IF YOU REALLY WANT TO BUILD GOOD BUILDINGS...

If you really want to build good buildings, you owe it to yourself to get involved with both Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) and United States Green Building Council (USGBC).  (Full disclosure:  I belong to both Northern Illinois CSI and the Rockford/Northern Illinois Branch of USGBC-Illinois.)

Why both organizations?  Because there are at least two critical aspects of conceiving good buildings:

• Knowing what a good building is - the case for USGBC membership.  Good building goes way beyond the minimum requirements of building codes and regulations.  A really good building is a high performance building.  USGBC with its LEED Green Building Rating System is the most important player in the constantly evolving ideal of high performance buildings.  
• Creating good, biddable, buildable, change order-resistant construction documents for that building - the case for CSI membership. CSI’s four C’s (clear, concise, correct, and complete) aren’t just a cliche.  The four C’s pervade every aspect of CSI’s educational and certification efforts. As a CSI member, you’ll benefit enormously from CSI’s educational  programs about construction documentation, their professional certification programs, and the camaraderie of contract-document geeks.  If you’re in the AEC business,and you’re an i-dotting and t-crossing kind of person, CSI is the place for you.

What you’ll find at CSI and USGBC:  Committed, opinionated, talented, AEC participants who live and breathe the building design and construction business.  They’re generous with their time and advice.  They’re compulsive communicators, especially the CSI blogging and tweeting community.  Want to be plugged in to what’s happening in this business?  Get involved with CSI and USGBC. Then start blogging and tweeting about your particular part of the AEC industry and you’ll get all the communication and involvement you can handle.

What you won’t find at CSI and USGBC:  Easy answers.  Nothing’s ever simple in building design and construction, and if you ask a question of a CSI member and/or a USGBC member, you’re likely to get a complicated, nuanced answer that requires you to think pretty hard about how to apply the advice.  But that’s why you got involved in this business after all, isn’t it? You want to use your head.

Here’s an upcoming opportunity to see both organizations at work, and meet practitioners from both organizations. Put GREENER BY DESIGN Conference and EXPO on your calendar:

• Who:  Sponsored by CSI Chicago and USGBC-Illinois.
• What: Continuing education seminars, product show, all the networking and benchmarking you can handle, and a happy hour.
• If you’re a construction product rep, you can exhibit your products.
• If you’re a designer or builder of the built environment, you can learn about the latest products, and get continuing education credits.
• When:   October 4, 2012, 7:30 AM to 6:30 PM.
• Where:   Northwest suburbs of Chicago, at the Carpenter Training Center in Elk Grove Village, IL.
• Why:  Because you will benefit from the education and networking.  And because the other attendees will benefit from your participation at the event.
• Registration:  http://www.greener-by-design.org/

CSI ISN'T JUST FOR SPEC WRITERS #JoinCSI

The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) is offering a membership bargain for a very short time!

If you don’t yet belong to CSI, read on for a great incentive to join the organization that’s the premier forum for  those of us who work every day with  construction contract documents.  Not just specifications, but all aspects of construction contract documents.

I can imagine your response.  “But I’m not a spec writer.  I’m a  - select one of the following : [project architect]  [architectural designer] [interior designer] [MEP engineer]  [structural engineer]  [civil engineer]  [landspape designer] [construction contract administrator]  [manufacturer’s product rep] [contractor]  [subcontractor] [building owner]  [construction manager]  [construction attorney] [specialty consultant] [building manager] [code official] [Union trade instructor] [architecture professor] [etc, etc, etc]. ”

Doesn’t matter.  You don’t have to be a spec writer to get a lot of value from CSI membership!  

Do you want to network and benchmark with experienced AEC practitioners?  Are you an emerging professional? I’ve met lots of interesting people through CSI, and many of them are world-class experts in their fields.  They gravitate to CSI because, as I said, it’s the premier forum for the multi-faceted dialog about construction and construction documents. They’ll give you the lowdown on who’s doing what in the AEC business. They’re almost always eager to share their knowledge and advice.

Are you interested in Green Building?  USGBC did a great thing in developing the consensus that lead to the LEED Green Building Rating System.  But if you want to transform LEED’s idealistic objectives into successful buildings, you need to know how to write enforceable construction specifications.  You can enhance your ability to do this by tuning in to CSI’s free monthly “Sustainability Practice Group” webinars, with CSI education, and by achieving CSI’s CDT, CCS, CCCA, and CCPR certifications.

Are you interested in the incredible possibilities of Building Information Modeling (BIM)?  CSI is in the midst of the dialog about the transformation of construction contract documents from “drawings and specs” to building information modeling.  Tune in to CSI’s free monthly lunchtime “BIM Practice Group” (Motto: Putting the “I” in BIM) webinars. The integration of specs and BIM is in its infancy,  There’s lots for us all to learn about, and CSI is a player.

Are you passionate about improving the quality of construction contract documents?  CSI chapters all over the country have an incredible variety of programs to help you do a better job of producing, using, or enforcing construction contract documents.  One example I’m familiar with is my very own Northern Illinois Chapter’s Lunchtime Specification Roundtables.  Some Roundtables focus in on a product type or detailing topic.  Others deal with professional practice issues or the nitty-gritty of producing specifications.  CSI also has free monthly “Specifications Practice Group” and “Product Representation Practice Group” webinars.

Are you fascinated with the very real usefulness of social media?  There’s an enthusiastic and growing community of CSI social media users, assisted by strong mentorship from Joy Davis, CSI’s Director of Web Communication.  I’ve become very fond of Twitter and I get, and disseminate, lots of AEC news and information through Twitter. Check it out.  Connect with Joy Davis at @CSIConstruction.  Connect with the Northern Illinois CSI chapter Twitter account at @CSINorthernIL, and with me at @Specologist.

Are you just tired of all that worthless crap on TV?  If you’re looking for something useful to do in the evenings, consider getting active in CSI.  There’s lots to do. There’s lots to learn.  You can make a difference in the world through CSI.

So are you interested?  Join CSI online between Wednesday, June 13, and Wednesday, June 20, and pay only $192 -- a 20% savings -- for your membership. Use promo code “12spring20” when you join at www.csinet.org/joincsi.This promotion is only available to new members joining at the professional level. Chapter dues are not included in this promotion. To join:

1. Visit www.csinet.org/join
2. Select "Join Now", and then click "Sign Up as a New Member"
3. Enter Promotion Code 12spring20 when prompted
4. Click the "Add Discount" button.

Questions about CSI?   Just ask.  If I can’t answer your question, I’ll find someone who can.

THANKS TO JOY DAVIS AND THE CSI SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNITY!

Yesterday evening, May 17, 2012, Joy Davis and a panel of CSI social media users across the country presented SOCIAL MEDIA FOR CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS by webinar to our Northern Illinois CSI Chapter meeting in Glen Ellyn, IL.

Thanks to Joy Davis and the panelists for generously sharing your time, and your experiences with social media, with us in the Northern Illinois Chapter.

We had 21 people at the actual chapter meeting at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, and at least one member who tuned in to the webinar from his home.

Your efforts made a difference in persuading several people to try social media.  Here's a little feedback:

• Dewain Peterson and I followed the accompanying Tweetchat #SMarchitect.  Looking out at the audience, I saw several people working their smartphones from time to time, presumably following the Tweetchat.  (I hope they weren't just idly surfing the web or checking email.)
• Several people approached me after the presentation, and told me that they were going to try Twitter, and/or expand their current activity on Twitter, now that they can see it's not just a way for teenagers to convey personal messages.
• This morning, I got an email from an experienced product rep who attended the meeting in person last night. He indicated that he, too, was going to try Twitter out, and that he may be contacting me for help occasionally.  If he asks a question I can't answer, I know I can call on the CSI social media community for help.
• We didn't convince everybody, though.  After the meeting, one person, obviously agitated, told me that social media "just delivered too much information", and that he was concerned that he couldn't keep up with the flow. I tried to reassure him that he didn't need to read everything that he gathered in a social media feed, and tried to draw an analogy between reading a newspaper and using a social media feed.  He didn't buy it.

Personally, I'm just using Twitter and Linkedin currently.  As I get more proficient, I'll probably expand to use more social media platforms.

STAY INFORMED BY FOLLOWING CSI BLOGGERS

A few years ago the predominant way for CSI members and others in the AEC industry to express themselves in writing professionally, and reach a national audience, was to write articles for industry magazines and newsletters. It wasn’t easy to get published in magazines.  Your message had to fit into the magazine’s overall editorial focus. And it took months for an article to progress from the draft stage all the way to its appearance in a hard-copy magazine.

All that’s changed now. The Internet has eliminated the magazine monopoly on expression by making it easy to get one’s message directly out to the industry by establishing and writing a blog. Lots of interesting, experienced, well-informed AEC industry specialists have jumped into blogging.

Here are just a few CSI member blogs. Some write about CSI governance and the CSI experience; others write about their areas of consulting or construction expertise.

Some write frequently; others only occasionally. 

Some appeal mainly to CSI members; others have achieved a much wider audience.

All accommodate, and usually publish and respond to, reader comments, enabling great dialog. If you haven’t already discovered their blogs, I urge you to check them out.  

• Charles Hendricks, CSI, CDT (@thegainesgroup): http://harrisonburgarchitect.wordpress.com/
• Liz O'Sullivan, CSI, CCS, CCCA(@LizOSullivanAIA): http://lizosullivanaia.wordpress.com/
• David Stutzman, CSI, CCS & Randal Reifsnider, CSI, CDT (@dstutzman @conspectusinc @rreifsnider): http://www.conspectusinc.com/blog/
• Michael Chusid, FCSI, CCS (@MichaelChusid ) : http://www.buildingproductmarketing.com/
• Eric Lussier, CSI, CDT (@EricDLussier): http://ericdlussier.wordpress.com
• Neal Turner, CSI, CCPR (@draperinc):  http://blog.draperinc.com/about-the-authors/neal-turner/
• Ron Geren, CSI, CCS, CCCA (@specsandcodes): http://specsandcodes.typepad.com
• Robert Dye, FCSI, CCS, CCCA (@robert_dye): http://www.robertdye.us
• Mitch Miller, CSI, CCS (@m2architek): http://m2architek.wordpress.com
• Sheldon Wolfe, FCSI, CCS, CCCA (@swolfearch): http://swconstructivethoughts.blogspot.com
• John Guill, CSI, CCS, CCCA (@specmonkeynorth): http://specmonkeynorth.posterous.com
• Lori Greene, CSI, CCPR (@LoriGreeneAHC): www.idighardware.com
• Tara Imani, CSI (@Parthenon1): http://www.indigoarchitect.com/
• Marvin Kemp, CSI, CDT (@BaltoCSI): http://felttips.blogspot.com

Come to think of it, why not share your expertise with the AEC industry by starting a blog?

Tap into your inner writer and join the club. Your fellow bloggers will engage with you, and help you promote your message by spreading links to your blog around the Internet like the proverbial Johnny Appleseed.

CREDENTIALS MATTER (ESPECIALLY CSI CREDENTIALS)

Are you still on the fence about taking CSI’s CDT exam? There’s no doubt about it. Studying for the Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) certification exams requires a substantial investment in your time (to study) and your money (to purchase the CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide, and for the exam registration fee).

But if you’re serious about being a part of the Architecture/Engineering/Construction (AEC) industry, CSI certification is something you need.  CSI’s Construction Document Technologist (CDT)  certification shows that you understand, and are committed to, the AEC industry with all its quirks and complexity, and with all its constant change.

My experience: I haven’t taken the time to sift through decades of personal records to refresh my memory about when I took, and passed, the CDT exam. All I remember is that it was soon after the credential was available. I passed the Certified Construction Specifier (CCS) exam shortly thereafter. I’m embarrassed to admit that I actually let both certifications lapse sometime in the late 80’s. I was busy with two small children and a demanding job. We moved from one home to another in 1985,  and I’m blaming an errant address change form for the slip-up.  Sometime thereafter, I came to my senses and passed both exams again, on the same day. Years passed before I got interested in the Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA) exam.  I took it in about 1998, and failed it by 1 point.  In 2002, I think, I took the CCCA exam again and passed it.

• Why I decided to become CSI certified: I looked at CSI certification as essential to professionalizing the art, craft, specialty, or whatever you want to call it, of specification writing. People with all sorts of educational and business backgrounds wind up in the AEC business, and enrich it because of their diversity. The industry thus needs a common core, and CSI Certification provides it.
• Toughest material I studied: I don’t think any of the material in any of the CSI Certification exams is hard to understand.  What is difficult, however, is to get back into the test-taking frame of mind. In addition to understanding the material, you have to be an extremely careful reader when taking the test. You need to understand some extremely fine distinctions between possible answers to the questions.
• Who helped me to pass: I  first took the CDT exam before the Chicago Chapter had study groups, so I was pretty much on my own.
• CSI Chapter Certification Program: I belong to the Northern Illinois Chapter now, and we haven’t had enough exam takers to enable us to offer a certification study group program in the last couple of years. If we get an avalanche of interest from this blog post, however, our Certification Chair Ken Moore and I might just be persuaded to offer a few webinar-style coaching events. If you’re interested, please say so in the comments to this blog post and Ken and I will get back to you. If we offer the coaching webinars, we will not limit attendance to members of the Northern Illinois CSI Chapter.
• Why CSI Certification makes me a better choice for people who are hiring:  For reasons I’ve never really understood, lots of people in the AEC business run for cover when asked to deal with the written word. CSI Certification shows that I have the patience, and the confidence, to deal effectively with the critical written components of construction contract documents.

Why am I trying to talk you into taking the CDT exam?  For your own good, friend.

First, you’ll learn a lot just in the process of studying for the CDT. If your career is anything like mine has been, you learned a lot about how the AEC business works from the school of hard knocks, and from assorted mentors, buddies, cronies, sages, hangers-on, etc. But when you study for the CDT and read The CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide, you’ll develop a deeper understanding of why industry roles, rights, and responsibilities are the way they are. Especially if you participate in a CSI Chapter certification study group, and get the benefit of the group’s camaraderie.

Second, the credential signifies to the world that you took the time and the trouble to learn about all those arcane contract and spec factoids. Nobody can flim-flam you about your rights and responsibilities under a construction contract. You read the book. You know how to navigate a 1000-page Project Manual and find what’s pertinent to you. Your colleagues - most of whom come down with the vapors when called upon to read anything, let alone write anything - will come to you to find and interpret specification provisions.

Third, although there are plenty of other professional credential programs out there, and they’re no doubt valuable, CSI certification has the clearest focus on construction documents. And the construction documents define the rights and responsibilities we in this industry live by every day.

So, just do it.  You know you need it!  Buy the CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide and register for the CDT exam.

Here’s a FREE opportunity to learn more about CDT certification, the gateway to the advanced CCS, CCCA, and CCPR certifications:  Mark your calendar now for CSI’s FREE CDT 101 Webinar on Wednesday, January 26, 2012 at 1pm CT.  Register for the webinar at www.csinet.org/certification.   In this FREE webinar, speaker Lee Orosco, FCSI, CCS, will advise exam candidates on the benefits of CSI’s Construction Document Technologist (CDT) certificate program, and how to successfully prepare for the exam. This webinar will be accompanied by a tweetchat on Twitter.  Use hashtag #CSICertified during the webinar to chat with CSI members who have passed the CDT exam!

And here’s still more information about CSI Certification:

General CSI Certification Information: www.csinet.org/certification
Registration link:  https://webportal.csinet.org/Conference/RegistrationProcessOverview.aspx?id=80
·       Exams will be offered April 2 - April 28, 2012, in the U.S. & Canada.
·       Early registration deadline: February 2, 2012
·       Final registration deadline: March 2, 2012

CDT Information
General information about the CDT exam: www.csinet.org/cdt
·       Cost Before Feb. 2: $235 (member) $370 (non-member)
·       Cost after Feb. 2: $295 (member) $430 (non-member)
·       Cost for qualified students: $105
The CDT exam is now based on the CSI Project Delivery Practice Guide: www.csinet.org/pdpg

Advanced Exam Information
Cost of an advanced exam:
-          Before Feb. 2:  $275 (member) $410 (non-member)
-          After Feb. 2: $340 (member) $475 (non-member)
CCS information: www.csinet.org/ccs
-          Now based on the Construction Specifications Practice Guide (www.csinet.org/cspg)
CCCA information: www.csinet.org/ccca
-          Now based on the Construction Contract Administration Practice Guide (www.csinet.org/ccapg)
CCPR information: www.csinet.org/ccpr
-          This is the last year this exam will be based on the PRM (www.csinet.org/prm)
You don’t have to be a CSI member to register for an exam – but if you join first, you get the member discount! www.csinet.org/joincsi

R. I.P., SECTION 10 17 16 - TELEPHONE ENCLOSURES

Searching CSI’s MasterFormat 2011 Update for something the other day, I came across a product I haven’t had occasion to specify for many years - telephone booths.  MasterFormat calls them telephone enclosures, but everyone else calls them telephone booths.

The near universality of personal cell phones has made them obsolete. I can’t remember the last time I saw one.

Good thing Superman is just a fictional character.

SPEC PROCESS

Preparing class materials for my spring 2012 semester portion of “Codes, Contracts, and Specifications” this weekend, I found myself comparing the old CSI Project Resource Manual to the new Project Delivery Practice Guide.  


In the Project Resource Manual, the product selection process, and by implication the spec writing process, is portrayed in a very neat, orderly, structured, idealized, one-step-follows-the-next, flow-chart-y way.


It would be nice, but a little boring, if the process actually unfolded this way much of the time for me.


Instead, construction document production is usually on such a tight schedule that drawings and specs have to proceed simultaneously, so the spec writing process is anything but a straight line affair. 


In order to edit even some of the simpler spec sections, it’s often necessary to look multiple times at constantly evolving in-progress drawings on the server, ask various members of the project design team lots of detailed questions, wait for answers, and draw inferences when drawings aren’t explicit or when product or design decisions don’t seem to be imminent.  Often it's necessary to go back and delete or add sections when the design takes an unforeseen direction. 


If anything, the trajectory of the process I’ve become accustomed to is less like a flow chart and more like the way a restless canine explores his territory.  


Like my Sheltie, Ollie, in the snow in my back yard this morning.

WHY NOT BE A SPEC WRITER?

Young architects and engineers:  Are you wondering how you can carve out a satisfying career niche in the AE business?


Are you looking for something unusual that increases the likelihood that your services will be in demand in this turbulent economy?


Why not consider becoming a spec writer? Spec writing is a niche job that very few architects and engineers seem to want to do even occasionally, let alone full time. Why?  Beats me.  I think I’ve got the best, most interesting job in the office.
I’m not suggesting you become your father’s spec writer. Not the irascible old guy with all the red pencils and the six-inch scale in his shirt pocket who talks to himself. 

I suggest that you aspire to something more along the lines of a knowledge manager, as the concept is explained by Robert S. Weygant in his new book BIM Content Development - Standards, Strategies, and Best Practices. A couple of passages from Mr. Weygant’s book, which I recommend highly (emphasis in italics is by me):

“Knowledge management is the supply, maintenance and delivery of graphical and topical information related to a project. With the advent of building information modeling (BIM), there has been a considerable increase in the amount of information and collaboration during the design of the project. Because so much information is being passed between so many different parties, a single responsible party or team should be assigned to manage this information to ensure consistency between the plans, specifications, model, and other supporting documents.”


“As construction documents are created and the project manual is assembled, the knowledge manager can organize information based on its specification section and export the information from the model for use by the specifier. In many cases, the specifier is the individual who makes decisions regarding the performance attributes of certain components. Cases such as this lead me to believe that a seasoned specifier may be the most appropriate individual to take on the role of knowledge management. A seasoned specifier is not an individual who simply understands how to edit a form document, but one who understands the differences between products based on their performance values, when to use certain components, and the appropriate methods for documenting them.”

Why spec writing is already interesting and will get even better:

• Spec writing is entertaining. As a full-time spec writer, I get to work on many of the projects in our office. The pace of the work and constant deadlines pretty much preclude boredom, and the wide range of project types and sizes in our office mean I have to be constantly researching and learning.
• The job is way more than just editing master specs. Spec writers help to express the owner’s business objectives in the bidding and construction process.  Owner’s complicated business needs and objectives mean lots of custom writing of bidding requirements, bid forms, and General Requirements.  
• Ditto for projects using Integrated Project Delivery (IPD).
• BIM/spec linkage will require parts of spec production  to switch from  word processing to a relational database approach - another opportunity to add to your specifier’s skill set.

How to get started in spec writing/knowledge management:

• Commit to being a lifelong learner; stay informed and relevant because change is constant and inevitable.
• Find a mentor, or maybe a few mentors.  Find someone who knows construction detailing. Find someone who knows the bidding process.  Find someone who knows a lot about construction contract administration.  Listen.  Learn.  Repeat.
• Hook up with a CSI Chapter somewhere.  Listen, learn, volunteer.  You’ll learn a lot about the business and will meet people that will eagerly help you.
• Take the CSI Construction Documents Technologist (CDT) certification exam as soon as you can.  Professional credentials really matter in this business, not to mention the fact that you’ll learn a lot in the process of studying for the exam.  After you pass the CDT, take the Certified Construction Specifier (CCS) and/or Certified Construction Contract Administrator (CCCA) exams.
• Read everything you can find about BIM-linked specs, because that’s the future of the profession.
• Tune in to CSI’s free BIM Practice Group, and Specifying Practice Group, monthly webinars, and every other BIM/spec forum you can find.
• Set up Google Alerts and RSS feeds for BIM and specs to ensure a steady flow of up-to-date information.
• Find and follow every BIM and spec-related Twitter account. Watch the dialog for a while and then join in.
• Become the BIM go-to person in your firm.
• Read Robert S. Weygant’s book BIM Content Development - Standards, Strategies, and Best Practices.
• Read Randy Deutsch’s new book BIM and Integrated Design - Strategies for Architectural Practice.  I’m reading it now.
• Jump on the first opportunity you see to work with BIM-linked specs.  Few others will want to follow, and you’ll soon become the go-to person.
• And if you get lucky, you’ll probably be rewarded with a spec writer/knowledge manager role. 
• Put it all together and you'll be a very sought-after professional.

LINKS EVERYWHERE

When the Northern Illinois Chapter of CSI was founded 28 years ago, the Chapter newsletter was named the CSI LINK.

Richard Ray, one of the founding members of the Chapter, said in a talk with Chapter members last May that the newsletter name was chosen to reflect the links between professional and industry members, i.e. members working as design professionals, and members working on the industry or product side of the business.

Rich and his colleagues really got the name right. Their objective of emphasizing the links between professional and industry members was laudable. (For a view of how the professional/industry dialogue is playing out now, click here to read Sheldon Wolfe’s articles about the upcoming ballot proposition dealing with CSI membership classifications.)

In addition to the links the Chapter founders had in mind 28 years ago, other links abound in the AE business.
• Drawings are inextricably linked to specifications to form construction contract documents.
• Soon it will be common for information in project spec files to be linked to project drawing files with interoperable software, and combined in the Building Information Model (BIM).
• Integrated Project Delivery contract arrangements seek to deal with the age-old adversarial relationships between Owners, Contractors and Design Professionals by linking the principals together in a cooperative agreement.
• The CSI LINK newsletter itself is now distributed primarily as a PDF document. When each issue is ready, our electronic document Chair Pete Dinschel sends out an email message with a link to the newsletter.
• Many industry magazines and newsletters keep us informed by sending out emails with headlines and brief synopses of articles which the reader can fully access by clicking a link.
• Et cetera, et cetera, et cetera, as Yul Brynner’s character the King of Siam said in The King and I.

Searching for an appropriate metaphor for these links, I first thought of a chain with links. Linear, simple, one link fastened to the next.

But the more I thought about it, I realized that the linkage we’re dealing with now is multi-dimensional, sort of like the structural members of a geodesic dome or a space frame of some kind.

YOU OWE IT TO YOURSELF (TO GET INVOLVED WITH CSI OR USGBC)

The standard talking points arguing for us to get involved with some sort of selfless, public-spirited activity such as CSI or USGBC emphasize the good we can do for others by our service.

That’s true.  We can all make a positive difference in our communities, both the virtual and geographic types of community, by serving.  And we should do it if we can, because it’s the right thing to do.

I happen to be pushing CSI and USGBC specifically because I already belong to these two organizations.  But if CSI or USGBC aren’t your cup of tea, substitute AIA, ALA, ASHRAE, ASID, ASCE, AGC, DBIA, or any of the other worthy organizations that try to bring order and standards to the AEC business.  Just find a way to get involved that works for you.

In addition to altruism, an underappreciated and frequently maligned virtue by the way, there’s another really good reason to get involved:  You owe it to yourself.

Here’s part of why you owe it to yourself to get involved with CSI or USGBC:

• Networking:  In this turbulent economy, you can never have too many contacts and friends.  CSI and USGBC members are plugged into the AEC business.  Come to a program, participate in the local organization, and you never know who you’ll meet or what you’ll learn about the business.
• Community:  This could be thought of as a subset of networking, but it’s much more than that.  Both organizations are part of the broader AEC community of thoughtful, smart, and, yes, opinionated people.  Plug yourself into the community and its ongoing dialog. You’ll feel validated and challenged.  You’ll gain as much as you contribute.
• Entertainment:  If the choice is between spending your evenings watching TV and working on CSI or USGBC, the choice seems clear to me.  TV is mostly sensational, worthless, repetitive crap, driven by the need to get your attention and brainwash you into buying stuff.  Be honest with yourself.  Have you memorized the dialog in all of the AFLAC duck commercials?  Does the Empire Carpet jingle (“Five-eight-eight-two-three-hundred-Empire”) pop into your consciousness when you least expect it?  Another year or two of this stuff and your brain cells will start to atrophy.  Liberate yourself from TV’s visual waterboarding by getting involved with CSI or USGBC.  You’ll be glad you did.  And you won’t feel like your time’s been wasted at the end of the evening.
• Education:  The two dominant trends in design and construction you will have to be knowledgeable about in the immediate future are BIM and green building.  Activity in CSI and USGBC is the best way to get, and keep, yourself up to speed.
• BIM:  CSI’s national technical leadership is in the forefront in integrating specs and BIM.  Sign up for the CSI BIM Practice Group monthly webinars for just one way to get started with this.  In addition, Northern Illinois CSI’s chapter programs and lunchtime call-in Roundtables run the gamut from construction issues to professional practice considerations.  You’ll always learn something from a chapter program, even if it’s not focusing on your particular area of expertise.  See what CSI is all about at:  www.csinet.org.
• Green Building:  Many organizations are doing important work in green building, but USGBC has the most comprehensive approach.  Activity in USGBC is a great way to keep learning about all aspects of green building.  Incredibly, I continue to run across people who are skeptical about green building and USGBC’s LEED green building rating system.  My advice is:  Scoff at this trend at your peril.  To be blunt, if you don’t become LEED accredited or at least knowledgeable about LEED, you’re soon going to be a dinosaur, professionally speaking. Explore USGBC at: www.usgbc.org.

Finally, I want to put in a shameless plug for you to volunteer for service in our very own Northern Illinois CSI Chapter.  For the next fiscal year starting in July 2011, several members of our chapter leadership are transitioning to other roles in the chapter.  We’re looking for volunteers to step into our old roles.

The role I’m most interested in filling happens to be newsletter editor.  I’ve been the editor of the Northern Illinois CSI Link for the last five years, and I’m moving on to another job in the chapter.  I have really enjoyed being the newsletter editor.  I got to meet and correspond with lots of interesting new people.  I learned (well, sort of learned) Microsoft Publisher.  I got to work with our chapter board, a friendly and open group of people with world-class skills.  The new editor should find her or his own path of course, but I’ve got all sorts of records and templates to pass on to a new editor to make it easy to step into the role.  And I’ll coach and mentor the new editor as much as she or he wants.

The editor job is a great opportunity for someone that wants to write, edit, and communicate, so consult your inner writer and then get in touch with one of the following to ask questions or to volunteer:

Me:  jwoneil@larsondarby.com

Chapter President Susan Johnson:  sjohnson@muller2.com

President-Elect Fred Burr:  FBURR911@sbcglobal.net