Masonry Magazine November 2011 Page. 27
MASONRY COMPUTER ESTIMATING
Tradesmen's Software, Inc.
HOS3DE
ON SCREEN 3D ESTIMATOR
Masonry Computer Estimating
That Does It All ... in 3D!
New for 2011! Utilize Tradesmen's 3D masonry take-off for BIM models. Just point and click on the digital blueprint and see your walls displayed. Our On Screen 3D Estimator makes it simple and fast. Runs on Windows PCs and Bootcamp/Windows on Intel Macs. Support available 7 days a week. See the actual building being displayed in 3D as you do your take-off in either PLAN mode, PERSPECTIVE mode, OUTSIDE mode, INSIDE mode or at any ELEVATION. Complete your take-off, then walk through or around and see the actual finished building. Calculates CMU: HALF and FULL BULLNOSE, DOUBLE BULLNOSE, CHAMFER, or SASH for any or all OPENINGS, JAMBS, CORNERS, CONTROL JOINTS and any SPECIAL CUTS. Integrate with Accounting Software and transfer data to Microsoft Excel. 30 day money back guarantee.
Negotiating projects with a 3D image will win you more contracts and enhance your professional image.
TRADESMEN'S SOFTWARE, Inc.
1-800-494-4899
See for yourself at:
www.tradesmens.com
READER SERVICE #163
November 2011
MASONRY 25
Meredith Ware walks into a Home Depot and feels completely at home; put her in a Bloomingdale's, and she is lost and confused. Building products are her passion, but only due to a secret lurking beneath the surface, literally.
"Most people have no idea that the sidewalk they walk down every day is made of materials that single-handedly contribute to 8 percent of the world's carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions," says Ware. "Cement products are the silent killer, and I want the world to know this."
Although concrete products are suited naturally for optimizing building emissions through thermal mass and reduction of temperature volatility, reducing Portland cement content is key to making concrete products better for the environment. Oldcastle and its parent company, CRH in Europe, made a huge commitment in 2010 to reduce cement in its products and practice good environmental stewardship, a $67 million investment.
The concrete and masonry industries were born during a time when energy and natural resources were abundant. Fast forward 200 years: The population and atmospheric CO2 charts are climbing exponentially, and you see an earth unable to support human energy needs through dwindling fossil fuels reserves.
"My goal is not to teach everyone the intricate details of environmental policies, statistics and building programs," Ware says, "but to give them the guidelines to make conscious decisions themselves."
Ware spends a good part of her day helping people understand how good environmental practices are good business, and vice versa. "The companies I have worked with, large and small, always see a return on the bottom line when they begin to implement good environmental practices," she says.
Ware recently helped convert all of Bonsal American's diesel fuel-based plants to recycled fuel oil, a small effort that result in hundreds of thousands of dollars in annual savings and a huge carbon footprint reduction. "Nothing special needed to be done at the plants; we just simply switched fuel providers," Ware says.
Not all green ideas pan out, though. Bonsal also looked at switching their fleet from diesel to cleaner natural gas. However, economically and logistically, it would have been difficult. Ware says that if an environmental doesn't make good business sense, it will be hard to sustain in the years to www.masonrymagazine.com.
Ware leads a sustainability class.