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Maintenance Deferred
If something’s broken, you fix it. If it's worn out, you replace it. It sounds like a simple equation, but when it comes to construction in
cash-strapped times, it can be a case of easier said than done.
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Getting Smart
Technology is affecting the way we do business, how we go about our daily tasks,
and even how our homes function. Putting existing technology to use in a home
or residential building is the essence of what it means to be an “intelligent” building or home. An “intelligent” building is able to monitor its environmental, mechanical, and lighting (among
other) systems, through a computerized network of electronic devices.
Maintenance, communications, security, and other residential building functions
are now being handled by new systems, whose upgraded operations are helping
building personnel do their jobs more effectively. In many cases, intelligent
homes and buildings provide savings for their owners, by helping them to cut
back on their energy usage.
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Healthy Building Systems
A building is, in many ways, like a body.If its residents are the soul, then certainly the mechanical systems that keep it running are at its heart. And just as one cares for one’s body by eating right and exercising, so too must management care for those mechanical systems, ensuring they function efficiently and well throughout
their life span.
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Clean Sweep
National Public Radio recently ran a story about a piece of advice from the latest edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. The suggestion was about how to stay warm throughout the winter with just one log: chuck it out of an upstairs window, run downstairs and outside to pick it up, and then sprint back upstairs and chuck it out the window again. Repeat until warm. Read More
All Hands on Deck!
A building is, in many ways, like a body.If its residents are the soul, then certainly the mechanical systems that keep
it running are at its heart. And just as one cares for one’s body by eating right and exercising, so too must management care for those
mechanical systems, ensuring they function efficiently and well throughout
their life span.
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Deep Cleaning
At every condominium community it happens every hour; every day. Coffee gets
spilled, mud gets tracked, windows get smeared. When residents move, errant
table legs and oversized sofas can scrape black marks, and even divots, into
painted walls. Property managers know that keeping things clean is one of the
uppermost duties of any association caretaker. Read More
Slipping and Sliding Preempted
With the arrival of the snowfall season in New England, most community
associations are hurriedly pulling out their snow blowers and double checking
their plowing contracts. At a few condominiums, however, the arrival of winter
is being greeted with a little less urgency.
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Plumbing: The Depths
Though mostly unseen, a building’s plumbing and piping network is one of its most important systems—as anyone who has ever had to endure a no-hot-water shower in February, or who
has come home to a flooded floor can attest. Plumbing covers not only hot water
delivery, but water and waste removal—and not all plumbing is hidden. Some pipes snake across ceilings, or down walls
inside individual units, making the plumbing more visible than the HVAC or
electrical wiring in most buildings. Read More
Montpelier, Vermont
Montpelier, Vermont is not a big place. In fact, residents proudly explain that
it is the smallest capital city in the United States. They will also patiently
point out that, although only a couple hours from French-speaking Quebec, the
name of their town is pronounced Mont-peel-yer. Just a few miles away, the twin
city of Barre (pronounced “Barry”) is the working class adjunct to the white-collar, legislative Montpelier.
These two cities are the center of Washington County and the center of “Central Vermont.”
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A Breath of Clean Air
The chant is familiar: In goes the good air, out goes the bad. But just how good is the air coming into your condominium? Read More
