Recently, the question was asked on ASPE’s Open Forum “Foundation drain pipe — plumbing responsible? Or only between civil and structural?” As originally posted, the designer did not have a Geotech report. But the structural consultant did show the piping around the top of the elevator footing and the perimeter footing for the foundation in their details.

“Ripping off the Band-Aid” is what people do when they want to make discomfort as short-lived as possible. Similar to “putting something to bed” but not quite as drastic as “this is going to hurt me more than it is going to hurt you,” ripping off a Band-Aid does have a hint of compassion as it implies that the person doing the ripping may have placed the bandage or that they will be there to continue the healing process once the hair ripping adhesive has been removed.

“Que Sera Sera” is the title of a catchy tune from way back when that means: “Whatever will be will be.” The lyrics go on to say, “the future’s not ours to see.” For anyone reading this who has absolutely no connection to this cultural reference, a more modern term in common use would be: “It is was it is.”

As interest and incentives build to transition space heating and domestic water heating systems away from fossil fuels and toward electricity, a somewhat predictable but only marginally quantified problem is developing. Two words describe it: Peak demand.