The new, updated fourth edition of RSMeans' popular construction dictionary features over 20,000 terms, phrases and abbreviations, as well as over 1,400 illustrations. Your reliable source for: Comprehensive coverage of the construction trades, practices, and equipment Easy-to-understand, illustrated definitions of building materials and methods Updated and expanded coverage of new trends in the industry such as building automation, green building, energy conservation and more Regional terminology and slang expressions Extensive reference section with plan symbols, contact listings for professional organizations, conversions and equivalents, and more A free CD-ROM is included that lets you browse and search the complete print version of the dictionary, with additional expanded information and graphics. As a desk or field reference, RSMeans Illustrated Construction Dictionary is invaluable for architects, contractors, and facility owners and managers, as well as insurance and real estate professionals, attorneys, and anyone else who needs to understand construction terminology. RSMeans is the leading provider of cost and reference information on facility design, construction, and management in North America.

Provides detailed unit cost items, comprehensive assemblies costs and informative reference information. It contains thousands of material and labor price entries, 3-D illustrations, estimating models and a labor-hour format to make the information more useful for estimating and scheduling. With revised and expanded residential wiring cost data for homes, condominiums and apartments. New for 2004: Increase in types of voice and data outlets and LAN systems, and a reference page on Energy Efficiency Ratings for Luminaries.

The best tool you'll find for helping clients match their dream house with their budget.

This concise student edition of the most widely used dictionary for construction and design professionals offers clear explanations of essential construction-related terms and concepts. Illustrated throughout with explanatory drawings and photographs, it is an indispensable reference for beginning and advanced students in construction, architecture, design, facility management, real estate, and other related fields. Features include: Easy-to-understand definitions of nearly 10,000 terms, phrases, and abbreviations from every area of construction More than 1,400 drawings and photographs that help clarify concepts Up-to-date coverage of new industry trends, including building automation, energy conservation, green building, historic preservation, and more An extensive reference section with plan symbols, conversions and equivalents, and more

Includes, beginning Sept. 15, 1954 (and on the 15th of each month, Sept.-May) a special section: School library journal, ISSN 0000-0035, (called Junior libraries, 1954-May 1961). Also issued separately.

The process of user-centered innovation: how it can benefit both users and manufacturers and how its emergence will bring changes in business models and in public policy. Innovation is rapidly becoming democratized. Users, aided by improvements in computer and communications technology, increasingly can develop their own new products and services. These innovating users—both individuals and firms—often freely share their innovations with others, creating user-innovation communities and a rich intellectual commons. In Democratizing Innovation, Eric von Hippel looks closely at this emerging system of user-centered innovation. He explains why and when users find it profitable to develop new products and services for themselves, and why it often pays users to reveal their innovations freely for the use of all.The trend toward democratized innovation can be seen in software and information products—most notably in the free and open-source software movement—but also in physical products. Von Hippel's many examples of user innovation in action range from surgical equipment to surfboards to software security features. He shows that product and service development is concentrated among "lead users," who are ahead on marketplace trends and whose innovations are often commercially attractive. Von Hippel argues that manufacturers should redesign their innovation processes and that they should systematically seek out innovations developed by users. He points to businesses—the custom semiconductor industry is one example—that have learned to assist user-innovators by providing them with toolkits for developing new products. User innovation has a positive impact on social welfare, and von Hippel proposes that government policies, including R&D subsidies and tax credits, should be realigned to eliminate biases against it. The goal of a democratized user-centered innovation system, says von Hippel, is well worth striving for. An electronic version of this book is available under a Creative Commons license.