The Stick-Built House (In Situ)

The Stick-Built House (In Situ) A stick-built home is a wooden framed house constructed on a building site piece by piece (or stick by stick). It describes the process or how a home is built. Manufactured, modular, and prefabricated homes are not classified as stick-built, because they are made mostly in the factory, transported to the site, and then assembled. A custom home and a home made according to stock building plans may both be stick-built, provided that they are constructed board-by-board on the land where they will remain. Stick-built describes the construction method and not the design. Other names for stick-built homes include site built, hard construction, and in situ. What Is In Situ? In situ is Latin for in place or in position. It can be pronounced a number of ways, including  in-SIT-oo, in-SITCH-oo, and most correctly in-SEYE-too. Because commercial architecture is not generally made out of sticks of wood, the Latin in situ is often used to describe a process of building commercial properties or, more often, producing construction materials on site. For example, in situ concrete means cast-in-place concrete. That is, the concrete is molded and cured (i.e., cast) on the construction site, as opposed to pre-cast concrete (e.g., columns or beams made in a factory and transported to the construction site). One of the green methods used for the London 2012 summer Olympic Games was to provide a batching plant onsite, a one-source supplier of low-carbon concrete for all of the builders of Olympic Park. Concrete was mixed and poured in situ. In situ construction methods are thought to be more environmentally friendly. The main reason behind this belief is reducing the harmful effects of transporting beam after beam and pier after pier. Pros and Cons of Stick-Built Homes A common perception is that stick-built homes are better constructed, last longer, and have a better resale value than prefabricated or modular homes. This perception may or may not be true. Comparisons depend on the quality of the manufactured product versus the workmanship of a builder or carpenter. The major advantage for the home builder is in control. The contractor is in command of the materials and how they are assembled. Likewise, home owners also have certain administrative rights as they can oversee the piece-by-piece construction of their investment when its built in situ. Disadvantages: Common perceptions against stick-built homes involve time and money - that is, stick-built homes take more time to build and they cost more than house pieces built off-site and simply assembled onsite. Competitors also claim that continuous construction traffic to and from the building site makes the stick-built process less than a green building environment. These perceptions may or may not be true. Pushback From Prefabricators Stick-building is a traditional method being challenged by the marketers of modular and prefabricated methods. American Custom Builders, an independent modular home builder in Defiance, Ohio, describes why a system of prefabrication is better than stick built for these reasons: Stick built home have no controlled environment like a factory does - building outdoors in humidity and water can damage wood and cause delays. They say: A stick builder cannot control the weather....Our homes are all built indoors under a temperature controlled environment.Frame carpenters can take short-cuts youll never know about. They say: With An All American Home they use jigs to make sure the walls are straight and square.Stick-built homes take three times longer to build than prefabricated homes. They say: When the house is delivered, we will have it up in aprox. 9 hours.Homes built off-site are less expensive. They say: Will match our prices against his, any day! In Situ Architecture In situ architecture is a structure designed for a particular place, a specific environment, and a known site. Stick-built houses may be constructed onsite, but that doesnt mean that the building was designed architecturally for that land. Portland, Oregon architect Jeff Stern seeks to create architecture that is site specific....to capture the experience of a particular place; how the sunlight falls, and the rise and fall of the land....maintain and create strong views, maximize daylight and natural ventilation, and generally create a place better than when we began. The name of his architectural firm is In Situ Architecture. Resources and Further Reading BOCA Built, American Custom Builders, americancustombuilder.com/bocabuilt.htm [accessed September 8, 2015]About In Situ Architecture, insituarchitecture.net/about/ [accessed September 8, 2015]

School English Essay

School English Essay School English Essay School English Essay: Choosing Custom Writing Service As a rule, students do not like writing school English essay, especially those, who were not born in English speaking country. This fact is simple to interpret, as while you are writing your school English essays, you have to care at least, about several things at one and the same time. The first one is the sense and content of your school English essay itself. As any other kind of essay, it should be interesting, creative, informative, and actual. The second is the grammar and lexis used in your school English essays. It is rather difficult to write in a language, which is not native for you. That is why school English essay is considered to be a rather complicated task. However, nowadays, you do not have to trouble yourself while trying to write school English essays. If you feel that school English essay is not your strong point, however, you are a hard working and caring about your grades student, do not fall into a risk and order your school English essay online. Before ordering your school English essay, choose only such a source which can be trusted. Of course, it is not simple to understand whether this or that custom writing site is a professional one until you try its service, but still there are several things you have to pay attention to. The first thing you can do while choosing the site where to buy your school English essay is to ask for the advise your group mates. Believe, the number of students who use different custom essay writing sites is just huge, that is why you are certain to find some necessary information. You can also search for such a site by yourself. While choosing one, do pay attention to the price of servicing. If it is going to be too cheap or even free of charge, you are running the risk to come across internet cheating. You see, to write a professional school English essay takes some particular times and some certain efforts. That is why if they are going to off er you school English essay for the miserable price, either they will provide you with the low quality essay full of mistakes and other pleasant surprises or they will sell you the essay which is already sold to the hundreds of people as well. Do not economize on your grade; it may influence your future. Better, use the service of custom writing sites which offer acceptable and moderate price for their servicing, as for example, our site.

India on the Move Essays

India on the Move Essays India on the Move Essay India on the Move Essay Why did India experience relatively slow economic growth from independence until 1991? India became an independent country in 1947 and from that moment until the first years of the 1990’s, the government adopted the Import Substitution Industrialization model (ISI) in order to protect the economy against foreign competition. The model was based on regulations in the private and public sector, trade and foreign direct investment that made the economy very closed compared to other economies in the world. The system was not sustainable in the long term because it encouraged inefficiency in the industry performance. For instance, the average GNP per capita at that period of time was as low as $2301. Moreover, India’s growth performance plan has been written in a five year scope in which the actual growth from the periods of 1956-1961, 1961-1966, and 1969-1974 did not surpass the target (see Exhibit 1). The â€Å"Hindu rate of growth† around 3. 5% prevailed in the period of 1950-1980 and then with oriented market reforms the growth rate change to approximately 6-8%2. Why did Rao adopt the post crisis, â€Å"Washington Consensus† strategy? How is it working? The Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, elected in 1991, had to ask for urgent help to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as a result of a balance of payment crisis due to high interest rates, inflation driven by the fall of its principal trading partner: the Soviet Union. The IMF authorized the loan under the condition of adopting ten prescribed reforms. These policies were focused to stimulate growth and reach a stable macroeconomic environment; but most important, to minimize the role of the government in economic decisions. One of the most important results from these market reforms was the reduction of India’s fiscal deficit from 9. 4% of GDP in 1990-19913 to 6. 5% of GDP in 1998 (Vietor and Thomson, 2008). On the other hand, the average inflation rate dropped from 7. 5% in the 1980’s, to 6. 3% in the 1990s, and from 4. 7% in the period of 1996-1997 to 2002-20034. Foreign Direct Investment is another main variable in the process of adjustment that shows positive highlights, since the opening of capital inflows in 1991, the investment rose from $74 millions to $5,626 millions in 2002, a 75% increase (Vietor and Thomson, 2008). Nevertheless, there are still challenges that must be overcome beyond macroeconomic indicators, for example a reduction of bureaucracy, lower entry barriers, good leadership to eradicate corruption, investment in infrastructure, and most important, the investment on the people through health programs and education especially in the highest illiterate states. How big a deal are Hindu-Muslim frictions? Demographic fragmentation? Deficits The Hindu-Muslim conflict is affecting in many ways to India. First, the friction promotes a bad climate of business to foreign investors. For instance, Thomas Friedman in his book â€Å"The World is Flat† describes how a state of emergency in 2002 worried American companies due to rumors of a nuclear exchange attack against Pakistan. The book also quote N. Krishnakumar, President of MindTree a leading Indian knowledge firm who stated: â€Å"What we explained to our government, through the Confederation of Indian Industry, is that providing a stable, predictable operating environment is now the key to India’s development†. Secondly, the conflict affects the country through a high fiscal deficit. Only in 2002, the military spending rose around 10% of the government expenditures (Vietor and Thomson, 2008). The mayor concern is that inefficient expenditure raises the budget and makes the economy more vulnerable. Lastly, the trade off between allocating money to the military defense is affecting the people urgent needs in social issues. In fact, In 2002 India ranked # 124 in the Human Development Indicator (Vietor and Thompson, 2008). That is the reason why health, education, and literacy have to be priorities to the government in order to maintain a sustainable growth. Is India an attractive site for foreign direct investment? India is an emerging country which is getting worldwide attention for its quickly growing economy. It has been growing in an average of 6%-8% in the last years. Many large companies are taking advantage of the skilled labor force at low cost, the vast number of people who speak English as a heritage from the British colony, as well as the cheaper costs in telecommunication. In fact, India is considered by many as the back-office of world servicesa. There are approximately 40% of the 500 Fortune companies that have outsourced part of its services to India5. According to the FDI Confidence Index 2005, India top as one of the best countries to invest in manufacturing, telecommunication, financial and non-financial services, and wholesale and retail (see Exhibit 2). However, even though there are positive outcome from the implemented reforms, there are still important activities to improve Foreign Direct Investment. The government has to emphasize more in infrastructure and simplify the procedures to make easier the establishment of a company in the country.

The Beatles Story Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Beatles Story - Essay Example The group gained more popularity in Britain in the 1960s due to their creativity. â€Å"Love Me Do,† which was their first single, became a hit in 1962 (The Beatles, 2000, p. 75). The group started gaining popularity internationally in 1964, when they ventured into the American music market. The year 1964 was their biggest year that saw them conquer America – the biggest record market. This is the year that America was mourning the death of President John F. Kennedy and the group appeared on the scene to end the mourning and to bring Americans excitement and fun (Everett, 1999, p. 44). After 1964, the group had become international stars and they made extensive tour across the world performing commercial concerts. Their most notable influential albums include Abbey Road, The Beatles, and Revolver. The Beatles eventually broke up in 1970 and each member successfully pursued their individual musical careers (The Beatles, 2000, p. 108). As far as their style of music was concerned, the group mainly focused on the rock and roll genre of music. According to Barrow (2005, p. 156), the Beatles revolutionized the style, attitude and sound of popular music, as well as enhanced the popularity of rock and roll music in Britain and the world at large. Even though their first style was based on classical rock and roll genre, the group expanded the genre’s stylistic frontiers in the 1960s. The group utilized other genres and often encompassed them in rock and roll genre. The variety of genres that they incorporated includes psychedelic, baroque pop, and folk-rock among others. It is important to note that the members had diverse approaches to their musical composition, which further enhanced the quality of their music, and this made them a favourite of music fans across the world (Womack, 2007, p. 79). Apparently, as Womack (2007)

Establishing and Maintaining a Creative Work Climate Term Paper

Establishing and Maintaining a Creative Work Climate - Term Paper Example valuing creativity; (2) by listening attentively and looking for positive aspects in employee’s suggestions and opinions; (3) by implementing employees’ ideas and giving credit when due; and (4) by avoiding discouraging employees through emphasizing that they should not be afraid of failure and can in fact learn from them (243). These concepts indicate that the creation of a creative work climate depends greatly on the ability and style of the leader to solicit cooperative, collaborative and innovative efforts from subordinates along the organizational hierarchy. Mind Edge (2007) provided some guidelines in the creation of a creative climate which are consistent with Certo’s (2007) recommendations: promoting and communicating innovation and creativity as part of values of the organization; relaying the natural tendencies for mistakes as part of the creative process; and allotting organizational resources to promote creativity through time, money and effort. Likew ise, the discourse stipulated the importance of training to develop creative skills. In addition, there are eminent benefits seen in promoting diversity and therefore acknowledging that opinions and ideas from different perspectives are sources of creative and innovative ideas. Increasingly more global organizations include diversity in culture in their policies such as Walmart (Walmart: Diversity, 2010); Johnson & Johnson (Johnson & Johnson, 2011); and Procter & Gamble (Procter & Gamble, 2011), among a host of others, and realize that diversity encourages the creation and development of positive working environments conducive to honing of abilities, skills, and competencies. Rewarding and motivating exemplary creative performance is also a plus factor to create a conducive working environment. The... This essay stressses that many conditions, policies and practices in the work setting could be a barrier in the promotion of a creative work climate, especially for personnel who have not been prepared to attune themselves to develop creative thinking and to promote thinking outside the box. The creation and maintenance of a creative work climate is possible through objective, transparent and humane treatment of employees by leaders who acknowledge and encourage innovativeness, creativity and positive thinking. In this regard, the essay aims to present both a research and critical analysis of the topic: ‘Establishing and Maintaining a Creative Work Climate’ sourced from the textbook entitled Supervision Concepts and Skill-building written by Samuel C. Certo. The research would delve into determining the elements that encourages creating thinking to establish and maintain a creative work climate; and to present barriers that preclude creativity in the work environment. This paper makes a conclusion that the success or failure of an organization is caused by a combination of internal and external factors that influence its existence. As averred by Certo, â€Å"a well-led group of creative employees can generate far more good ideas as one creative supervisor trying to come up with all the ideas†. The collective and collaborative efforts that contribute to more innovative and creative ideas sources from diverse points of views, as encouraged, developed and promoted by effective leaders, all attest that creativity in the work place is crucial for an organization’s sustained success.

Critically analyse how 'Fight Club' might be considered postmodern Essay

Critically analyse how 'Fight Club' might be considered postmodern - Essay Example One of the pieces of the mosaic is consumerism and anti-cultural attitude promulgated in the film. At this point, it is necessary to stress that fragmentation of the issues brings them to the fore and the technique of â€Å"rapid cutting to reinforce the sometimes extreme action† exploited by filmmakers makes the viewer pay close attention to these fragments (Booker 2007: 37). People are eager to find the connection between the pieces of the mosaic and focus on the major topics discussed. Thus, consumerism is â€Å"criticised primarily as an ideological force . . . that weakens and domesticates men† (Giroux & Szeman 2001: 101). Importantly, the trend spreading globally is not regarded as a peculiarity of the society but is presented as a political paradigm lobbied by the rich. According to the narrator and his alter ego, this ideological force is aimed at enslaving people. Tyler draws a line between capitalism and consumerism (which is a result of the former) as both id eologies oppress people and turn them into slaves. Thus, people are enslaved by things and they are forced to have â€Å"everything from IKEA† they â€Å"could possibly want† (Gibson 2004: 183). However, the world of things is opposed to the real world as it is seen by the protagonists. This is a characteristic feature of postmodernism as it is based on opposition to what has been accepted. Tyler emphasises that the world of things is fake and even unreal and this is a postmodern view on reality. Likewise, Featherstone (2007: 6) notes that â€Å"through consumerism† people are creating â€Å"a destabilized, aestheticized hallucination of reality†. People are taught to fit into the world of IKEA and strive for more things and this makes them feel uneasy as a human cannot and should not become a part of such an unreal reality. The very concept of free will ceases to exist in such a world. Apart from that, the world of consumers

Emerging Technology Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Emerging Technology - Assignment Example If implemented, the use of brain computer would contribute positively to both business and the society. For instance, by intercepting the computer memory to the human brain would be a recommendable effort in treating patients suffering from mental related illness such as stress or shock. Moreover, such implementation to the brain can also be used by those who suffer from memory loss in sustaining information such as an eyewitness account in a court of law thus leading to a safer society (Afeyan Para 40). If the use of brain computer interfaces can be performed in a real scenario, then it would have the benefits of correcting medical disorder such as trauma that does not have a specific cure. Besides, it would help in sustaining significant amount of memory beyond the normal brain capacity hence considered important in different professional sectors. However, it is not very easy for people to accept the integration of system into the human body and as usual, this would be a challenge. Secondly, it is very expensive to implement such systems because it would call for both technical and medical personnel to integrate physical systems to accommodate biological transmission (Afeyan Para