Letter from the Editor
By Donald Simpson, AIA, LEED® AP
This issue of the Practice Management Digest focuses on the issues of
Integrated project delivery and Quality Management.
Anyone who has worked in management for a number of years at an Architectural
Firm is probably familiar with the frustration that comes from spending lots
of time and money on a new technology only to find that it is not
producing the productivity gains promised or expected...Continue Reading
Transforming Keys to Lowering Cost, Cutting Waste, and Driving Change
in a Broken Industry – Key 5: “Big” BIM
By Rex Miller, Dean Strombom, Mark Iammarino, and Bill Black
From the book - The Commercial Real Estate Revolution – 2009, Wiley
In their powerful book “The Commercial Real Estate Revolution – Nine Transforming Keys to Lowering Cost, Cutting Waste, and Driving Change in a Broken Industry” (published by John Wiley & Sons), the authors outline a radical “mind-shift” that is needed to change the entire process of getting projects designed and built which would result in better quality, lower cost, and improved long term performance. They define nine transformational Keys to making the process work. Author Rex Miller graciously provided us with Chapter 10 of the book which outlines...Continue Reading
Engineering Company Spawns Integrated Intern Development Program
By JT Long
A successful shift to truly integrated project delivery requires starting
at the beginning. That is why a pilot internship program launched last
year by San Francisco-based structural engineering company Forell/Els
esser Engineers required student-employees to spend time with the owner,
architects, engineers and contractors, moving from company to company to
get a well-rounded view of the goals and challenges of each project
participant. "At industry events, we have been talking about this for a
long time, but the academic curriculum is still silo-based," says Simin Naaseh,
Forell/Elsesser president and CEO. "If anything, studies are getting more
specialized and that doesn't help with the shared model we are trying to
create in the field."...
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Why We No Longer ‘Stamp’ Shop Drawings At Leo A Daly
By Dale L. Munhall, AIA
Yes, Leo A Daly has retired this venerable old artifact of our industry—even
though architects have traditionally ‘stamped’ shop drawings for generations.
But bear with me here. Let’s step outside the traditional box for a moment
to ask ourselves why architects ever stamped contractors’ submittals in the
first place—and, more importantly, ask ourselves why, in the modern world,
would we keep on doing it? Shop drawings, as we all know, are NOT part of
the Construction Contract Documents...
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Preview of the American Society for Quality – World Conference
on Quality and Improvement (ASQ WCQI)
May 24-26 St. Louis
By Cliff Moser, AIA, MSQA, LEED® AP
The American Society for Quality is organization which focuses on
standards, certification, and knowledge transfer for Quality
professionals within all industries. In addition to providing
support to quality professionals in the manufacturing and automotive
industries, ASQ supports Quality in professional service industries
like design and construction...Continue Reading
Integrating the New Complexities of LEED® – Slicing and Dicing the Growing LEED Menu
By Brian Palmquist, MAIBC, MRAIC, BEP, CP, LEED® AP
Between 1993, when the LEED system was introduced by the US Green Building
Council (USGBC), and 2004, when the Canadian LEED program was introduced by
the Canadian Green Building Council (CaGBC), Canadian projects looking for
LEED certification were registered with the USGBC, and Canadians studied the
USGBC Reference Guide and wrote the USGBC exam. During this period ...
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Health, Safety, and Welfare: The Social Responsibility of
Construction Quality Assurance
By Danny L. Kahler, PE, PTOE
In some states, Architects and Engineers (A/E) are required by Statute to
assume direct responsibility for the quality assurance of construction projects
that are important to the public health, safety, and welfare (HSW).
Usually these are public projects such as highways and schools, or private
projects that the public will occupy, such as schools, hospitals, and sports
complexes. The intent of these Statutes is usually that an Architect or
Engineer, licensed in that State, will certify that the project was constructed
according to the approved plans and specifications. In some states...Continue Reading
Is Lean the New Green?
By Cliff Moser, MSQA, AIA, LEED® AP
The business philosophy and processes known as Lean has evolved since
being described in Jim Womack and Dan Jones’ books of the 1990s
–The Machine the Changed the World, and Lean Thinking. For one thing,
the mythic Lean originator and Goliath, Toyota (who built Lean into a
global business paradigm shift through its Toyota Production System
(TPS)), has stumbled. Beyond the schadenfreude that that has accompanied
the world’s judgment of the great Lean leader’s misfortune, global business
communities have demonstrated...Continue Reading
Design for the New Decade: The 2010 AIA National Convention
June 10 – 12 | Miami, FL
Discuss how the modern, global economy is redefining our profession. Help shape the future of architecture by recommitting ourselves to our discipline's primary mode of thought and action—design...More Information
WE044 Practice Management 102: Balancing Client Leadership, Marketing,
Profitability, and Risk Management...More Information
SA001 Corporate Social Responsibility: The New Green? . . . More Information
Reserve the Date! – November 2-5, 2010
AIA Practice management KC and AIA Minnesota combined Conference.
More information will be provided as the details are finalized
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