When specifying wood floorcoverings in commercial buildings, considerations include facility type, specie, durability, design goals, and budget. For design teams not willing to settle for a ‘lookalike’ synthetic product, a starting point is deciding whether to specify solid-strip or engineered wood flooring.
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The way we build bathrooms is changing. Owners of homes, condominiums, hotels, and spas want more than just utility—they are seeking a retreat-like atmosphere with the latest design elements, while still requiring reliability and durability. At the same time, many want their bathrooms to be barrier-free.
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In the past, faucets were not a primary focus of water efficiency advocates, given the 1992 Energy Policy Act (EPAct) and subsequent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) actions limited faucet flows to 8.3 L/minute (2.2 gallons per minute [gpm]) at 414 kPA (60 psi).
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It is tempting to whittle commercial faucet choices down to two types: sensor and manual. However, there is more to consider. For ‘green’ buildings, while it seems obvious to find faucets that use less water, this oversimplifies the issue.
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Exterior soffits perform essential functions for ventilating, shading, and directing water away from a building. Regardless of geography or climate, exterior soffits are subjected to positive and negative wind loads.
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For many years, designers and contractors have espoused tilt-up construction for providing a more airtight building envelope than competing wall assemblies, such as wood and metal stud wall, metal siding, and concrete and brick masonry. Now, code language may also be a supporting factor.
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Observations of numerous building envelope failures in stucco (i.e. portland cement plaster) indicate it may lack durability when correct installation practices are not performed. One of the most common problems is cracked stucco and with the trend of using the material as a cladding, the situation will get worse.
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As the most viewable buildings of their era still standing, the California Missions are not only state history made corporeal, but also one of the major reasons stucco is so common in the Southwest.
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All over the United States, a hard truth is being uncovered—underneath carpet and vinyl tile in buildings everywhere, there lurks ugly concrete. With acceptance of exposed concrete floors on the rise, and remodeling continuing to dominate the construction market, plans to polish existing concrete subfloors are numerous.
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Federal, state, and local specifiers continually seek affordable, durable, and aesthetically pleasing wall solutions to border bustling highways and adjacent neighborhoods. The principal purpose of these is typically to provide citizens with a visual barrier to the highway and sometimes to mitigate traffic noise.
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