Michael is a licensed architect, a Fellow of the Construction Specifications Institute, and a Certified Construction Specifier. His architectural projects have won design awards from the American Institute of Architects and the American Society of Interior Designers. He is a member of Construction Writers Association, Specification Consultants in Independent Practice, and American Concrete Institute.

Additional presentations include:

• Ethics and Building Products for Producers, Specifiers and Buyers
• Why Should I Call on Architects? When Contractors Do the Buying
• When Contractors Do the Buying
• Selling as a Social Medium: Branding and Selling in the Online World

• Architecture
• Building Envelope
• Education
• Environmental Products
• Finishes
• Leadership
• Masonry
• Metals
• Mold Abatement
• Performance Specifying
• Presentation Skills
• Specifications Writing
• Sustainable Design/Specifications
• Acoustics
• Building/Facility Information Modeling (BIM)
• Ceramic & Stone Tile Installation
• GreenFormat

• CONSTRUCT2010 - Working Your Booth: Engaging Potential Clients/Advanced Booth Skills
  Date: 05/12/2010
  Session Evaluation: N/A 
  
  
• Substitution Abuse: How to Prevent (and Make) Substitutions
  Date: 04/29/2010
  Session Evaluation: N/A 
  
  Session Description:
  Learn how to protect your specifications and improve the quality of building projects. Substitutions occur when a different building product is used instead of the specified product. These situations are a special problem for building product manufacturers and are costly to design professionals, building owners and contractors. This program delivers an urgent message about the sources of the problem and offers suggestions for preventing abuses, and when substitutions are necessary. It explains the ‘right’ way to handle substitutions to protect the integrity of the building process.

  Learning Objectives

  1. Learn how substitutions undermine the credibility of construction specifications
  2. Understand how substitutions increase the chances of construction defects
  3. Learn how to control factors that lead to substitutions
  4. Identify the “right” way to make substitutions
  
  
  
• Better Buildings Through Better Fasteners
  Date: 01/14/2010
  Session Evaluation:  
  
  Session Description:
  When connecting metal to metal, making the right choice of fasteners depends on paying attention to details beyond working loads and strength. The electrochemical phenomenon of galvanic reaction can lead to hydrogen-assisted stress corrosion cracking (HASCC), which can cause otherwise perfectly functional fasteners to fail. When one fastener fails, it can transfer working loads to its neighbors, creating the potential for progressive failure that can compromise building integrity and life safety. This presentation examines causes of HASCC and explains the composition and performance of fasteners specifically designed to resist this type of failure.

  Learning Objectives

  1. Identify where A/E must specify fasteners instead of leaving product selection to contractor or supplier
  2. Learn techniques for reducing fastener rust and galvanic corrosion damage
  3. Be able to explain causes of hydrogen embrittlement and HASCC
  4. Be able to specify high-performance, HASCC-resistant fasteners
  5. Explain role of fasteners in building sustainability