Interesting technicalities and illustrations relevant to construction
Two carpenter ants hollowing out a trunk in their natural surrounding (here in northeastern Italy, Carso). Similar ants and other pests (termites, powder-post beetle) will do the same to your home - and you MAY NOT even NOTICE it until it's too late.
NOTE: carpenter ants typically remove the waste of their burrows leaving a pile of relatively coarse dust; termites digest the cellulose and expel pellets after digesting the material; powder-post beetle leave behind the finest of dust. CHECK with a competent expert if you notice any local piles of sawdust inside your house!
WATER tomorrow, the next SCARCITY
In the US, we have been accustomed to consuming MUCH MORE than the rest of the World. Now, we are facing skyrocketing costs for solid waste disposal, energy (electrical, fuel, and gas), and imminently, we may face a surge in the price of water. CONTACT US NOW to discuss alternative energy options and water-saving alternatives. An early investment may be a good hedge against sudden rate increases (as the ones for electrical energy that will more than double in 2006 on Cape Cod).
Austria is imposing that all new construction be able to reuse over 90% of its used water. This has stimulated the manufacturing of small waste-water treatment plants and water collection systems.
Many common devices in the EU are simple and much more efficient at water useage than ours in the US (see example below on plumbing). Yet the threat of fresh water shortages looms, particularly with unknown climate scenarios - as Cape Cod well remembers during the early 1990's.
In Italy (2005), it is common to use polyethylene tubing to SUPPLY water into the house, both for drinking/washing, as for heating. PE piping is relatively flexible and therefore somwhat easier to install than copper piping. Though the photo shows a typical welding apparatus (heated non-bonding ceramic disk), there seems to be an increasing use of mechanical connectors that are tested to withstand the standard operating pressures, this both for copper and PE piping and tubing, whether accessible or inside walls and slabs.
It is also noteworthy that throughout most bathrooms in EU countries, the flushing system allows for two different amounts of water to be flushed, as a means of reducing water useage; yet the toilets are the same as they are in the US.
