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Aluminum The Material of choice
Aluminum: Aluminium is a soft and lightweight metal with a dull silver-gray appearance. Aluminium is
about one-third as dense as steel or copper is malleable ductile, and easily machined and cast; and has
excellent corrosion resistance and durability due to the protective oxide layer. It is also nonmagnetic and
nonsparking and is the second most malleable metal (most being gold) and the sixth most ductile. Whether
measured in terms of quantity or value, the use of aluminium exceeds that of any other metal except iron
and it is important in virtually all segments of the world economy. Aluminium alloys form vital components of
aircrafts and rockets as a result of their high strength to weight ratio. Aluminium was selected as the
material to be used for the apex of the Washington Monument, at a time when one ounce cost twice the daily
wages of a labourer.

Aluminium was, when it was first discovered, extremely difficult to separate from the rocks it was part of.
Since the whole of Earth's aluminium was bound up in the form of compounds, it was the most difficult
metal on earth to get, despite the fact that it is one of the planet's most common. The reason is that
aluminium is oxidized very rapidly and that its oxide is an extremely stable compound that, unlike rust on
steel, does not flake off. The very reason for which aluminium is used in many applications is why it is so
hard to produce.

Recovery of this metal from scrap (via recycling) has become an important component of the aluminium
industry. Recycling involves simply melting the metal, which is far less expensive than creating it from ore.
Refining aluminium requires enormous amounts of electricity; recycling it requires only 5% of the energy to
produce it. A common practice since the early 1900's, aluminium recycling is not new. It was, however, a
low-profile activity until the late 1960's when the exploding popularity of aluminium beverage can finally
placed recycling into the public consciousness.

Electric power represents about 20 to 40% of the cost of producing aluminium, depending on the location of
the aluminium smelter. Smelters tend to be located where electric power is plentiful and inexpensive, China
is currently (2004) the top world producer of aluminium.

After peaking in popularity in the lavish homes of the 1920s then nearly disappearing from new construction
during the whimsical vinyl-sided cottage era, Wrought Aluminum is making a phenomenal come back over
wrought iron, now that Aluminum is cheaper to produce and the new techniques available to make it look
like wrought iron with the benefit of maintenance free .
Designers and builders attribute the re-surging demand to current trends in architecture featuring
Mediterranean, Southwestern, and French country style homes. Also credited are improved production
methods that render the metal applications more durable

The topic of gating is increasing. The blur between the public space and the private realm of the
homeowners' association and its management is surfacing. However, land developers are very aware that
gating is assumed to favor increased property values, and the town officials are aware of the associated
increases in the town's property tax base.

There are more than seven million households (about 6 percent of the national total) behind fences or
walls, according to the Census Bureau's 2001 American Housing Survey. The Census Bureau estimated
the percentage of people living in gated communities had shot up by 11 percent in the West. The homes
behind the walls, the survey revealed, were "upscale," and "mostly white developments."

Built in the early 1930s, the first gated communities in Los Angeles were upper-scale developments in
Rolling Hills and Bradbury. Now, gated communities represent almost 50 percent of the market in the
desert resort areas near Palm Springs.

"As real-estate commodities, they are tailored to fit to specific prospective buyers. Gated communities are
located within every kind of middle class and upper-class neighborhoods, and are now available for every
market segment continuing to increase.