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CENTRAL VIRGINIA CHAPTER of the CONSTRUCTION SPECIFICATIONS INSTITUTEwww.csicentralva.org

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@ Omni Downtown C-Ville

President’s Message

CalendarGreen Word

Upcoming CSI Events

ACE Mentoring

Leadership Roster

Membership Report

CSI’s New PresidentCommittee of One

Open Letter to President-elect

Curmudgeon’sCorner

CSI Fellows

Minutes

Life Cycle Analysis – Sustainable Product SelectionMartha Stevenson of GreenBlue will provide a brief introduction to Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). She will review available database technology and information, impact methods, and soft-ware options for evaluation. Martha will discuss the United States Green Building Council’s efforts to incorporate LCA into LEED 2009.

Laura Fiori of Macfarlane Homes will demonstrate the use of LCA database to compare sev-eral building materials and discuss how to interpret results and value considerations (durabil-ity, sustainability, cost, etc) leading to high performance product selection.

Life Cycle Analysis is the investigation and valuation of the environmental impacts of a given product or service caused or necessitated by its existence. The goal of LCA is to compare the full range of environmental and social damages assignable to products and services, to be able to choose the least burdensome one. At present it is a way to account for the effects of the cascade of technologies responsible for goods and services. The term ‘life cycle’ refer to the notion that a fair, holistic assessment requires the assessment of raw materials produc-tion, manufacture, distribution, use and disposal including all intervening transportation steps necessary or caused by the product’s existence. The sum of all those steps is the life cycle of the product. The procedures of life cycle assessment are part of the ISO 14000 environ-mental management standards.

HSW LUs available for this meeting.

Membership is not required, please plan on joining us.

Reservations by April 16, 2009 to [email protected], please specify which meeting you will be attending.

Sponsored by Nature Neutral!

Life Cycle AnalysisApril 21, 2009

5:30 - Social Hour | 6:30 - Dinner7:30 - Program

1 HSW Learning Unit

RSVP by Thursday, April 16434-979-5245 - Office of The Gaines Group

Please specify if you would prefer vegetarian option!FREE PARKING AT THE OMNI!

$25 - member $35 - non-member$15 - program only

A Message FromYour President

As my term as President nears an end, I find myself looking back over the course of the last 5 years that I have been a leader in the Central Virginia Chapter. Our chapter has seen tremendous growth, the first time through new student memberships as we started a new UVA student chapter in 2003, then again this year with our membership drive at the product show. The student members have mostly gone with the exception of one that has remained in chapter leadership – and all it takes is one motivated person to make a differ-ence. My hope is that the membership drive members will attend meetings and see the tremendous value of active participation in CSI that I have experienced. We have seen our chapter’s reputation change to the orga-nization in Central Virginia that offers the cutting edge education sessions desired by all those looking to be leaders in the construction industry. Our meeting at-tendance has gone from an average of 15 people at a meeting to 50+ people at a typical meeting. We have even had a meeting where we had to turn people away due to space requirements on the room. Our annual product show has grown to be one of the largest in the state and continues to grow and see increased atten-dance each year while other shows have seen a decline in attendance. CVCSI has in my opinion finally grown up and I look forward to the future of the chapter as new leadership prepares to take the lead.

I can tell you from my last 5 years in CSI how valuable

the organization is to me.Through CSI I have close friends that I can call on all over the country for a vari-ety of things, from career advice, product information, code interpretation, to organizing a student field trip to Pittsburg. I have associates with many years more experience than I have to rely on when I find myself in need of help. I find that they are also looking to me for a voice of the future of the profession, giving me a platform to make a difference on the national level in my profession. CSI has changed my career path in architecture. CSI has given me a voice in the industry. CSI has given me excellent friendships. If you want to join in this amazing organization, please join us for our next meeting and start your CSI experience as I did 5 years ago.

The Middle Atlantic CSI Region Conference will be in Charlottesville this October. We have arranged a tre-mendous lineup of seminars that are being confirmed and scheduled. Topics will include the following: -The State of the Construction Industry - Walt Marlow, CSI Executive Director -Biophilic Design – Timothy Beatley – University of Virginia -South Lawn Project – Design Team Case Study Presentation -Emily Couric Cancer Center – Design Team Case Study Presentation -C2C – Howie Fendley - MBDC -Beyond Green: Revolutionary Design Panel Discussion

This event is focused on an investigation of the next generation of design, moving beyond green rating sys-tems to achieve a truly sustainable future. The hard hat tours of the South Lawn and the Emily Couric Cancer Center, along with the expert presentations will hope-fully fuel the final discussion on how we can move be-yond being less bad and become good. This event will take place on October 8-11, with a golf tournament, shooting clay tournament, hard hat tours, lectures, and plenty of fun activities planned. Please visit the website marc09.com to register and find out more in-formation.

Another great upcoming CSI event will be in Indianap-olis June 16-19. The CSI Show (www.constructshow.com) offers education programs, an expansive exhibit hall floor filled with the latest services, products and technologies as well as a myriad of networking op-portunities. In conjunction with the 53rd Annual CSI Convention, the event is coupled with an abundance of special events and programs so you can find every-thing you need under one roof.

Charles HendricksCharles Hendricks,

AIA, CSI, CDT, LEED-APPresident, CVCSI 2008-2009

2... SEPTEMBER 2007 - THE PARAMETER

CVCSI Membership CVCSI membership currently stands at 77

April Anniversaries:Ronald Keeney, Keeney & Co. Architects, PLC - 26 yrsWillard Deveneau, Fallows & Associates - 8 yrsMeghan Johnston, University of Richmond - 5 yrsPatrick Wright, Charles Luck - 3 yrs

The Parameter - April 20092

Member NewsRay Gaines of The Gaines Group, PLC has been given the honor of fel-lowship in CSI. See CSI’s press release on page 8 & future articles for more on this important designation. Congratulations Ray!

Advanced Concrete Foundations is pleased to announce that Josh La-nahan, CSI is now a certified Insulated Form Specialist. They look for-ward to continuing their work with Eagle Corporation and Rainwater in their venture into ICF construction.

In December, Travis Layman, chief estimator for Harman Construction Inc., was awarded the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in En-ergy and Environmental Design (LEED) Accredited Professional (AP) designation. Mr. Layman is actively involved in the LEED certification process for a new residence hall which Harman is now constructing at Eastern Mennonite University.

The Gaines Group, PLC received the Governor’s Excellence in Design award for the second year in a row. This year’s silver medal for Small Business was received for their work on the first LEED registered proj-ect in Fluvanna County, Better Living Mill Shop.

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April 2009April 2009April 10 - 12 BRHBA Home and Garden Show @ JPJApril 16 - CVCSI Valley - Stormwater ManagementApril 18 - Women w/ Nails @ the Habitat StoreApril 21 - CVCSI Dinner MeetingApril 22 - Earth Day Green Matters @ the ParamountApril 24 - 25 CSI LOS Ghettysburg, PAApril 27 - ACE Presentation @ county office building see page 9 for more info.__May 13 - CVCSI Valley- Lunch MeetingMay 19 - CVCSI Hard Hat Tour

June 15 - CVCSI Awards Banquet

June 17-19 - CONSTRUCT 2009 www.constructshow.com

Oct. 8-11 - CVCSI MARC 2009 www.marc09.com

GREEN TERM OF THE MONTH

A life cycle assessment (LCA, also known as life cycle analysis, ecobalance, and cradle-to-grave

analysis) is the investigation and valuation of the environmental impacts of a given product or service caused or necessitated by its existence.

Life Cycle Analysis

Upcoming Events...

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Home & Garden Show @ JPJ

Earth Day

Dave Matthews @ JPJ

CVCSIDinner Meeting

The Dead@ JPJ

29 30 31Bill Gaither@ JPJ

First Friday Art

Green Matters@ the Paramount

Nida Campbell, and Assistant Project Manager at Martin Horn Construction passed the USGBC’s LEED AP Exami-nation. She is excited to aid her company in promoting sustainable design.

George Gercke has taken a position with Wade Apart-ments as Director of Physical Plant and Maintenance. His primary duties are to plan and direct the care and feed-ing of Wade Apartment’s buildings, the earliest of which was built in 1885 and the newest was just occupied in August 2008. He looks forward to a new phase of his ca-reer where he maintains instead of builds, and will en-joy the challenge of working in a different phase of the building life cycle. He maintains his contractor’s license, mainly for consulting duties as an expert witness and as an Owner’s representative.

Member Glen Stoltzfus is now an Earthcraft builder.

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CSI LOS

Women with Nails@ Habitat Store

ACE Presentation@ county office building

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Upcoming CSI Events


Sustainable Stormwater ManagementApril 16, 2009 - HarrisonburgTime: 11:45 am – 1:00 pmCost: Members $10, nonmember $15Location: Wood Grill, Harrisonburg (1711 Reservoir Street, Harrisonburg, VA)Speakers:Robert Connelly of ACF EnvironmentalScott Sellers of Engineering Solutions

Description: The impact of site selection and design is no less important than the sustainable design of a building itself. Typically, when new development takes place, existing vegetation and native soils are removed. After construction, a thin layer of topsoil is spread on very com-pacted subsoil. The new landscape and building are left without much thought of their downstream impacts. Rainwater , unable to infiltrate into the soil, quickly runs off into streams carrying sediments, pesticides, fertilizers, and other chemi-cals. However, there are strategies that can produce healthy sites that enhance the building and property values. Join Robert Connelly, CPESC, Territory Man-ager with ACF Environmental and Scott Sellers of Engineering solutions as they presents several options for addressing the requirements of the new stormwater regulations and shows how to sustain-able manage your site development. They will look at some new state of the art products being used to treat water quality as well as some new twists on more conventional methodologies. Rob-ert and Scott will also briefly explore the world of Rainwater Harvesting.

Membership is not required, please plan on joining us.Reservations by April 15, 2009 to [email protected], please spec-ify which meeting you will be attending.

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) IntroductionMay 13, 2009 - Harrisonburg11:45 am – 1:00 pmCost: Members $10, nonmember $15Location: Wood Grill, Harrisonburg (1711 Reservoir Street, Harrisonburg, VA) Speaker:Nick Safay of Appalachian Sustainable Development

This presentation will give an introduc-tion on how FSC came into existence in 1992 at the Earth Summit in Rio by a wide-range of interested parties and its impact on forests and communities here in the US and worldwide. Learn that the benefits of forests and people from FSC range from increased timber value to protected wildlife to better water quality and much more. We will explore its 10 Guiding Principles and other criteria of rigorous forestry stan-dards as well as other forest certifica-tion systems and how green building rating systems have increased the de-mand for FSC certified products.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a non-profit organization devoted to encouraging the responsible manage-ment of the world’s forests. FSC sets high standards that ensure forestry is practiced in an environmentally re-sponsible, socially beneficial, and eco-nomically viable way.

Membership is not required, please plan on joining us.Reservations by May 11, 2009 to [email protected], please spec-ify which meeting you will be attending.

South Lawn Project Hard Hat Tour – MEMBERS ONLY-

May 19, 2009 - CharlottesvilleTime: TBAMeeting location: TBACost: TBA Tour Guide:John Vanda, Senior Project Manager in charge of the South Lawn Project for Barton Malow.

Join us for this member’s only event. The South Lawn Project is the most ambitious undertaking on Central Grounds at The University of Virginia in a century. The project will accom-modate the requirements of Arts & Sciences while paying respect to the architecture in the nearby Academi-cal Village. It will see 12,000 students every day.

The $105 million South Lawn Project began construction in 2007 with hopes of completion by the end of 2010. The plan calls for using a 95’ x 250’ terrace above Jefferson Park Avenue as a con-nector with New Cabell and two new arts and sciences buildings. The new buildings will house classrooms, of-fices, and an amphitheater-style lec-ture hall that can seat 250 people. The project is adding 110,000 square feet of new space.

Membership is not required, please plan on joining us.Reservations by May 11, 2009 to [email protected], please spec-ify which meeting you will be attending.


Are you an “-elect”? A President-elect, to be more precise?

The reason for the office of president-elect is to ensure smooth tran-sition from one presidency to the next, and to give you the time to prepare your team and your agenda so you can be ready when you term begins - and that’s only a few months away.

It is not enough that you are “thinking about it” while you wait for the first of July. You may have made many mental notes about what you want to do, and how you want to do it, but they will have little value if you keep them to yourself. A good president-elect doesn’t hide these thoughts, but shares them with others so they can under-stand what will be expected, and be ready to support new goals and changes in direction.

You must communicate, and you must delegate. You cannot do it all by yourself even if you think you can. Without sharing the load, you will be less effective, you will suffer from burn-out, and your chapter and successor will have to pick up the pieces when your term is over. This is not leadership.

Here is a checklist to help you determine if you are ahead or behind as an “-elect”:

1. Assemble your team of major chairs – Program, Member-ship, Newsletter Editor, Technical, and Education. If these people are not the current chairs, your appointees should be on-board, assisting or shadowing the outgoing chairs. You need a seamless transition to minimize interruption. If this is not in place by this time, it should be.

Chapter Programs are usually what the whole chapter builds its reputation in your community. Good programs draw good partici-pation. Good programs grow strong membership. Programs provide the lead for the other committees to coordinate their efforts, be it re-cruiting, newsletter focus, technical, education, or product displays. Programs bring money into the chapter coffers; money will allow the chapter to provide more service.

As a courtesy to next year’s program chair, your program committee should plan at least six months beyond the end of the current term. This will help future program committee avoid planning a program with little or no lead time. A good program takes time to produce. It takes the effort of many members and related committees to coor-dinate. It cannot be decided by “who’s available to fill this month’s slot?” Good programs show you have a great chapter, not just a chapter that exists.

2. Meet face-to-face with your major chairs. Share with them your objectives and standards for your term as president. Listen to

their comments and suggestions. Involve them. Ask each of them to find an assistant, someone who may be a chair in the future. Remind them that if they don’t find an assistant, they may be committed to a year of committee-of-one, and will burn out. This is not the member-ship experience you want.

3. Plan a Saturday retreat between Easter and Mother’s Day. If this is not possible, substitute a monthly meeting and invite all chap-ter movers and shakers to share their comments as to what’s good about this past year and what may be better for the year to come. Encourage dialogue.

A retreat does not need to be an expensive event; it is best done in an informal atmosphere. Provide some sustenance, minimize distrac-tions, and encourage participants to speak freely within an agenda. Invite all current and incoming chairs as well as interested chapter members. You may find uncommitted but interested members who have a passion about subjects that you may not be aware of.

4. Prepare. The more preparation you do before your term be-gins, the faster your team will taste success. What you don’t initiate by mid-term may be too late for the rest of the term. The higher your team pulls the sled up the hill by December, the longer they will en-joy the ride down in the second half of the year.

It is a great honor to be chosen by your chapter members to lead. They want you to lead them; they don’t want you to do it all yourself. They want you to enjoy your experience. The way to do it is to com-municate, delegate, and not procrastinate.

I wish you well, Mr. President-elect.

Aloha,Gilman Hu, FCSI President, CSI

An Open Letter to the President-elect


CSI to Elevate Nine Members to Fellowship at 2009 Annual ConventionContact:Kelly Feldman(800) 689-2900 ext. [email protected]

CSI to Elevate Nine Members to Fellowship at 2009 Annual Con-vention

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (March 12, 2009) – The Construction Specifica-tions Institute (CSI) announced today that the organization will el-evate nine members to Fellows of the Institute during the Honors and Awards Gala at CONSTRUCT2009 & The CSI Annual Conven-tion in Indianapolis, on Friday, June 19.

Fellows are nominated by their colleagues and selected by CSI’s Jury of Fellows in recognition of their accomplishments in advanc-ing construction technology, improving construction specifica-tions, educating people in the construction industry or advancing the goals of the Institute.

CSI members joining this distinguished group in 2009 are:

* Lane J. Beougher, CSI, CCS, CCCA, AIA, LEED AP * Raymond E. Gaines, CSI, CCS, AIA, ALA * Edward (Ted) Healy, RA, CSI Emeritus, CDT * Richard L. Levin, CSI, CCS, LEED AP * Dennis A. Linscheid, RA, CSI * Robert H. Mallory, CSI, CCS, CCPR, CCCA, LEED AP * Janet Piccola, CSI * John S. Rickert, CSI, CCS, AIA * Robert W. Simmons, BS, CSI, CCPR, CEO

In the organization’s 60-year history, only 385 members have been elevated to Fellowship. For more information on CSI Fellows or the 2009 Annual Convention, visit www.csinet.org. To register to at-tend the convention and the gala, visit the CONSTRUCT2009 & The CSI Annual Convention Web site at www.constructshow.com.___

Congratulations to CVCSI member Ray Gaines!


Albemarle ACE Mentor ProgramThe ACE Mentor Program is a unique after school program whose mission is to enlighten and increase the awareness of high school students to career opportunities in archi-tecture, construction and engineering and related areas of the design and construction industry through mentoring; and to provide scholarship opportunities for students.

ACE is currently in Albemarle County Schools which con-sists of Western Albemarle, Monticello and Albemarle High School. Each school has one ACE team with four (4) men-tors and 10 to 15 students. The mentors work together to attract young people to their professions by recruiting at the high schools before the start of the program. The pro-gram runs a total of 14 weeks and is wrapped up at the end when all three schools join together for their final project presentation. At the Presentation Ceremony on April 27th ACE will award students with a scholarship.

Jose Ramirez & Russell Hillstrom are two students who are currently enrolled in the ACE program at Albermarle High School. Both students have greatly enjoyed the challenges and opportunites that ACE has given them. Mr. Ramirez stated he signed up with ACE, because he thought “it could help him get into college”. Mr. Hillstrom says the benefits of ACE is that it “has helped me understand more about Architecture and that is what I want to pursue in college.”

The majority of the ACE mentors are made up of employ-ees from local industry companies. Some of the compa-nies involved either through mentoring, leading site visits or special guest presentations are: RE Lee & Son, CMS, Inc., The Gaines Group, Albemarle Heating & Air, Alpha Corp., Faulconer, ColonialWebb, Stonehaus, Barton Malow, Martin Horn, and WM Jordan. While it seems that the students are the main ones to benefit from this program the response for the 2009 mentors has been beyond positive. Each group has done a site visit to a local project worksite as well as vis-ited mentor’s professional offices. Many groups have gone above and beyond meeting on weekends or additional nights to work on projects as well as create Facebook pages to promote the group and show off their work.

If you have any questions about ACE or would like more information on how to become a volunteer please contact Marsha Hargette at 804.364.5504 x210.


February 17, 2009Call to Order: 4:41pm

Attendees: Charles Hendricks, Tracie Skipper, Adrienne Stronge, Duncan Macfarlane, Ron Keeney, Mark Wing-erd, Ray Gaines, R. Tucker Shields, Meghan Johnston.

Presidents Report – Submitted in advance. There is a lot going on in CVCSI. We had our largest membership gain since our charter. We have the MARC scheduled for Charlottesville in October and we hae elections coming up for our local chapter and Institute. Please take a moment to review the Institute ballot and be sure to vote. Please ask Ray Gaines our conference chair how you can help make the MARC the best event possible. Above all else, take a moment and call those new members and welcome them to our organization and invite them to help on your next CSI project.

Secretary’s Report – No minutes from January meet-ing.

Treasurer’s Report – Submitted in advance.

Newsletter Committee: Submitted aging report for advertisers.

Membership Committee – Membership stands at 68.Those we need to contact that are not renewed:Will Adams - Superior ConcreteKari Daniel - Atlantic PlywoodRon Fisher - Noland CompanyMatt Keffer - Stock Building SupplyJohn Meggs - Nature NeutralAudrey Storm - Habitat for HumanityArt Peters - Artisan ConstructionRosalyn Schmitt - Artisan ConstrutionFebruary Anniversaries: Raymond Gaines, The Gaines Group PLC - 21 yrsGreg Heuer, Architectural Woodwork Inst. - 21 yrsShawn Green, ATAS International, Inc - 7 yrsCharles Hendricks, The Gaines Group PLC - 7 yrsWilliam Hale - 5 yrsEach of the new January members were assigned a board member to contact, welcome and invite to the March meeting. April is “CSI Month” CSI will be offering the 50% of membership at the MARC conference in October.

Program Committee – March – Sustainable Strategies – What works, what should we do different – a contractor’s perspectiveApril – to be determinedMay – Hard Hat Tour (Monticello? Tracie is talking to them)June – Picnic (Ashlawn?)

Hospitality: 28 for dinner, 4 for program only.

Product Expo: Landscape Architects - 2 (3)Interior Designers - 4Designers - 4Contractors - 63 (34)Product Reps - 21 (31)Exhibitors - 98 (135)Code Official - 9 (14)Misc - 14Total - 323

Overall I was very pleased with the entire expo. With the exception of a few hiccups it went very well. the show appeared full but I am disappointed that we did not make as much money as past years. Expenses seem to be in line but table sales were down. Next year we will add additional booth sizes for sure.We had a postmorem about the show and created a list of survey questions to be sent to exhibitors and attend-ees to see hat we can do better next time. All construc-tive feedback from the board will be considered. We have tentatively scheduled with the Omni for 2/2/10.

Awards: Awards submittals and fellowship package are in the works

Certification: No report

Education: No report

Technical (Super Committee): Tucker reported that 1977 Chapter bylaws say that we are not reqired to have a certain number of committtees we will begin using the new committee structure in July 2009.

Historian: No Report

Academic Liaison: No Report

Tellers / Nominating: Ron submitted a sample ballot that needed some corections. There was a lengthy discussion about removing drectors that have not been active in the organization for more than a year to allow directors who will participate to be elected. We an-nounced at the meeting that we have an open floor for nominations for the next 10 days. It was motioned that we contact inactive directors andnotify them that we will be voting at the March meeting.

Electronic Communication Committee – the website will be updated this week. Meghan will look into see-ing if we can take over the site to update it ourselves.

Region Conference: We hae pledged $8,250 in spon-sorships so far. The membership has been asked to generate sponsorships wherever there is an opportu-nity. Next meeting 2/24/09.

Long Range Planning Committee – No report.

Old Business – i. Annual student scholarship fundii. CSI Membership challenge iii. Student essay competition

New Business – i. ACE Mentor Scholarship - Due to current financial committtments CVCSI voted not to extend a sponsorship at this time.II. 50/50 membership at MARC - Board ap-proved extending this promotion to the MARC 2009 conference

Next Board Meeting – March 17, 2009, Omni Ho-tel, 4:30-5:30. - St. Patrick’s Day

The meeting was adjourned at 5:55 PM.


ALEXANDRIA, Va. (April 8, 2009) – The Construction Specifica-tions Institute (CSI) today announced that Dennis J. Hall, FCSI, CCS,

CCCA, FAIA, SCIP has been elected to the of-fice of President-elect of the Institute. Hall is managing principal of Hall Architects, Inc. and chairman of Hall│Building Information Group, LLC, with offices in Charlotte, N.C., and Dallas.

Hall will officially become President-elect on July 1, 2009, which will place him in line to assume the CSI presidency on July 1, 2010.

“CSI began as an organization of construction specifiers develop-ing standards for written construction documents and has grown into a multi-disciplined organization creating standards, formats and practice guides for organizing building information for the life of a facility,” said Hall. “CSI is establishing the information structures to enable the design and operation of high performing, sustain-able buildings and other facilities.”

Hall joined CSI in 1984. He has served in numerous CSI leadership positions at the local, regional and national levels. Currently, he is chair of the Project Resource Manual Update Task Team, the CSI forum moderator for Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Con-struction Documents, and a member of both the UniFormat Task Team and the Integrated Practice Body of Knowledge Analysis Task Team. He is also well known for his leadership in the development of MasterFormat™ 2004 Edition, which expanded the standard to a 6-digit, 50-division structure.

“We are pleased that Mr. Hall will be serving as CSI’s next President-elect,” said CSI Executive Director and CEO Walter Marlowe, CSI, P.E., CAE. “He brings 25 years of CSI leadership to the office, as well as a visionary mind that will assist in keeping the Institute’s products and initiatives relevant to the changing ways we generate, share and maintain construction knowledge.”

Hall has earned chapter-, regional- and Institute-level awards from CSI. He is a two-time recipient of the CSI Southeast Region’s Fred-erick W. Bucky Memorial Award and a three-time recipient of the Institute’s President’s Plaque. He also earned five national specifi-cation competition awards, including three Honor Awards.

Engineering News-Record named Hall one of its “Top 25 Newsmak-ers of 2005” for his leadership in updating MasterFormat. He has also been recognized by the North Carolina Chapter of the Ameri-can Institute of Architects with the 2007 William Dietrick Medal for Services and was the recipient of the National Institute of Building Sciences’s 2004 Institute Honor Award for exceptional contribu-tions to the nation and the building community.

Hall has written, co-authored, edited or supervised the prepara-tion of several books. He was the contributing author for the “In-formation Management” section of the “Firm Operations” chapter of the Architect’s Handbook of Professional Practice, 14th edition and also acted as a reviewer. He is the co-author (with Charles Rick Green, FCSI, CCS, CCCA, AIA, LEED AP, SCIP) of The Architect’s Guide to the U.S. National CAD Standard. He also served as the senior ex-ecutive editor of Architectural Graphic Standards, 11th edition and contributed to several sections in the Appendix. He is currently the editor-in-chief of Architectural Graphic Standards for Residential Construction, 2nd edition, which will be published in 2010.

Hall has also authored many articles addressing topics ranging from the creation of national industry standards for construc-

tion documents to Building Information Modeling. His work has appeared in publications such as Mechanical Engineering, Archi-tect, The Construction Specifier, Commercial Builder, Architectural West, AIA Architect, The Wall Street Journal and the Indianapolis Business Journal.

He has been cited in many articles as an authority on subject mat-ters concerning the development of national standards for con-struction documents including MasterFormat™ 2004 Edition and the U.S. National CAD Standard, as well as the project delivery pro-cess.

Hall earned a Bachelor of Arts in architecture/geography from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and a Master of Architec-ture from Washington University in St. Louis.

CSI Elects Dennis J. Hall as President

The Committee of One

Are you a member of a commit-tee of one? Is it because…

You feel that only you can get the job done the way you want it done? Everyone is too remote and it is easier to do it yourself, because by the time you finish telling someone what to do and how you want it done, you could have done it yourself?You are new to this organi-zation, and you don’t know whom to ask for help?

Here are some possible answers to those questions:

Try delegating your work. Divide it into smaller assign-ments. Share your goals and limitations. Set a deadline for completion or review. You might be surprised what your team members can come up with.No one is too remote in this age of technology. E-mails, cell phones, scanning, etc., cost almost nothing and are almost instantaneous.Ask! Whoever gave the as-signment to you will help you put your team together.

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Never accept an assignment with the expectation that it is for you to do it by your-self.

A committee, with its many members, can allow you to get work done without getting burned out. And while you’re getting your assignment done, you get to network! Remember, the whole often is greater than the sum of its parts.When you do things by yourself and you have too much to do, you are not doing yourself any good. It becomes difficult to separate volunteer work from your career, and you can’t get sick or take a trip. You are not do-ing your chapter any good either, because you are not training your replacement. CSI wants you to help, and to have a pleasant, positive experience doing it.Think about it. Do you still want to be that committee of one?The health of an organization is usually determined by how de-cisions are made and how these decisions are carried out by its members.

Aloha,Gilman Hu, FCSI President, CSI


by Sheldon Wolfe, RA, FCSI, CCS, CCCA

honor: a tangible symbol signifying approval or distinction; to confer honor or distinction; to regard or treat with honor or re-spect

Acknowledgement of effort and contribution is always important, perhaps more so in a volunteer organization. In the business world, success and achievement are rewarded by increased salary, bonus-es, or other perquisites; the common measure of one’s value is the paycheck. Honors and recognition may be important, but rarely do they take precedence over money. In the world of professional organizations, there is an occasional cash reward, but in most cases outstanding work is recognized by an award, usually a plaque or other object of little actual value, pre-sented at a ceremony attended by the recipient’s peers. The value of an award depends on a number of things: the im-portance of the organization making the award, the uniqueness of the award, the total number of awards presented, and so on. Even though a plaque has little intrinsic value, what it represents can mean a great deal to the recipient, the organization, or a larger com-munity. We need to recognize contributions, but we also need to have bal-ance. Awards are not equal, and there is no reason they should be treated as if they were. With a plaque, or perhaps a statuette or other objet d’art as the top end, there isn’t much room to work, but it still is possible to establish a range of ways to show appreciation. It may not be politically correct, but if awards are to have value, they must reflect the degree of effort they represent. Is sitting at the registration table really equivalent to creating a new education pro-gram? Both deserve recognition, but should it be the same? Work of short duration should be acknowledged immediately. At the basic level, a simple “thank you” is often enough. Most peo-ple don’t expect a plaque for doing small jobs, but they do expect and deserve an expression of thanks. Oral expression of thanks at a chapter meeting is appropriate for the people at the registration table, and certainly for those who organized the current chapter meeting. A short written thank-you is always appro-priate; some of my most treasured compliments are thank you cards and e-mails. Formal letters of acknowledgement are good for greater contribution. These can be a bit tricky; if they come across as a form letter the impact is greatly diminished. If the work rec-ognized in the letter is related to the recipient’s job, a copy should be sent to the recipient’s employer, on the organiza-tion letterhead. This will tell the employer that the employee has value in the construction industry, and promote CSI at the same time. At some point, plaques become appropriate, but they should be reserved for more important awards. I’m sure the person at the registration table would agree that a stack of plaques isn’t really necessary. Presenting too many awards reduces their value. Each year, at the annual convention, CSI honors those who have made significant contributions to the organization. This acknowledges the importance of their work and allows members to attend the presentations. The highest of these awards and honors are Distinguished or Honorary Mem-bership, the Distinguished Service Award, and the “name” awards - Andrew J. Drozda, Ben John Small, Dale C. Moll, J. Norman Hunter, Robert P. Brosseau, and Hans William Meier. I won’t go into the requirements - you can read them on the Institute website - except to say that only one of each may be awarded each year. The honor of Fellowship is second only to that of Distinguished Membership. Although there is no limit to the number of Fellow-ships that may be conferred in a single year, few are elected as it is an honor reserved for those who perform beyond the call of office, and who have made extraordinary contributions to CSI.

This year, we will honor nine new Fellows, and recipients of only three of the other top awards: Distinguished Membership, the Hans William Meier Award, and the Andrew J. Drozda Commendation. I encourage you to learn more about each of the awards, and to con-gratulate recipients in person if possible.

…and no one came? It seems reasonable that the more significant the honor, the more dignified the attendant ceremonies would be, the more publicity it would receive, and the more members who would want to attend the presentation. Unfortunately, it is increasingly difficult to attend the convention’s premier event, the President’s Gala (Honors and Awards Dinner).

In 1999, the first year I attended the Gala, the cost was $60 per person. I recall giving that quite a bit of thought as $60 isn’t a trivial amount, even today. In 2002, the Gala cost $65, an amount that ac-curately reflects the increase in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) from 1999 to 2002. I don’t remember all the steps in between, but last year a ticket to the Gala was $100. According to the CPI, the $60 I paid in 1999 would have grown to only $80.

This year, the price has risen to $125, a 25% increase in one year - even though, according to the Consumer Price Index, this year’s ticket should be four dollars less than last year!

This runaway inflation threatens to kill what should be the high-light of the convention. This year I’ll probably miss the Gala for the first time since 1999. I’m sure my wife and I can find an excellent dinner for less than the cost of a single Gala ticket, and with luck, get back in time to see the investiture of Fellows. Or maybe we’ll just order a pizza and sit in the hall.

Curmudgeon’s Corner: What if you gave a party...


PRESIDENT Charles Hendricks, AIA, CDT, LEED-AP, The Gaines Group, PLC 434-979-5245 [email protected]

VICE-PRES Tracie Skipper Pella Windows & Doors 434-979-3315 [email protected]

TREASURER Ron Keeney, RA, CDT, NCARB Keeney & Co., Architects PLC 434-978-2000 [email protected]

SECRETARY David Groff, CDT Graduate Studies... 434-977-4480 [email protected]

IMMED PAST PRES John Grubb Luck Stone Corporation 434-295-2931 [email protected]

DIRECTOR Meghan Johnston, CDT University of Richmond 804-287-6379 [email protected]

DIRECTOR Adrienne Stronge, LEED-AP The Gaines Group, PLC 434-979-5245 [email protected]

DIRECTOR Susan Parker Hazard & Associates, LLC 434-295-3145 [email protected]

DIRECTOR R. Tucker Shields, RA, CCCA R. Tucker Shields, Architect. 540-885-8192

DIRECTOR Patrick Wright Luck Stone Corporation 434-985-8830 [email protected]

DIRECTOR Mark Wingerd, CDT Window & Door Pros 434-296-0050 [email protected]

DIRECTOR W. Duncan Macfarlane Macfarlane Homes, Inc. 434-361-0081 [email protected]

NEWSLETTER Adrienne Stronge, LEED-AP The Gaines Group, PLC 434-979-5245 [email protected]

MEMBERSHIP W. Duncan Macfarlane Macfarlane Homes, Inc. 434-361-0081 [email protected]

PROGRAMS Charles Hendricks, AIA, CDT, LEED-AP, The Gaines Group, PLC 434-979-5245 [email protected]

HOSPITALITY Tracie Skipper Pella Windows & Doors 434-979-3315 [email protected]

PRODUCT EXPO Tracie Skipper Pella Windows & Doors 434-979-3315 [email protected]

NOMINATING Ron Keeney, RA, CDT, NCARB Keeney & Co., Architects PLC 434-978-2000 [email protected]

CERTIFICATION Charles Hendricks, RA, CDT, LEED-AP, Assoc. The Gaines Group, PLC 434-979-5345 [email protected]

TECHNICAL R. Tucker Shields, RA, CDT R. Tucker Shields, Architect 540-885-8192

HISTORIAN Ray Gaines, RA, CDT The Gaines Group, PLC 434-979-5245 [email protected]

EDUCATION Susan Parker Hazard & Associates, LLC 434-295-3145 [email protected]

ACADEMIC LIASON Charles Hendricks, RA, CDT, LEED-AP, Assoc. The Gaines Group, PLC 434-979-5245 [email protected]

WEBMASTER Meghan Johnston, CDT University of Richmond 804-287-6379 [email protected]

ADVISOR George Gercke, CCCA Gercke Brothers, Inc. 434-974-1330 [email protected]

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