July 12, 2019

Precompression vs. Balanced Load in Post-Tension Concrete

My Post–Tension elevator speech is pretty well rehearsed at this point: “We drape steel cables — tendons — in the concrete forms, and then place the concrete.  Once it cures, we pull the ends of the tendons, which try to straighten out.  That does three things: the tendons lift in the low spots, push down […]

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Planning for Housing and Community Development

This post comes from Stephanie O’Hara, Planner Analyst for EVstudio. Immediately prior to joining EVstudio, she worked for Jefferson County, Colorado for 6 years in various planning roles. EVstudio looks for planning opportunities in both the public and private sector: While working at Jefferson County I developed the 2005-2010 Consolidated Plan which is a strategy

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Apartment Units – How Do They Measure Up?

There are several ways to calculate the area of different projects types. At EVstudio, we typically provide both the gross and net rentable areas of dwelling units in apartment projects. Gross area is measured from the centerline of common walls (or “party walls”), and from the exterior face of structure at exterior and corridor walls.

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Staples or Nails? Choosing the Right Fastener for Wall and Roof Sheathing

We are often asked by contractors if they can substitute framing staples instead of nails for their wall and roof sheathing fasteners. There is no easy universal answer to this question because the location of the project may place it in a high wind or seismic zone that may require special engineering for the fastening

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Consider LED Outdoor Lighting to get LEED Points

It’s no surprise that LED lighting has made a significant impact on the energy use for lighting applications with it’s extremely low energy use per footcandle. New ground is being broken in all lighting uses and we are seeing LED lighting in everything from decorative lighting to task lighting.  I recently toured the National Renewable

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Documentation that Suits Your Audience

As architects & designers, we often work with people who have drastically different backgrounds, skills, experiences, and who care about different aspects of a project. The client will turn to us when they don’t know what to do next when it comes to acquiring a piece of land, getting their building permitted, getting approval from

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