed nor did he “miss” a shot it seems. When the dust had settled, he was along at the top. Standing amidst the crowd on the 18th green is an experience that I will never forget. I could tell by my son’s reaction to the crowd and players that he would never forget it as well. These are the true fans of golf as it should be played. It was something that I had never seen before, even the Masters has a different feel. Maybe it was the way Old Tom Morris imagined it to be when he laid out the Old Course? Maybe it was the way Bobby Jones felt after he picked up in 1921 and withdrew claiming he didn’t like the course. Then later returned to forge a fabulous history with St. Andrews and the people who live there. Whatever the reason, you cannot help but feel it as you stroll the fairways.

I look forward to returning to St. Andrews to play and even watch another Open Championship there in the years to come. My goal is to get there next year and feel the greens and wind while trying to keep the ball out of the gorse and tall grass. Walking off the first tee and hitting over the bern to the green and making par will be step one on the journey of a lifetime. We (Jaren an I) took out first step in July this year. Next step, Whistling Straits and the PGA, stay tuned for the final Major of the year. It should be a good one.

A Newport Beach-based construction consulting company is in its first week of implementing a new workflow that incorporates 20 always-connected-to-the-Internet Apple iPads.

D7 Consulting is trying to carve out a competitive edge by turning “lead time into real time.”

The company was picked by cloud-based service Box.net as recipient of the iPads after D7 submitted an application describing how it could benefit from the iPad and the Box collaboration software.

The way the 20 iPads are used is now essentially a joint experiment and promotion between the companies.

“We really think Box can make mobile devices like the iPad an indispensable tool for businesses. So, we’re looking forward to getting a lot of great feedback from D7 and translating that into making Box an even better solution,” said Sean Lindo, product marketing manager for Box.

Box is a collaboration service (one of several) where individuals, teams or businesses can store collective documents, photos, presentations and other types of files online. With an always on and always connected to the Internet device like the iPad, an individual is capable of uploading and downloading files quickly at any time – and from anywhere.

D7 co-founder Joseph Daniels said, in theory, one of his workers could be suspended in mid-air inspecting something on the side of a hotel in Las Vegas, taking photos with a digital camera and sending in reports right from the iPad.

In reality, they’re still testing things out. One of D7′s employees is taking a trek up to a project in Fremont, Ca., this week as he files his work from his tablet. Instead of mailing reports from the job to the office he’ll file from the iPad. It’ll be even quicker than using a laptop, too, Daniels said.

He hopes using iPads will give his company a competitive edge. He said tasks that might’ve taken a week or two could be done in the same day now.

“It’s about speed and time in business. That’s what people want. They want it now or yesterday. If they can get it that way, we’re going to be the ones in the front,” he said.

A common concern about cloud-based services like Box.net is security. Sensitive files uploading and downloading all the time from a variety of different devices in a bunch of different locations isn’t exactly an IT guy’s security dream. Daniels says he’s not too concerned about it.

“Our information isn’t valuable to anybody but us and the client,” he said.

Box.net advertises data encryption, reporting tools on user and file activity and access controls too, among other security features.

Daniels said the important features of the iPad as a business solution are that it’s inexpensive, lightweight and fast. The iPads he is using are 3G + Wifi, which means the devices can access AT&T’s 3G cell network to access the Internet when not in range of free wireless Internet. He compared not using an iPad to using iPad with a wifi connection as being like going from 25 to 50 miles an hour. Going up to a 3G iPad, which enables connectivity everywhere, is like going from 50 to 100 miles per hour.

When asked if he could go back to not using an iPad, Daniels said he could,

“Do I want to go back? Never,” Daniels said.