What we're reading, following & covering |
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California balcony fall victims settle with building owner November 21 | The Washington Post Relatives of six college students who died when a balcony collapsed in Berkeley, Calif., have reached a settlement with the owners of the apartment building and the company that managed it. Terms of the lawsuit settlement with owner BlackRock and management firm Greystar were confidential. The settlement also applies to seven students who were injured. read more >>> |
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Is your landlord a building code violator? New service aims to tell you November 14 | The Wall Street Journal For most New York residents, it is easier to find out whether the local hamburger joint has a mouse problem than if an apartment they are about to rent has no heat in the winter or a cockroach infestation. Rentlogic, a New York-based startup, aims to create more transparency by assigning letter grades to apartment buildings based on housing-code violations data, which track issues such as climate control, mold, bed bugs and vermin infestations. read more >>> |
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LA's underground homeless RV rental market is 'predatory' and needs regulation, councilman says November 28 | Los Angeles Daily News A Los Angeles city councilman said he wants to regulate and potentially prohibit the rental of motorhomes and other vehicles to people who intend on living out of them. Councilman Mitchell Englander, who represents the northwest San Fernando Valley, introduced a motion calling for rules to be set up around the activity, a day after L.A.'s NPR affiliate KPCC aired a story about individuals who purchase confiscated RVs and rent them out for as little as $10 a day throughout the city, including in the Valley. read more >>> |
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Emanuel wants to raise restaurant permit fees and fines for building code violations November 9 | Chicago Tribune Buried in the fine print of Mayor Rahm Emanuel's proposed 2018 budget are higher costs for restaurant permits, bigger fines for violating city environmental regulations and stiffer penalties for building code violations. To date, the focus has been on Emanuel’s planned $1.10 increase in monthly 911 emergency fees for phones and a 4-percentage-point boost in the amusement tax for concerts at big venues, both of which are designed to help keep the city books balanced. read more >>> |
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Historic Francis Marion Hotel in Charleston seeks to address modern-day issues November 27 | The Post and Courier Even in Charleston, there comes a time when preserving every piece of history simply costs too much to be practical. Such is the case for the original windows at the iconic Francis Marion Hotel, according to owner Steve Dopp. The 1924 single-pane windows "are a constant problem," Dopp told Charleston's Board of Architectural Review last week. read more >>> |
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Can Philly make many of its 600,000 buildings more energy efficient? November 14 | The Inquirer Philadelphia counts 600,000 buildings, including homes and businesses, within its borders and many of them are aging and drafty, which means they're using more carbon-generating energy than they may really need. The city's Office of Sustainability laid out its Clean Energy Vision strategy to get residents and business owners to voluntarily become more energy efficient and reduce the amount of electricity they pull from the grid, cutting the city's overall carbon emissions. read more >>> |
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Safe Haven blaze might cause review of national fire codes November 26 | Idaho State Journal An eastern Idaho nursing home destroyed by fire met all applicable fire codes, the Idaho state fire marshal says, but he's going to recommend those codes be reviewed on a national level. Fire Marshal Knute Sandahl said that he helped investigate the fire that destroyed the Safe Haven Health Care facility in Pocatello. All 49 residents plus staff made it out, with four to eight suffering smoke inhalation and a firefighter sustaining a knee injury. Estimated damage is greater than $2 million. read more >>> |
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New building rules for basements, bathrooms and bedrooms likely coming soon in Jackson November 22 | Southwest Missourian Sheetrock might be required more often. As will carbon-monoxide detectors. More outlets will need to be installed in garages. But bathrooms and bedrooms can be built smaller. These restrictions all will be addressed if new building codes are approved by the Jackson Board of Aldermen. New building codes will go into effect Jan. 1 in Jackson, pending aldermen approval. read more >>> |
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Energy-efficient house built inside out November 22 | White Bear Press House No. 15, like the 14 constructed before it, took less than a week to build at 118 Maple St. Despite its quick turnaround, the Mahtomedi house is described by the builder as "wildly energy efficient." Walls are made of oriented strand board, or OSB, a studless construction method created in the early 2000s at the University of Minnesota. "The method results in extreme energy efficiency and good indoor air quality because the dew point is outdoors instead of indoors like normal houses. read more >>> |
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Tiny homes, big problems: Where can you park your home-on-wheels? November 29 | USA Today Ryan and Cheryl Marcus took a leap of faith this summer to live a smaller, simpler life. They downsized their belongings, left behind their spacious two-bedroom rental apartment, and on their own built a 240-square-foot, Frank Lloyd Wright-inspired tiny house on wheels. For about two months, the Pomona, New York, couple have been living in it while finishing up the home's façade and interior. read more >>> |
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Local group wants tiny homes November 25 | Victoria News With the rising cost of housing, the tiny house movement has gained momentum as a potential solution. Denise Clowater, a member of Affordable Housing Alternatives, presented to Central Saanich council to spread the word. Clowater said the purpose was to inform the general public about the variety of housing options available. "We're trying to find more open-minded options for the 21st century and the reality we're living in," said Clowater. read more >>> |
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Fire safety advice from the pros November 27 | McKnights Senior Living Two recent news stories may have you re-examining your emergency preparedness plans, especially as they pertain to fires. Four residents died and more than 160 residents and staff members were evacuated, including more than two dozen residents who were taken to hospitals, during a five-alarm fire Nov. 16 at the Barclay Friends continuing care retirement community in West Chester, Pa. read more >>> |
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Skilled nursing bulletins: Fire safety scrutiny, anti-psychs in Kansas November 28 | Skilled Nursing News In a year that has already brought significant national attention to the way nursing homes handle natural disasters, concerns about fire risk are springing up across the country in the wake of a Pennsylvania fire that killed four long-term care residents. That blaze, at the Barclay Friends Senior Living Community in West Chester, Pa., also displaced 133 residents, according to the Associated Press, and brought headlines such as "Nursing Home Inferno" — as used by ABC's "World News Tonight" — into American living rooms. (Barclay Friends provides memory care, skilled nursing, and short-term rehab, per the AP.) read more >>> |
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Scapa, Quinn's spaces remain vacant November 28 | Chicago Tribune Storefronts that were home to two popular food/beverage establishments in downtown Clarendon Hills remain vacant nearly a year after the businesses closed at the end of 2016. Quinn's Coffee House, 2 S. Prospect, closed Dec. 31, 2016, after being a Clarendon Hills staple for 30 years. And Dec. 31, 2016 also was the final day of business for Scapa Italian Kitchen, which closed its doors at 1 N. Walker Ave., after being open there for about six years, following a couple of years at 31 S. Prospect Ave. read more >>> |
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Red Rocks mulls over installing handrails November 29 | Pollstar When you're as loved as Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colo., sometimes it gets hard to make changes without fans voicing concern. The venue is hoping to install handrails in different points to get itself up to code, according to Live For Live Music, but the nonprofit Friends of Red Rocks, which helped the venue achieve National Historic Landmark status in 2015, has a problem with the idea of new addition. read more >>> |
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Rights renters need to know this winter November 29 | ABC 17 KMIZ With colder temperatures coming to Mid-Missouri, Columbia officials make it clear that tenants know their rights when it comes to their heating systems functioning properly. Neighborhood services manager Leigh Kottwitz with the city of Columbia said all rental properties are required to be registered and inspected by a city staff member. She points out specific codes that protect tenants. read more >>> |
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Why ROC: General Code November 29 | Rochester First A recent acquisition is good news for employees at the Gates based company General Code. General Code President and CEO Gary Domenico discussed the acquisition during our Greater Rochester Enterprise Why ROC conversation Wednesday on News 8 at Sunrise. "General Code has been a secret in Rochester, I think, for the last 55 years," said Domenico. read more >>> |
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AWC gets approval as NDS 2018 by ANSI November 29 | Wood & Panel The American Wood Council (AWC) 2018 National Design Specification (NDS) for Wood Construction has been approved as an American National Standard by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). The NDS is referenced for wood design in the International Code Council's 2018 International Building Code (IBC). read more >>> |
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Study shows Pearl Certification boost sales prices for energy-efficient homes November 28 | Code Watcher Getting a Pearl Certification can increase a home's value by thousands of dollars, a new study has found. The study on valuing properties with solar installations and energy-efficient features, performed by a team of appraisers led by national expert Sandra Adomatis, looked at a set of 27 Pearl-certified homes in Virginia and Maryland and compared them with 35 sales for similar homes that had not been certified. read more >>> |
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Quantify environmental benefits of asphalt November 25 | AsphaltPro When it comes to knowing what goes into its products, the asphalt industry is already transparent. Mix designs and job mix formulas are developed detailing the percentages of liquid asphalt, reclaimed asphalt pavement, fine and coarse aggregate, and aggregate type, all well-established materials understood by our customers. There are very few secrets or special ingredients in asphalt, unlike the products produced by many other industry sectors. read more >>> |
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