Competition, competition, competion...

Those are the main words going through my head right now. With only a week and a half left till we leave for our design build competition in Reno, I've had to spend most of my past couple of Saturdays working to get ready. The competition is being sponsored by McCarthy Construction. The problem this year is to design a student service building for a college campus in California. The only information they gave us before we arrive is that the building will be incorporating the functions of five other buildings on campus into one. We leave for the competition on Wednesday, February 10, at four in the morning. We arrive there at twelve where we get to mingle around and get everything set up for the next day. On Thursday morning at 7 AM we are given a packet with more specific information and we have the next 17 hours to design a building, figure out all the costs, create a schedule, and come up with new and innovative ways to build this building. At midnight we submit the required documents then the rest of the night is spent preparing to present the information to the judges the following day, which means no sleep and a day spent working as fast as possible. The next day we are given 20 minutes to present and then on Saturday, the winning teams are announced. The main purpose of going is to be able to show the judges and other companies that you are a good fit for their company. With today's economy in the trouble it is I'm hoping that I will be able to network at this competition and find a job.

Going Green?

I recently had the opportunity to write a research paper about LEED, Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. LEED is the leader of the green movement in America and has received lots of funding and support from the government. It is currently being required or highly recommended in 22 states by local goverments. The purpose of LEED is to provide a rating system that builders can use to compare buildings in terms of their "greenness." I decided to investigate LEED and found many complaints with the system. The number one complaint about LEED is the enormous cost and difficulty in certifying a building. I found while researching that the costs are truly mind blowing. For example, in Aspen, Colorado, a company was going to certify two buildings that they had been working on but decided against it when they found out that the process would cost 70 thousand dollars. Another example of the outrageous costs occurred in Park City, Utah, where they were constructing the Park City Ice Arena. They were planning on certifying the building, but discovered that it would cost $27,500 to become LEED certified. The mayor decided to fore-go the certification and use the money to purchase three wind turbines instead. Another article I found in my research stated that LEED's budget consisted of 50 million dollars and that 95% of their funding came through their fees and accreditation program and that they only employed 116 people. Obviously something is amiss. The reasoning behind the large fees was supposed to be for the advancement of green technologies, but so far the results have been dismal. Another major flaw that I found was their point system. They rewarded contractors the same amount of points for a bike rack as they did for a 1.7 million dollar mechanical system that lowered energy costs by 500 thousand dollars per year. Obviously the system is out of balance. Other articles showed that many builders would rather buy a bike rack rather than spend the 1.7 million dollars to earn the extra point, go figure. LEED has has also provided incentive for builders to install many unnecessary items to receive more points. Bike racks have been found in desert locations where biking would be impossible, yet points were awarded. Other examples include installing solar panels in shady and rainy locations where they are completely ineffective. The system is also a failure in that it is not climate specific. For example the city of Seattle, Washington is held to the same standards as Tempe, Arizona. Each city has different needs, yet the same points are awarded to builders in Arizona, for installing effective items such as solar panels, are also awarded to builders in Seattle for the same installment. To those who don't know, solar panels are pretty ineffective in Seattle's rainy climate, whereas they are a good source of energy in Arizona. Another major concern that many builders have with LEED is that the system actually penalizes you for putting in large air handling systems. They are finding now that many of these LEED buildings do not have sufficient airflow and that the lack of air flow combined with tighter outer shells are actually causing people to become sick. The problem is currently being diagnosed as tight building syndrome and has come as a direct result of LEED. Their are many in the industry that love LEED which blows my mind. How could someone that believes in sustainability believe in such a corrupt and unsustainable system. I do believe that it's important to lower energy costs and build buildings that are durable, but I think that this is more of an economic incentive rather than an environmentalist one. I believe that environmentalists are piggy-backing the economic need to find cheaper energy sources and using this need as a way to push their political agendas. With the supposed threat of global warming and the loss of polar bears as their poster children, it is easy for them to jump on board the recent energy crisis and say that if we do not act now,there will be no future for our children. However, Global warming and the polar bear crisis are some of the biggest scandals of all time. Global warming has no scientific proof whatsoever. Their are so many external factors, such as the Earth's tilt, orbit, and sun's energy output that it is impossible to point the finger at mankind. Also, if anyone's looked at the history of our world they would realize that the worst times in the history of our country occurred when the world was cooling down. In 1815, Mt. Tambora in Indonesia erupted sending the world into a mini ice age. The ash didn't allow the sun's rays to penetrate the atmosphere and many of the world's crops failed. The following year, 1816, one of the coldest years on record, was known as the year of poverty. In my geology class, my teacher Doctor Clark said, "A warmer planet supports more life," and guess what...he's right. The polar bear population has grown despite what uninformed photographers are saying. Scientists and Canadian government workers are reporting a large increase in numbers. When you look at the coldest years, you will see that thousands die from starvation and crop failure. Many renown scientists have admitted that global warming is a lie and can not be proven and that the carbon crisis is a marketing ploy. Hopefully the world will wake up and smell the roses. We need to take care of our planet, but we don't need to force the world to shut down. The University of Oregon released a study stating that the best thing Americans could do to save the planet would be to stop having children. We are obviously being taken advantage of as a society by environmentalists. Their intentions to save the world may be galant, but their philosophies are not. When the world comes to it's senses and realizes that these ideas are flawed, these new green systems and ideals, that are making a select few rich, will be cast out and so they should.

The Most Amazing Jazz Game Ever

Yesterday, I got home from school and was working on an assignment for school and decided to check my phone. I found that I had missed a call from my wife, Rachel, and decided I had better call back, especially since she had also left a text message saying,"Dude, Call Me!" So I called her up and she asked if I had anything going that night and I told her I didn't. She then said that one of the guys she worked with had offered her two box suite tickets to the Utah Jazz and Cleveland Cavaliers game. I was way surprised because we had gotten front row tickets right behind the opposing teams bench the week before and was certain that would be the only Jazz game we would be going to all year. Just the day before Rachel had told me that she was certain we wouldn't be getting any more Jazz tickets this year. Well luckily for us she was wrong. So she asked me if I wanted to go and of course I did so we got the tickets and at 7:30 pm we headed to the game. I couldn't believe that we had gotten more tickets to go see the Jazz and I definitely couldn't believe that they were against the Cleveland Cavaliers.

The suite was awesome, it had food and pop and they even brought us ice cream and an cobbler after the third quarter. Lets just say it was an amazing experience and just being in a suite was awesome. That turned out to be only the beginning though because we were about to witness one of the most amazing basketball games that I had ever seen. Before the game even started Lebron James decided to show off his amazing skills by throwing down some amazing dunks and awing the crowd by burying 3 of 4 threes from half court. He's definitely the best player in the NBA. The game was mostly dominated by the Cavs and I was certain they were going to win. At the beginning of the fourth quarter Deron Williams was injured and had to leave the game and the back-up point guard had three fouls so they put in a recently acquired rookie that had only practiced once with the team.

The game turned around immediately and after a couple of steals and some great shooting the Jazz were up by twelve. Lebron James had other ideas however and before we knew it he had taken over the game and decided to put on a basketball clinic. Between his three point bombs and quick slashes to the hoop, he soon had his team up by six with only 40 seconds left to play. At this point half the crowd decided that the Jazz had lost and left. My wife asked if we should go, but I kind of wanted to watch Lebron James as long as I could. Little did we know that in the next 40 seconds the Jazz would make some amazing shots and Clevand's free throw shooting would become non existant. The Jazz battled back to be down only by two points with 5.6 seconds left on the clock. The Jazz coach, Jerry Sloan, called his last time out and set up a play. The ball was thrown and in, but the shooter wasn't open so he made a pass outside to the recently acquired rookie who had one second to shoot. The rookie jumped and shot falling back to get the ball over the defenders hands and waited as did the rest of us for the shot to miss, but it didn't it went right through the net and the Energy Solutions Center came apart at the seams.

It was the most amazing finish I have ever witnessed in person. I don't know how I ever got so lucky, but it just seemed to work out. We got some amazing tickets and some amazing food and an even more amazing game. We truly had a unforgettable night.

Story from the mission

Today I had to give a talk in Church. It was the first talk that I have given since I got back from my mission, which was a little over two and a half years ago. I recounted a story from the mission about a woman named Elizabeth. She had been going to Church for three months, but her husband didn’t want anything to do with the Church. He eventually started to listen from the kitchen and then from the bedroom and after a little persuasion he finally came into the same room to listen to the lessons. After he had read the Book of Mormon and started to pray we challenged him to go to church. I promised him that if he did God would bless him. The man’s name was Daniel and he decided to see if God would bless him, so he and the entire family went to church. The next day, Monday, we stopped by Elizabeth’s house and found her washing clothes outside by hand. Her washing machine had stopped working. Two days later we stopped by and were informed that Daniel had lost his job. I assured them that God’s blessings would come. Two days later we stopped by again and found that there refrigerator had stopped working and all of their food had gone bad and that there granddaughters had stolen the money they had carefully saved up in case of an emergency and had spent all of it. I was certain they wouldn’t be there on Sunday. When Sunday came around I was surprised when not only Elizabeth, but Daniel and the entire family walked into sacrament meeting. After sacrament meeting was over I went to Elizabeth and asked why they had come. She paused and then said something I will never forget. She said, “Elder we are the poorest we’ve ever been, but for the first time in our lives we are truly happy.” This family had lost everything, yet they were happy because they had found the truth and for the first time in their lives the spirit was in their home. I am so grateful for the gospel and the blessings that I have received and know that by living the gospel we too can be truly happy.

New Year's Resolution

A blog made it on the list for this year's resolutions. And since Caleb needs to post to a blog for one of his classes this semester the timing couldn't get any better. So for our first post, here's a recount of a super cool family night.

I was given 2 tickets to a Jazz game yesterday at work, and not just any tickets, but Row C tickets (when it's not a number you know it's close). And when you have crazy close tickets like that you get to eat a fancy dinner dinner beforehand. We got there a few minutes before the game started so we quickly found the elevator and rode up to the 6th floor to the 100 Club. After checking in we filled our plates with food and sat in the north dining room. We quickly ate and stood at the elevator again to go down to the first floor. Then I noticed someone with an ice cream to go. So Caleb and I quickly grabbed our own little ice creams to go and went down to the game. Caleb and I sat directly behind the opponents bench. So here we are inches from NBA players watching a game. Although it does become problematic when the opposing team stands up because you can't see a thing they're so big. The Jazz played pretty well the first half, being in the lead for the most part. At halftime Caleb and I got to go to this room and get free popcorn, soda, nachos, cookies, and ice cream. When we sat down in our seats again, one of the New Orleans Hornets players (not suited up, just in jeans and a sportscoat, I looked him up and his name is Hilton Armstrong) leans back and asks "what kind of cookie is that?" I told him it was toffee. And he asked "do they have any sugar cookies?" I responded that they only had toffee, chocolate chip and some other kind that wasn't sugar. Caleb said I should have offered him my cookie or given him my ice cream bar. It crossed my mind for a second, then I figured these guys are rich enough, they can go get their own cookie. Anyway, the Jazz didn't play well in the second half and sadly lost 91-87. But it was a once in a lifetime experience for Caleb and I and we enjoyed every second of it.