1) Boston University is using Building Information Technology to shave months of the construction of its new student center in Kenmore Square: "Using BIM, the planners even make sure to leave headroom for some future maintenance worker to access an electrical box hanging from a ceiling otherwise packed with ducts and snaked with wiring." [Herald]
__
2) Peter Hotton offers some advice on winter-time condensation: "Also, vent the house: open windows and storms for five minutes twice a day, to allow that humid air to escape. Even replacement windows can leak, because they are installed in an existing opening. My own replacement windows, as good as they are, do leak air. It is one of those things best lived with, if everything possible has been done." [Globe]
__
3) Ross Levanto recounts a Beacon Hill gathering wherein residents railed against the possibility of changing the Charles Street Market into another bank branch: "One neighbor noted how the market is the only place on the street she can visit late at night when she feels threatened. Another talked about the over saturation of banks on Charles Street. Another noted how the neighborhood is being victimized by the bank—Capital One is placing branches in other strategic locations in downtown Boston, including in the Back Bay—as part of a broader marketing strategy." [Ross Levanto via The Hub]
__
4) The MBTA said it will keep commuter rail service in private hands: "Jonathan R. Davis, the T’s acting general manager, announced at the agency’s general meeting this week that the so-called “public option’’—the often-discussed idea of the T taking direct control of the commuter rail—will not be in the cards." [Globe]