The Model Info Center

Before you get a commercial roofing quote, ask your roofing contractor these 7 questions:

1. Is this the best roofing system for this roof deck, my building, our climate? Defective design is responsible for almost 50% of roofing failures. Critical consideration must be given to drainage, windage, insulation, fire resistance, thermal expansion, tensile strength, puncture resistance, and watertight performance. Certain roofing systems might not work for your building type or location.
2. Is it necessary to tear off the entire roof? Minimizing the impact on the environment should be considered when re-roofing. Several types of roofing systems can be installed over your existing roof.
3. Can the new roof system help maintain temperatures inside the building? Looking into eco friendly roofing options such as a vegetative roof can help control temperatures in the building and extend the life of the roof. Green roof options can help lower energy costs and payback the costs of the new roof.
4. What is the length of the warranty? Be certain to find out the length of the warranty. Does the warranty cover the entire roofing system, including installation defect?. Sometimes warranties have exclusions and fees for things like ponding water and additional damage that may have been caused.
5. Does the roofing system comply with Energy Star requirements? At the government’s Energy Star Website, you will find details regarding the minimum standards for the minimum reflectance during specific periods in the roofing system’s life.65% initial mimimum reflectance and 50% reflectance after 3-years of exposure to the elements are minimum requirements. Another resource for finding out ratings for solar reflectance is the website for the Cool Roof Rating Council. Do you research and you’ll know if your selected roofing system is an energy-efficient one..
6. For what Federal tax deductions might my roofing system afford me? It may if it meets the standard ASHRAE 90.1. The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers established standard 90.1 to set the minimum requirements for energy efficient building design. This standard was adopted by the federal government in 1994. The minimum solar reflectance requirement is 70% and the minimum solar emittance level is 75% for government facilities.
7. Does the roofing materials manufacturer have a recycling program? Several manufacturers have created recycling programs to collect materials once the roofing system and reached the end of its useful life. The number of different types of products that much of this waste can be turned into continues to amaze us each day. Some examples include, but are not limited to: flooring, roadways, park benches, and yes - turned back into new roofing materials.

With spring in the air & winter soon disappearing now is the time to pack away the sweaters with bring out one’s flip flops! It is furthermore the time to rekindle and rejuvenate whether it be your self or maybe the home. Aromatic candles are a brilliant method to usher in a new season. Its time to come to put away those pumpkin spice or possibly pine Aromatic Scented Candles & embrace the scents of its season. Florals or perhaps fruity bouquet are also what one will most likely smell at present. Along with a zephyr coming through one’s windows the scented candle flavour could float in & around the condo. They are likewise astonishingly alluring when getting out around the warmer times. Once the celebration is beginning to shifts outside adding swimming Scented Candles to the current embellishment is a certain fire practice to tack on farther feel. Floating candles come in so numerous appearances and measurements however my favorite are the new flower shaped candles. Arranging your larger pieces in & around a swimming pool or perhaps pond bring back memories of cotillions & delightful affairs of seasons gone by. Votivo Scented Candles will often from time to time be tried out in the place of Putting candles. Make certain to put to use the votivo candles from of their hardware box so that it can afloat correctly. Flameless candle buying can be tricky, but there are some great learning resource out there.

With the spring time allowing people to entertain open-air & reside outside candle care might well adjust. Of course floating 1 put to use outdoors is prime however, what happens Once there is dash or greater yet what happens once there is a hefty gust? One’s candles go out & out and out. It can often get unusually troublesome, hence for those gusty outdoor nights candles holders are also excellent. candles holder appear in various appearance and measurements simply such as all alternative candle. Me personally revel in the ones which include a few translucent shapes as they give just off a different luminosity. The candles holder are creating a boundry for some 1 protecting them lit & happy. One word of help nonetheless, once buying candles holders for use in the outdoors make certain that these can be found no cutouts, otherwise you yourself can be found back to square one with the candles going away faster than Bday candles at a 5 year olds birthday party! Those may work in the inside & mild nights though not if these is whatever breeze. Another option on all these nights is to use LED h

There are many factors which need to be thought about when choosing what kind of

href="http://www.yourfloors.co.uk">flooring to install. Getting new flooring installed in your

home can breathe new life into it and can be a great way to reinvigorate your living environment. It

may not be as expensive as you think either.

An important factor when choosing flooring is how that particular room will be used. Flooring which

makes sense for the dining room may not be suitable for the kitchen or bathroom for example. Some of

the most widely used types of flooring are carpet, vinyl, wood, and laminate.

Laminate flooring can be a great substitute for solid wood floors if you are looking for a wood

effect floor for a fraction of the price. Laminate flooring consists of a sheet of MDF with a wood-

effect plastic surface fixed to it. The downside of laminate flooring is that whilst it is scratch

resistant once it is damaged it is impossible to repair. That aside it can still be an ideal choice

for a kitchen, where the plastic coating provides an easily cleanable surface. Conversely solid wood

flooring would not be advisable in a bathroom, or in fact any room which is likely to get very humid

and wet. Some woods are more vulnerable to the wet than others.

If you are planning to install a wooden floor, its critical you have the right surface to fit it

on. Ideally your existing floor needs to be flat, and dry. There are options however to resolve

uneven flooring problems, such as laying ply throughout, or employing an underlay to create a

floating floor.

Often laminate flooring is sold as a product you can fit together without help which is a great way

of keeping costs down. Solid wood flooring requires however a higher degree of DIY skills, so it can

sometimes be advisable to get solid wooden floors fitted professionally which can add a considerable

cost.

One point to remember many people do not realise when they measure their room to work out how much

flooring they will need ” is that it is crucial to include a 10mm gap around the edge of the room

for the wooden flooring to expand and contract.

As an integral part of any interior design strategy, it is important to select the right flooring.

Whilst wooden or laminate floors can be ideal ” often for a more chic minimalist look; carpet can be

a better option if you are trying to achieve a more traditional home feel. The important thing is

you take into account the various factors you need to consider before ordering new flooring.

The general public is justifiably confused about differences among water filtration approaches and their relative efficacy. When one begins shopping for a water filtration device, he is immediately presented with a rather bewildering set of choices and the daunting task of choosing from among reverse osmosis, KDF, carbon block and even distillation - to name the most common. In the following article, we have endeavored to describe each of these approaches in limited detail and then compare and contrast these various types of filtration technologies to assist you in making an informed decision when it comes time to purchase a water filter system. The main filtration approaches/filters are listed below:

Carbon Block Technology

With carbon block filters, water is forced through the pores of the densely compacted carbon block, where a combination of mechanical filtration, electrokinetic adsorption, and physical/ chemical adsorption take place to reduce a wide range of contaminants. Solid Carbon Block technology can reduce chlorine, taste and odor problems, particulate matter, and a wide range of contaminants of health concern — cysts (cryptosporidium and giardia), VOCs (pesticides, herbicides, and chemicals), certain endocrine disrupters, Trihalomethanes (cancer-causing disinfection by-products), heavy metals (lead, mercury), turbidity (clarity), MTBE, Chloramines and asbestos. Solid carbon block filters do not remove healthful, naturally-occurring minerals, require no electricity, and do not add salt or silver to the water.

Reverse Osmosis

Reverse osmosis (RO) has been known for more than a century, but it did not become a commercial process until the early sixties when a special membrane was developed (1,2,3,4). Because RO operates at a comparatively low temperature and is relatively energy efficient, it is employed in various applications, e.g., desalination, treatment of waste water, reclamation of minerals, concentration of whey and other food products, and purification of water. While RO will remove certain contaminants and additives that carbon block filters will not (i.e fluoride and nitrates for example), it has a number of downsides as well. These include: RO has no independent ability to reduce most Volatile Organic Chemicals (VOC’s); it has very low output - takes up to 24 hours to process 5 gallons of water; you must have a holding tank to store the processed water; considerable water is wasted - for every gallon processed, 3 to 9 gallons are wasted and it removes minerals and trace elements essential to good health.

In the RO process, feed water is passed through a prefilter after pH adjustment, and is pumped to the membrane modules at the designed pressure. The product water is then pumped to a storage tank and the concentrate is drained (6). Most RO units with a cellulose acetate membrane are designed to operate between 55 F - 86 F. (13 C - 30 C). In practice, the feed water may go through any one or a combination of several of the following pretreatments: sand bed, chlorinator and retention tank, anthracite filter, activated charcoal filter, degasifier, microfilter, neutralizer, and deionizer, depending on the condition of the feed water and the desired quality of the product water. Since water conditions may vary from time to time, adequate pretreatment must be provided so that the dissolved solids and the bacterial level of the feed water, after prefiltration, can be controlled within the designed limits. In othere words, to get adequate treatment and a resulting safe water product, RO must be combined with othere technologies such as carbon block and/or granulated activated carbon.

Charcoal Filters or Granulated Activated Carbon (GAC)

These come in powdered or granulated form which allows water to flow around rather than through the carbon. They are sometimes referred to as taste and odor filters because of the limited contact time the water has with the carbon. In some cases, they can promote the growth of bacteria.

KDF

In the KDF application, water passes through a bed of a media made of a special high-purity alloy blend of two dissimilar metals - copper and zinc KDF-55D. This media, patented in 1987 by KDF Fluid Treatment, Inc., is a major advancement in water treatment technology that works on the electro-chemical and spontaneous-oxidation-reduction (redox) principles. Chlorine is instantaneously and almost inexhaustibly oxidized.

Silver-Charcoal Filters

Same as Charcoal Filters above; however, uses silver to inhibit the growth of bacteria while water sits in filter.
Silver ingested in certain doses can be poisonous to the human body; therefore, it must be registered with the EPA as containing a poisonous substance.

Limited Media Filters

As the demand for quality drinking water continues to grow, new types of media will be test-marketed, from metal shavings to coconut shells. Some materials can be quite “exceptional” in reducing a particular contaminant in the water, but there is a wide range of contaminants that should be addressed - not just one or two.

______________________Filtration Type_______________

……………..Reverse….Carbon….KDF….Carbon
………………Osmosis…..Block…………….(GAC)

Contaminants
Reduced

….TDS………….Yes……….Some……No…….Some

…Chlorine………Yes………..Yes…….Yes……Yes

…Fluoride………Yes…………No………No…….No

….VOC’s………..No…………Yes……..No…….Some

…Nitrates………Yes…………No………No…….No

…Microbes &…….No………..Yes……..No…….Some

…Bacterials

…Metals………..Yes……….Some…..Some…..Some

Other Features

…Mineral……Eliminates…..Retains….Retains…Retains

…Content

….Water…..High Waste….None……..None……None
….Waste

….Price………Higher…….Variable……Low…..Variable

..Maintenance
….Costs……….High………..Low……..Low…..Variable

Douglas Frans, Ph.D. Has been a mental health practitioner, educator, lecturer and researcher over a 30 year professional career. His primary clinical work has focused on personal empowerment and compulsive disorders including: addiction and eating disorders. He has worked in private practice settings and also directed mental health, addiction and eating disorder recovery programs. He has practiced primarily from a competency-based perspective. Dr. Frans consults and writes about water quality issues and water filters as well.