Joe

Although going in we had concerns about security, stability, and data ownership, at its best working in the cloud allowed us to unshackle the day-to-day operations from our local server. Cloud computing has helped to shape our company into a truly mobile workforce. Plus, the “anywhere, anytime” availability of the cloud, means hassle-free collaboration between our business partners and employees by simply using a browser. The choices are many, from Dropbox, Google Docs, Google Apps, Microsoft Office Live Small Business to Box.net and MS SharePoint, to name a few. We had chosen to try Box.net as the company to help us share, manage and access all our business content online. For us it was the most comprehensive cloud service that offered simple, intuitive content management with full-featured collaboration tools. It was at this point we began looking at the iPad.

If Box is the backbone and brains for using the iPad, and the individual applications (APPS) are what make using the iPad productively possible. It can be said truthfully that we have tried, experimented, downloaded and tossed aside numerous applications. Many simply did not work for our model. Some just did not provide the ease of use that we were looking for, albeit a very good app. For document manipulation we us Documents To Go which provides us with all the tools we need to handle native MS documents with minimal loss of formatting. Editing is a breeze and the learning curve is minimal. GoodReader for iPad is another excellent app. It is more than just a PDF viewer (though it is a great PDF viewer). This app can read a variety of different file types and can even let you open documents inside other apps to make editing a breeze. Another one of our go-to apps is Noterize. Noterize allows us to view and annotate any PDF or PowerPoint document. The built-in web browser enables direct importing of files from the web, while integration with Box.net and Dropbox makes transferring documents between our computers and iPads as simple as can be. Of course there is Keynote the app from Apple. It lets us run presentations flawlessly, and if needed can convert previous PowerPoint files for viewing. Both these applications make reading news fun and engaging. With social being the buzz word these days sharing a story via Facebook, Twitter, YouTube or Email is as easy as two taps.
Clients don’t want to see a dinosaur walking in the door, so we make we’re able to communicate across all platforms.

As previously stated, there are so many apps that we have tried and to this day are still using. I do allow a bit of leeway if someone has learned a task on a certain app and likes one more than the other. Notify, Office HD, Fuze Meeting and AutoCad WS fall into that category. We do use news aggregators for such as Pulse News and SkyGrid. Lastly, I use Penultimate as a personal favorite. I can write, type, draw, email pages, etc. from anywhere.

Everything we do when we go out to a job site is done through the iPad and Box. We don’t even need to take a file with us any more. Pictures taken with cameras, videos recorded with our Flips are all immediately transferred to the iPad, then incorporated into that day’s field report and quickly emailed to our client and simultaneously uploaded to our Box.net cloud servers for storage. Clients have provided overwhelmingly positive feedback on this service. It’s the first thing our QAO’s learn to do on their iPad.

As D7 moves forward we are always looking for better solutions in our productivity apps, and other applications may get replaced if better options come along. There may be something in six months, an app that’s ten times better than what we’re doing right now. So we’re always looking to be more efficient in how we get things done around here.

As a business owner, I would recommend other businesses to look at a transitioning to the iPad or other similar devices right away. As I told our employees “get on board or get out”.

You can track our early stages by visiting our Youtube channel at: http://www.youtube.com/user/D7ConsultingInc#p/a

Joe

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.

I had purchased an iPad to begin our research in case we were successful in winning the contest. We had established some methods of use prior to actually meeting Box.net. On the first day, we went through the means and methods of how to use the iPad in our business model. We took the Box.net application and seamlessly implemented this into our daily life as Building Envelope Consultants. With the help of Box.net we are now able to do things that we have been dreaming about for years. The guys (Sean Lindo & Michael Smith) were able to see what we do and how we “did” it previously and assisted us in developing applications and methods of performing this work with the Box.net and iPad together. Can you say Excited!!

Snippies, which is a video production company run by Jeanne Finnerty out of New York, shot two days of video in the office and out on project sites while we actually utilized the applications we were testing. The video she produced is fantastic and I don’t know how she did it, but she even made me look good! The employees at D 7 were all doing the job in real form and Snippies took this and created a wonderful ad video for Box.net and Apple.

Terrell Woods of D 7 has been the main liaison between Box and D 7 as I was on vacation with my family the past two weeks. T (as we call him) has set up our folders on the “box” and we have been busy training each of the employees with the use of the program. Each day we learn new ways of working. On Friday July 23rd, Box.net held a conference call or Webinar with our staff to update us on the applications best suited for our business and answer questions related to our daily activities. I can truly state that Box.net is in it to develop this to the fullest extent, the company is first class all the way and we are extremely lucky and grateful to be working with this level of class!

Our next step is to use the video in our promotion of D 7 and the “new” way of bringing our service to the clients. Just today, the USPS (United States Postal Service) signed us up to perform Quality Assurance on two large projects because we are able to deliver the Daily Quality Assurance report electronically every day from the roof. They wanted an email of the report at the end of the day to the project manager. We can do that and more due to Box.net and our new iPads.

It seems simple, but what we are able to do using Box.net is completely fantastic. Getting to new projects for our field guys is now easier. Not having to depend on cell reception to get in touch with them. Being able to deliver documents (a lot of paperwork) by means of our desk top to the field through the iPad and Box.net is something that will save us time and you know what that means….Money!

Have I mentioned the frustration of clients who want information now and have to wait? We will trim that frustration out of our lives for good. Being able to deliver QAO reports is one thing, being able to compile information from the field and getting it to the office almost immediately will save an enormous amount of time for the consultants. When they come back to the office, they will be able to have it at their fingertips for review. The Admin staff will be able to stay ahead of the flow of information. If we are traveling, the information can be at our fingertips without ever going back into the office.

These are just a few things that are happening. Next week, I will be visiting our project in Freemont, California with Scott Swick our QAO who is working for RE Systems on the BART WSX project. This is a “cut and cover” tunnel expansion of the Freemont Bay Area Rapid Transit project. We will be up there for over 200 days and the iPad and Box.net program has made this truly a smooth operation. Jeanne will be there from Snippies to do some video and we will be meeting with Sean and Micheal at Box.net offices in Palo Alto, CA. I can’t wait! Take a look at the video and stay tuned for more updates as we move further toward our goal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFFw-0qH1Hs
http://www.cio.com/article/601227/iPad_at_Work_on_Dirty_Jobs_5_Lessons_Learned

As for the golf, I guess there were about 30,000 other people that thought Pebble Beach would be a great place to be that weekend.  The crowds were huge and as each day wore on they got bigger.  If you love golf and have ever been to Pebble Beach, you will understand that watching the professional golfers tee it up and struggle so much on a great course is somewhat satisfying.  When I have played Pebble, the greens were always the most difficult part of the course.  To say the pros had trouble with the greens, would be an understatement.

Thursday morning I watched as some of the early tee times went off of #1 and #10.  Seeing the young stars of tomorrow hitting the first drive with the thought of winning the U.S. Open is a great moment.  You know they believe they have a shot at the trophy.  However reality will set in after two days and most will not make the cut.  Friday comes with new thoughts of trying to survive to the weekend, making the cut and staying close to the leaders from the previous day.  Many of the top professionals struggled the first two days and didn’t make the cut.  Either the wind, which was cold and blowing both days and the slick greens would do them in.  Some of the notables who didn’t make it to Saturday were Tom Lehman, Geoff Ogilvy, Louis Oosthuizen and Trevor Immelman.  What do they players have in common you ask?  Each has won a Major including Ogilvy at Wing Foot in New York (I was there and it was great) and Louis Oosthuizen (British Open 2010).  Check my next blog!!

The thing I love to do is read all the papers after the first two days to see what everybody is saying about the course, the conditions and the leaders and their play.  Being out on the course you get a first hand feel of the conditions and set up.  For me, I will honestly admit that to par just one hole playing on the course as it is set up would be an accomplishment.  As the commercial says “These guys are good”.  On Saturday, the real test comes.  The USGA (United States Golf Association) who runs the USGA events such as the U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, etc., has total control over the way the course is set up for play.  They decide each day what to do with the pin placement, speed of the greens and length of the holes.

Some would say these guys are evil.  Some have said the USGA doesn’t like the golfers breaking par on the U.S. Open layout such as Pebble Beach.  The golfers will always be politically correct in the assessment of the USGA officials.  After all, they are professionals.  But make no mistake the courses the PGA (Professional Golf Association) set up each week for the weekly events in no way resemble the USGA layout for the U.S. Open.  The USGA doesn’t work for and is not run by the PGA.

So with the scores being somewhat better than expected, the USGA decided to bring them up a bit.  They let the greens get firmer and faster, the set up pin placements in locations that were near impossible to reach.  Case in point, #8 and #14 were both holes that for the resort golfer (guys like you and me) we would get on the green and two putt and move on, hopefully with a par!  Not this time, the shot over the ravine and water on #8 too me is the hardest shot at Pebble Beach.  It is no less than 180 yards of all carry and you have to carry a final bunker to a sloped green.  Go long and you are in another bunker or worse in the rough chipping down a steep slope.  If you watched the golfers on Thursday and Friday, they were going at the green with no real success.  The best shots were in the front bunker and then a sand shot to the pin with hopes of a short par putt.  On Saturday and Sunday, the players were “laying” up to the front apron and pitching the ball up the slope of the green to the back pin placement.  Those that went for the flag were chipping down the slope and watching the ball roll past the green to the place where others were pitching back up from.  No fun at all and believe me, if you were reviewing all the scores from that hole, you would see that many of the golfers who finished 2^nd and higher, didn’t par that hole each day.  Now take the 14^th, a par five that seemed to garner all the attention.  Did you see the 9’s that were posted on that hole?  It was ugly.  Watching this in person made you cringe and turn away, almost like a bar fight where one guy was beating somebody past the point of making the point, if you know what I mean.  Nobody knew what would happen on this hole.  It got so bad that laying up to around 80 to 100 yards didn’t assure you of anything.  I walked up on this green on Sunday after play was complete and the location of the hole and plateau of the green where the ball would stay without running back down the fairway or into the rough was about the 10’ x 20’.  Needless to say, from 100 yards, you go out and try and keep the ball within this area on CONCRETE!!  The greens were so hard and fast that par was a Great score on that hole.  Bogey 6 was acceptable and applauded when the players were lucky enough to obtain that.

BUT, with all that adversity such as the wind, the USGA set up, the difficulty of the course itself (nobody ever said Pebble was easy, at least I don’t think so) the shot that still stands out in the everybody’s mind is the tee shot on #18.  This is a daunting site.  The vista overlooking the ocean on the left, the Monterey hillside and the Lodge at Pebble on the right is one of the most impressive last holes you could ever play.  You want to hit it out over the ocean and carry as far as possible up the fairway.  You want too.  But you don’t.  You borrow as much as possible to the right without being completely lame and try and hit it square.  You then take a second shot up the fairway and hope to be on in three and two putt for a par.  Ok, I have tried to hit it up the fairway, but I still haven’t found those shots in the water off the rocks!

But the shot that makes us take a deep breath and hope to finish strong is now the last hole of the U.S. Open and the professionals need to get home to win.  Each and every golfer went to the tee box for the first two days with a chance to win the tournament.  On the last day only a handful had the chance.  All failed except one.  Graeme McDowell from Northern Ireland was able to meet the challenge.  He was able to complete the round and tournament of his life in 284 strokes.  He was 3 over par for the day and Even par for the 4 days of the event.  Remember what I said about the USGA and breaking par.  They succeeded in their wish and McDowell was the last man standing.

Many of the top names, Woods, Els, Michelson and Davis Love III finished in the top ten and all had a chance to take the trophy.  But each met with some form of failure be it lack of putting (Woods) bad shots at big moments (Michelson) or just plain didn’t have it that day (Els and Love).  As for me, watching these fantastic players struggle at some point on such a great course is why I know that playing the game of golf is a privilege that should be enjoyed.  Making par is great, breaking par, well I will let you know when it happens.  But the bottom line is, they all play at a level that many of us will never know.  So go out and enjoy the game, have fun and pretend that you just made a putt to win the U.S. Open!  Graeme McDowell used to do this and you know what, it finally happened to him.

As some of you know, this was the second of the 4 Major championships played each year.  My Masters blog was posted and this is the second major of the year.  I will be posting the British Open followed by the PGA championship in August.  My personal “bucket list” for the year is ½ complete.  Onward and upward!!

We will be taking them out of the box and then training on the use of the Ipad.  Snippies (www.snippies.com) will be on hand to video and prepare the promotional aspect for Box.Net.  This is the other part of the program.  The part that is most important to D 7 is getting the maximum efficiency out of the Ipad for our services in the Building Envelope Consulting business.

We are getting ready to embark on a new path of work flow.  What used to take days will now take hours and in some cases minutes.  Getting information from the field to the office and into the client’s hands has always been the most difficult part of our work.  Through Box.Net we will be able to have the information in the office before the Quality Assurance Observer or Consultant is back from the field.  Having this head start on the document(s) will save time immediately.  Not to mention the processing of photos (always a time consuming task) this can be tedious and confusing.  We will now be able to have immediate access to photos from the field.

So if you are a client who wants quick turn around, look no further than D 7 Consulting.  This will be what we do best.  Combined with our technical ability, years of experience in the roofing and waterproofing business and top notch staff of experts, why would you look elsewhere?

With over 700 contest entries, the choice was difficult. We were thrilled when Box.net informed D 7 Consulting that we had been selected as the winner of the free Ipads, etc. We are now embarking on a new and exciting journey of improving our company. With that said, the plan is simple….take our work product and transition from days or weeks to complete paper work in the field to a matter of minutes or at a maximum days at best.

Here is a short version of what we are working on:

Step One:

Quality Assurance Observer watching the installation of a waterproofing membrane on a project in Los Angeles.

Typically, the Daily Report takes several days to get from the field to the client. We will be able to take the same report and have it in the hands of the client the same day! Furthermore, the photographs of the project that sometimes take a week, will be available to the client the same day they are taken! Imagine going from Lead time to Real time!

Step Two:

Use maps or other internet based satellite images for real pictures of the roof or building. This is already being done, however with Box.net we will be putting the information directly into the hands of our Admin staff that will not have to wait until the consultant comes back into the office to develop the report. The information provided by the consultant on our preprogrammed forms will allow the Admin to put the report on his desk for review within a day or two.

Step Three:

Time sheets and other documentation that sometimes seems archaic at best, will now be completely computerized. Our documentation for all services will be handled in a speed and efficiency that will far surpass any other way we had operated before.

Step Four:

Figuring out what to do with the rest of the time we will now have on our hands! Just kidding, my hope is that all of our clients will experience much better service that they will be touting our company as the only consulting firm to work with in the future. So the extra time will be spent working on new projects for new clients.

We want to thank the people at Box.net for this exciting opportunity. You can check out the announcement at their website blog.box.net Look for more updates in the near future as we go through the month long program with Box.net. We will be putting up video of the process for you to view and hopefully gain a better understanding of the “future” of business that we know. Join us for the ride.

The course itself was originally shaped by Dr. Alister Mackenzie and Jones. Jones had visited the site earlier while playing in Augusta. He had been searching for land to create a course. At the time it was an abandoned nursery. Jones was told of the property and upon seeing it for the first time, was quoted as saying “Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come and lay a golf course on it.” Consisting of 365 acres of rolling hills and many large trees, including the Magnolias that line the course, it was as Jones put it, perfect. Now if you have been there, you will know that a more beautiful course is hard to find. Add the beauty to the years of exciting golf and you have one of the finest events ever to be held. Jones would stand on a tee area and hit shots to assist Mackenzie in defining the best layout. Mackenzie was already renowned for his Cypress Point design along with Pasatiempo both on the Monterey peninsula near Pebble Beach. After playing Cypress Point, Jones had dubbed it as one of the best courses ever to have been built and knew he wanted Mackenzie for his Augusta layout. Alas Dr. Mackenzie died just 2 months prior to the first tournament in 1934 after completing the course.

12th hole at Augusta National

The very first Masters in 1934 was won by Horton Smith at 4 under par. After that, the club committee switched the back and front nines to create more excitement in the event. How prophetic was this bunch? Imagine Gene Sarazen holing out his 2nd shot on the Par 5 15th for a double eagle to go on and win in a playoff in 1935. This began the allure of the Masters and put it on the map alongside the U.S. Open and the other great events of the day. In 1939 they talked Jones into calling it the Masters for the first time. Fast forward to Saturday and imagine standing in the fairway and watching Phil Mickelson hole out his fairway shot on the 14th for eagle right after having made his eagle on the Par 5 13th. Then turn around and watch as he comes within inches of sinking his eagle chip on the 15th settling for just a Birdie! That’s 5 shots in three holes people. Excitement, remember the committee mentioned above? Now that crew knew what they were talking about. Mickelson’s Saturday heroics were enough to capture the tournament and the heart of the thousands that lined the fairways.

But wait, he then goes out and possible does it one better. Did you see the shot on 13 on Sunday? WOW! All I have to say is, he is either crazy or crazy good. I know it is the latter, but come on.

As somewhat of a history buff, I love reading about the old days when past greats like Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus and many others before them marched across the now famous land and laid siege to the great course. If you have time, and you should if you are a fan of golf, go to www.Masters.com and you will find some great stories.

I was able to walk the course with my 14 year old son, Jaren and enjoy my 51st birthday. I could not have picked anything better than this for the day. We talked about how the course was made, why this land was chosen and many of the traditions of the event. I have been reading the Grand Slam of Golf, the Bobby Jones story. It has all the accounts of Bobby Jones and his ups and downs, victories and defeats, including the history of Augusta and the Masters. It is a wonderful chronicle of this great man and great golfer’s life. I did not intend on having the answers for my son, it just worked out that way. But it did make the day even more special. We flew home and now have a great memory to share for the rest of our lives. I can only hope it will be as great for him as it is for me.

So back to Phil and the 2010 Masters. As exciting as it was, one could not help but notice the stark contrast between Tiger’s finish and Phil’s victory. Having finished his round, Tiger was asked to sum up the week. His basic answer; “I finished 4th! I came here to win.” He went on to say that he would take some more time off and assess his situation before playing again. Really? He just finished 4th behind one of the great players and rounds in the history of the Masters and has to “assess” his situation? His game was clearly off after not playing for 5 months. Had he been in top form, we might have witnessed one of the greatest Masters ever. That is what we all were there to see, at least I was. Tiger Woods the golfer must not be thinking clearly. What else does he have to do? His great escape comes on the golf course. Imagine Tiger walking away from golf completely? I can’t, neither can the networks.

Now picture Phil, walking off the 18th green and hugging his wife. Talk about the picture perfect moment. Now cut back to Phil during the past 4 days. Did Tiger playing in the Masters make it more or less a magic moment for Phil? I don’t think it mattered one bit. Was it more of an “event” because Tiger was there? I don’t think so. What it did was create more money for CBS and the other news media covering the event. There were no more than the usual number of patrons (people who attend the event are referred to as patrons, not fans) they treated Tiger with respect and they applauded him as a past champion. All of this was refreshing within the confines of the event where Tiger’s past 5 months were not allowed. The Masters is bigger than Tiger or any other golfer. That is what Jack, Tom Watson, Arnie, Ben Hogan and the rest of the past champions came to understand. The Masters is a privilege shared by few. To come and win is an absolute honor. To play and feel the history, well ask the person who finished in last place what he thinks. Nathan Green is from Australia, he made a hole in one on the Par 3 16th hole on Sunday during his final round. Green said; “It was a big thrill to do it on this big stage.” He was on his way to a final round 75 to finish last of those that made the cut. He wasn’t thinking of anything but how awesome it was to have the hole in one. His main concern? Being able to play in the Masters again and performing better than this year. Did I say privilege to play? Nathan Green get its.

We will see all the usual suspects later this year at Pebble Beach for the U.S. Open in June. This is a crazy event. I cannot wait to go. I will be there watching and hoping for something special. We will see our cowboy with the black hat and the one with the white hat. You can figure out who is who. What you won’t know is who will win the next big event. Certainly this year at the Masters, Phil, Augusta National along with Jaren, myself and rest of the people watching were the Big winners!

Until next time, Fairways and Greens!

Hot fluid-applied rubberized asphalt;
Cold Fluid-applied urethane coating;
Single Ply;
Built-up asphalt roofing;
Modified Bitumen roofing;

Obviously, some are better than others. Some offer more advantages versus others. The main thing to understand is why you would utilize this type of membrane assembly.  In most roofing system, you install the insulation over the substrate, followed by the “waterproofing” membrane, with the surfacing (as in BUR or Modified roof systems).  With a single ply, the membrane is the first and final layer or surfacing. With the two fluid-applied systems, you would not see these in the more tradition roofing systems and they only come into play with the IRMA or PRM because of the covering or protection. Lets talk about what happens after the roof system is installed over the insulation. In time the building will have foot traffic, maintenance, equipment change out, typically atmospheric degradation such as sun, wind and rain. All of these are constant and cannot be taken out of the factors that affect the service life of the membrane. With the normal roof system, the traffic on the membrane eventually affects the service life. When water is allowed to enter through the membrane from any deficiency, then the insulation can now be affected.  Finally, finding the leak becomes problematic due to the fact that where the water enters the membrane and where it shows itself in the building can be two distinct locations. Maintenance or repair to the roof system may involve extensive testing via Infrared scanning or destructive testing by opening up the roof system to determine how wet or deteriorated the insulation is located. Both of these are costly and time consuming, not to mention the affect it has on the overall system. When leaks do occur within an insulated system, we have seen a lot of repairs performed without doing the homework to find out what has happened to the materials below. The roof may still leak, the wet insulation can still be holding water and worse yet, you have lost the insulating R-value due to the wet insulation thus rendering the insulation useless. The traffic also affects the overall service life. With a building that has a high level of equipment, maintenance and foot traffic the roofing membrane can suffer and the service life is shortened sometimes drastically.

So why use a IRMA or PRM system? Going back to the definition, we want to protect the membrane. How do you do that? Simple put it on the substrate (concrete in most cases) and cover it up so that it cannot be damaged. Start by installing the membrane over the structural deck. With all of the options listed above you want to “finish” the system meaning install the flashings, surfacing or protection sheet over the roofing/waterproofing membrane. This system can be worked over, walked on, even construction can occur after the roof membrane has been placed. In new construction, this allows the building to be watertight much earlier in the construction period so that interior work can move along faster than normal. As they say in the construction trade “Time is money!” Now that the membrane is in place, what is next? Now the insulation can be placed over the membrane. Except this is where the biggest change takes place. The typical roofing insulation is Polyisocyanurate insulation. To make it simple, this type is not suppose to be exposed to the elements. So you would not use it in an exposed assembly. EPS (Expanded Polystyrene) or bead board or “Styrofoam” is another typical roof insulation. This also should not be used in an exposed manner. So what can you do? When using an exposed insulation, you would utilize an EXPS or XPS or Extruded Polystyrene. One location to learn more about this type of insulation is www.xpsa.com.  You will learn that XPS insulation has more R-value per inch than traditional insulation. It is resistant to moisture, which is why it is used in this type of assembly.
It has greater structural capacity or basically is stronger. It is and can be used in many locations on your building. I recommend reading more about it as an option for insulation when designing systems.

So once you have the insulation protecting the membrane, what do you do then? Well the insulation has to be held in place. Otherwise wind can literally blow it away. As in traditional systems, you have to provide a surfacing. The surfacing of an IRMA or PRM provides two benefits. 1) Holds the insulation in place; 2) Provides a walking surface. Now there are other components such as flashing membranes and drainage board, filter fabric and insulation tape for joints, but a “Design” blog is for later. This is for bestowing the basic principle of the IRMA roof system. The two components used are typically rock or ballast and concrete as in pavers or poured. In both cases, the most important factor to consider after the membrane of course is Wind Uplift. With all roof systems, the wind uplift should be reviewed so that you meet the local requirements and do not allow a wind failure to occur. By providing the correct amount of ballast per square foot (Typically 15 pounds psf for the perimeter) you will meet or exceed FMG I-90 wind uplift rating. (FMG stands for Factory Mutual global). When using pavers, the typical paver size is 2′x 2′ x 2″, any larger and the handling of the paver becomes difficult. The paver is used in window washing locations, foot paths between access and equipment, etc. The ballast is used in the field areas where foot traffic does not occur or is not required.

Now you can see the one thing that stands out on this type of assembly. For me it is simple. If I get a leak, I don’t lose my insulation. I can remove the materials over the membrane, find the leak location due to the fact my membrane is fully adhered to the substrate, provide repairs and put the materials back into place. Finally, the wear and tear on the membrane is eliminated, thus reducing long term maintenance costs. Remember I also have a greater thermal envelope on my building due to the higher R-value per inch. There are so many advantages to this type of system I could on and on. However, it does have one thing that keeps it from become more widely used. The Cost! The ballast and pavers are costly, the insulation is typically more expensive and if you are using the hot rubberized asphalt
system, that too can be more expensive. We would recommend a Life Cycle Cost analysis for anybody considering the use of this type of assembly.

I first became interested in this type of system when working with SOM(Skidmore, Owings & Merrill) in Los Angeles, CA. Their firm has been around since 1936 and began in Chicago. The IRMA or PRM system is a staple of their designs. If you go up on a building that has ballasted insulation, membrane below and walkways of either pavers or concrete, you are most likely on a SOM designed building. Go to their website www.SOM.com and you can learn more about them.

So what do we know? If you protect the waterproofing or roofing membrane it will last longer. If you utilize an insulation that does not break down under water, you won’t have to worry about the weathering of the insulation. If you use a solid walking surface, you won’t have to worry about damage to the membrane or insulation. All of these add up to greater service life and lower maintenance costs. So protect your investment and begin protecting your roof. You can’t go wrong.