3/3 & 3/5

3/3

Today we went to BIF on our class tour. It was really interesting learning all about the LEED certification process. BIF is certified under some sort of LEED (I don't believe we ever figured out whether it was bronze, silver, gold, or platinum). However, it was slightly disappointing that buildings get points for simply adding features to their building. For instance, the panels that BIF has on parts of its roof were filthy, which doesn't allow for a whole lot of energy to be taken from the panels. They're still getting points for this however, simply because they're there. It's the same with the shower/changing stalls at BIF by the bike rack. Most people don't know it's there, and it's kind of a wasted space. Last year I wrote a paper on LEED and how, in theory it was an okay idea, but in reality it was awful simply because you could just add a lot of things to a building to get certification.

On a side note, I really loved the main staircases at BIF.

3/5

Today I went to the EXPO and conversed with WJE (Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.) The following is an abbreviated record of the conversation we had.

-What kind of projects does your firm take on?

-Well, we're engineers, architects, and material scientists and we look at buildings with problems so it could be as small as a residence, or as large as a large commercial building.

-What kind of problems do you typically find in buildings?

-All sorts! It could be structural, as bad as a collapse, or as small as a water leak and everything in between. Condensation, material issues, interface detailing problems, planning issues, you name it.

-How big is your firm?

-We're a little over 500 people. We've got 18 offices across the country. 19? 19, it's already growing!

-Do you guys spend a lot of time on construction sites?

-Yeah, we spend a lot of time in the field doing investigations, and then if we're involved in the repairs we spend a lot of time at the site as well.

- So, you said you hire material scientists too?

-Yeah, we do. We have our own laboratory, which is unique in our consulting field, and we have our own chemists and engineers with a material science background.

-What is typically a starting salary for you?

-That's a really good question that I don't know the answer to! I think it depends on what level you're entering the company at. We're not really involved in that. We just attract the good people.

-What's one of the biggest projects you guys have taken on?

-There's a lot... Notable projects that were big were... the I-35 collapse, the big dig project in Boston, we actually did an investigation of a plane crash once, alcatraz...those are just some of the more well known ones. We do a lot of work for state capitals as well.