December 2016 - Home Builder Developer, Interior Renovation and Design Home Builder Developer, Interior Renovation and Design

Replacing Windows: how it works: 3 steps to new windows.

The window replacement process can be divided into three steps: selection, installation and warranty/service coverage. Here's an overview of what happens each step:

Step 1: Selection

As you set out to find the right window, you'll start by:

Step 3: Service and Warranty

As you prepare to enjoy life with your new replacement windows, make sure you know:

There are generally four options to consider for your window replacement project: Working directly with a manufacturer, using an independent contractor, choosing your local home improvement store or doing the job yourself.

Each option has its unique benefits, but ultimately, your choice in a window replacement partner will come down to three things:

From sales to service to installation, everyone at Pella that I dealt with was extremely professional, friendly and always helpful!

Here's an overview to help you decide which window replacement option is right for your home project.

Youll have a hard time finding a project that brings as many benefits and stretches your investment dollar farther than replacement windows. Here are some of the benefits youll start enjoying from day one:

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Replacement Windows for Your Home | Pella

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Commercial Architectural Fees is about what the typical rates people and organizations and governmental agencies routinely pay for various commercial architectural services. In particular, this webpage focuses on commercial, rather than residential project types. However, it needs to be remembered that residential projects do fall within Group 5 complexity.

COST OF CONSTRUCTION % BASIC FEES IN BLDG COMPLEXITY GROUP . 1 2 3 4 5 . (least complex -> most complex)

up to $100k 8% 9% 10% 11% 12% $100k+ to $200k 7% 8% 9% 10% 11% $200k+ to $300k 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% $300k+ to $400k 5.9% 6.9% 7.9% 8.9% 9.9% $400k+ to $500k 5.8% 6.8% 7.8% 8.8% 9.8% $500k+ to $600k 5.7% 6.7% 7.7% 8.7% 9.7% $600k+ to $700k 5.6% 6.6% 7.6% 8.6% 9.6% $700k+ to $800k 5.5% 6.5% 7.5% 8.5% 9.5% $800k+ to $900k 5.4% 6.4% 7.4% 8.4% 9.4% $900k+ to $1M 5.3% 6.3% 7.3% 8.3% 9.3% $1M+ to $1.25M 5.2% 6.2% 7.2% 8.2% 9.2% $1.25M+ to $1.5M 5.1% 6.1% 7.1% 8.1% 9.1% $1.5M+ to $1.75M 5.0% 6.0% 7.0% 8.0% 9.0% $1.75M+ to $2M 4.9% 5.9% 6.9% 7.9% 8.9% $2M+ to $2.5M 4.8% 5.8% 6.8% 7.8% 8.8% $2.5M+ to $3M 4.7% 5.7% 6.7% 7.7% 8.7% $3M+ to $3.5M 4.6% 5.6% 6.6% 7.6% 8.6% $3.5M+ to $4M 4.5% 5.5% 6.5% 7.5% 8.5% $4M+ to $5M 4.4% 5.4% 6.4% 7.4% 8.4% $5M+ to $6M 4.3% 5.3% 6.3% 7.3% 8.3% $6M+ to $8M 4.2% 5.2% 6.2% 7.2% 8.2% $8M+ to $10M 4.1% 5.1% 6.1% 7.1% 8.1% $10M+ to $12M 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% 7.0% 8.0% $12M+ to $14M 3.9% 4.9% 5.9% 6.9% 7.9% $14M+ to $16M 3.8% 4.8% 5.8% 6.8% 7.8% $16M+ to $18M 3.7% 4.7% 5.7% 6.7% 7.9% $18M+ to $20M 3.6% 4.6% 5.6% 6.6% 7.6% $20M+ to $22M 3.5% 4.5% 5.5% 6.5% 7.5% $22M+ to $24M 3.4% 4.4% 5.4% 6.4% 7.4% $24M+ to $27M 3.3% 4.3% 5.3% 6.3% 7.3% $27M+ to $30M 3.2% 4.2% 5.2% 6.2% 7.2% $30M+ to $33M 3.1% 4.1% 5.1% 6.1% 7.1% $33M+ to $36M 3.0% 4.0% 5.0% 6.0% 7.0% $36M+ to $39M 2.9% 3.9% 4.9% 5.9% 6.9% $39M+ to $42M 2.8% 3.8% 4.8% 5.8% 6.8% $42M+ to $46M 2.7% 3.7% 4.7% 5.7% 6.7% $46M+ to $50M 2.6% 3.6% 4.6% 5.6% 6.6% $50M+ and up 2.5% 3.5% 4.5% 5.5% 6.5%

In the chart above, k= thousands, M= Millions.

LEVEL OF COMPLEXITY This is a tried and true method of understanding the relative amount of detail, and therefore, amount of work, or hours, that an architect can devote to creating a project design and set of Construction Documents. Construction Documents usually consist of Working Drawings and Specifications. There are also further Contract Documents that include the architects advice and counsel in developing forms of agreement between the owner and the contractor and other other consultants and entities.

The level of complexity of architectural projects is illustrated here: Architectural Project Level of Complexity.

The reason this is important is that various organizations assign higher or lower percentage fee rates to the project type, based on the project Level of Complexity. So, it is first important to assign a Level of Complexity to the project under consideration. The referenced chart ranges from Group1 (Least Complex) to Group 5 (Most Complicated). Understanding this, we can then begin to understand the fee ranges on the various charts that organizations around the world and North America associated with the project type.

For a long time, 6% of the cost of construction was the magic fee rate for a lot of commercial architectural work. However, this has changed, moving into the 8% range for many project types and even higher, due to the continuing complexity being built into buildings these days. However, the greater the construction cost, the lower fees are, because at the lowest level, it does actually cost more to produce a project because of the basic tasks an architect must perform for any project to provide a reasonable set of documents and design effort.

USA State governments are a fairly reasonable standard by which to judge fee rates, as they want a good value for the use of state funds, and they also understand that they are employing some of the state taxpayers to design the projects. Therefore, the rates established seem like a good median range for many commercial projects across the USA, North America and possibly globally. These entities appear to agree of the broad cross section of fees and project complexities.

The chart above is largely based on State Governments in the USA. These can be seen here: Other Fee Sources.

Architectural projects of all types of complexity (including SFR (Single Family Residential) are represented in the chart above, because SFR fall under the Group 5 category (the most complex).

Based on the chart above, the following ranges of architectural fees result for these various project types for BASIC SERVICES (exclusive of optional additional services, depending on the organizations policies):

GROUP 5 PROJECT FEES (Single Family Residences, specialized decorative buildings, custom furniture): 6.5% architectural Basic Fee for Over $50 million construction cost, to: 12% architectural Basic Fee for $100,000 construction cost and under. this means, using this chart, that a: $500,000 house may have an architectural Basic Services Fee of 9.8% $750,000 house may have an architectural Basic Services Fee of 9.5% $1M house may have an architectural Basic Services Fee of 9.3% $1.5M house: 9.1% $2M house: 8.9% $3M house: 8.7% $4M house: 8.5% $5M house: 8.4%

GROUP 4 PROJECT FEES (Aquariums, auditoriums, art galleries, college buildings with special facilities, communications buildings, special schools, theaters and similar facilities): 5.5% for over $50M construction cost to: 11% for up to $100,000 construction cost.

GROUP 3 PROJECT FEES (College classroom facilities, Convention Centers, Prisons, Extended Care Facilities, Gymnasiums, Hospitals, Institutional Dining Halls, Laboratories, Libraries, Medical Schools, Medical Office Buildings and Clinics, Mental Institutions, Office Buildings withe Tenant Improvements, Parks, Playgrounds, Recreation Facilities, Police Stations, Public Health Centers, Research Facilities, Schools (elementary/middle), Stadiums, Welfare Buildings, Central Utility Plants, Water Supply Facilities, Sewage Treatment Plants, Electrical Sub-Stations and Distribution Systems, Roads, Bridges, Major Site Improvements as independent projects): 4.5% for over $50M construction cost to: 10% for up to $100,000 construction cost.

GROUP 2 PROJECT FEES (Armories, Apartments, Cold Storage Facilities, Dormitories, Exhibition Halls, Hangers, Manufacturing/Industrial Plants, Office Buildings without tenant improvements, Printing Plants, Public Markets, Service Garages): 3.5% for over $50M construction cost to: 9% for up to $100,000 construction cost.

GROUP 1 PROJECT FEES (Industrial Buildings without special facilities, Parking Structures and repetitive garages, Simple Loft Structures, Warehouses without automated apparatus, other Utilitarian Buildings): 2.5% for over $50M construction cost to: 8% for up to $100,000 construction cost.

RENOVATIONS: it should be mentioned that the fee chart above (which was derived largely from State project fee schedules in the USA) does NOT include increases in fee percentage for renovations of each type of project. It Should, but it does not. Therefore, it may be a reasonable rule of thumb to INCREASE the percentage fee for the project type by perhaps two shifts to the right (increasing the complexity level) to result in at least a 2% escalation in fee to handle some of the increased requirements involved with renovation projects, which nearly always require more effort than new projects. Renovation projects always involve some form of investigation and discovery, which requires more time on the part of the architect to understand what is existing in order to add to it or move it or remove it. It is always easier to build new, from the architects perspective, than to have to understand what exists, then how to carefully change certain portions of that to have new features installed and added.

Therefore, Renovation projects will nearly always add to the complexity and therefore the hours an architect will need to spend on a project, and for that reason, the percentages for renovations are usually higher than for new projects. There is no hard and fast rule about this increase in percentages, but for discussions sake this might typically be somewhere on the order of perhaps 2% to 5% more than for New Projects. This can and will vary, depending on the project. For instance: hospital renovation projects can be significantly more than for a warehouse renovation.

RECORD DRAWINGS ADDITIONAL SERVICES FOR RENOVATION PROJECTS: There is a wild card Additional Service that can and will increase the percentages indicated above: RECORD DRAWINGS. See Architect Services for an explanation of Record Drawings. These are needed for most renovation projects. These are almost always provided at an hourly rate, above and beyond other services being provided. This is one of the reasons that Renovation projects are often more demanding and therefore, more expensive, in terms of architectural fees than new projects. Regarding Record Drawings: even if the owner has existing Paper drawings, the architect will still have to redraw those, typically from scratch, on the architects computers, in order to have usable electronic drawings. Very few architects these days draw anything on paper, certainly few documents that end up being used for actual Construction Drawings. Most architects create their designs, drawings and specifications on computers. Therefore, if there are not electronic construction documents accurately depicting the existing projects arrangements of features, the architect will have to perform work to measure and understand existing conditions, usually through field measuring, then convert those field notes into computerized drawings that become usable to the architect during his or her creation of the renovated design.

It is the rare owner who actually possesses electronic drawings, particularly for a residential project, and in the software compatible (usable) with the architects latest software, and that they actually indicate what was built. There are usually numerous changes during construction and the new architect will typically need to revise any documents provided by the owner for the new project in order to have a reasonably reliable depiction of existing conditions from which to proceed with the new design work.

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Commercial Architectural Fees | Architectural Fees

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This article is about the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense. For the geometric figure, see Pentagon. For other uses, see Pentagon (disambiguation). The Pentagon

The Pentagon in January 2008

Location in the Washington, D.C. area

Pentagon Office Building Complex

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. As a symbol of the U.S. military, The Pentagon is often used metonymically to refer to the U.S. Department of Defense.

The Pentagon was designed by American architect George Bergstrom (18761955), and built by general contractor John McShain of Philadelphia. Ground was broken for construction on September 11, 1941, and the building was dedicated on January 15, 1943. General Brehon Somervell provided the major motive power behind the project;[4] Colonel Leslie Groves was responsible for overseeing the project for the U.S. Army.

The Pentagon is one of the world's largest office buildings, with about 6,500,000sqft (600,000m2), of which 3,700,000sqft (340,000m2) are used as offices.[5][6] Approximately 23,000 military and civilian employees[6] and about 3,000 non-defense support personnel work in the Pentagon. It has five sides, five floors above ground, two basement levels, and five ring corridors per floor with a total of 17.5mi (28.2km)[6] of corridors. The Pentagon includes a five-acre (20,000m2) central plaza, which is shaped like a pentagon and informally known as "ground zero," a nickname originating during the Cold War on the presumption that it would be targeted by the Soviet Union at the outbreak of nuclear war.[7]

On September 11, 2001, exactly 60 years after the building's construction began, American Airlines Flight 77 was hijacked and flown into the western side of the building, killing 189 people (59 victims and the five perpetrators on board the airliner, as well as 125 victims in the building), according to the official report.[8] It was the first significant foreign attack on Washington's governmental facilities since the city was burned by the British and Canadians during the War of 1812.

Before the Pentagon was built, the United States Department of War was headquartered in the Greggory Building, a temporary structure erected during World War I along Constitution Avenue on the National Mall. The War Department, which was a civilian agency created to administer the U.S. Army, was spread out in additional temporary buildings on the National Mall, as well as dozens of other buildings in Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia. In the late 1930s a new War Department Building was constructed at 21st and C Streets in Foggy Bottom but, upon completion, the new building did not solve the department's space problem and ended up being used by the Department of State.[9] When World War II broke out in Europe, the War Department rapidly expanded in anticipation that the United States would be drawn into the conflict. Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson found the situation unacceptable, with the Munitions Building overcrowded and the department spread out.[10][11]

Stimson told U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in May 1941 that the War Department needed additional space. On July 17, 1941, a congressional hearing took place, organized by Virginia congressman Clifton Woodrum, regarding proposals for new War Department buildings. Woodrum pressed Brigadier General Eugene Reybold, who was representing the War Department at the hearing, for an "overall solution" to the department's "space problem" rather than building yet more temporary buildings. Reybold agreed to report back to the congressman within five days. The War Department called upon its construction chief, General Brehon Somervell, to come up with a plan.[12]

Government officials agreed that the War Department building should be constructed across the Potomac River, in Arlington County, Virginia. Requirements for the new building were that it be no more than four stories tall, and that it use a minimal amount of steel. The requirements meant that, instead of rising vertically, the building would be sprawling over a large area. Possible sites for the building included the Department of Agriculture's Arlington Experimental Farm, adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery, and the obsolete Hoover Field site.[13]

The site originally chosen was Arlington Farms which had a roughly pentagonal shape, so the building was planned accordingly as an irregular pentagon.[14] Concerned that the new building could obstruct the view of Washington, D.C., from Arlington Cemetery, President Roosevelt ended up selecting the Hoover Airport site instead.[15] The building retained its pentagonal layout because a major redesign at that stage would have been costly, and Roosevelt liked the design. Freed of the constraints of the asymmetric Arlington Farms site, it was modified into a regular pentagon which resembled the star forts of the gunpowder age.[16][17]

On July 28 Congress authorized funding for a new Department of War building in Arlington, which would house the entire department under one roof,[18] and President Roosevelt officially approved of the Hoover Airport site on September 2.[19] While the project went through the approval process in late July 1941, Somervell selected the contractors, including John McShain, Inc. of Philadelphia, which had built Washington National Airport in Arlington, the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, and the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, along with Wise Contracting Company, Inc. and Doyle and Russell, both from Virginia.[20] In addition to the Hoover Airport site and other government-owned land, construction of the Pentagon required an additional 287 acres (1.16km2), which were acquired at a cost of $2.2million.[21] The Hell's Bottom neighborhood, a slum with numerous pawnshops, factories, approximately 150 homes, and other buildings around Columbia Pike, was also cleared to make way for the Pentagon.[22] Later 300 acres (1.2km2) of land were transferred to Arlington National Cemetery and to Fort Myer, leaving 280 acres (1.1km2) for the Pentagon.[21]

Contracts totaling $31,100,000 were finalized with McShain and the other contractors on September 11, and ground was broken for the Pentagon the same day.[23] Among the design requirements, Somervell required the structural design to accommodate floor loads of up to 150 pounds per square foot, which was done in case the building became a records storage facility at some time after the end of the current war.[19] A minimal amount of steel was used as it was in short supply during World War II. Instead, the Pentagon was built as a reinforced concrete structure, using 680,000 tons of sand dredged from the Potomac River, and a lagoon was created beneath the Pentagon's river entrance.[24] To minimize steel usage, concrete ramps were built rather than installing elevators.[25][26]Indiana limestone was used for the building's faade.[27]

Architectural and structural design work for the Pentagon proceeded simultaneously with construction, with initial drawings provided in early October 1941, and most of the design work completed by June 1, 1942. At times the construction work got ahead of the design, with different materials used than specified in the plans. Pressure to speed up design and construction intensified after the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, with Somervell demanding that 1,000,000sqft (9.3ha) of space at the Pentagon be available for occupation by April 1, 1942.[28] David J. Witmer replaced Bergstrom as chief architect on April 11 after Bergstorm resigned due to charges, unrelated to the Pentagon project, of improper conduct while he was president of the American Institute of Architects.[29] Construction was completed January 15, 1943.[30]

The construction of the Pentagon was done during a time when parts of the U.S. were under legally-mandated racial segregation. This had structural consequences to the design of the building. Under the supervision of colonel Leslie Groves, the decision to have separate eating and lavatory accommodations for white persons and black persons was made and carried out. The dining areas for black persons were put in the basement and on each floor there were double toilet facilities separated by gender and race. These measures of segregation were said to have been done in compliance with the U.S. state of Virginia's racial laws. The Pentagon as a result has twice the number of toilet facilities needed for a building of its size.[31][32]

U.S. President Roosevelt had made an order ending such racial discrimination in the U.S. military in June 1941. When the President visited the Pentagon before its dedication, he questioned Groves regarding the number of washrooms and ordered him to remove the 'Whites Only' signs. Until 1965 the Pentagon was the only building in Virginia where segregation laws were not enforced.[32]

The soil conditions of the Pentagon site, located on the Potomac River floodplain, presented challenges to engineers, as did the varying elevations across the site, which ranged from 10 to 40 feet (3.012.2m) above sea level. Two retaining walls were built to compensate for the elevation variations, and cast-in-place (Franki) piles were used to deal with the soil conditions.[33] Construction of the Pentagon was completed in approximately 16 months at a total cost of $83million. The building is 77 feet (23m) tall, and each of the five sides of the building is 921 feet (281m) long.[34]

Because of the pressing needs of the war, people started working in the Pentagon before it was completed. The Pentagon was built one wing at a time, and after the first wing was finished, employees started to move into that wing while construction was continuing on the other wings.

The Pentagon became a focal point for protests against the Vietnam War during the late 1960s. A group of 2,500 women, organized by Women Strike for Peace, demonstrated outside of Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara's office at the Pentagon on February 15, 1967.[35] In May 1967, a group of 20 demonstrators held a sit-in outside the Joint Chiefs of Staff's office, which lasted four days before they were arrested.[36] In one of the better known incidents, on October 21, 1967, some 35,000 anti-war protesters organized by the National Mobilization Committee to End the War in Vietnam, gathered for a demonstration at the Defense Department (the "March on the Pentagon"), where they were confronted by some 2,500 armed soldiers. During the protest, a famous picture was taken, where George Harris placed carnations into the soldiers' gun barrels.[37] The march concluded with an attempt to "exorcise" the building. On May 19, 1972, the American radicals known as the Weather Underground Organization successfully planted and detonated a bomb in a fourth-floor women's restroom in the Pentagon. They announced it was in retaliation for the Nixon administration's bombing attacks on Hanoi during the final stages of the Vietnam War.[38]

On March 17, 2007, 4,000 to 15,000 people (estimates vary significantly) protested against the Iraq War.[39] The protesters marched from the Lincoln Memorial, down Washington Boulevard to the Pentagons north parking lot.

From 1998 to 2011, the Pentagon underwent a major renovation, known as the Pentagon Renovation Program. This program, completed in June 2011, involved the complete gutting and reconstruction of the entire building in phases to bring the building up to modern standards, removing asbestos, improving security, providing greater efficiency for Pentagon tenants, and sealing of all office windows.[40]

As originally built, most Pentagon office space consisted of open bays which spanned an entire ring. These offices used cross-ventilation from operable windows instead of air conditioning for cooling. Gradually, bays were subdivided into private offices with many using window air conditioning units. With renovations now complete, the new space includes a return to open office bays, a new Universal Space Plan of standardized office furniture and partitions developed by Studios Architecture.[41]

On September 11, 2001, the 60th anniversary of the Pentagon's groundbreaking, a team of five al-Qaeda affiliated hijackers took control of American Airlines Flight 77, en route from Washington Dulles International Airport to Los Angeles International Airport, and deliberately crashed the Boeing 757 airliner into the western side of the Pentagon at 9:37am EDT as part of the September 11 attacks. All 59 civilians and the 5 terrorists on the airliner were killed, as were 70 civilians and 55 military personnel who were in the building. The impact of the plane severely damaged the structure of the building and caused its partial collapse.[43] At the time of the attacks, the Pentagon was under renovation and many offices were unoccupied, resulting in fewer casualties. Only 800 of 4,500 people who would have been in the area were there because of the work. Furthermore, the area hit, on the side of the Heliport facade, was the section best prepared for such an attack. The renovation there, improvements which resulted from the Oklahoma City bombing, had nearly been completed.[44][45][46]

It was the only area of the Pentagon with a sprinkler system, and it had been reconstructed with a web of steel columns and bars to withstand bomb blasts. The steel reinforcement, bolted together to form a continuous structure through all of the Pentagon's five floors, kept that section of the building from collapsing for 30 minutesenough time for hundreds of people to crawl out to safety. The area struck by the plane also had blast-resistant windows2 inches thick and 2,500 pounds eachthat stayed intact during the crash and fire. It had fire doors that opened automatically and newly built exits that allowed people to get out.[46]

Contractors already involved with the renovation were given the added task of rebuilding the sections damaged in the attacks. This additional project was named the "Phoenix Project," and was charged with having the outermost offices of the damaged section occupied by September 11, 2002.[47][48][49]

When the damaged section of the Pentagon was repaired, a small indoor memorial and chapel were included, located at the point of impact. For the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001 attacks, a memorial of 184 beams of light shone up from the center courtyard of the Pentagon, one light for each victim of the attack. In addition, an American flag is hung each year on the side of the Pentagon damaged in the attacks, and the side of the building is illuminated at night with blue lights. After the attacks, plans were developed for an outdoor memorial, with construction underway in 2006. This Pentagon Memorial consists of a park on 2 acres (8,100m2) of land, containing 184 benches, one dedicated to each victim. The benches are aligned along the line of Flight 77 according to the victims' ages, from 3 to 71. The park opened to the public on September 11, 2008.[50][51][52]

On March 4, 2010, at 6:40pm, two police officers working for the Pentagon Force Protection Agency were shot near an entrance to the Pentagon and fired back with their pistols at the suspect. The officers were slightly injured but were treated in a hospital and released. The suspect, identified as John Patrick Bedell (age 36), died at the hospital. No clear motive was established.[53] On October 19, 2010, shortly before 5am, an unidentified gunman shot at the south side of the building, shattering windows on the third and fourth floors.[54]

On August 23, 2011, a 5.8 magnitude earthquake in Mineral, Virginia, shook the Pentagon.[55] The building suffered minor damage, with flooding from broken pipes.[56]

The Pentagon, 1414 ft or 431m

The Pentagon building spans 28.7 acres (116,000m2), and includes an additional 5.1 acres (21,000m2) as a central courtyard.[57] Starting with the north side and moving clockwise, its five faades are the Mall Terrace Entrance faade, the River Terrace Entrance faade, the Concourse Entrance (or Metro Station) faade, the South Parking Entrance faade, and the Heliport faade.[45] On the north side of the building, the Mall Entrance, which also features a portico, leads out to a 600ft (180m) long terrace that is used for ceremonies. The River Entrance, which features a portico projecting out 20ft (6.1m), is located on the northeast side, overlooking the lagoon and facing Washington. A stepped terrace on the River Entrance leads down to the lagoon; and a landing dock was used until the late 1960s to ferry personnel between Bolling Air Force Base and the Pentagon.[57] The main entrance for visitors is located on the southeast side, where the Pentagon Metro station and the bus station are located. There is also a concourse on the southeast side of the second floor of the building, which contains a mini-shopping mall. The Pentagon's south parking lot is located on the southwest side of the Pentagon, and the west side of the Pentagon faces Washington Boulevard.

The concentric rings are designated from the center out as "A" through "E" (with in addition "F" and "G" in the basement). "E" Ring offices are the only ones with outside views and are generally occupied by senior officials. Office numbers go clockwise around each of the rings, and have two parts: a nearest-corridor number (1 to 10) followed by a bay number (00 to 99), so office numbers range from 100 to 1099. These corridors radiate out from the central courtyard, with corridor 1 beginning with the Concourse's south end. Each numbered radial corridor intersects with the corresponding numbered group of offices (for example, corridor 5 divides the 500 series office block). There are a number of historical displays in the building, particularly in the "A" and "E" rings.

Floors in the Pentagon are lettered "B" for Basement and "M" for Mezzanine, both of which are below ground level. The concourse is located on the second floor at the Metro entrance. Above ground floors are numbered 1 to 5. Room numbers are given as the floor, concentric ring, and office number (which is in turn the nearest corridor number followed by the bay number). Thus, office 2B315 is on the second floor, B ring, and nearest to corridor 3 (between corridors 2 and 3). One way to get to this office would be to go to the second floor, get to the A (innermost) ring, go to and take corridor 3, and then turn left on ring B to get to bay 15.[58]

It is possible for a person to walk between any two points in the Pentagon in less than seven minutes.[59]

Just south of the Pentagon are Pentagon City and Crystal City, extensive shopping and high-density residential districts in Arlington. Arlington National Cemetery is to the north. The Washington Metro Pentagon station is also located at the Pentagon, on the Blue and Yellow Lines. The Pentagon is surrounded by the relatively complex Pentagon road network.[60]

The United States Postal Service has established six ZIP Codes for The Pentagon, to which the place name Washington, D.C. is assigned, even though The Pentagon is actually located in Virginia. The Secretary of Defense, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the four service branches each have their own designated ZIP Code.[61]

The Pentagon Force Protection Agency (PFPA) is a United States government agency composed of sworn federal police officers, the United States Pentagon Police and civilian CBRN technicians, and non-sworn civilian anti-terrorism investigative and physical security personnel, and is responsible for the protection of the Pentagon. The Department of Defense created the PFPA after the September 11, 2001 attacks. The new agency absorbed the Defense Protective Service (DPS) and assumed its role of providing basic law enforcement and security for the Pentagon and Department of Defense sites in the 280 acre (1.1km2) "Pentagon Reservation" and greater National Capital Region (NCR). PFPA was also charged with providing force protection against the full spectrum of potential threats through robust prevention, preparedness, detection, and response measures. The United States Pentagon Police is the primary federal law enforcement arm of the Pentagon Force Protection Agency.

Located on the Pentagon's main concourse is the Hall of Heroes, a room dedicated to the more than 3,460 recipients of the Medal of Honor, the United States' highest military decoration.[62][63][64][65][66][67] There are three different versions of the Medal of Honor: the Army version, the Sea Service version (Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard), and the Air Force version. All three versions are displayed in the Hall of Heroes. Along the walls of the room are the names of each recipient. An asterisk next to some of the names denotes service members who received two Medals of Honor for two separate acts of bravery. Dots next to other names denote Marines who were under the command of the Army during World War I and received both the Army and Sea Service versions of the Medal of Honor for a single act of bravery.[66] The Hall of Heroes was opened during a Medal of Honor awards ceremony on May 14, 1968.[68] President Lyndon Johnson officiated the ceremony and awarded the Medal of Honor to four serviceman: Specialist 5 Charles C. Hagemeister, U.S. Army; Sergeant Richard A. Pittman, U.S. Marine Corps; Boatswain's Mate 1st Class James E. Williams, U.S. Navy and Captain Gerald O. Young, U.S. Air Force. It was the first time that all four services were represented in a Medal of Honor Ceremony. The medals were awarded in the Pentagon's center courtyard. Upon the ceremony's conclusion, President Johnson ascended a staircase to his rear and cut a red ribbon in front of a door at the top of the stairs providing entrance to the Hall of Heroes. At the time of the dedication, the Hall of Heroes was located on the Pentagon's second floor, A Ring, overlooking the courtyard.[68][69] As part of the Pentagon's renovation, the Hall of Heroes was moved to its current location on the main concourse.[66]

The Hall of Heroes is also used for promotions, retirements, and other types of award ceremonies.[70][71][72][73][74][75]

The Pentagon has over 20 of its own fast food operations, including Subway, McDonald's, Dunkin' Donuts, Panda Express, Starbucks and Sbarro, among others.[76] A multibranded KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell restaurant opened in 2003, when renovations to the food court were completed.[77] Food services are managed by the Navy Exchange. The Center Courtyard Cafe reopened in the spring of 2008,[78] replacing the "Ground Zero Cafe" snack bar that was previously there.

The Pentagon Athletic Center (PAC), a fitness center for military and civilian staff, opened in 2004[79] adjacent to the north side of the Pentagon, replacing the Pentagon Officers Athletic Club (POAC) which had operated for 55 years in a structure between Route 110 and the parade grounds. Each year, the Pentagon grounds are a major focus for hosting the Marine Corps Marathon and the Army Ten-Miler running events.

There is a Meditation and Prayer Room in the Pentagon, which was dedicated on December 14, 1970, by Secretary of Defense Melvin Laird.[80] On September 11, 2002 the Pentagon Memorial Chapel was dedicated.[81]

In conjunction with the 1976 American Bicentennial,[82] the Pentagon began offering guided tours to the general public. Tours were suspended after the September 11, 2001 attacks,[83] but are currently available to the general public with reservations 1490 days in advance.[84]

The Pentagon and its parking lots are used as a staging area for a number of large events, including the Army Ten-Miler, the Marine Corps Marathon and Rolling Thunder motorcycle ride. In 2005, the Department of Defense organized the "America Supports Your Freedom Walk" in the parking lot, an event held to show solidarity with the department's current and former employees.[85]

The roads of the Pentagon Reservation are used daily by thousands of commuters between Arlington, Virginia and Washington, DC.

The Pentagon was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989, and was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1992.[2]

Notes

Bibliography

Links to related articles

Coordinates: 385215.56N 77321.46W / 38.8709889N 77.0559611W / 38.8709889; -77.0559611

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The Pentagon - Wikipedia

Remodeling is a great way to give any retail store an updated look that is more customer-friendly. A successful commercial remodeling project should make the retail location look more attractive and welcoming, while also increasing efficiency and comfort for employees. Thats a pretty big goal, but its quite achievable once you find the right resources. To brainstorm ideas on retail remodeling, scope out your favorite retail locations, taking notes on design elements that work well. Then, enlist commercial construction contractors to give you information about the latest trends in retail spaces. If you are giving your retail space a facelift, consider the following tips to help you give your location a leg up on the competition.

Find a Reliable Contractor

Before you shop for a commercial construction contractor out of the phonebook, ask other business owners or the areas chamber of commerce for recommendations. When you are remodeling, the time it takes to complete the process can take away from the time your store is open to customers, so its crucial to hire a contractor thats great with deadlines. Additionally, look for commercial construction contractors that are licensed, bonded, and insured. Check out Angies List to find commercial remodeling firms with reputations for reliability and good time management. Additionally, do not be afraid to ask a contractor to meet with you before you make a final hiring decision. If a contractor does not arrive to a preliminary meeting on time, you may have good clue about what working with him will be like.

Make a Great First Impression

One of the business worlds top rules is to make a good first impression. This rule, however, extends beyond person-to-person transactions your retail space also makes an impression on customers. Aim for a look that intrigues and welcomes customers as they look in the windows or enter the store.

To make your customers feel safe, create a layout that allows customers to visually scan the entire store as they enter. This ensures that the customer can navigate throughout the space with ease. Further enhance the customer experience with shelving units that are not too tall, aisle spaces that are comfortably wide and merchandise that is beautifully arranged in a logical manner.

Use Light to Your Advantage

Good lighting attracts new clients, since humans are drawn to well-lit locations. Lighting can also create a certain mood and spotlight products you want to accentuate. Often, retail locations with low ambient light use track lights to point customers to featured merchandise, in the same way that spotlights illuminate actors on a stage. To create a relaxed mood while complementing products, build lights into shelves and custom cabinets. Skin care and spa retail locations often use this technique. Overall, as you plan your commercial remodel, think about the mood that you want to create in your retail space and light it accordingly.

Paint According to Your Goal

Different colors trigger different emotions. Humans have appreciated this fact for millenniafor instance, the ancient Egyptians and Chinese practiced chromatherapy, or healing through colors. Today, many medical professionals are skeptical about the long-term healing power of color, but it is generally accepted that color exerts a powerful short-term influence on a persons mood. For example, the color orange makes most people feel cheerful. Paint your retail space in a color that will help you achieve your commercial goals.

If you own a bakery, it would be wise to choose the color red, which is known to make individuals feel hungry. Green is a color that can trigger emotions such as growth, health and hopegreat for a location that promotes wellness or sells plants. The color blue promotes the feeling of love, tranquility, acceptance and understandingperfect for a retail store that sells spa products or gifts. Yellow is known to boost a customers memory and can help them feel joyful, smart and organizedideal for a store that sells stationery products or organization solutions. Use colors to produce emotions that complement your product line.

Remodel to Enhance Your Brand

Your retail space should celebrate your products, but also show the breadth and depth of your companys brand as a whole. When a customer shops at your retail space, they are not only judging what you sell, but also how the space leaves an impression on her. In fact, Northwestern University professor of marketing Philip Kotler has written, In some cases, the place, more specifically the atmosphere of the place, is more influential than the product itself in the purchasing decision.

Retail space remodeling can be an intimidating process. However, as providers of Portland remodeling services, we here at Sitka Projects can say that retail owners who plan carefully achieve excellent remodeling results. Knowing your target audience, having a firm grasp on your goals for the customer experience, and throwing in a bit of creativity are the first steps in making a mediocre retail space explode with life.

[photo: Sitka Projects]

Sitka Projects & Remodeling

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Commercial remodeling: Retail Space Remodeling Tips

Auto glass damage is not limited to your windshield. A broken car window puts you at the mercy of the weather and exposes your car to theft. Your valuables and car interior are not protected when using a temporary fix or patch on your broken window. If your car window is broken from road debris or smashed in an accident, calling SafeliteAutoGlass to repair or replace your window is the most efficient way to get your car or truck window fixed and back on the road quicker.

When you schedule auto glass service with Safelite, we can make the repair to your car or truck window wherever is convenient to you! We are local in all 50 states, with over 720 service locations ready to get you back on the road.

Can't make it into our auto glass shops? Our mobile auto glass technicians can come to you at the location of your choosing in our MobileGlassShops and fix your broken window on site.

When you come to us for an auto window replacement, our technicians will:

The process is easy and stress-free we promise. Schedule service online today.

All of our technicians are fully certified to replace or repair your car window in-shop or on the road, completing extensive classroom and hands-training in our SafeTech certification program.

Need us to travel to you? We offer the options of mobile or in-shop side window replacement. Whatever works best for you. We can travel to your home, work, or location of your choosing.

The entire replacement can take as little as one hour and our auto window experts clean up after the replacement so you can get back on to the road as soon as possible.

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Car Window Replacement | Safelite AutoGlass

Overview

In the words of office design consultant and author Francis Duffy, "The office building is one of the great icons of the twentieth century. Office towers dominate the skylines of cities in every continent [As] the most visible index of economic activity, of social, technological, and financial progress, they have come to symbolize much of what this century has been about."

This is true because the office building is the most tangible reflection of a profound change in employment patterns that has occurred over the last one hundred years. In present-day America, northern Europe, and Japan, at least 50 percent of the working population is employed in office settings as compared to 5 percent of the population at the beginning of the 20th century.

Federal Building-Oakland, CA (Courtesy of Kaplan McLaughlin Diaz )

Interestingly, the life-cycle cost distribution for a typical service organization is about 3 to 4 percent for the facility, 4 percent for operations, 1 percent for furniture, and 90 to 91 percent for salaries. As such, if the office structure can leverage the 3 to 4 percent expenditure on facilities to improve the productivity of the workplace, it can have a very dramatic effect on personnel contributions representing the 90 to 91 percent of the service organization's costs.

To accomplish this impact, the buildings must benefit from an integrated design approach that focuses on meeting a list of objectives. Through integrated design, a new generation of high-performance office buildings is beginning to emerge that offers owners and users increased worker satisfaction and productivity, improved health, greater flexibility, and enhanced energy and environmental performance. Typically, these projects apply life-cycle analysis to optimize initial investments in architectural design, systems selection, and building construction.

An office building must have flexible and technologically-advanced working environments that are safe, healthy, comfortable, durable, aesthetically-pleasing, and accessible. It must be able to accommodate the specific space and equipment needs of the tenant. Special attention should be made to the selection of interior finishes and art installations, particularly in entry spaces, conference rooms and other areas with public access.

An office building incorporates a number of space types to meet the needs of staff and visitors. These may include:

Typical features of Office Buildings include the list of applicable design objectives elements as outlined below. For a complete list and definitions of the design objectives within the context of whole building design, click on the titles below.

The high-performance office should be evaluated using life-cycle economic and material evaluation models. In some cases, owners need to appreciate that optimizing building performance will require a willingness to invest more initially to save on long-term operations and maintenance.

To achieve the optimum performance for the investment in the facility, value engineering provides a means for assessing the performance versus cost of each design element and building component. In the design phase building development, properly applied value engineering considers alternative design solutions to optimize the expected cost/worth ratio of projects at completion. Value engineering elicits ideas on ways of maintaining or enhancing results while reducing life cycle costs. In the construction phase, contractors are encouraged through shared savings to draw on their special 'know-how' to propose changes that cut costs while maintaining or enhancing quality, value, and functional performance. For more information on value-engineering, see WBDG Cost-Effective-Utilize Cost Management Throughout the Planning, Design, and Development Process.

Tenant Requirements-The building design must consider the integrated requirements of the intended tenants. This includes their desired image, degree of public access, operating hours, growth demands, security issues and vulnerability assessment results, organization and group sizes, growth potential, long-term consistency of need, group assembly requirements, electronic equipment and technology requirements, acoustical requirements, special floor loading and filing/storage requirements, special utility services, any material handling or operational process flows, special health hazards, use of vehicles and types of vehicles used, and economic objectives.

The high-performance office must easily and economically accommodate frequent renovation and alteration, sometimes referred to as "churn." These modifications may be due to management reorganization, personnel shifts, changes in business models, or the advent of technological innovation, but the office infrastructure, interior systems, and furnishings must be up to the challenge.

occupant comfort.

The concentration of a large number of workers within one building can have a significant impact on neighborhoods. Office structures can vitalize neighborhoods with the retail, food service, and interrelated business links the office brings to the neighborhood. Consideration of transportation issues must also be given when developing office structures. Office buildings are often impacted by urban planning and municipal zoning, which attempt to promote compatible land use and vibrant neighborhoods.

Worker Satisfaction, Health, and Comfort-In office environments, by far the single greatest cost to employers is the salaries of the employees occupying the space. It generally exceeds the lease and energy costs of a facility by a factor of ten on a square foot basis. For this reason, the health, safety, and comfort of employees in a high-performance office are of paramount concern.

Technology has become an indispensable tool for business, industry, and education. Given that technology is driving a variety of changes in the organizational and architectural forms of office buildings, consider the following issues when incorporating it, particularly information technology (IT), into an office:

See WBDG Productive-Design for the Changing Workplace and Productive-Integrate Technological Tools for more information about incorporating IT into facility design.

Terrorist attacks of the last decade have focused design on protection of occupants and assets against violent attack. Through comprehensive threat assessment, vulnerability assessment, and risk analysis, security requirements for individual buildings are identified, and appropriate reasonable design responses are identified for integration into the office buildings design.

Energy Efficiency-Depending on the office's size, local climate, use profile, and utility rates, strategies for minimizing energy consumption involve: 1) reducing the load (by integrating the building with the site, optimizing the building envelope [decreasing infiltration, increasing insulation], etc.); 2) correctly sizing the heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning systems; and 3) installing high-efficiency equipment, lighting, and appliances.

Consideration should be given to the application of renewable energy systems such as building-integrated photovoltaic systems that generate building electricity, solar thermal systems that produce hot water for domestic hot water (DHW) or space conditioning, or geothermal heat pump systems that draw on the thermal capacitance of the earth to improve HVAC system performance.

Additional consideration should be given to the applications of other distributed energy sources, including microturbines, fuel cells, etc., that provide reliability (emergency and mission critical power) and grid-independence, and reduce reliance on fossil fuel grid power.

For GSA, the unit costs for this building type are based on the construction quality and design features in the following table 876 KB, 36 pgs). This information is based on GSA's benchmark interpretation and could be different for other owners.

Federal Office Building, San Francisco, California

The extensive inventory of facilities that are over 25 years of age present a significant recapitalization challenge. For GSA, its first impressions program addresses the quality of the entrance and lobby areas of its older facility portfolio. Key areas of concern for modernization include upgrading the exterior envelope, mechanical systems, telecommunications infrastructure, security, and interior finishes. Improving the workplace quality, energy performance, security, flexibility to accommodate tenant churn, maintenance overhead and life-cycle expectancy are important objectives for modernizing these facilities, Appropriate preservation for buildings on or eligible to be on the historic registry is part of the modernization effort.

With the advent of improved building technologies and controls it is crucial that high-performance buildings of all kinds be properly commissioned as part of a comprehensive quality assurance plan. In many instances, a process of ongoing commissioning has shown to be effective.

Some federal agencies and private institutions are moving aggressively in the direction of mandating commissioning for all high-performance structures in their portfolios.

There is an enormous range of criteria, codes, and standards that cover federal and private sector office building design. General criteria and guidance for office building design for federal facilities can be found in:

Federal Courthouse, Libraries, Research Facilities, Parking Facilities, Auditorium, Automated Data Processing: Mainframe, Automated Data Processing: PC System, Child Care, Clinic / Health Unit, Conference / Classroom, Food Service, General Storage, Joint Use Retail, Library (Space Type), Office (Space Type), Parking: Basement, Parking: Outside / Structured, Parking: Surface, Physical Fitness (Exercise Room), Private Toilet

Accessible-Beyond Accessibility to Universal Design, Productive, Productive-Integrate Technological Tools, Productive-Design for the Changing Workplace, Productive-Provide Comfortable Environments, Secure / Safe- Fire Protection, Secure / Safe-Ensure Occupant Safety and Health, Secure / Safe-Security for Building Occupants and Assets, Sustainable, Sustainable-Enhance Indoor Environmental Quality

Building Commissioning

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Office Building | WBDG Whole Building Design Guide

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