Flight 93 Case Study

In a field in Pennsylvania, Romtec, Inc. completed a project that was more than just buildings. It played part to a process of healing and rebuilding. Romtec was privileged to be specified for providing two restroom buildings for the United Flight 93 National Memorial.A boulder is the only marker in a flat patch of wild flowers and grass where the tragic and heroic events of United Flight 93 ended in a fiery crash. The humble monument is surrounded by the clean, understated lines of a low-lying black slate wall slanting upward and away from the path. Running parallel to the inescapable trajectory of the fated Flight 93, 40-panels of polished white granite form a wall bearing the 40 names of the victims claimed in the crash on September 11, 2001.The Memorial was officially dedicated on September 11, 2011 on the tenth anniversary of our nation’s worst terrorist attack. With much of the construction still under way, Romtec’s custom restrooms were two of the first structures to be erected on the site. The Memorial design was famously selected through a nation-wide design competition, and Paul and Melina Murdoch and associates were selected with their design “Crescent of Embrace.” Paul Murdoch, the National Park Service (NPS), and a construction firm, Arrow Kinsley Joint Venture, approached Romtec to provide two public restroom buildings. The buildings, of course, needed to be unique and eye-catching, yet they needed to remain understated alongside the iconic features of the Memorial. Romtec maintains a long standing reputation for being able to customize structures to match their surroundings, and this was the quality that Paul Murdoch and the NPS needed from their restroom buildings. The restroom buildings started in the design phase with a few restrictions: there were space limitations, accessibility requirements, and there would be no electrical or plumbing tie-ins. The engineers at Romtec came up with a perfect solution. One building would be a single-user Romtec Aspen model. The second building would effectively combine five Aspens into a longer building with five private entry restrooms. Each room would meet the American with Disabilities Act guidelines for public building accessibility. The Romtec Aspen line of models is completely waterless, but because of the restroom building’s length, the lack of electricity required some inventive thinking. An Aspen single uses translucent windows in the gables to provide passive lighting. The five-room building would include gable windows, but the three inner rooms would receive drastically less light. Skylights would be difficult because snow would block the skylights for a large portion of the year, creating a constant maintenance stress. The solution was Romtec designed glass-block headers above each door way to admit additional light. Electricity was eventually brought to the job site, and lighting elements were added, but the passive lighting design elements allow the buildings to be operated without electricity at any time. With theses fundamental design elements in place, the restroom buildings went into the next phase: blending with the surrounding features and environment. The Memorial featured heavy elements of gray neutral tones in the granite, slate, and concrete yet balanced it against the surrounding natural character of the sugar maples and white oaks. An ideal design would echo these elements without adding disruption or interest. The solution was simple and chic. The buildings included natural cedar siding with a semi-transparent stain that closely matches the frequent gray tones seen throughout the Memorial. The stain reveals the cedar grain which recalls the trees and surrounding natural elements. The buildings both feature covered entryways for all-weather use, and the posts are natural rough-hewn timbers featuring the same wood stain as the siding. The effect is a sleek profile that preserves the continuity of the Memorial without stealing attention away from the central features. In the end, Romtec was able to contribute a necessary aspect to a meaningful project. The United Flight 93 Memorial will host thousands of Americans every year who want to pay respects to the lives lost in the September 11th attacks. When completed, the “Crescent of Embrace” will match the gentle Pennsylvania countryside with an effortless series of structures. The Romtec restrooms preserve the Memorial’s themes and provide a necessary service. For more information visit: http://www.honorflight93.org/

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via DonkeyHotey

April is Green Month, and Earth Day 2012 is fast approaching! Romtec wants to remind everyone of the great opportunities for LEED certification we provide with green public restrooms. But first, how well do you understand LEED strategies and standards? Let’s take a look some of the areas that might help your project truly represent Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

There are five primary categories that LEED certification takes into consideration for commercial buildings, and they are all weighted differently in terms of points that can be awarded.

For background, the certification operates on a 100-point scale, with 10 bonus points available. If your project earns 40 points, it becomes LEED certified. At 50 points, the project is certified Silver; at 60, it is Gold, and more than 80 points receives Platinum certification.

Federal, State, and City governments all offer different incentives for achieving a certain level of certification, including faster permit approval, reduced taxes, and other perks. However, buildings that receive high LEED rankings are built in a way that inherently reduces operating costs and boosts a building’s performance.

Now back to the five categories. The category with largest number of points possible is Energy and Atmosphere with 37 points available. A high score here will bring a project close to certification. Romtec offers several methods to achieve a high score here, and most are inexpensive. We can design passive lighting and ventilation systems that have no power requirements. There are options for high-efficiency hand dryers, LED light fixtures, and tankless water heaters, which all use minimal electricity. Romtec also can design and install photovoltaic, solar systems which can actually plug power back to the grid and earn refunds from power companies.

The next point-heavy category is Sustainable Sites with 21 available points. Romtec can’t choose your site for you, but we can help with the “heat island effect,” which is judged in this category. Using specific reflective materials, our engineers can design buildings that will not trap and store heat for periods of time that extend beyond sunset.

Indoor Environmental Quality offers 17 possible points. This category can receive points from Romtec’s passive lighting and ventilation. Bringing in outside air and natural light is important to improve indoor air quality and views.

Your project could receive as many as 14 points from the Materials and Resources category. On Romtec’s ES models, tilt-up SIP (structural insulated panel) construction generates very little waste. Most SIP waste can be recycled easily and arrives precut for quick installation. SIPs are also excellent insulators, maintaining appropriate building temperatures, reducing indoor noise level, and further limiting the “heat island effect.”

Finally, Water Efficiency bolsters 11 possible points. Romtec manufactures waterless restrooms, which are the ultimate in efficiency! But if your project does need water, we can reduce it! We can supply high-efficiency toilets, touchless faucets, and waterless urinals. We can also design and install rain water collection systems for a variety of purposes like landscape watering.

The 10 bonus points can be earned in categories of Innovation of Design and Regional Priority. Romtec is willing to engineer custom buildings with efficient and effective green designs to earn bonus points. You can look up your area and see the green priorities for your project by looking here.

We at Romtec wish you a happy Earth Day! Please feel free to contact Ryan Smith, our national sales manager, to see how your project can gain LEED certification at a surprisingly low cost.

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This event marked the first opportunity for Romtec to communicate our new pricing options based on the newly configured standard models. News of the new lower prices was met with continual excitement from California city managers and parks officials. Patrons of the Romtec booth were also excited that the new lower prices would be available when purchasing through Romtec’s CMAS –California Multiple Award Schedule– contract.

“People were enthusiastic about the new prices because many people who stopped by the booth talked about the effect budget cuts had on their agencies,” said Olson. “They’re going through budgets with a fine-tooth comb to prioritize projects. Some of them have been cut by 10 million dollars, so they’ve got to be real selective about how they spend available funds. The lower prices help. They can maybe fit in a project that there was no room for before.”

As  overall attendance for the conference was up this year, Travis handed out the entire supply of booth swag and gave out more business cards than he has seen to date. We are hopeful this was a good experience for our continued relationship with the parks and recreation personnel in California.

A special thanks needs to go out to the organizers of this conference for providing a terrific atmosphere for social networking. There were many opportunities outside of visiting booths to interact and meet with business connections and good people in the industry. The Segway tour, evening of comedy at the Laugh Factory, and the poker pub crawl were all a lot fun for conference participants, and I have first-hand knowledge that Travis enjoyed them also.

Thank to everyone who stopped by our booth! Feel free to contact Romtec anytime with your questions about restrooms and other utility park structures. We look forward to seeing you at the next CPRS Conference!

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The cost to repair the building was a concern for the Parks Department because the restroom building was not covered by the City’s insurance. When Romtec’s National Sales Manager, Ryan Smith, learned about the vandalism, he immediately worked out a proposal with Romtec’s President, Tim Bogan, to donate a portion of the materials needed to repair the torched building.

Pope said that she was surprised by the proposal because little time had passed when Romtec approached to help. She was also surprised by the quantity of materials that Romtec agreed to donate. These materials are a door and hardware, two Lexan windows, a sink and faucet, a toilet with flushvalve, metal roofing, plywood, and fiber-reinforced plastic.

 A local roofer, Bryan Warren of Bryan’s Roofing of Sutherlin, stepped forward to donate the labor for roofing the restroom. The remainder of the labor for installation and cleaning will be funded by the City’s general fund.

Situations such as this can be stressful and complicated, but it does serve as a nice reminder that in many instances communities really do strive to support each other through difficult times.

“It’s always been Romtec’s desire to support the local community,” said Bogan. “We live, work, and breathe in Douglas County.”

To view the KPIC coverage click here.

Romtec, Inc. is a national designer, manufacturer, and supplier of pre-engineered public restroom buildings and other public utility structures. We also provide turnkey installation. Romtec, Inc. is a privately owned company founded in 1977. Romtec, Inc. is located at 18240 North Bank Rd. in Roseburg, Oregon. We can be reached at 541-496-3541 or by visiting www.romtec.com.

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Our sales representative, Travis Olson, will be manning our booth. This is Travis’s second major conference he’s managed for Romtec, and he’s a veritable guru of the public restroom building. He is primed with some exciting new information that Romtec will be introducing at the CPRS Conference.

If you are joining in the fun, our booth is going to be open Wednesday and Thursday (3/21, 3/22) of the conference, so please visit us at booth #250! We want to inform new customers how to avoid the lengthy bidding process by purchasing direct from Romtec’s CMAS contract. You can even take advantage of our remarkable lead time with turnkey service. All state and local government entities are eligible to purchase. Stop by and see how simple and fast it is to work with Romtec and CMAS to purchase California public restrooms.

 Feel free to ask Travis about our full offering of Romtec products, including concessions, kiosks, ticket booths and guard houses, log pavilions, restroom-showers, and more! This is a great opportunity to connect with all the contributors in the parks and recreation industry. What are you looking forward to about this year’s CPRS Conference?

Join the conversation, click here!

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Beaver Dam Case Study

When the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers began damming the White River in 1911, there were no public restrooms, GSA schedules, or online buying options. The dam projects then were to provide communities in the Ozarks with electricity, water supply, and recreation. These projects were important and through the years restrooms and recreation facilities became a part of scope. Today, many of these facilities are obsolete, and new buying practices are easier for the USACE to restore the parks. In 1960, the USACE started construction on the Beaver Dam, creating the extensive Beaver Lake in northwest Arkansas. With 12 Federal Parks currently located around the lake, one of the largest, Dam Site Lake Park, needed to replace its outdated facilities. The site was a beautiful limestone bluff overlooking the Beaver Dam. With the project in mind, the USACE went to work deciding how to build the best facilities for their picturesque location. Across the lake at Prairie Creek Park, a restroom shower building was in use that was supplied by Romtec in September of 2010. Hickory Creek Park also included a custom Romtec restroom project selected from ebuy. Both projects created a positive relationship between the USACE and Romtec. The USACE went to ebuy on the GSA schedule and saw that Romtec had listed a set of buildings that fulfilled their project needs and came in at their budget.  The scheduled buildings were similar to a project Romtec completed in Union City, Georgia. It was a combination of a custom Sierra IV Multi-user restroom and a large dimensional wood pavilion. The structures were upgraded with a stone-veneer wainscot and post bases, board and batten siding, tile floor, and tongue and groove roofing. Referred by the Romtec sales staff, the USACE looked at the photos of the Union City job on Romtec’s website and knew they were interested in buying through Romtec again. Romtec provides impressive lead times, but when a project is nearly a duplicate, they can be exceptionally quick. Within five months of placing their order, the USACE received a fully functional restroom and pavilion on their beautiful site. The completion of this project leaves Romtec optimistic that their capabilities and price-range will be needed again at Arkansas’ Beaver Lake.

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“My primary work experience is doing marketing through digital media: graphic design, videos,” said Ekborg, “I think there’s a lot we [Romtec] could be doing to simplify our message for our customers.”

Romtec and Romtec Utilities have long been web-driven companies, where the majority of sales are initiated through the websites. The Creative Department is tasked with keeping the websites modern and on pace with the current modes of web-based commerce. The addition of Ekborg brings the leadership and experience needed to maintain Romtec’s position at the forefront of the restroom industry. The Creative Department will also promote Romtec Utilities to new clientele as the burgeoning water infrastructure market continues to grow.

“I look forward to the challenges of taking Romtec and Romtec Utilities to new heights and creating a platform tailor-made to our customers,” said Ekborg.

Although there are many complexities unique to these industries, Ekborg is confident that he will learn quickly and be able to contribute immediately. Overall, this is an exciting time for the Romtec companies. Having an entire creative staff in-house, web, copy, design, has been a goal for a long time. Bringing in Ekborg is a precursor of big things from Romtec and Romtec Utilities, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to have him join our family. Welcome Greg!

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