Category: New! (page 3)

The first Delaware jurisdiction has recently adopted the 2012 International Building Code, which has all sorts of changes, mostly minor and things most owners don’t really care about (except the sprinkler requirements, which most towns and counties seem to be opting out of in the state.) But the big kahuna around here is the new wind maps. Long story very short, Delaware is no longer considered at risk for a hurricane strike and the requirements for new construction have dropped dramatically. Many people are finding that prefabricated buildings may be just what they need, as one example.

There are all sorts of projects for which you can hire an architect.  There are the obvious ones, the commercial buildings, churches, large houses, or complex structures.  There are less obvious ones where the tiny project only requires an architect due to legal restrictions of your Home Owners Association and state or county or city law doesn’t.  Then there’s everything else, the vast majority of sunrooms and screened porches and inlaw suites that don’t require and are frankly too small for a lot of offices, or so you would think.

One of the most prolific and well adopted sustainable technologies are cool roof options, at least in commercial buildings. There was a time when almost all flat roofs were black asphalt, but most buildings built in the last 10 years are white membranes to reflect the sun’s heat year-round. These commercial buildings have been built with the realization that having a 110 degree surface year-round leads to a lot of heat infiltration, even in the winter when you might think it would be a good idea, it’s far too much and in the summer, it kills the conditioning bills. These technologies are now starting to find their way more and more into residential products and are often available from roofing companies such as markham roofing services, and I would recommend them more and more for most buildings, especially the more your cooling load dominates your heating bills.