Recently in General Commentary Category

California has implemented its new 2007 building code based on the 2006 International Building Code. The full set of the code is available in hardcopy from reference publishers, but previously was not available online through an official outlet such as the California Building Standards Commision. An open government advocacy website public.resource.org has scanned an uploaded copies of the full code that are available for download in .pdf.

The website argues that under 2002 Federal Appeals Court Decision that posting the code information online does not qualify as copyright infringement because once the code is enacted as law it becomes part of the public domain and does not qualify for copyright protections.

Publishers and code writing bodies argue that in order to produce building codes they incur costs that need to be offset and funded by the sale of code information. The open government proponents counter that increased access to the code and other open source legal information benefits society, and improves adherance and knowledge of building code standards.

 

There was an editorial in the Marin IJ from Marin Municipal Water District's general manager recently about the districts plans for water conservation. Like all water districts in the state, the needs and demands on the water supply are becoming more pronounced.

In about one in 10 years, the district would ask customers to voluntarily reduce water use by 10 percent. In the most severe drought years, MMWD would require customers to reduce water use by 25 percent. In spite of these reductions in drought years, MMWD still would not have sufficient water to meet customers' needs. To close this gap, customers would have to reduce water use in all years, reducing 10 percent immediately. Demand reductions would have to increase to 20 percent in 2025 because population growth in Novato and Petaluma will have first call on supplies from the Russian River aqueduct.

Conservation is obviously the main tool the water district has at its disposal to manage the water supply. This needs to be combined with increased reclaimed water efforts and could be supplemented be a future desalination plant the district has been exploring. In any scenario, it seems that water supply will be a major future issue in the county and a general issue in the landscape industry.

There was an interesting article in today's SF Chronicle about water restrictions and golf courses in the East Bay. One course profiled is trying to drill wells to supplement its water needs. Continued drought conditions, water restrictions in the Sacramento Delta, and Southern California water demand are going to make these issues and difficulties more and more commonplace.

While driving by Sears Point Raceway (Infinion) recently in Sonoma, I noticed large flocks of sheep grazing the grass and weeds on the edges of the racetrack property. Turns out there is a free range sheep grazing service Wooly Weeders, which provides the sheep to control weeds for vineyards and other large properties. Apparently, the sheep can be more efficient and more ecologically effective in removing surplus weeds and grass. A simple and old fashion innovation for the problems of mowing large areas.

For More:
Article on Sheep Grazing in Vineyards from the Chronicle
Article on Wooly Weeders in the North Bay Business Journal

Smart irrigation controllers that automatically adjust based on plant water needs and weather patterns are becoming more and more common in landscaping of all scales. The Chronicle had a good overview in today's paper about the role of climate-based controllers and some different manufacturers. Definitely worth a look; in the current drought conditions, water districts are going to start mandating these controllers be installed for new and existing landscapes.

Contractor trucks and equipment consume a fair amount of fuel. While our expenditures on fuel aren't as dramatic as some industries in the transportation sector, we still notice the difference on our truck fleet especially. The cost of diesel for example, has jumped almost a dollar in the past couple of months, to an astonishing price of over $5.00 per gallon in California.


















More information from the EIA

An amazing video showing how one man from Flint, Michigan is able to move Stonehenge sized concrete lintels alone, using only leverage and other simple mechanisms. Makes our projects moving boulders and trees using equipment seem easy by comparison.

Sometimes in retrospect you can look back and be glad in the judgment of having made a correct decision. Our company's decision to switch from Nextel to Verizon a couple of years back was one of these instances. I read with interest in the Wall Street Journal of Sprint/Nextel's huge 30 billion loss in the previous quarter, due largely in part to a write down in the value of the Nextel division. Our company's experience with Nextel has been well chronicled here in the past, and I was in no way surprised to learn of Nextel's difficulties. For the scores of other construction companies who still use Nextel, the question has to be asked, is it time to get off a sinking ship?

This is the time of year where hidden elements like drainage and roofing that go unnoticed most of the year can become the focus of attention. When there are feet of standing water in the crawl space or water pouring through the skylight, their importance become obvious.

We just finished an extensive drainage system for a commercial project where we installed over a thousand feet of drainage line and twenty new catch basins to solve drainage problems around the project site. Having a drainage system that provides a finished solution is an important consideration. Unless the system collects and removes or segregates all the draiange water out of critical areas, it can function to treat the problem but not solve it. For example, a system that pumps water out of a flooded crawl space or basement is less effective and higher maintenance than a French drain or other surface drainage system that stops the water penetration in the first place. Sometimes this type of solution isn't possible due to site conditions or topography. In most cases though, while it may cost a bit more the short run, the system that can most effectively deal with drainage issues is going to perform the best in the long term.

We make a morning call to determine if we are going to work in the field on mornings like this. Turned out we made the right call yesterday by deciding not to work today. The traffic and conditions have been terrible as a result of last night and today's storm. The good news is the reservoirs will be filled and we could use the rain. The bad news, with 580 and 101 closed, flooded, and delayed it has been a mess of a day on the roads.

Well another year is upon us, and with it comes the tradition of making New Year's resolutions. We make  resolutions as a company, helping us focus on improving our systems, service, and employees. After reading an article in the San Francisco Chronicle, it turns out this is something most small businesses do. The Chronicle article had some interesting tips for setting goals for the New Year as a business.

Another good source of inspiration, whether it is spending more time in the garden or launching a new company is David Allen and his Getting Things Done methodology. We're big fans!

Other tools we've found for the New Year: the MeeTimer for the Firefox Browser, which help track and cut back wasted time online, and the Google suite of tools- Notebook, Calendar, etc.

We are mailing our annual calendar, "A Year in Bloom" for 2008. This year features colorful closeups of a variety of plants in bloom.

There is an article in the New York Times today concerning a dog attack on a landscape laborer in New Jersey. There has been a great deal of controversy in the state over putting the German Shepard down after the attack. State law requires that a dog be put down after an unprovoked attack, but supporters are trying to get a pardon from the governor:

State Assemblyman Neil M. Cohen, a Democrat from Union, has introduced legislation, which he calls Congo’s Law, that could spare the life of Congo and other dogs in similar situations by giving judges more discretion in meting out punishment.

And now, thousands of people from Princeton and elsewhere are petitioning the governor for a pardon. (There is precedent for such things in New Jersey.)

In a letter to The Princeton Packet on Tuesday, a resident, Jonathan Eckstein, wrote: “I urge the State Legislature to vote down this absurd legislation and put the rights of human beings like Mr. Rivera above those of domestic animals, however tragically misunderstood. I would hate my hometown and home state to go down in history as the place where suburbanites valued their dogs above the lives of those they hire to tend their yards.”

From past experience, it can be a bit tricky working on landscape projects with dogs, who can be defensive of their owners or territory.

As with the fires that ravaged Southern California, Google Maps customizable features are being utilized to geographically map the environmental effects of the Cosco Busan oil spill in San Francisco Bay. The Chronicle has a map up that links stories and photos from various sites around the bay- worth a look.


For more information on Volunteer Opportunities related to the oil spill check the Golden Gate National Park Conservancy Website

For those driving around Marin, you may have noticed the ubiquitous yellow banners for Marin's disaster preparedness drive Get Ready Marin. With the recent earthquake in the area and the Southern California wildfires, taking a look at the drive's website for preparedness tips may not be a bad idea. On the site they information on what types of supplies to stock-up on, and information and guides for fire, earthquake, and flooding disasters.

 

The firestorms that are raging through Southern California provide a good reminder on why planning for fire in landscaping your home is an important consideration, especially in the arid west. In Marin County there are several densely wooded areas, in Fairfax and Mill Valley especially, that are very suceptible to fire. There are a few key considerations that can help reduce fire risk in the event of a major blaze. Having defensible space where vegetation is cleared around the home is a key consideration. Removing pyrophitic vegetation close to the home, such as Eucalyptus, Pines, and Junipers can also help. For example, the city of San Rafael recently passed an ordinance requiring the removal of all bamboo and junipers within 100' of structures by 2011.

Firesafe Marin has these important tips:

Planning

• Assess your fire risk. Is your home on a hill? Are you near highly flammable native vegetation or drought-damaged ornamental plants? If your answer is yes, your fire risk is greater than average.
• Contact your local fire department for fire hazard ratings in your neighborhood.
• Plan your landscape to reduce the amount of flammable vegetation nearest your home. Establish defensible space.
• Consider consulting your local nursery or a landscape contractor to help plan your landscape.
  
  

  Spacing

• Eliminate the "fire ladder." Fire needs fuel to burn. You can sap its strength by robbing it of the continuous sequence of vegetation that can carry flames from your landscape to your house.
• Group plants of similar height and water requirements to create a "landscape mosaic" that can slow the spread of fire and use water most efficiently.
• Space trees at least 10 feet apart, and keep branches trimmed at least 10 feet from your roof. For trees taller than 18 feet, prune lower branches within six feet of the ground.
• Install fire resistant, drought-tolerant plants that have a high moisture content. Use plants that do not accumulate dead leaves or twigs.
• Use masonry or stone walls to separate plant groups and add variety to your landscape.

  
  Watering

• Choose the right irrigation system. While all plants will eventually burn, healthy plants burn less quickly. Your plant selection and water availability will determine the right system for you.
• Consider drip irrigation for watering most of your landscape. It's effective and conserves water because it targets where the water goes and how much gets there.
• Use sprinklers for lawns or turf landscaping. Drip irrigation does not work well on lawns. Sprinklers on timers ensure your lawn is getting the right amount of water to keep it healthy and fire resistant.
  
  

  Maintenance

• Keep your landscape healthy and clean. On a regular basis, remove dead branches, leaves and pine needles from your yard. These can serve as added fuel to a fire.
• Prune and thin shrubs, trees and other plants to minimize the fuel load.
• Be diligent about cleaning up, especially during fire season. Remove dead leaves from under the plants as well.
• Involve your gardener. If a gardener cares for your property, ask him or her to include these regular maintenance steps as part of the routine service.
• Recycle/compost plant materials. Participate in your community's green waste recycling program. You can also compost plant litter and create a money-saving alternative to store-bought soil and mulch. Grass cycling is another time and money saving way to make your green waste work for you.

For More:

Fire Resistant Plants- Adobe Acrobat file .pdf, Lists from MMWD and Fire Safe Marin
New City of San Rafael Fire Ordinance

Our blog was recently listed in the top 100 architecture blogs by International Listings, a site dedicated to world wide real estate information and listings. The have some interesting articles, and there are lots of good sites on the top 100 list- worth a look.

I just upgraded to a different Smartphone and have been working on ways to get it up and running (email, Outlook Contacts etc.). One of the most amazing services that I encountered is Orb, which is mainly designed to stream music and video to mobile devices. Orb essentially turns your main computer into a server that can be accessed via the web. The great aspect of Orb, besides it being free, is you can also share documents.

I can be out in the field, needing to check the contract for the Jones project, and log into my PC via the web and download the document to my phone (and listen to the Rolling Stones from PC while doing it). While there are sometimes bugs in transferring the information, this is a pretty amazing service.

Viewing a .pdf file of lighting specification sheet pulled from a desktop computer on a Smartphone

With October rains upon us, it is time to get out the plastic tarps, rain suits and boots to deal with the weather. We typically try to work even on rainy days; although if it is pouring there's not a lot we can do. We will frequently construct tent structures so we can continue work setting flagstone or building retaining walls.

 

With our new blog platform launch, we also have a new discussion board. We have had one in the past, hopefully this one will be a good forum for readers and get some use. Feel free to ask questions on landscape construction techniques, design principles, landscape materials or plants!

O'Connell Landscape Discussion Board

Our Blog is back after some downtime due to a server change and blogging software upgrade. Now it's just a matter of trying to put everything back together again under this new blogging platform. Please be patient as we get everything straightened out and stay tuned!