The City of San Francisco took a big step in addressing the danger posed by the poor earthquake performance of "soft-story" buildings by approving a landmark ordinance earlier this year requiring seismic evaluation and retrofit of approximately 3,000 buildings as early as 2017. The legislation would affect some of the most susceptible structures to damage because soft-story bui...

Marx Okubo recently played a key role in two significant buildings in San Diego– the LPL Financial Building, and the DiamondView Tower. At the LPL Financial building, which is the nation's largest "net zero" energy efficient building, Marx Okubo performed a Pre Project Review as well as monthly construction monitoring. The 13-story, 415,000 square-foot building achieves carbon...

PowerCAD SiteMaster Building is an architectural surveying application that accepts distance measurements directly on a tablet from a laser measuring device, and creates AutoCAD-compatible drawings in the field. Marx Okubo has used SiteMaster Building as an efficient and accurate way to provide quality building measurements, quantity take-offs, dimensions for as-built drawings,...

Stephen R. D'Arcy, P.E., Vice President and Regional Manager of Marx Okubo's New York office, was recently named a "Rising Star" by the Business Council of Westchester. Modeled after the national business recognition program "Forty under Forty," Westchester's "2013 Rising Stars - 40 under 40" pays tribute to individuals in Westchester County who are making their mark in their p...

Sustainability measures are quickly becoming the rule rather than the exception. This is evident in California's most recent revision to its statewide building code. In the 2010 update, California has introduced CALGreen, the nation's first statewide green building code. This code, found in Chapter 11 of Title 24, contains measures for site selection, storm water control during...

The California Energy Commission has issued revised draft regulations for implementing the disclosure requirements of Assembly Bill 1103. Implementation will now begin January 1, 2013, for buildings larger than 50,000 square feet, July 1, 2013, for buildings larger than 10,000 square feet, and January 1, 2014, for buildings larger than 5,000 square feet. This applies to nonresi...

A number of states and cities have adopted requirements for commercial building owners to provide benchmarking information on their buildings. These requirements generally make use of the Portfolio Manager benchmarking tool developed by the Environmental Protection Agency. For some jurisdictions, this information is to be provided to the jurisdiction that will make the informat...

The adoption of the 2010 ADA Standards for Accessible Design (2010 ADA Standards) adds yet another layer of complexity to the multitude of already complicated and confusing interrelated accessibility laws, standards, and guidelines pertaining to property and program access. While the 2010 ADA Standards are intended to outright replace the 1991 ADA Standards for new construction...

The corporate office of Marx Okubo has updated and expanded its offices in Denver, Colorado. The expansion will allow Marx Okubo to continue to capitalize on the growth and continuing success of the region and the company as a whole, as well as provide staff with a spacious and collaborative work environment. The office remains in the same building, which is conveniently locate...

Description: Vision glass is 5'0" wide by 5'-3" tall captured on three sides with the 4th side being butt glazed. The exterior lite thickness is 3/16" gray, inner layer of clear .060 PVB (Polyvinyl Butyral) interlayer for Laminated Glass and interior lite of 3/16" clear, both lites are heat strengthened. Cause: Silicone and/or moisture in contact with the interlayer is believed...

Marx Okubo is pleased to congratulate Soojin Hur, AIA, LEED AP, of the San Francisco office on becoming a California Certified Access Specialist (CASp), placing her among a select group of individuals who have demonstrated in-depth knowledge of disabled accessibility requirements. According to the California Department of General Services, "The program is designed to meet the p...

After 18 years in the same location, the Northwest Regional office of Marx Okubo is moving. Our new office is in the historic Securities Building located just north of the downtown business core and within easy walking distance of the transit tunnel providing quick and convenient access to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The new space is located on the east wing of the fi...

It is our pleasure to announce the appointment of Corey D. Petersen, AIA, RRO, to Assistant Vice President of the Northwest region, effective December 2012. Mr. Petersen has performed a comprehensive range of services in his six years at Marx Okubo, and he has spearheaded the firm's involvement in exterior envelope design and rehabilitation services in the Northwest. In additio...

A cause of failure in the structural components of warehouse roofs has been identified by the site observation teams of Marx Okubo, involving rusting of the sub-purlin roof hanger in panelized roof systems. Advanced cases of corrosion can threaten the safety of employees or inventory. Panelized roof systems are widely used in the western United States. This system consists of g...

Marx Okubo is pleased to announce a number of additions to our sustainability staff and expertise. Notably, Dan Healey, P.E., of the Irvine office has received the designation of Certified Energy Manager (CEM) from the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE). Mr. Healey joins fellow southern Californian Jon R. Haviland, P.E., and Joseph A. Milam, P.E., of the Atlanta office in ac...

The cost of procuring earthquake insurance can be a significant one. Real estate transactions sometimes do not proceed solely due to issues relating to earthquake insurance required. These requirements may be imposed by a lender, or they may be due to internal policies implemented by entities that own real estate. Earthquake insurance premiums are often tied to the results of a...