WestCon Tribune
July 1998
7:00pm - Dinner
Advances in Understanding Concrete
Kamran Nemati, Ph.D., P.E.
Consulting Engineer, Testing Engineers, Inc.
Concrete is fundamental in construction, and has been for thousands of years. It is an important part of virtually every building investigated by Westcon members.
It might seem that we know all we need to - or can - know about concrete, just because concrete has been around so long. Materials science, however, has advanced far beyond the very familiar compression test. New methods are opening ways to understand concrete performance, and failure, in ways previously unimagined.
Kamran Nemati is one of those in the midst of these new developments. In addition to his work evaluating concrete construction at Testing Engineers, Inc., Dr. Nemati is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of California Berkeley, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He developed laboratory techniques to observe concrete failure with a scanning electron microscope, as it appears at the moment of failure.
His study and analysis of stress-induced cracks in concrete offer new insights into the actual mechanism of familiar types of failures. While few Westcon members may find day-to-day use for some of these new research methods, learning about them should help us all better understand familiar concrete performance issues. Dr. Nemati will also survey emerging analytic techniques and discuss how these may advance the field of concrete design and construction.
Dr. Nemati has investigated concrete construction for Testing Engineers, Inc. and IFC Kaiser Engineers, Inc., and he is a registered engineer in nine states. His participation in numerous professional associations includes being honored as a Fellow in the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE).
Some of Dr. Nemati's project experience includes:
NASA, Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, California
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, California
Superconducting Super Collider project
First Avenue South Bridge Project, Seattle, Washington
Air National Guard Base, Fresno, California
Dam Spillway, Vallejo, California
Los Angeles-Long Beach Rail Transit Project, California
Rapid Transit System, Baltimore, Maryland
Union Pacific Railroad Company, Long Beach, California
New Haven Line Maintenance Facilities, Stamford, Connecticut
Dr. Nemati has also published a number of articles in various publications including Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering, American Concrete Institute Materials Journal, Cement and Concrete Research, and the Mechanics of Materials.
JULY BULLETIN BOARD
UPCOMING SPEAKERS:
August
August is vacation month. There will be no meeting and the next Tribune will be out about the first of September.
September
September's presentation will given by Ninyo & Moore on the geotechnical effects of El Nino and the recent storms through the State of California. This should be a good time for reflection and analysis of one of our wettest seasons on record.
OPEN HOUSE
Presented by University of California Forest Products Laboratory
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 15TH 1998
1:00 - 4:00 PM
1301 South 46th Street, Richmond
Contact: Janice Montano, (510) 215-4222 or email: montano@nature.berkeley.edu
Directions are on their web page:
www.ucfpl.ucop.edu
This open house will cover:
•The life of Termites in Woods
•Fighting Termites
•Baits for subterranean termites
•Termite Chemistry
•Treated wood products
•Books and other information on wood products durability
•Decay
•The "House Eating Fungus"
•New Web Pages and demonstrations
1998 WESTCON DIRECTORY
The 1998 Westcon Directories are finally printed and have been mailed out. If you have not received your copy or if you need additional copies, please contact Rikki or pick them up at the Dinner Meetings.
CONGRATULATIONS
Congratulations are in order to Charles Salter on the publication of his new book "ACOUSTICS: Architecture. Engineering. The Environment." This is a twenty-one chapter reference book for professionals sponsored by the AIA as a home study course for Continuing Education Units and is available through William Stout Bookstore (415) 391-6757.
JULY DINNER RESERVATIONS
Dinner reservations for July will be taken by Lina Habache who was kind enough to cover for Rikki. You can reach Lina at Authentic Restoration and Waterproofing by calling (650) 341-6932, faxing reservations to (650) 341-6733 or mailing in your request to 1155 Chess Drive, Suite 116, Foster City, Ca 94404.
Letter to the Tribune:
Dear Sirs,
I was amazed at the hostility of some of the reactions to the Value Engineering presentation by Bob DeLiso at the May 20th meeting of Westcon. The suggestion that the design professional would have to be coerced or somehow cajoled into joining the value engineering process was particularly odd.
In that I work as both an architect and a general contractor my perspective is broader than that of either discipline acting alone. It is equally unproductive for either the prima donna architect to "protect" an unbuildable design or for the meat ball contractor to just "get it done".
My experience in doing defect investigations suggests that a closer integration of the design/build process would produce better buildings.
So I applaud the idea of getting architects and builders to work more closely together. In any case a third set of eyes, such as those of a value engineer, is a good idea when embarking on as complicated and important an endeavor as making a building.
Sincerely,
Robert Mueller
Code Committee Meeting
There will be a code committee meeting Wednesday, July 15th before dinner. Review of the Opinion Poll from June will be discussed.
JUNE REVIEW
COMMON INTEREST DEVELOPMENTS (CID's)
OLIVER BURFORD
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF ECHO (EXECUTIVE COUNCIL OF HOMEOWNERS)
Dr. Burford was educated as a nuclear physicist and spent about 38 years with Lockheed mostly in the management and research development department. For 15 years he was the president of his own 200-unit complex in Mt. View which created for him a great interest in the activities of Common Interest Development Associations in California.
When Dr. Burford asked the group how many had done work with or against the CID Association in California, the count was almost unanimous. The majority of people had done construction defect work almost all of which were representing the contractor's side. This gave Dr. Burford the opportunity to try and give information from the side of the homeowners.
Dr. Burford started with background information on ECHO which is a non-profit organization that was started in 1972 by five homeowners. ECHO was created as a "self-help" organization for homeowners for the purpose of assisting the homeowners, attorneys, property managers and all entities to work together and understand one another. About the same time ECHO was formed, a national organization called the Community Association Institute (CAI) was formed which was more oriented towards developers and building professionals.
Over the years and as recent as the ECHO conference this June, the emphasis has been made that it is the building and industry professionals who have the information, who have the education to impart to homeowner's associations and they are going to be the driving force in running the organization. This is a main reason that ECHO's Board of Directors now consists of two homeowners and ten building professionals and there is a strong emphasis in continuing to educate the association.
In 1966 there were only about 500 homeowner associations in the United States. Today there are over 200,000 homeowner's associations in the United States and fifteen percent of housing in the U.S. is currently in the form of a homeowner's association of some sort. Approximately 31,000 of these associations are in California of which about 10,000 are located in the Bay Area. The average number of units per association is estimated to be around 100 units however there is a rapidly growing number of smaller groups (about 20 units) and about 50% of ECHO's members are fewer than 50 units.
The condominium market in California has fallen but many of the developments coming on line now are planned housing developments which have a different set of problems from condominiums. ECHO believes there will be a continuous growth in housing associations in the United States since they offer a way to achieve high densities in housing while still protecting at least some of the amenities offered from owning a private home.
There is rapid growth of associations, especially in California, and a contributing factor to this growth is the problems of construction defects. Because the statute of limitations on construction defects is only ten years and the average age of associations in California is 16 years, there is a huge potential problem. The associations are aging and in many cases, have been lax about repairs and proper maintenance. Because of this neglect, there are large numbers of repairs being done for leakage and water damage, decks, structural wall damages and termites which are beginning to become a particular problem at this time. Also complicating the issues are displacement of tenants, particularly senior citizens.
Thereare also a changes in the demographics of associations. Large numbers of people who bought into the associations are living on retirement income and are concerned with special assessments. For those associations which have not collected adequate reserves, these assessments become the only means for fixing the problems. More and more residents of these associations are going to Sacramento to contest assessment fees which creates more legislature and micro-management bills.
There are also residents unclear on the involvement of a homeowner's association, believing the association is comparable to a landlord. This question of whether an association is a corporation or a public entity is one issue, which is being found in many court cases now.
Because of legislature, government, lack of funds and proper management, Dr. Burford sees the possibility of many of California's poorly managed associations collapsing. When properties start to deteriorate and funds are not available for necessary repairs, there is a tendency for owners to move out and put in renters, lose interest in keeping the property up and eventually create areas with a multitude of construction defects and potential social problems. A question Dr. Burford posed to the group is,"What is the solution to this problem? And what are we going to do when hundreds of people are ejected by the cities from unsafe buildings?"
Two of the Questions brought up by audience:
Q"What about updating the By-Laws?"
A It is more important to update the CC&R's (conditions, covenants and restrictions). These should be updated at least every five years. There are many 20-year-old associations which have never updated their CC&R's and this is a source of some of the legal problems. Homeowner associations currently are controlled principably by the traditions of a piece of the Civil Code called the Davis Sterling Common Interest Development Act- Title 6 of the Civil Code which was enacted in 1985. Documents created before that don't reflect current state law. A uniform law has been talked about at the state level that would restructure the concept of CC&R's. Then individual associations would be able to make addenda or supplements for their own needs.
Q "One of the largest budget issues for a homeowner's association is landscape maintenance. They are not getting proper guidance and when you try to give them the information that they need, it is a very hard sell."
A The mentality is "once you plant something, it lasts forever", which isn't the case. Some associations have done a fairly good job of maintenance, but at the end of 20-25 years it is just time to re-landscape. People were not including funds in the reserve to pay for a landscape architect. We are beginning now to promote the inclusion of funds for a redesign of the landscape in the reserves. Many groups look to re-landscape over a five to ten year period but you need to follow a good architectural plan to make this successful.
Dr. Burford is always looking for good articles to be published in the ECHO Journal- the magazine that goes out monthly to over 6000 Homeowner Association Board Members. If you would like to submit articles or information, please send to ECHO Journal, 1602 The Alameda, Suite 100, San Jose, CA 95126 or email: echodir@aol.com. wnw
JULY MENU
A. Roasted Pork Loin stuffed with red cabbage.
B. Cornish Game Hen stuffed with wild rice.
C. Linguine with wild mushrooms & tomato sauce.
Please put the names and menu choices of those attending and make a notation if you are bringing a guest or a first time invitee.
The cost is $30 per member or invitee ($35 late fee) and $15 for a first time guest who is a potential member. Reservations are due by Friday, July 10, 1998. Calls or faxes received after Friday, June 10th will be assessed the $5.00 late charge.
For Dinner Reservations in July Contact Lina Habache at: (650)341-6932 phone or (650) 341-6733 fax
or mail your reservation to:
Authentic Restoration & Waterproofing
1155 Chess Drive, Suite 116
Foster City, CA 94404