In 2006, Wil-Spec enters its 16th year in business. In this NewsNote we cover Moisture Mitigation, Lead-Coated Copper, the big switch to the CSI 2004 Masterformat, and Green Construction. In 2006, Wil-Spec enters its 16th year in business. Another passing milestone as we look towards the future of construction and specifications. Since our founding, we have written approximately 870 project manuals. Some large, some small… but all custom written for our clientele. Wil-Spec’s specifications has always reflected our client’s design and their desire for a well-coordinated and complete set of documents. As a result, we have maintained solid relationships through the years. And, we remain faithful to our service commitment for our clients. For your continued support, all of us here, thank you! 
 We are proud to be on your design team! Some of our Projects underway in construction, or recently completed. 
Again, Thank YOU! ϖ FENWAY PARK, .406 CLUB RENOVATIONS
 by DAIQ / D'Agostino Izzo Quirk Architects, Inc. ϖ NATIONAL AQUARIUM IN BALTIMORE EXPANSION 
 by CSP / Chermayeff, Sollogub and Poole, Inc. ϖ NEEDHAM FREE PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 by Ann Beha Architects ϖ FURNISHINGS CONTRACT FOR NEW AMERICAN UNIVERSITY IN CAIRO
 by Robert Luchetti Associates, Inc. ϖ WALTHAM BUSINESS CENTER AT WALTHAM WATCH 
 by Winter Street Architects, Inc. ϖ CANTON SENIOR CENTER 
 by Courtstreet Architects, Inc. ϖ PORTSMOUTH PUBLIC LIBRARY 
 by Amsler Mashek MacLean, Architects Inc. ϖ PEQUOT LIBRARY 
 by Tappé Associates, Inc. ϖ CURRY COLLEGE BRUSH HILL ROAD RESIDENCE HALL, 
 by CBT / Childs Bertman Tseckares Inc. ϖ WATERTOWN CABLE ACCESS CORPORATION 
 by Scott & Scott ϖ ST. FRANCIS HOSPITAL & MEDICAL CENTER - CYBERKNIFE ADDITION 
 by TRO/The Ritchie Organization Wil-Spec has stayed with the cutting edge of material technology, understanding trends, cost implications and environmental issues. With each project, we advise and freely share our knowledge with you. We are open to questions, and will research the answers we didn’t previously know. This News Note is a furthering of our communication effort for Clients, Architects, and Designers. It is our hope that this introduction will serve as a catalyst for further discussions, and investigations in your own office. Moisture Mitigation: We see this as the Hottest of Issues in Construction Today. Moisture vapors arising from beneath and from within concrete slabs causing damage to flooring systems, creating mold, affecting interior air quality. Fast track construction scheduling, ineffective vapor barriers, weather, concrete pumping, concrete curing methods, soil conditions, water-based flooring adhesives, and other issues lead to this problem and costly solutions. There are ways to “deal” with moisture mitigation right up front in your documents. Our six recommendations include: Install a good vapor barrier beneath the slab. A 10 mil polyethelene vapor barrier qualifies under the Mass Energy Code, but simply does not work. There are a handful of correct products to specify and we can review these with you. Coordination must occur between Division 3 specification for Concrete produced by the Structural Engineer, and Division 7 of the Specifications Control water in the Concrete. Have your structural engineer limit water volume in the mix, and have it tested after being pumped. Test concrete in place after curing. Traditional spot testing of vapor is unsatisfactory. Independent testing should include: (1) In situ relative humidity testing, (2) Calcium chloride testing and (3) Acidity/alkalinity testing. Humidity Control: Add requirements for Contractor’s to air out, dehumidify and control humidity during construction. Establish satisfactory humidity levels which must be maintained. Test relative humidity. For larger projects, specify continuous reporting testing devices to review relative humidity levels in the air, after a building is closed in to ensure established levels are maintained. Unit price mitigation: Include in the documents pre-specified methods to mitigate moisture based on unit prices. This will permit the Owner to control the cost of the problem, or at least have some handle on the cost and include it within the construction budget up front. This additionally allows mitigation prior to the introduction of flooring systems, rather than post repair and mitigation upon discovery of a failure. Lead-Coated-Copper: Three big and bad words on many a school campus, today. We are seeing a continued trend to end lead-coated-copper as a building material. The subject is being heavily debated between environmentalists and the construction product industry. The issue is not whether Lead is a hazard, but rather, does it become a hazard when used as a building material. For your consideration of alternatives, there exists Revere Copper product “Freedom Gray” a zinc/tin alloy coated copper sheet material, or for panel application consider zinc based products such as “Rheinzink” or “VM Zink”. We are not promoting these products, only offering marketplace alternatives to lead-coated copper. Boston Chapter CSI
 is celebrating its 50th YEAR !!!

 May 6th, 2006 

 For more information – go to: MasterFormat 2004: The Construction Specifications Institute (CSI) established the common 5 digit numbering system for specifications, filing product literature, estimating and more. This standard was developed over the years since 1967 with the introduction of 16 Divisions and was last previously adjusted in 1995. In 2004 CSI developed a new 6/8 digit version of the numbering system with 49 Divisions, which was introduced to the world during the first quarter of 2005. The new Masterformat was designed to deal with future expansion of products and systems and included many processes which previously had not been categorized. Although the new system has faced considerable controversy, it has been adopted by some larger public agencies and a handful of institutions. You are beginning to see it in Sweets and product literature. How does this affect us? The new numbering is here to stay, at least for the next 8 to 10 years before CSI modifies it once again. In January, Wil-Spec started converting its masters over to the new system, this process will take approximately another 2 to 4 months. It naturally takes time to convert 650 master sections, and all cross references. We will keep you updated on this system and if you want a sample of our table of contents to see where things are going, please email me. In general, Divisions 3 through 14 have remained relatively unscathed, except for some minor re-arranging and numeric differences. HOWEVER, THERE A NUMBER OF SIGNIFICANT CHANGES: OLD LOCATION NEW RESIDENCE Earthwork Division 2 Now Division 31 Site Improvements Division 2 Now Division 32 Site Utilities Division 2 Now Division 33 Louvers and vents Division 10 Now Division 8 Fire suppression Division 13 (formerly Div. 15) Now Division 21 Plumbing Division 15 Now Division 22 HVAC Division 15 Now Division 23 Integrated Automation Division 16 Now Division 25 Electrical Division 16 Now Division 26 Communications Division 16 (sometimes 17 ??) Now Division 27 Electronic Safety and Security Division 16 Now Division 28 Existing Conditions (didn’t previously exist) Now Division 2 Transportation (didn’t previously exist) Now Division 34 Waterway & Marine Construction (didn’t previously exist) Now Division 35 Process Equipment (didn’t previously exist) Now Divisions 40-48 All restoration and repair work, has been relocated to the front of each Division under the a description of “Operation and Maintenance”, along with a new location for Division specific “Schedules”. To obtain Masterformat 2004, go to , 
the cost is $159 for non-members and $109 for CSI members. Green Construction: Designing green is a current trend, one which hopefully, will “LEED” to a greener planet. Sustainable design is typically a cost additive item to a construction budget. Our experience has been that the greening of a project will add an average of between 10% and 15% to the construction cost. Quite a few times after completion of Design Development or even later in the process, we have been asked to make a project LEED certifiable, or at least make a project “Green”. It should be understood that this is not truly possible. Sustainable design needs to be introduced in early schematic design, which then can further developed. Sustainable design involves site selection, site usage, building shape and orientation. It involves efficient heating/cooling systems, and control of solar heat gain. It requires conservative use of natural resources, power supplies and water. Sustainable buildings cannot happen from material selections & specification revisions, a surprisingly common misconception. You can take green design action without leading to LEED. Require construction waste management and recycling. Specify FSC woods, harvested from controlled forests. Make your designs more energy efficient and use more recycled materials. Specifying low VOC products should be the norm. And, educate yourselves further on the subject. We green our specifications whenever possible, whether they are LEED certified projects or not. Interesting Web Sites: There is always something to discover…. 4Specs: has links to many products, but also has discussion groups on a variety of construction / specification related subjects. Drop in and read a thread. Time and Date: A handy-dandy time and date calculator, so if construction starts today and goes for 310 days, it will be completed on what date?, and it answers more. Principal Metals: is a wholesale distributor of metals. Open to all is their web site which is full of information on 5000 metal alloys and standards. Know of an interesting web site – care to share, drop us a line. 
 Our Staff…. Robb Wilkinson, Principal Rob Levine, Specification Writer Stephen DeMarco, Specification Writer Ryan Wilkinson, Office Manager And of course…. Mac, Our Mascot News Note 1 February, 2006
 
 
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