« September 2007 | Main | November 2007 »
October 29, 2007
The Need for Forward Thinking Energy and Conservation Policies
The articles in the news indicate that the "next big thing" that associations are going to have to deal with are energy and conservation-related. Droughts in many areas of the country, as well as continually rising energy costs indicate that it's not likely to go away anytime soon. Associations are well advised to consider thee issues internally, before state legislators impose new laws or regulations that may not fit your association well or even end up costing you more money.
Here are some questions that you may want to ask yourselves:
Is there a way to allow clotheslines to be used? Consider retractable clotheslines, in back yards, allowed between 10AM and 4PM Monday through Saturday. Reasonably flexible, but you don't have to see them in the evening when people are out in their yard with their families or entertaining.
How much of the association common areas and/or owner's yards could be re-done with xeriscaping, using plants and ground cover that don't require additional irrigation? Associations in natural desert areas really want to take a look at this one. Any rules or regs that require green lawns in desert surroundings should be seriously questioned. As a side note, any rules or regs regarding green lawns that remain should be amended to cover watering restriction placed by local authorities. In other words, if there's a watering ban going on, the association should not be fining people for brown lawns (as some have this past year).
Consider shutting down lawn irrigation systems that don't draw from non-potable water supplies. Drill your own well, or create your own retention basin for watering, don't use filtered, chlorinated and metered water for this purpose.
For someone who loves to plant flowers every year, this is almost heresy, but consider planting artificial flowers. A number of them look quite real and for some areas of the association, may be satisfactory to look at, and reduce water and maintenance costs.
You should already be converting any lights in common areas to fluorescent bulbs. If you haven't, this is no-brainer - they last longer, and pull less energy, and are worth the initial increase in purchase price. I've already switched all of my inside and outside lights to fluorescent and the electrical bill has already shown reduced wattage use.
Sooner of later you're going to run into an owner that wants to use solar panels to reduce their energy usage and "help" the planet. (The quotes weren't to poke fun at solar panels or the people that want them, just that I'm not really sure how much help they really are just yet). Rather than get into a fight that's going to make the association look bad, start looking at the possibility now, as to how you might best accommodate these requests. A the same time, those of you with clubhouses and pools, just might want to think about leading the way by investigating solar heat/power for those common areas.
Take a serious look at your landscaping plans (if you don't have any, then put a committee together to start creating some) as to how various trees and shrubs can be placed to help reduce energy costs.
Associations that don;t plan for these types of things often find them imposed on them by outside sources, and then the costs are almost always more than if planned for and implemented on a well thought-out schedule. Do it now, don't wait for others to force you to spend more money and place greater hardships on your owners.
Posted by joewest at 12:56 PM
October 18, 2007
Condo and apartment dwellers lax about fire safety
As a follow-up to the last blog --- this may be about Canada, but I'd bet the percentages are about the same in the U.S.
A recent study on fire safety reveals that Canada’s condominium and apartment dwellers are not keeping up with Canadians living in houses when it comes to fire safety practices.
According to the annual fire safety study commissioned by Duracell and the Canada Safety Council (CSC), condo and apartment dwellers are lagging in their attention to several basic fire safety practices that could save precious seconds and possibly lives in a fire emergency.
The survey of 1,000 Canadians conducted in March 2007 shows that 77 percent of condo and apartment dwellers have a working flashlight in their residence, compared to 92 percent of Canadian homeowners.
Only 48 percent of condo and apartment dwellers have a fire extinguisher at home, compared to 74 percent among those living in houses.
The study also shows that those living in houses are 20 percent more likely to have working carbon monoxide detectors and three percent more likely to have working smoke alarms.
As for the important fire safety practice of replacing batteries in smoke alarms regularly, the study shows that 63 percent of people in condos or apartments changed batteries in the last year, compared with 74 percent of house residents who said they have kept up with this safety practice.
“Regardless of the type of dwelling that people occupy, the need for smart fire safety practices is a universal issue that all homeowners should pay close attention to,” said Suzanne Robillard, spokesperson for the Canada Safety Council.
“Having your home equipped with safety tools like a fire extinguisher and a working flashlight can make a difference when fire breaks out. And it certainly pays to have a fire escape plan in place so that everyone knows what to do in an emergency. There is no excuse today for condo dwellers to be letting their guard down on fire safety.”
While the study showed that house dwellers were ahead of condo and apartment dwellers on most fire safety practices covered in the survey, the condo and apartment dwellers did come out ahead on home fire drills, with 30 percent saying they practiced a fire drill in the past year, compared to 20 percent of people living in houses.
[From The Suburban, in Quebec]
Posted by joewest at 10:50 AM
October 8, 2007
Don't Be a Statistic
[NOTE] Shortly after writing this we decided to start tracking fires in community associations a little more closely. There is now a page on the web site that covers the stories and has some resources to help
Fall is finally making it's way into the midwestand with it comes the inevitable stories that wish weren't as frequent as they are - fires. Last year, it seemed like every third story I ran across was about some condo or HOA building burning down. And not just the somewhat suspicious fires in new construction during a down market. I'm talking about scented candles, fireplaces, stoves, cigarettes, barbecues, furnaces, hot water heaters, and countless other everyday items that burned down units, homes, multiple buildings and whole associations. In tracking the news for the past six years, I've often warned about the danger of fires, but last year was different, with more, and larger fires.
I would like to urge all associations to remind the residents about fire hazards, especially if your association has attached walls or is a mid- or high-rise. A fire in one generally spreads, or at least damages neighboring units.
Ask them not to use candles that aren't in a safe container; make sure all fireplace chimneys are cleaned and are screened or glassed in; have furnaces and other heating appliances checked (many utility coompanies offer this service); move all barbecues at least 10' away from the buildings; remind smokers that most building fires are started by cigarettes and to be extra careful as the home they burn down may be more than their own; replace smoke detector batteries and test them; check fire extinguishers; don't use space heaters; you get the idea. Here's an article and list that you can just re-print and send out.
A touchy issue that needs to be considered is the senior living alone. Here are a few tips:
Americans over the age of 65 are at the greatest risk of dying in a fire. Seventy-five percent of the 1,300 seniors who perish each year in fires do not have a working smoke detector in their homes.
If you are a senior, remember to do the following:
-Have a smoke detector installed in your home; make sure it is checked out at least monthly.
-Have a licensed electrician examine the wiring in your home; also have the wiring on your appliances checked out.
-Keep space heaters away from combustible materials.
-Never cook in loose-fitting clothing that could catch fire over the stove.
Avoid smoking inside the house; if you must smoke, do not smoke in bed, around upholstered furniture or near anything that may ignite easily.
-Keep your address and directions to your house next to your phone, in case you have to call to report an emergency.
-If fire breaks out, put a cloth or towel over your mouth and nose, and crawl low on the floor to the nearest exit.
-In case of a fire; get out of the house immediately; call for emergency assistance; and do not go back into the house for any reason.
-Talk to other seniors about starting a fire prevention education group; invite a fire official to a meeting.
This is National Fire Prevention Week - use it as a starting point. Cleaning up after a fire, dealing with insurance companies and consturction crews, re-locating owners - all are not fun things to do and they can be worse if inuries or deaths result. Yes, everybody heard all of this before, but most let it slide until after it affects them directly. Try to reach them before that happens.
Posted by joewest at 7:43 PM