This represents a typical Construction Drawing set for a simple house minus a site plan. It represents a bit over 100 hours of labor. Thought y’all might be interested. A more complete set would have framing on a separate sheet, Interior elevations at least of the kitchen and bathrooms, a site plan, Materials schedules usually called out on the floor plans, and separate electrical plans.
People often tell me they took a drafting class in high school and thought about becoming an architect. I took a drafting class in high school and thought about becoming an architect. I suspect that few people have in idea of what it takes in terms of the whole process.
First there is admission to a school of architecture. These tend to be highly competitive. My school accepted fewer than one in seven applicants the year I was accepted with admission to the rest of the school being much easier. Artistic talent, leadership skills and life experience were important. High school drafting class counted for nothing. The first year of architecture school is a bit like hazing and typically, about half drop out. Then you are in school (think massive debt) for 5 years at a minimum. Five years gets you a professional degree called a Barch which is a bit more than a regular bachelors but less than a masters. This degree is being phased out because it is becoming impractical to cram all the course work into five years. ( graduated with 181 credits) The new norm seems to be a 4 year degree resulting in a liberal arts type bachelors degree and an additional 2 to 3 years for a Masters degree in architecture.
Then comes post graduation internship (if you are lucky enough to get a position with an architecture firm) Working full time, the requirements for this can theoretically be met in about three years. I have heard that the average internship lasts 7 years but this seems to be a dirty little secret in the industry. My own internship was about 5 years worth of time spread over a much longer period of time because I spent so much time working as a carpenter. It took five years of actual internship because there are a specific set of criteria that must be met to satisfy the internship requirements which are often hard to accomplish without spending some time working in a large urban firm where a regular internship program is in place. Many graduates who go to work in larger firms with salaried positions never get around to taking the qualification exams to become licensed architects. They may not need the license for their job and it can be hard to study when you go home in the evening to a busy family and life.
The Exam(s) – Nine of them when I was becoming an architect. Nine exams which represented over $1000 in fees plus all the study materials which is a whole separate industry. In the old days the exams took place all at once over a 4 day period where you were locked in a room with a drafting table. Now you stare at a computer screen at a cubicle in a small room with flickering florescent lights overhead. (headache)
So, the whole process takes a minimum of 8 years but averages a lot longer. Probably not worth it from an accountant’s point of view when looking at the yearly salary data that comes out courtesy of the American Institute of Architects. Then when you finally have license in hand and can legally call yourself an architect there are all the yearly fees and continuing education requirements that must be met to maintain the license. If you lapse on any of these you are not allowed to cannot continue to call yourself an architect.
Phew!
Architecture is one of those professions where the more you know the more you know you don’t know. Many architects don’t know this. There are some who “float” and others who are in a constant state of continuing education. I am reminded of this by the large number of architects who state on their websites “We have always been green” but then you look at their projects with a trained eye and see otherwise. Geothermal heating or solar Photovoltaics on a house with 2 x 6 walls, probably insulated with fiberglass batts is an infraction I commonly see. Those architects who read this and don’t see the hyppocracy in this example would be the example of “floaters”
Yesterday I attended a workshop put on by NESEA, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association entitled “Residential Retrofits for Energy Efficiency and Sustainability” by Larry Harmon. Usually I have to travel to Boston or Burlington to attend these which can be costly and time consuming so it was nice to have one a mile down the road from my offices. There was a lot of good information and Larry is an engaging speaker. The big things that I came away with were the reinforcement of what I have been learning about air sealing, venting, and insulation.
1-Seal completely before adding insulation. - Most contractors or architects probably don’t grok the importance or level of thoroughness that is required here or realize the ramifications of doing a less than perfect job. It is not just about energy loss and heating bills. It is very much about how to make a house that will last 100 years or more. There was much discussion and many slides of imperfect air sealing jobs and how they acellerated rot and mold problems.
2-Don’t ventilate your roof! That was so 80’s and 90’s. Now, ten or more years later we get to see the nasty ramifications of venting your roof. yuck!
There was a lot of other information which I may add in here over the next few days and some of which was rather techy involving cost analysis calculations and BTU’s and therms, (oh My!)
What disturbed me as it often does at these events is the lack of local builders in attendance. Of the 10% of local builders who care about building science and sustainbility issues, very few will go much further than a subscription to JLC. I’m afraid that if I go out there and draw up plans for a house with an unvented roof or create specifications for enhanced air sealing, builders will simply refuse to follow the plans and convince the homeowners that the architect (me) is full of it. It’s an issue that I’m sure a lot of other architects face as well. Although I suspect that 90% of architects don’t really care about such things either.
Added the next day in response to a comment.
The presenter showed lots of slides of what happens when you leave a pencil size hole in the sealing of the attic before adding insulation. Basically air pressure turns it into an moisture laden air nozzle. All the moisture then condenses (dew point) on the sheathing and rots it through fast. Or it freezes on the underside of the sheathing then rains down on the insulation when it thaws. Ventilation compounds this pressure effect. The best method seams to be to bypass all these issues and spray the underside of the sheathing with closed cell foam which is what I specify on new construction and treat the attic as conditioned space. Loose fill cellulose or fiberglass batts lose much of their insulating value when exposed to air movement. Many independent tests in recent years have shown the temperature on the underside of the roof does not vary due to ventilation or no ventilation. There were also slides of what happens when insulation is added to an existing house attic that previously had no problems other than high heat bills. Suddenly the attic was cooler, the dew point moved to inside the attic and rot set in almost immediately. board sheathing holds up better than plywood which holds up better than osb.
I get the feeling that as building science matures, ventilated roofs will become a way for architectural historians to date houses to a specific time period in the late 20th century and early 21st century.
