What are you thankful for?

With Thanksgiving just a couple of days away, it is a great opportunity to take a moment and consider all the things we have to give thanks and be grateful for.

Last year, I was first and foremost grateful for the baby having a dance party in my womb. This year, I am first and foremost grateful for the sweet baby boy who is now here, crawling all over the place, starting to pull himself up on things, and getting into everything he isn’t supposed to. His favorite thing is laughing at me when I tell him “no.” I’m using my stern voice, I swear!

I am thankful for the additions to my family within the past year, and thankful for the additions with quickly approaching due dates. I’m grateful that despite a few health scares this year, my family is all here to celebrate another holiday together.

I am especially thankful for all the help I received with my newborn son. It truly takes a village, especially when the new villager has colic! Thank God he outgrew that and is just the sweetest, happiest little boy you will ever meet (not that I am biased or anything!).

I’m grateful for friends, who despite the miles between us, still manage to play a large role in each other’s lives. Even with our growing families, we still find the time to pick up the phone regularly and see each other as often as we can. I wouldn’t trade my SQUAD for anything.

I am thankful to be part of the Mid-States team. This team is made up of some truly amazing individuals, individuals that I feel lucky to know and work with. It continues to be wonderful to work for a company that truly cares about its team members and invests in them. And despite how they can drive me crazy sometimes, I really do enjoy the people that I work with every day. They are all just a a little bit weird!

Finally, I am thankful to know that I have so much to look forward to in the coming year. It will be as good as I make it, and I am aiming for GREAT! I have been truly blessed.

Happy Thanksgiving! In recognition of the holiday, Mid-States will be closed on Thursday, November 22 and Friday, November 23. May your Thanksgiving be filled with family, friends, and plenty of delicious food!

Thermal Efficiency Saves Money

Thermal Efficiency of CarbonCast®
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that 42 percent of energy consumed in a building is ultimately lost through the building envelope, or the barrier between the building interior and outdoor environment. A significant portion of any commercial envelope is the exterior wall.

The building envelope is critical in regulating internal building temperatures and determining how much energy is required to heat or cool a structure for occupant comfort. Heat transfer through envelope components such as walls wastes energy. Thermally efficient exterior wall systems aim to mitigate heat transfer and energy loss. They are engineered to minimize the opportunities for heat to flow from the interior surface through the wall to the building’s exterior.

The role of wythe connectors
In insulated precast concrete wall panels, wythe connectors act as a mechanical connection between the inner and outer layers of concrete. Because they form a connection through the insulation, there is an opportunity for thermal bridging to occur as well. Traditional wythe connection options such as solid zones of concrete or metal connectors – while providing a reliable mechanical connection – permit heat transfer between the wall because of the materials’ inherent conductivity.

What is important is designing a performance specification on the overall wall system rather than just the connector alone. A specification based on the overall wall system is one of the best ways of ensuring that the enclosure will meet the owner’s standards.

The role of insulation
Insulation helps to prevent the flow of heat across the exterior envelope. The use of continuous insulation further stems the flow by eliminating the presence of building materials that could facilitate thermal transfer.

Continuous insulation is defined in ASHRAE 90.1 as “insulation that is continuous across all structural members without thermal bridges other than fasteners and service openings. It is installed on the interior or exterior or is integral to any opaque surface of the building envelope.”

The thermal performance of edge-to-edge insulated precast sandwich wall panels with no or minimal thermal bridges and no solid zones maintains the R-values for continuous insulation as defined in ASHRAE 90.1, thereby lowering energy costs for the owner and occupant.

~ Courtesy of AltusGroup