Anthony Shupenko, Jr.,
P.E., is a professional engineer in New Jersey, as well as a licensed plumbing
and building inspector in the state. He has been the president of Shupenko
Engineering, Inc., located in Garfield, NJ, since 1984. Firm services include
commercial, industrial, and residential building inspections and evaluations;
forensic engineering; and structural and mechanical-system design. Shupenko is
also an adjunct instructor at the Stevens Institute of Technology’s engineering design laboratory. Contact him
at shupenko@optonline.net.
The “Gunning Fog Index” measures the readability of a sample of writing. The result indicates the number of years of formal education that a person needs to easily understand the text on the first reading. I thought about this recently while thumbing through some codes - in this case, the International Fuel Gas Code.
I have been fortunate enough to visit both of New York City's new baseball stadiums this
year. As a die-hard NY Yankee fan, it pains me to say
that the new Citi Field (home of the NY Mets) is far superior to the new Yankee
Stadium (ouch!).
“Do the numbers made sense?” is a question that often bounces through
my head. This question has once again been raised – this time with
full-page ads for “…a home cooling breakthrough that uses 96% less electricity
than air conditioners.” Wow, I thought, no more high rates to cool my home!
The new Palazzo Versace
hotel Dubai, which is now under construction, will have the first refrigerated
beach in the world-so guests can sunbathe in comfort during the hottest days of
the year. According to London’s
Sunday Times,
summer temperatures in Dubai average 103°F and can reach 122°F.
New Jersey (via the Uniform Construction Code and the
National Standard Plumbing code) specifically prohibit some plumbing
items. Then how come I can go into the
local big-box stores and purchase them?
I am a person who looks at numbers – “Do the numbers made
sense?” is a question that often bounces through my head. This question has been prevalent the last few months
whenever I see (often) full page ads for “revolutionary” electric heaters to
slash heating bills. These generally
appear to be for the same type of heater, but with different packaging and
deals.
Woke up at about 4 am one day last week to the sound of a
“fog horn” in the house. Went to the bathroom – where the tub was a sub-woofer.
The noise was even louder in the kitchen. and even worse in the basement...
As I was waiting for my wife after a show recently, I gave
the “nod” to several other guys, also waiting, and wondered about the
woman experience in public restrooms. I never
knew, after being together for more than 25 years, that one of my wife’s
horrors in life is the road trip and the dreaded required trips to the public
rest rooms.
New Jersey recently turned
down a request to require the retrofit installation of fire sprinkler systems
in existing high-rise buildings. My concern is that in the
spirit of compromise, NJ is considering requiring the installation of
sprinklers in common areas, with one head in each apartment, as
an alternative to a completely sprinklered building. In
my humble opinion, one sprinkler head in an
apartment provides little, if any, help.