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CSI Houston ChapterThe Construction Specifications Institute

November 2014

Inside this issue:CSI Houston Program 1

Leadership Directory 2

President’s Message; SCRAnnouncement and HolidayParty Announcement 3

August Board MeetingMinutes 4

CSI SponsorAdvertisements 5

“Celebrate the Fellows” 6, 8

CSI SponsorAdvertisements 7

Strictly Smith-ly, “Decision Mak-ing: A Look at the Road Takenand Not Taken” 9

Strictly Smith-ly, “Drawing andSpecification Review” 10

SCR News 11

CSI Houston Calendar 12

CSI Houston Website:http://www.csihouston.org

November 24, 2014Board / Chapter

Meeting3ਫਠਢਤ��+�( �6�6��%XLOGLQJ5430 Westheimer Road

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$35.00 to non members atthe door.

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November 24th

CSI Houston Chapter Program

City of Houston

Code Changes in the Works

The City of Houston currently enforces the 2006 version of most constructioncodes, and has begun the process of preparing local amendments to the 2012codes. The Building Code Enforcement Branch is currently reviewing the 2012series of model codes for possible amendment and adoption in the City ofHouston Construction Code. The proposed amendments are currently underreview and will be adopted in early 2015.

The panel discussion will focus on the upcoming changes and touch on thehistory of the Houston building codes and the process by which the codes andamendments are adopted.

Panelists:

Lisa Brown, Division Manager/Asst. Code Administrator City of Houston Warren Bonisch, P.E., Senior Vice President Aon Fire Protection

Engineering Corporation

Moderator:

Alex Bernard, Sr. Project Architect, HOK

Please join us at our November 24, CSI Houston Chapter meeting for an inter-esting and informative evening of discussion.

Dec 4 – Holiday Party Event at Lucky’s Pub, 801 St. Emanuel, Hou-ston, TX.

Jan 26 – Economic Outlook for Construction, The HESS Club, 5430Westheimer Road, Houston, TX.

SPEC.TECTONICS

2014—2015 COMMITTEE CHAIRS

Programs Alex Bernard, CSI, CCPR(713) 407 7700

[email protected]

Membership Mark LeCrone(713) 907-5037

[email protected]

Certification Greg Quintero, CSI, CDT, AIA, LEED AP(713) 356-1300

[email protected]

Awards Amy Salmeron, CSI, CDT713-460-5216

[email protected]

Continuing Education Mark Koehler, CSI(713) 781-6006

[email protected]

Public Relations/Marketing Grant Groeschel, CSI(713)-520-0155

[email protected]

Golf Tournament Holly Jordan, CSI, CCS, LEED AP, SCIP(713) 407-7700

[email protected]

Table Top Amy Peevey, PE, RRO, CDT(713) 467-9840

[email protected]

CIC Delegate Bill Fairbanks, CSI, CCPR(281) 227-3577

[email protected]

CIC Alternate Jeff Holstein, CSI, CDT

2014—2015 CSI HOUSTON SPEC.TECTONICS

SPEC.tectonics Editor Don Smith, CSI, CCS, RA, LEED AP(713) 688-0092

[email protected]

2014—2015 CSI HOUSTON WEBSITE

Webmaster Logan Vits, CSI, CCPR, LEED AP(281) 703-5201

[email protected]

2014—2015 CSI HOUSTON FOUNDATION

President, Al Pasek, CSI, CCPR(713) 880-4343

[email protected]

Past PresidentGreg Roberts, FAIA, FCSI, CCS, ACHA, LEED AP

Vice President Don Ude, CSI

Secretary Tom Atwell, CSI, CDT, AIA

Treasurer Brett Wilbur, CSI, CCS, RA

Director Bill Fairbanks CSI, CCPR

Director Di Ann Reid, CSI CCS, CCCA, LEED AP

Director Jeff Holstien, CSI, CDT

NOVEMBER 2014 - PAGE 2 CSI HOUSTON

CSI HOUSTON CHAPTER

2014—2015 CHAPTER OFFICERS

President Neil Byrne, CSI, CDT, CPA(281) 354-1100

[email protected]

Past President Robert P. Byrne, CSI(713) 632-4790

[email protected]

President Elect Holly Jordan, CSI, CCS, LEED AP, SCIP(713) 407-7700

[email protected]

VP Finance/ Admin. Chuck Vojtech, CSI(281) 227-3577

[email protected]

VP Professional Development Tim Wilson, CSI(832) 289-6765

[email protected]

VP Member Services Tom Atwell, CSI(713) 877-8879

[email protected]

VP Public Services Don Smith, CSI, CCS, RA, LEED AP(713) 688-0092

[email protected]

Secretary Betsy Finch, CSI(713) 806-3401

[email protected]

Treasurer Bill Fairbanks, CSI, CCPR(281) 227-3577

[email protected]

2014—2015 BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Director through 2015 Amy Salmeron, CSI, CDT713-460-5216

[email protected]

Director through 2015 Grant Groeschel, CSI, AIA, LEED AP(713) 934-4891

[email protected]

Director through 2016 Don Ude, CSI(281) 685-0164

[email protected]

Director through 2016 Logan Vits, CSI, CCPR, LEED GA(713) 703-5201

[email protected]

Director through 2017 Jeff Holstien, CSI, CDT(281) 850-4659

[email protected]

Director through 2017 Alex Bernard, CSI, CCPR(713) 407 7700

[email protected]

Board Advisory Director Doug Frank, FCSI, CCS(281) 660-6246

[email protected]

CSI SOUTH CENTRAL REGION (http://www.scr-csi.org) / INSTITUTE LEADERS (http://www.csinet.org)

SC Region President Melody A. Stinson, CSI, CCS, AIA, LEED AP Institute Director Kirby M. Davis, CSI, CDT(405) 942-7337 (203)

[email protected] irby-

[email protected]

SPEC.TECTONICS NOVEMBER 2014 - PAGE 3 CSI HOUSTON

November 2014President’s Messageby Neil P. Byrne, CSIPresident, CSI Houston Chapter

October was a tremen-dous month at CSI Hou-ston. We held our annu-al golf tournament thatwas a great success.Thanks again to all thesponsors, volunteers andpeople who braved theweather for a greatcause. A special thanksgoes to the golf commit-tee, led by Holly Jordan,who pulled off the won-derful event. Besidesgolf, we had anotherquality monthly meeting.It was a breath of fresh air to hear college students talkabout their studies. Thank you to all who made Octo-ber another great month.

Our November meeting will be a much anticipated one,please plan on attending. We intend to address theCOH code changes, something that will have a impactto many in our Chapter.

We are going to close out the calendar year strong withour annual Holiday event. We have changed it up thisyear however and we will be having a toy drive benefit-ing Shriners Hospital for Children. The evening will bebased around a teamed wagon building event and oth-er surprises. This year we will be holding it Thursday,December 4th at Lucky’s Pub. Mark your calendarsnow!

I look forward to seeing you all at the November meet-ing. Remember, please do your part to increase mem-bership and member participation at CSI Houston!

December 2014 Holiday Partyby Neil P. Byrne, CSIPresident, CSI Houston Chapter

Mark your calendars to set aside December 4th for theCSI Holiday Party get together.

This year’s Holiday Party will be held at Luck’s Pub, 801St. Emanuel at Rusk.

Admission is $10.00 at the door plus a children’s gift.This year, CSI will create teams to assemble wagons tobe filled with your toy to benefit the Shriner’s Hospital forChildren.

Watch for details to follow.

I hope to see you there.

At each monthly meeting, the Chapter encourages Indus-try Members to provide a table top display of their prod-ucts and services for the inspection and education ofthose attending the meeting.

The table top display is also encouraged to be presentedduring the social hour and after the program for anyquestions by attendees.

The presentation fee is $200 for members and $250 fornon-members, or free with a Golf Sponsorship pledge.

Contact: [email protected]

WHERE IS YOUR BUSINESSADVERTISEMENT?

A quarter page ad is only $250 for 12 issues

A half page ad is only $500 for 12 issues

A business card ad is only $225 for 12 issues

Contact Don Smith at

(713) 688-0092 or [email protected]

for more information.


CSI Board Meeting MinutesHouston Chapter CSILocation: HESS Building – 5430 WestheimerRoad – Houston, TXSeptember 22, 2014

Present: Alex Bernard, Betsy Finch, Bill Fair-banks, Don Smith, Don Ude, Doug Frank, HollyJordan, Neil Byrne, Tom Atwell

President Neil Byrne called the meeting to orderat 4:00 p.m.The August 2014 Board Meeting Minutes wereapproved.

Vice President Reports:Finance/Administration: Chuck VojtechTreasurer’s Report: Bill FairbanksNo report.

Professional Development: Tim WilsonContinuing Education: Greg QuinteroNo report.

Technical Committee: J. Peter JordanNo report.

Member Services: Tom AtwellPrograms: Alex BernardAlex reported he is working on the program lineupfor 2015. Doug Frank commented that when thechapter schedules the meeting covering “codechanges” we should pass this information on toother organizations that are affected by thecodes, get the information out to as many peopleas possible.

Membership: Bill LunsfordCurrent membership is one hundred seventy twomembers.

Awards: Amy SalmeronNo report.

Table Top Display: Amy PeeveyNo report.

Public Services: Don SmithSpecial EventsGolf Tournament Update: Holly JordanHolly reported the golf committee has collectedover $21,000 to date, volunteers are needed forthe tournament day.

Holiday Event Update: Holly JordanHolly reported the committee will meet September





26 to start planning for the event.

SPEC.tectonics: Don SmithDon reported the September issue was posted tothe website. He also stated he will contact previ-ous advertisers regarding renewing their adver-tisement in the newsletter. Ads run for twelvemonths.

Electronic Communications: Logan VitsNeil reported Logan is doing a great job workingon the website and updating the Constant Contactlist.Other Business:SCR/Institute Update: Neil ByrneNeil reported the Region Fall Planning Conferencewould be held on October 3rd and 4th in Dallasand the Region Spring Planning Conference isscheduled for April 16 – 18, 2015 in Lubbock. Healso reported he attended Construct 2014, wastold the attendance was less than the previousshow that was held in Nashville.

Fellowship Discussion: Neil ByrneNeil advised the board members that Holly is in-terested in becoming an Institute Fellow, and thatboard approval is needed to nominate Holly andsubmit her nomination to Institute. Don Smith“moved to nominate Holly Jordan for Fellowship inCSI.” The motion was seconded and approved.

New Membership Campaign: Neil ByrneNeil stated he wants to increase chapter member-ship, to make the meetings more interesting dur-ing his presidency, and that if we don’t do any-thing different we aren’t going to change anything.Our membership numbers will not change. Heasked for ideas from the board members.

Meeting adjourned at 5:20 p.m.

Betsy Finch, CSIChapter Secretary


Celebrate the FellowsBy Sheldon Wolfe, RA, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, CSC

Conventions are likestate or county fairs:it seems they're thesame year after year,and yet, if you com-pare this year's to theone a few years ago,there will be smalldifferences. Butsometimes, signifi-cant changes takeplace between onefair and the next.

Until this year, the social highlight of the annualconvention was the President's Gala. A black tiedinner, with all that entails - including formaldresses and tuxedos - along with meeting thenew president and witnessing the investiture ofFellows, was the grand finale. This year we triedsomething different. The events of the Gala wereseparated, some being added to other events,some becoming new events. Instead of beingamong the last events, the investiture of Fellowswas moved to Tuesday evening, and the introduc-tion of Distinguished Members was moved to theopening general session Wednesday morning.

When the new format was presented to the Col-lege of Fellows board of directors last January, itsounded good. We knew a lot of members sawthe Gala as the high point of the convention, butthe cost made it difficult for many members to at-tend this great event. This year, part of the planwas to make the presentations of various awardsmore visible and more accessible to more mem-bers. The investiture of Fellows would be open toall, at no charge; the Celebration of Fellows, asocial event following the investiture, would costonly $35; and many awards would be presentedat the annual meeting.

As the months went by, I began to have somereservations. The convention schedule, which isso tight it always irritates someone, put the inves-titure up against the welcome reception, and Ifeared it would be hard to pry people away fromthe party. The location of the Celebration pre-sented two potential problems: attendees had tosubmit their names ahead of time for a back-ground check, and it was in a different building.

As it turned out, the new format was a great suc-

cess. The scheduling of the investiture and theintroduction of Distinguished Members madethose events more accessible and more afforda-ble than before. Even though the investiture be-gan before the welcome reception was over, reg-istered attendance was 227, and more than thatattended. Attendance at the annual meeting was291, and I suspect there were three hundred ormore people at the opening session. Not onlywas the attendance good, but making these twoof the first events gave members the rest of theweek to congratulate the honorees.

The weather was good, so the short walk from thewelcome reception to the Celebration of Fellows,at the top of the Baltimore World Trade Center,presented no problem. The walk itself became an

event due to the surprise appearance of a piperwho led the procession from the investiture to theCelebration of Fellows. The piper was MikeYoung, former president of the Denver Chapterand part of the group that assembled Ann Baker'sFellowship submittal. On his own, he decided thenew Fellows should be piped in, and he made ithappen. I was reminded of the Minneapolis-St.

Continued on page 8

SPEC.TECTONICS NOVEMBER 2014 - PAGE —7 CSI HOUSTON


Continued from page 6

Paul Chapter's award night the year I waschapter president. I've always loved bagpipes,and our chapter awards committee arranged forone to lead us from the lobby to the theater. I'dlike to see a piper as part of every Celebration!

Another break from tradition occurred duringthe investiture. In the past, endorsement lettersremained confidential, so most Fellows did notknow who wrote letters or what they said. Thisyear, some of those who wrote letters wereasked to say a few words about the Fellowsthey endorsed, making the investiture muchmore personal.

2014 Jury of Fellows

Thanks to the Institute board members andstaff who proposed the new format (and invitedthe Blue Angels), the formal social activitieswere a great success. Attendance at the Cele-bration was 173 this year, and I'm sure thatelimination of the security check will increaseattendance in the future. I'll look for you therenext year in St. Louis!

Sheldon Wolfe, FCSIChancellor, CSI Collegeof Fellows

© 2014, Sheldon Wolfe, RA, FCSI, CCS,CCCA, CSCAgree? Disagree? Leave your comments athttp://swconstructivethoughts.blogspot.com/.





WHERE IS YOUR BUSINESSADVERTISEMENT?

A quarter page ad is only $250 for 12 issues

A half page ad is only $500 for 12 issues

A business card ad is only $225 for 12 issues

Contact Don Smith at

(713) 688-0092 or [email protected]

for more information.


As the road you have chosen too travel be-comes more familiar, the others become lessso.

I guess Yogi said t best . . .

"If you don't know where you're going, youmight wind up someplace else."

Yogi Berra

… Just my opinion,

Donald F. Smith, Jr., CSI, CCS, RA, LEED™AP

“Strictly SMITH-ly”

Decision Making: A Look atthe Road Taken and Not Taken

By Donald F. Smith, Jr., CSI CCS RA LEEDAP

Last month I took some time off from a busywork schedule to attend my 50-year high schoolclass reunion. We had a pretty small graduationclass od 256 even though our graduating classrepresented two towns.

I was unable to attend my twenty-fifth reuniondue to a death in the family and had made upmy mind to attend this event before we lost toomany more to time.

I remember our last day together. We were inthe gymnasium signing yearbooks. Over 90percent of our graduating class was going on tocollege in the fall and it suddenly dawned on methat I probably would not see any of them againfor maybe a very long time.

We each had made our decisions on whichroads to start our travels in life and we were alllooking forward to the start of college in the fallof that year.

It also dawned on me during the reunion thatdecisions that we make are also similar both inlife and our professional.

When you chose to do one thing, you alsochose not to do any of the other options availa-ble to you. As I looked around the room, every-one seemed happy and having a good time.But I sensed that curiosity was the driving forcebringing us back together again after so manyyears.

The choices that we all made and continue tomake are dependent on the circumstances atthat time. There are always options and condi-tions to weigh on the decision.

You make your best choice from available op-tions. Each decision can be changed except forone thing. Time. Each decision is an invest-ment. As time goes on, drastic change be-comes more difficult.


Component information noted in wall section isimportant. The question is: why did the drafterdraw this view? What was important about it? Itshould show and note the changes that occurfrom a typical location and just enough relatedinformation to orient the viewer. As a specifica-tion writer, I can’t tell you how many plans, eleva-tions, and sections I see with extraneous infor-mation. If you are looking at a building elevation,who cares if it has a concrete bench in front of itwhen none of the building exterior material areidentified.

It almost looks like a failure to commit to writing anote. How could you possibly draw something ifyou don’t know what it is?

But I will venture a guess on how this happens.Designers. Designers never think their best ideais the one that is first thought of. Even up to theDate of Substantial Completion I can imagine thelittle gears are turning in their mind that a bettersolution is out there, and . . .there is still time tomake a change.

If I had a dollar for every cut sheet received thatcontained 11 different models each with material,accessory and color selections to be made Iwould be retired and living in the Caribbean.

All of these problems weave indecision into theconstruction documents. And all of these post-poned decisions should have occurred in eitherSchematic Design of in the Design Developmentproject phases. Postponing decisions does notallow you to get more, they actually trap you intosettling for less. Prices rise, coordination costsmore, and the advantage of competitive pricinghas been lost , not to mention increased over-head, lost fee, and more stress.

What really has been lost is the satisfaction oftaking on a small task and completing it satisfac-torily. The joy of not having to worry about itagain.

"In a time of drastic change it is the learners whoinherit the future. The learned usually find them-selves equipped to live in a world that no longerexists. "

EricHoffer

… Just my opinion,

Donald F. Smith, Jr., CSI, CCS, RA, LEED™AP

“Strictly SMITH-ly”

Drawing and Specification Review

By Donald F. Smith, Jr., CSI CCS RA LEED AP

Drawing and specification review is a lot harderthan it use to be. You may think that not much haschanged, but the move from paper copies to com-puter output, usually at a reduced scale, makes itharder to see mistakes. Also, computer generatedwork looks better.

The CAD operator of today has a library of details towork from. Because of constant design and materi-al changes, few details are exactly what is needed;most are similar and require some to major modifi-cation. Project Architects have the lead role in CDdevelopment and live stressed to the limit. The car-toon set created in DD may not get the full attentionneeded, especially if material and system decisionare not made in a timely manner. Detail changescan often fall through the cracks. To the CAD oper-ator on the fast track, this is an opportunity to ad-vancement to show off the depth of his or her capa-bilities. Beginner CAD operators, can enter danger-ous territory by putting out work that is beyond theirpersonal understanding or limitations.

Computer work looks good; even the mistakes. I’ma believer that work should not be shown when ithas not been completely thought out. Whateverhappened to “Requirements to be provided.” I haveeven encountered a note from draftsman with nottoo much imagination about the future of his career.He wrote “See so-and-so”, which I take it was theProject Architect that he used to work for.

One of the most important concepts carried forwardfrom Design Development is the weather integrity ofthe building. As construction proceeds to close inthe building the weather integrity systems should besimple easy to build and hopefully accomplished byone subcontractor, not and army of unrelated tradeseach pointing fingers at each other. One of the big-gest mistakes is getting caught in your own mouse-trap. It is not only painful but very embarrassing.

Sometimes by looking at the style of the details, youcan figure out how many people are working on asimilar detail in different locations. Have you everseen brick on one elevation turn a corner and Poof!It’s concrete masonry and no clue is given if thetransition is a butt, tooth, or whatever joint.


Melody Stinson, AIA, CCCA, CCS, CSI, LEED APCSI South Central Region 2014-15 PresidentContact: [email protected]

63( &�ගඍඋගඖඑඋඛ�LV�D�PRQWKO\�SXEOLFDWLRQ�RI�WKH�+RXVWRQ�&KDSWHU��&RQVWUXFWLRQ�6SHFLILFDWLRQV�,QVWLWXWH��&6,�+ඝඛගඖ�GRHV�QRW�DSSURYH��GLVDS�prove, sanction, or guarantee the validity or accuracy of any date, claim, or opinion appearing herein. Republication rights are granted to the CSIand its chapters for original articles printed herein, provided proper credits are given. The Houston Chapter is incorporated under the laws of theState of Texas, and is chartered by the Construction Specifications Institute.

CONSTRUCTIONSPECIFICATIONSINSTITUTE

Visit CSI Houstonon the Web

www.csihouston.org

Nov. 2014 Through Dec. 2014

SPEC.TECTONICS NOVEMBER 2014 - PAGE —12 CSI HOUSTON

Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri SatNov. 2 3 4 Election Day 5 6 7 1 / 8

9 10 11 Veteran’s Day /Planning Mtg, 3:00pm, 2010 N. Loop

12 13 14 15

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 CSI HoustonBoard / ChapterMeeting– Hess

25 26 27 ThanksgivingDay

28 29

30 Dec. 1 2 3 4 Holiday PartyLucky’s Pub, 801St. Emanuel @Rusk

5 6

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14 15 16 17 18 19 20

21 22 23 24 Christmas Eve 25 Christmas Day 26 27

28 29 30 31 New Year’s Eve Jan. 1, 2015 NewYear’s Day

2 3

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