Energy-Efficient Facade Design

The materials with which a building's facade is constructed are a key element not only to its beauty but also to its practicality. Good facade design allows the building to look beautiful from the outside and to save the owner money when it comes to heating and cooling. The following discusses the components and concerns of energy-efficient facade design.

A building's facade system should have a high thermal performance. This means that because the facade system helps the building gain less heat, the air conditioning system is subject to a lower load. Since the air conditioning system accounts for a significant portion of a typical building's electricity bill, having a facade system that facilitates good thermal performance has a direct impact on energy consumption.

In order to design buildings that will provide comfort with less energy use, you must understand the properties of the facade's materials. Different building materials have different thermal conductivities and specific heat capacities. These differences influence their thermal performance. On the flip side, reliable and accurate information on the "coolness" of construction materials is often lacking.

One area of debate is the value of the opaque wall. Conventional practice dictates that high-mass building materials offer significant energy benefits in exterior walls. But these benefits are highly dependent upon where the building is located, how it is operated, and how it is designed. When it comes to energy performance, high-mass building materials are still very open for debate. In areas of thermal engineering and physics for buildings, recent innovations such as dynamic insulation--porous cooling or heating--and phase change material have defied conventional wisdom.

Facade design has more considerations than aesthetics. A successful facade system is one that combines both the beauty of the architect's vision and the practicality of being energy efficient. It is a combination that ensures a quality building that will endure for years to come.

Axis Group Limited (http://www.facades.com) is a leading international façade design engineering consultant that uses innovative, material-based solutions for facade and curtain wall design. Rachel Spohn is a freelance writer.

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Benefits of Joining a Construction Network

For those in the construction business finding one job while working on another can be quite impossible. There is simply not enough time to go out and solicit business. One option is to join a construction network. The purpose of a construction network is to match contractors with clients. The clients log on to the construction network, submit the work they need done, and the contractors registered with the network bid on the job. The benefits of joining construction network are numerous.

Save Money

On of the benefits of joining construction network is the money that is saved on job solicitation. The contractor does not have to advertise, or actively go out and sell their business to the public. Instead, simply contacting the network is all that needs to be done to find a job.

Save Time

Most contractors are too busy completing a job to go out and actively seek another job. Most times the contractor cannot seek a new job until the former one has been completed. This means a gap in time from one job to the next. By joining a construction network the contractor can find a new job while in the completion stages of the previous building assignment. This way there is no gap in time in between jobs.

Instant Reputation

Many construction networks will do their own background checks on your construction company to verify your reputation to their clients. As a contractor this means you do not have to spend valuable time collecting testimonials and documenting your work on websites and in advertisements. Your contracting network will verify your capabilities and excellent handiwork.

There are numerous benefits of joining construction network. All save the contractor time and money. In addition the networks vouch for the reputation of your business as they complete the background checks and collect testimonials and examples of the construction work.

For those in the construction business finding one job while working on another can be quite impossible.

More Info: Benefits of Joining a Construction Network

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Home Based Business,Network Marketing

You can promote any MLM you like online but some will generate better success than others.

What you want is a business that will run itself online on autopilot!

You want a business where people can visit your website, learn how it all works and join and start building without ever needing to contact you. If you want to build a business that is totally hands free, requires no phone calls, no face to face convincing, no meetings etc then you need to be promoting an MLM opportunity that is perfectly designed for the internet.

If you want a lot of people to join your MLM online then you will want to make it super easy for them to join.

The first and biggest hurdle for virtually all prospects is this:

"How much does it cost to join and how much will I need to spend every month to sustain my income earning status - in other words - how much up front and how much is the autoship?"

There are lots of trust issues around spending money online and your prospects will be much more willing to commit to a small investment than a large one.

The second is: "How easy is it to join online?" Is the website user friendly? Can your prospects easily see what the deal is all about and find how to sign up without a PhD in computing science?

The higher the entry fee and the higher the monthly autoship the more time and effort you will need to put into personal interaction with your prospects.

Here's what works best online:

* A very low, preferably free, test drive cost and a very low monthly sustaining fee (autoship) in the $10 to $50 range.

* The website makes it simple to join and once started requires minimal input other than the auto-responder follow-up emails.

* It can be built 100% online and put on auto-pilot.

* It costs zero to $50 approx to convert from test drive to full membership.

* The product should be perceived as useful and preferably in a popular growth niche such as weight loss, health or personal development.

* For online retail sales it is a great advantage if the product has dramatic demonstrable immediate results, costs say $100 to $300, has a 30% plus retail margin and is repeat business.

* The website is user friendly, it's easy to buy the product and join the business online.

* The business can be built 100% online.

If you would like to learn how you can build a hands free MLM Business online, rejection free then go here for my 5 part FREE Video Series

You can get the videos FREE here: "Online MLM Success Now"

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