Construction Today Volume 18, Issue 10

VOLUME 18, ISSUE 10

construction-today.com

Moving energy forward Fully integrated district energy services provider, Enwave Energy Corporation, supplies intelligent systems that generate, store, and share different forms of energy throughout regions

Trends Some of the latest developments in the custom home building space pg.14

Demolition How robotic hydrodemolition helps simplify concrete repair applications pg.16

Editor’s Letter Chairman Andrew Schofield Managing Director Joe Woolsgrove Editor - Libbie Hammond libbie@schofieldpublishing.com Assistant Editor - Will Daynes

ON THE COVER

Staff Writers - Alex McDonald, Danielle Champ XX.\ XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX JessicaXxxxxx Olley xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Managing Art Editor - Fleur Daniels xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx Art Editor - David Howard COLUMNS CONTRIBUTIONS Advertising Designer - PaulAND Gillings FROM OUR EDITORS AND WRITERS

Sales Director XX.\ XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX Alasdair Gamble Xxxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Operations xxxxxDirector xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Philip Monument

XX.\Manager XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX Operations NatalieXxxxxx Griffithsxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Research Managers Ryan Finn, Jo-Ann Jeffery, James Page, XX.\ XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX Ben Richell, Kieran Shukri Xxxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Editorial Researchers Adam Blanch, Mark Cowles Jeff Goldenberg, Mark Kafourous XX.\ XXXXXXX XXXXXXXXXX James Page, Wendy Russell, Richard Saunders Xxxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxxSales xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Advertising Johanna Bailey, Mike Berger, Jessica Eglington, James XX.\ Fuller,XXXXXXX Alex Hartley,XXXXXXXXXX Reid Lingle, Theresa McDonald, Ibby Mundhir, Sam Surrell Xxxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx Web Sales web@schofieldpublishing.com Subscriptions i.kidd@schofieldpublishing.com

Hello and welcome to the October issue of Construction Today. I was very interested to read our Trends feature this month, where James Lepak, President and owner of James David Custom Homes, gives us an insight into the changing requirements of buyers in the custom home building space.

The pandemic forced people to use their houses in new ways and as a result, interior spaces are being re-configured. New tech is also being included, and accessibility is increasing in importance. For the full article, turn to page 14.

Our cover story this month looks at the

VOLUME 18, ISSUE 10

operations of Enwave Energy Corporation, one of the leading core-competency district energy operators in

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North America. The company has built its reputation on solving the cooling, heating and energy needs of municipalities, communities, and higher education campuses, and we were fortunate to get further

© 2021 Schofield Publishing Ltd Schofield Publishing - Corporate Head Office

details about its operations from CEO Carlyle Coutinho.

Read the story on page 30.

Cringleford Business Centre, 10 Intwood Road, Cringleford, Norwich, NR4 6AU, U.K.

T: (312) 854-0123 T: +44 (0)1603 274130

Fully integrated district energy services provider, Enwave Energy Corporation, supplies intelligent systems that generate, store, and share different forms of energy throughout regions

Libbie Hammond EDITOR

Finelight Media LLC

XX

Moving energy forward

libbie@schofieldpublishing.com

Trends Some of the latest developments in the custom home building space pg.14

Demolition How robotic hydrodemolition helps simplify concrete repair applications pg.16

2240 West Woolbright Road, Suite 402 Boynton Beach, FL 33426

T: (561) 778-2396

Please note: The opinions expressed by contributors and advertisers within this publication do not necessarily coincide with those of the editor and publisher. Every reasonable effort is made to ensure that the information published is accurate, and correct at time of writing, but no legal responsibility for loss occasioned by the use of such information can be accepted by the publisher. All rights reserved. The contents of the magazine are strictly copyright, the property of Schofield Publishing, and may not be copied, stored in a retrieval system, or reproduced without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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Features 4

SECTOR PERFORMANCE

How have small businesses performed in the construction industry – why was the sector one

26

Exclusive Feature

2818

Exclusi

of the leading industries over this recent period?

6

BIM

To address the US infrastructure deficit, first of all the sector needs to tackle the ‘information deficit’ says Roger Grant

10 SEISMIC TECHNOLOGY New ground is being broken in geotechnical surveys with the use and adoption of nodes that allow faster projects in challenging locations

GAMETIME Construction

12 SUPPLY CHAINS The supply chain challenges that have resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic can act as a learning experience for contractors

38

44

14 TRENDS As calls for different solutions and designs increase, custom home builders are noticing some interesting new trends emerge

16 DEMOLITION To reduce injuries and increase efficiency, contractors are increasingly turning to Hydrodemolition technology

20 CASE STUDY These apartments in Washington feature a

Champion Specialty Services Provider

Battaglia Asso

multi-faceted rooftop deck and utilize Kebony wood to achieve the desired aesthetic

22 NEWS

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62

The latest news and announcements from the world of North American construction – contracts, projects, products and more!

Magil Construction 2 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Universal Builders Su

Profiles Exclusive Feature

COVER STORY

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eMars Inc.

Enwave Energy Corporation

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glia Associates Inc.

lders Supply (UBS)

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W.T. Rich

Accès Location +

Prescient

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Continued

growth

New clients added and project growth has allowed for the construction industry to prosper throughout the Covid-19 pandemic

W

hile the majority of 2020 was spent in

and remodeling - swiftly causing a higher-than-average ten percent

the midst of a pandemic, with many small

increase in clients.

businesses across various sectors experiencing the hardships of shutdowns and local and

New project growth and invoice value

global restrictions like never before, the construction industry

Restrictions causing less travel and more time at home, needing to

reported an all-time high in spending across the United States.

adapt the space for work, school and leisure, was a leading factor to

Accounting software firm, FreshBooks, looked at the key

an increase in projects such as renovations and repairs. The sector

performance indicators of small businesses in the construction

also saw higher invoice value, leading to expansive growth in the

industry, including new clients added, revenue and invoices

industry overall as the demand for work rose.

generated, in order to understand how this sector performed throughout the pandemic as compared to historic norms and why

Rise in annual expenditures

construction was one of the leading industries during this period.

Annual expenditures for remodeling and repairs rose to $332

Despite slight declines early in the year, with a seven-week period

billion amidst the pandemic and are expected to continue to rise

in April and May 2020 falling below historic norms, the construction

to $337 billion by the second half of 2021 due to higher home

industry fared well throughout the duration of the pandemic -

prices, sales, and second home purchases according to the Leading

performing consistently above historic averages by the end of

Indicator of Remodeling Activity (LIRA) released by the Remodeling

summer and into 2021 due to several observed factors.

Futures Program at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Increase in clientele Downturns at the beginning of the pandemic were observed due to

Decrease in expenses

lower key inputs such as new clients added, but quickly recovered in

As lockdown measures went into effect and travel was limited, it

following months due to an uptake of projects on the go, renovations

is not surprising that the most impacted expense category for the

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Sector performance

construction sector was travel - experiencing the greatest decline.

in homeowner spending and the resilience of the housing market

However, taking into account the higher-than-average numbers of

caused the alleviation of initial concerns of downturns caused by

new clients added, greater invoice value due to increased demand for

the pandemic.

work and more jobs to travel to overall, less distance was travelled

While the pandemic forced people to stay in their homes for

between sites decreasing travel-related expenses such as gas.

extended periods of times, it changed the way that homeowners

Compounded with greater expenses on meals and utilities, the

thought of their space - bringing greater value on what it means

construction sector did not see a major impact on expenses due to

to own and upkeep a home. In turn, the construction industry

Covid-19, yet continued to see growth in other sectors.

benefited from the uptick of these values and renovations with a large increase in clients, revenue and demand without the need

How global markets fared differently

for greater expenses. These businesses were able to prosper

Every country had to handle Covid-19 in ways specific to themselves.

throughout the duration of a pandemic and, seemingly, will

When looking at how small businesses fared in different markets

continue to do so as values of homes and homeownership continue

around the world, it is apparent that patterns are similar with respect

to rise.

to downturns, yet some markets were less affected than others.

Businesses in the US returned to growth activities faster than other parts of the world - bouncing back to historical range after only five weeks, about 1.6 times faster than the UK which recovered to the same range after 11 weeks. Many other parts of the world follow a similar path as the UK but struggle to move consistently beyond historical averages, making recovery a more challenging state.

Continuation into 2022 This upturn is expected to carry the way through to 2022. Financial boosts from stimulus packages and recent appreciation of housing prices lead experts to believe that homeowners will continue to invest greater amounts in their properties - incentivized by the ongoing strengthening of the housing market. As DIY and small project activity shows gains to the remodeling market along with the shift to large, professional projects, annual remodeling expenditures could boost to upwards of $370 billion by early 2022.

Implications and opportunities The overall health of the construction industry shows that this sector may be one of the outliers that has benefitted from Covid-19. Gains

FreshBooks is the #1 cloud accounting software for selfemployed professionals and their teams. The company has helped more than 20 million people process billions of dollars through its easy-to-use invoicing, time-tracking, expense management, and online payments features.

Recognized with ten Stevie awards for the best customer service in the world, the company’s mantra is to ‘execute extraordinary experiences every day.’ FreshBooks is based in Toronto, Canada. www.FreshBooks.com

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An organized

plan

Overcoming the ‘Information Deficit’ for infrastructure and buildings through a US National BIM program. By Roger Grant

T

o help the country recover from

estimated that the United States had

schools, repurpose office buildings, address

the economic impact of the

an unfunded infrastructure gap of more

housing shortages, build data centers and

pandemic, the US government

than $2 trillion. That figure may now be

respond to climate change impacts, to

is working on funding for

an underestimate: Public infrastructure

name a few.

infrastructure improvements. A wise

federal, state, and local spending was only

government investment is estimated by the

2.3 percent of the GDP in 2017 (the latest

maximize this critical investment and

Congressional Budget Office to yield $2.20

year for which figures are available)—a

stretch the funding across many priorities.

of economic benefit for every dollar spent1.

record low2. There are also many needs

We can’t do this effectively by continuing

related to public and private buildings,

down the same road. The building

including the need to upgrade aging

enterprise continues to become more

An investment is sorely needed. In 2016, the American Society of Civil Engineers

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If funding becomes available, we must

Building Information Modeling

demanding and complex, in terms of use

To be successful, we need to streamline

the efficiency in what we do and how we

of resources (money, material, workforce,

processes, integrate workstreams, and

do it. Substantial cost savings (estimated at

carbon) and performance (climate change,

increase the use of digital information to

13 percent – 21 percent)3 can be achieved to

public health) but relies on discontinuously

maximize benefits.

stretch investment dollars and create more

digitized processes that are incoherent.

If stimulus funding does not materialize,

benefit from the same or less expenditures.

Further, demands transform how we build

or is limited, then we will need to do

At the same time, US design,

- automation, robotics, digital building

everything we can to leverage the funding

construction and technology firms are

control systems, etc. - are increasing

that is available along with securing

global leaders in their fields. Many have

the demand for coherent information

investment from the private sector. To

been leaders in adopting and using

strategies across the delivery system.

justify this effort, we will need to increase

building information modeling (BIM) and

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jobsite management technologies, and

potential of new technology, they often

insufficient internal processes and risk

US-based technology companies have

hesitate to risk multi-billion-dollar projects

aversion’4.

developed tools to assist. However, they

on applications they consider unproven.

have not reengineered processes and

New technologies - advanced analytics,

technological expertise and address our

supply chains to really gain advantages.

automation, machine learning, and the

nation’s infrastructure deficit, we first

And, asset owners have not consistently

Internet of Things, for example - have

need to tackle our ‘information deficit.’

demanded better support for their process

delivered substantial benefits to industries

As noted, the United States is home to

and information needs. There is willingness

at the forefront of adoption, particularly

the world’s best technology for the built

to address this, but there are some

telecommunications and finance. And while

environment, which we can plug into a

fundamental disincentives in contracting

these disruptive forces will eventually

whole-sector information management

procedures and related risk aversion they

wash over every industry, the construction

approach. This approach should optimize

create. It is widely understood that much

industry still lags. Digital tools are already

common processes and standards, enable

more can be done. According to a 2019

available, with $18 billion invested in

projects to be built and managed digitally,

McKinsey & Company report: ‘An industry

construction technology between 2013 and

and provide support and education for

notorious for cost and time overruns, the

early 2018. McKinsey research, however,

decision makers and industry workforce.

construction sector can capture significant

finds that leaders struggle to adopt these

Now is the time to dramatically and rapidly

efficiencies by adopting new technologies.

applications—not because of cost concerns

improve the building process to meet the

While many executives acknowledge the

or lack of interest, but rather because of

unprecedented demands set before us.

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So, to leverage our practice and

Building Information Modeling

more ‘pull’ from the owners. From the

improve the relationships, performance and

can allow us to be more effective in what

The right information on existing assets

consultation, there is strong support for

profitability of the increasingly digitalized

work is carried out and more efficient in

a national coordinated approach with

US architecture/engineering/ construction/

how the work is performed. Information

owners providing leadership. This national

operation (AECO) industry. Next steps for

gathered, used, and shared in a reliable,

approach requires a plan, and it will need

the program include:

systematic process is key to effective

resourcing and should be led by a coalition

information management. This creates the

of owners, industry and membership

expanding and extending BIM standards

opportunity for owners to build and operate

organizations.

and support for their widespread adoption

buildings and infrastructure in more agile and resilient ways.

Consulting with owners and industry,

1. Develop an operational plan for

and implementation

The US National BIM Program

2. Build a leadership coalition of

The National Institute of Building

public and private owners and industry

we have formed a consensus view that a

Sciences (NIBS) is leading a consortium

representatives

shift toward an information management

of government and private sector owners

approach is needed for the sector. Owners

and industry representatives from

program to gain broad adoption and use of

want to be better informed with reliable

design, construction, manufacturing,

the standards and digital ways of working

data to make more effective decisions - this

technology and asset operation sectors,

will support resiliency and agile decisions to

plus software vendors in the development

improve the designing, building and use of

and dissemination of a next-generation

public assets.

information standard for the built

3. With a coalition in place, create the

environment. The US National Building

An organized and coordinated national plan for ‘owner centric BIM’

Information Management Program will

A coordinated vision of how BIM and other

Modeling Standard (NBIMS-US) to provide

digital approaches can meet the challenges

a step-change in capacity, creating a

faced today by owners and the sector

platform for the next phase of digital

is needed. Having an effort that is too

innovation.

narrowly focused on creating a standard

build on the work of the NIBS BIM Council and the US National Building Information

The program offers the opportunity to

to fix the ‘standards problem’ is not the answer. Common approaches between clients for bidding and project requirements combined with a common process for information management across the sector will provide owners the foundation to tackle the infrastructure deficit – helping to get more built for less cost with less waste.

To accomplish this, we need a coordinated national approach to BIM

Roger Grant is Executive Director, BIM, National Institute of Building Sciences.

The National Institute of Building Sciences brings together labor and consumer interests, government representatives, regulatory agencies, and members of the building industry to identify and resolve problems and potential issues around the construction of housing and commercial buildings. NIBS was established by the US Congress in 1974.

More information about the US National BIM Program is available on NIBS website at https://www.nibs.org/projects/national-bim-program. www.nibs.org

increasing the capacity of owners and the AEC sector akin to what has been done successfully in other countries, most notably the United Kingdom. By

Contributors to this report include Philip Bernstein, Associate Dean and Professor Adjunct, Yale University; Adam Matthews, Head of International, Centre for Digital Built Britain; and John Messner, Chair, US National BIM Standard and Professor, Penn State University.

committing to a collective information

This article was first published in The Hill: https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/563284-

management framework and leveraging

overcoming-the-information-deficit-for-us-infrastructure-and?rnd=1626384806

the buying power of public and private owners using this framework will help to build consistency and in turn build capacity of the whole sector. Owners are calling for better use and management of information, and industry representatives want to see

1 Estimated impact of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on employment and economic output in 2014, Congressional Budget Office, February 20, 2015, cbo.gov.

2 Reimagining infrastructure in the United States: How to build better, McKinsey and Company, July 2020 3 Boston Consulting Group (2016) Digital in Engineering and Construction http://futureofconstruction.org/ content/uploads/2016/09/BCG-Digital-in-Engineering-and-Construction-Mar-2016.pdf 4 Governments can lead construction into the digital era. McKinsey & Company, April 2019

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Beneath

our feet

Seismic nodes are breaking new ground in geotechnical surveys says Mike Popham

T

his year marks a century of

and difficult to manage in many settings,

seismic survey reduces the need to sample

seismic imaging, a type of

including urban areas and rugged terrains.

the ground through boreholes or test pits,

geotechnical survey that has

and even when the latter are required, it

Seismic acquisition today

complements the information in between

game-changing discoveries beneath the

Conventionally, seismic acquisition today

these coarse measurements. This provides

Earth’s surface, without actually having to

is done with vibroseis; big trucks mounted

essential information for planning major

break the ground first.

with hydraulic shaking plates that inject

construction or engineering projects.

enabled ground-breaking,

Since the first successful surveys in

vibrations into the earth. The seismic

Increasingly, many infrastructure and

the 1920s, the evolution and contribution

waves they generate are reflected and

construction projects are being built

of the technology has been remarkable,

collected by geophones on the surface

in environments that are difficult for

particularly for the oil and gas and

and used to estimate the properties of the

trucks or heavy machinery to access. For

engineering sectors.

Earth’s subsurface.

instance, obtaining seismic acquisition for

But that doesn’t mean that innovation

For the construction and engineering

a city-center subway project would require

can stop. The equipment has evolved to

industries, geotechnical site

disruptive, lengthy road closures, as trucks

be large, cumbersome and fuel-guzzling,

characterization (understanding the soil

and people are positioned to gather data

requiring environments to be partially

properties under a proposed construction

recordings. Mapping the subsurface of, for

cleared or roads to be closed in built

site) through seismic surveys has been one

instance, mountainous terrain throws up

up areas. This is making the process

of a key, non-intrusive method of provide

different but equally difficult challenges,

expensive, environmentally disruptive,

an accurate image of the subsurface. A

with steep inclines and roads that are

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Seismic technology

difficult to navigate. In short, bulky seismic receivers are simply not fit for geotechnical surveys of less accessible locations – and they’re not great for any project’s budget sheet or carbon footprint either.

That is where nodes – no heavier or larger than a smart phone – and pioneered by seismic technology providers like STRYDE, are enabling seismic surveys to be carried out in less-accessible locations and in a way that is less disruptive for the environment. They are making an enormous difference, bringing the advantages of high-density seismic to more challenging environments in a way

posing numerous health and safety risks in

Nimble system and the PinPoint source

that is affordable and efficient.

the process.

system, could fit into a single pickup truck

At 150g, nodes are light enough for a

The mountain, surveyed by Explor in

and 20-foot trailer. This is in stark contrast

single person to carry 90 of them. This

the Summer of 2020, was particularly

to a previous, similar Explor seismic study,

means that a two-person crew can deploy

inaccessible, reaching over 2000 meters in

which had required a 50-foot tractor

and retrieve hundreds of nodes in a single

height, with the steepest slope gradients

trailer and a truck, plus 18 people, just

shift, reducing the need for heavy vehicles

exceeding 40°. Large, unstable boulders

to transport the system into the seismic

to transport equipment and, allowing

meant that the only way to deploy nodes

camp.

seismic contractors to work without roads

was on foot – but a team of three people

being closed, all while helping to lower the

was able to do this, deploying one node

carbon footprint associated with project

every minute, with remote support to

The opportunity for the construction industry

development.

assist with distribution and activation.

One hundred years on from the first game-

This saves time and money. Nodes

From there, the nodes can continuously

changing seismic surveys, the technology

are now being used extensively and

record seismic data for at least 28 days at

has evolved to once again break new

across various industries, to image the

temperatures well below freezing, without

ground. And for the construction industry,

subsurface, whether it’s for oil and gas,

being touched. The nodes worked in

these inconspicuous nodes represent an

renewable energy projects, such as

conjunction with Explor’s own PinPoint

geothermal or for archaeologists seeking

seismic source, gathering a 2D seismic line

data, that paints a picture of the layers

to unearth the past.

of the mountain’s subsurface.

beneath our feet, enabling more efficient,

TM

Once the data had been collected, two

incredible opportunity to obtain seismic

accurate and decisive planning of complex

Seismic acquisition in challenging environments

members of Explor’s team spent just

infrastructure and engineering projects.

three hours retrieving several hundred

And this in a way that is far more accessible

As I’ve touched on, one area in which these

nodes from across the mountain. The

and far better for the environment –

nodes have a particular advantage – and

equipment needed for deployment and

whether that’s in the heart of Quebec, or at

the potential to be revolutionary – is in

recording, including both the STRYDE

the peak of Mount Robson.

mountainous terrain.

Earlier this year, we announced that we had been working with a company called Explor to trial seismic imaging of a mountainous terrain in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. Ordinarily, given the limitations imposed by steep and narrow mountain paths that limit access to smaller vehicles, mapping of this sort would require expensive and carbon-omitting helicopters to draft in heavy equipment,

Mike Popham is CEO of STRYDE. STRYDE’s mission is to make high density seismic affordable to any industry. Its customers benefit from a substantially reduced environmental footprint, reduced HSE risk, faster surveys, and significant operational efficiencies. Put simply, STRYDE’s products save customers money and time while enabling them to deliver the best quality seismic data.

With over 170,000 STRYDE NodesTM deployed or purchased globally, STRYDE is helping customers around the globe to acquire an unparalleled understanding of the subsurface. www.strydefurther.com

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Important

lessons

How contractors can learn and strategically emerge in a postpandemic climate. By Lisa Palladino

T

he construction industry has

pandemic hopefully nears its end,

companies for new projects. These sudden

faced trying times throughout

contractors can reflect on the various

price increases can dramatically impact

the past year. With economic

supply chain obstacles experienced this

companies who may have just recently

shutdowns and industries

past year to become more strategic in their

won a bid or were mid-job utilizing a lower

operations moving forward.

rate. In this instance, when the pandemic

on pause, construction companies have wondered how they would deal with the

and the resulting supply chain issues hit,

supply chain obstacles, price increases

Price escalations

it is likely that original budgets were going

and project backlogs that stem from the

Beginning in early-mid 2020, the supply

to be affected and would cause over runs

pandemic. As a result, the industry was

chain issues and increasing material

on projects due to new pricing on various

forced to be dynamic in its response

costs have greatly impacted construction

materials.

to these unprecedented times and the

companies across the globe. Throughout

many challenges that it brought about.

the year, the industry saw pricing

an acceleration pricing clause in their

Contractors will be responsible for

escalate on various materials with lumber

contracts, allowing them to bill extra in a

addressing these concerns throughout

skyrocketing in the spring and steel costs

change order for the pricing difference,

the remainder of 2021 and beyond. In

soaring in mid-summer.

others may need to accept the over-run if

fact, many of these hurdles have shaped

Due to both pricing and availability,

how contractors will conduct business in

these costs continue to negatively impact

the future.

both construction companies and potential

As the industry rebounds and the

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owners seeking to hire the construction

While some contractors may have

this type of clause does not exist or if the clause stipulates an upper pricing limit.

As 2021 continues, pricing is starting to balance back out and return to pre-

Supply chains

no longer be viable with the current increased pricing.

Contractors are also experiencing project

with a lack of skilled workers for years.

As many US citizens are currently getting paid more from unemployment than

fade, as only a number of clients have been

from low wage jobs, many are refusing

able to issue change orders to recoup some

to return to work and industries, such as

of the higher costs. In this unprecedented

construction, are lacking skilled laborers.

environment, staying on top of pricing

However, the Covid-19 federal relief

and being proactive with customers is the

programs, such as the SBA’s Paycheck

best way to mitigate any extreme budget

Protection Program (PPP) as introduced by

overruns.

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic

As pricing rebounds throughout the

Security (CARES) Act, have helped

remainder of 2021, contractors located in

contractors maintain employment levels

areas that experience extreme weather

throughout project delays.

conditions should keep the end of

Luckily, the supply chain obstacles

construction season top of mind. Rather

resulting from the pandemic haven’t yet

than holding off until later in the year to

resulted in major industry layoffs, but the

pick up on paused projects, contractors

lack of manpower will likely play a role as

may want to work with customers to

the supply chain stabilizes.

strategize next steps on these projects to be proactive.

A lesson learned: tackling future supply chain challenges

Decreased backlogs

The supply chain challenges resulting

As projects pause in anticipation of

from the pandemic can act as a learning

material shortages, the demand is slowing

experience for contractors. As companies

down. With this in mind, contractors

continue to navigate material delays and

experienced a decrease in job backlogs as

price increases, they must be strategic

the pandemic continued.

about bidding on new projects and picking

Almost a year into the supply chain

up on paused jobs. When applicable,

challenges, contractors are trying to

contractors should continually factor in

become more aware of their ability to

the future cost of materials into quotes,

perform under these circumstances and

and they should also look to include price

more strategic about which projects they

acceleration and force majeure clauses in

are choosing to move forward with. For

future contracts in the case that another

pandemic levels and material costs,

example, due to price increases, a business

pandemic or emergency event presents

such as lumber, are slowly declining. It

owner hiring a contractor for a project may

itself.

is anticipated that as 2022 approaches,

choose to temporarily hold off on a project

steel and additional materials will begin

or make the decision not to do the project

projects can have extreme benefits as

declining as well.

at all.

the country emerges from the pandemic.

Paused projects

Labor shortages

reviewed by an attorney, as they may be

Due to delays in materials, contractors

While the Covid-19 pandemic played a

able to think ahead on items that should

have been forced to pause ongoing

role in escalating the labor shortage issues,

be included in contract verbiage based on

projects. It is also important to note that

the construction industry has been dealing

experiences throughout the past year.

Being proactive on bids and upcoming

Companies should have all contracts

some vendors may supply to specific customers, depending on their relationship, and not to whomever purchased the materials first. This lack of ‘first come, first serve’ process is largely affecting businesses in terms of project viability.

For example, some jobs that were projected to be profitable under the original bid projections with specific materials may

Lisa Palladino is a CPA and partner at The Bonadio Group. Founded in 1978, The Bonadio Group is a nationally ranked Top 50 CPA firm offering accounting, tax, and consulting services to clients of all sizes. The firm’s professionals deliver practical, proactive, and innovative solutions to help clients reach their financial, compliance, management, and personal goals. The Bonadio Group is the largest independent provider of accounting, tax, and consulting services in upstate New York. www.bonadio.com

13 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Building

the dream

James Lepak reveals some current trends in custom home building

T

he custom home building

suit. Current architectural design is shifting

estimated 175 million smart homes in the

industry offers sustainable

to accommodate our technology-driven,

world, and these homes are projected to

and attractive homes in order

busy culture with more conveniences

grow at a CAGR of 25 percent from 2020 to

to meet the demands of our

and tools. Floor plans are also changing

2025. Smart homes include features like

customers. Over the last few years, close

to accommodate the shifting patterns in

motion sensors, automatic lighting and

to 17 million new conventional houses have

people’s lives; however, many designers

other smartphone-controlled technology.

been added by the home building industry.

and architects are also drawing upon

These tools make our lives faster, easier

About 1.8 million of them were built for

classic building techniques and ancient

and safer, and have gotten more affordable

single-family initiators alone in the year

materials. Here are some of the main

in recent history.

2005. Since then, the industry has grown

trends we’ve noticed in the custom home

rapidly without a momentous downturn

building space.

Heated floors A hot trend, this technology had previously

due to a fairly stable economy and low

Smart technology

been reserved for bathrooms, but is now

Perhaps the most notable building trend -

being utilized in other spaces. So for

solutions and environmentally-friendly

that shows no sign of slowing down - is a

example with cold Idaho winters, this is

design, today’s homes seem to be following

technology-equipped house. There are an

one feature in your house your visitors

mortgage interest rates.

With calls for technology-integrated

14 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

Trends

more convenient than the traditional tub/ shower combination. Additionally, massive overhead showerheads and natural lighting have been two of the top new trends for bathroom designs over the past few years and show no sign of slowing down.

Reclaimed wood Using reclaimed wood as siding and flooring in homes gives your home a lived-in and rustic feel. Wood derived from deconstructed barns not only gives your house a beautiful aesthetic, but it also helps the environment through recycling.

Additionally, reclaimed wood is much sturdier than manufactured wood due to the period of time the trees are let to grow before harvesting.

Open floor plans New homeowners are now incorporating large, flowing floor plans into their home building designs. Previously, there were separate rooms for the living room, entertainment room and dining room; open floor plans group these rooms together, making the home feel large and spacious.

Accessible design Forget the sunken living rooms, high cabinets and spiral staircases of the past.

Current homes are easy to move around in, even if you or a family member has physical will greatly appreciate. So kick off your

Walk-in showers

limitations. Homebuilders use the phrase

shoes and get comfortable in your cozy

Walk-in showers aren’t a new concept;

‘universal design’ to describe these houses

custom home.

however, they have recently garnered a

because they are safe for people of all ages

lot of attention from home owners and

and abilities. Features like wide hallways

Rethinking the kitchen

designers alike. Often equipped with dual

blend harmoniously into the design so

As we all spent more time at home last

shower heads, modern hardware and

that they are as functional as they are

year, the kitchen has become even

built-in shelving, walk-in showers are

beautiful.

more important in our daily life. In fact, 87 percent of families prefer a kitchen that functions in various ways, such as school activities, working from home, entertaining, along with meal preparation and family dining. This can explain the rise in larger kitchen islands, open layouts, walk-in pantries, and upgraded appliances

James Lepak is President and owner of James David Custom Homes (JDCH).

James David Custom Homes is a company of luxury custom home builders with 30+ years of experience and expertise. It is a company that sets high standards for custom home building excellence and customer experience. Build your new custom home in Orange County, CA or Coeur d’ Alene, ID. https://jamesdavidcustomhomes.com/contact-us

as must-haves.

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Wash and

learn

How robotic hydrodemolition helps simplify concrete repair applications. By Roger Simonsson

A

cid rain, road salt and normal

practical, contractors typically rely on

wear and tear wreak havoc on

processes to remove deteriorated concrete

removing old concrete require hours of

concrete over time. Because

and create a suitable surface to which new

manual labor using handheld water jetting

new construction isn’t always

concrete will easily adhere.

equipment or handheld pneumatic tools.

16

WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

However, traditional methods of

Demolition Left: Hydrodemolition is a concrete removal technique used in areas such as bridges, buildings and airport runways. The method uses high-pressure water jets as powerful as 40,000 psi manipulated by an automated robot to remove layers of deteriorated and damaged concrete

concrete. The high-pressure water exceeds the strength of the concrete to widen existing pores and microcracks, breaking it apart in a controlled manner.

Here are five key advantages of Hydrodemolition: 1. Superior bonding Alternative techniques such as handheld breakers tend to leave layers of dust and damaged concrete with small cracks extending as much as one inch (25 millimeters) into the residual concrete. As a result, the profile could potentially spoil the bonding for new concrete.

Hydrodemolition, on the other hand, leaves a rough, irregular surface after removing the initial layer of concrete.

This ‘craggy’ profile is proven to provide better bonding strength. Independent pull-off tests have shown that the bonding strength from Hydrodemolition robots is much higher than what’s achieved with a jackhammer or mechanical method. The average failure stress while using robotic Hydrodemolition can be more than 2 MPa. 2. Extended structure lifespan compared to jackhammers, Hydrodemolition is an impact-free process, eliminating the vibrations that cause microfractures — miniscule cracks in sound concrete that significantly damage the structure’s integrity.

Handheld pneumatic tools and milling machines also leave rebar damaged To reduce injuries and increase efficiency,

Hydrodemolition uses high-pressure

and susceptible to rusting. Although

contractors are increasingly turning to

water jets as powerful as 40,000 psi

Hydrodemolition’s high-powered water jets

Hydrodemolition to handle these concrete

manipulated by an automated robot to

are devastating to concrete, they do not

rehabilitation jobs.

remove layers of deteriorated and damaged

damage steel rebar. As a natural result of

17 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

the high-pressure water, rust and scale is Above top: Compared to jackhammers, Hydrodemolition is an impact-free process, therefore eliminating vibrations that cause microfractures, miniscule cracks in sound concrete that significantly damage the structure’s integrity Below: The robots allow operators to monitor their work at a safe distance from hazards such as ledges common in bridgework, flying debris and harmful silica dust. In addition, by eliminating the need to stand near a ledge, contractors save time otherwise spent setting up fall abatement systems

18 WWW.CONSTRUCTION-TODAY.COM

removed, leaving the steel clean and intact, even directly underneath. The method virtually eliminates ‘shadowing’ as well.

This combination of benefits results in repairs that last up to three times longer. The Swedish Cement and Concrete

Demolition Research Institute (CBI) determined a repair life expectancy of 21 to 35 years with Hydrodemolition robots compared to seven to 12 years using mechanical chiseling.

3. Increased productivity A Hydrodemolition robot’s high-pressure water jet removes concrete by widening existing pores and micro cracks in the weakened structure. This process is more efficient than mechanical methods, allowing the user to complete jobs more quickly — and up to 25 times faster than with hand lances.

One operator generally controls the machine and can complete concrete removal tasks as fast or faster than

Above: The secret to the Hydrodemolition process is the pressurized water penetration. The combination of high pressure, water volume and precise, robotic-controlled movements creates a powerful, efficient system

multiple workers. For example, some Hydrodemolition robots can remove as

arm vibration

much as 800 square feet (74.3 square

syndrome, common

meters) of concrete bridge deck at a depth

with handheld

of four inches (ten centimeters) per hour,

equipment. These

a fraction of the time it would take a crew

injuries can result

with handheld breakers.

in more worker’s

Additionally, Hydrodemolition robots’

compensation

compact nature allows them to reach tight,

claims down the

confined spaces. Various design features

line, and may cause

and additional attachments also allow for

company insurance

work on any vertical, curved or horizontal

premiums to

surface. This greatly increases productivity

increase.

and reduces the number of tools needed on a jobsite.

5. Less interference

4. Less labor and more safety

Finally,

Hydrodemolition units require less labor

Hydrodemolition

and cause fewer injuries than other

offers a quieter

methods, such as chipping hammers and

solution for urban

handheld water jetting equipment.

environments.

An infographic from Aquajet describes the benefits of hydrodemolition

Hydrodemolition robots generally

Hydrodemolition continues to grow

to monitor their work at a safe distance

produce less noise than a handheld

in popularity with contractors, project

from hazards such as ledges common in

pneumatic tool and the sound is limited

stakeholders and government agencies

bridgework, flying debris and harmful silica

by the machine’s hood. The quieter

around the globe. The machines’ ability

dust. In addition, by eliminating the need to

operation allows contractors to work in

to tackle projects in record time while

stand near a ledge, contractors save time

residential areas or avoid busy travel times

improving safety is appealing to those

otherwise spent setting up fall abatement

by working duringhours when noise levels

looking for ways to speed up concrete

systems.

are restricted.

removal while increasing ROI.

Hydrodemolition robots allow operators

The combination of high pressure, water volume and precise, roboticcontrolled movements creates a powerful, efficient system that allows operators to take a hands-off approach. This eliminates fatigue and long-term injuries, such as nerve damage and hand-

Roger Simonsson is the CEO of Aquajet. He has more than 30 years of industry and leadership experience. Aquajet, which was acquired by Brokk AB in 2016, is known as the industry leader in Hydrodemolition machines and solutions, both in terms of quality and volume. The company’s headquarters and production facilities are in Holsbybrunn, Sweden. www.aquajet.se

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Top

deck

A beautifully designed apartment rooftop terrace completed with sustainable Kebony wood is decorating the skyline in Washington DC

L

ocated nearby the epicenter of

Responsible for creating a beautiful

Kebony’s durability and need for extremely

Washington DC’s H Street, the

outdoor living environment, the landscaped

minimal maintenance made it the perfect

Apollo Apartments have been

deck offers unparalleled 360-degree views

choice for the project, which is exposed to

thoughtfully designed to capture

of the city, a multi-use pool/fountain, a

the elements all year round, with highs of up

the excitement of the early 20th Century

movie screen with lawn seating, a

to 34°C in the summer and lows of -18°C in

Apollo Theatre, located on the same site, with

contemporary pergola and several stylish

the winter.

modern amenities befitting one of the city’s

Kebony benches which adorn the sensitively

most dynamic neighborhoods. Global leader

designed rooftop space.

in the production of sustainably modified

Finding the right material for the ambitious

Developed in Norway, Kebony’s revolutionary technology is an environmentally friendly process, which

wood, Kebony, was selected for one of the

rooftop project led Insight Property Group

modifies sustainably sourced softwoods by

building’s most striking features, its multi-

and Landscape Architecture Bureau to

strengthening the wood with furfuryl alcohol

faceted rooftop deck, sat atop the residential

Kebony, which was ultimately selected due

- an agricultural by-product. By polymerising

building, which houses more than 350

to its natural aesthetic, impressive durability

the wood’s cell wall, the softwoods

apartments.

and award-winning sustainability credentials.

permanently take on the attributes of tropical

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Photography: Sean O’Rourke

Case study

hardwood including high durability, hardness

Apollo Apartments, Payam Ostovar, PLA,

completed. One of the best benefits we

and dimensional stability*.

ASLA, at Washington-based Landscape

have noticed the most, is that being a

Architecture Bureau added: “The decking is

pool deck, it is far cooler than the adjacent

performing extremely well since construction

concrete pavers.”

Brendan Whitsitt, Director of Development of Insight Property Group, said: “We are delighted with the impressive rooftop space and are pleased to have worked with fantastic partners and products to help realize the vision. For the decking, we were looking for a natural material that would not require any real maintenance or regular touch-ups and were very pleased to have discovered Kebony wood, which only requires normal cleaning and no additional processing.”

Commenting on the use of Kebony at the

* Kebony Technology The Kebony technology is a patented process which enhances the properties of non-durable wood species to give them similar characteristics to the best performing woods. Through a sustainable process wood species such as pines and non-durable woods are impregnated with a bio-based liquid derived from agricultural crop waste. With the addition of heat, the furfuryl polymer is permanently grafted into the wood cell wall, resulting in greatly improved durability and dimensional stability. https://us.kebony.com/

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News In Brief Software options

Strategic partnership TheoBuild has formed a

B2W Software has introduced new

strategic partnership with

capabilities within its ONE Platform

VOS Systems to better

that enable contractors to identify

serve its construction

equipment defects and make repairs

clients. Both firms have

faster and more cost effectively.

focused their product

The B2W Inform application enables

offerings in allowing real-

contractors to customize and manage

time visibility into some

electronic forms for any requirement,

of the most impactful and

including equipment inspections.

least transparent areas in

Form fields can be mapped to the

the construction life cycle,

format of equipment repair requests,

mainly purchases and labor.

which are managed in the B2W

“We believe that by giving our clients a simple to use, simple to adopt a solution

Maintain application. This connection

that gives them visibility into key areas of their project delivery we can help drive

allows inspection forms to trigger

profitability while monitoring general resource usage, allowing our clients to work

repair requests automatically in

smarter and safer,” says Omar Ghazzaoui, Co-founder and CEO of VOS Systems.

the maintenance software and for

Together, both firms will join forces to work with existing clients to provide a more

information from forms – including

holistic view of project spend and resources management through TheoBuild’s spend

descriptions and photos – to flow

management tool and VOS System’s IoT-enabled Connected Resources® solution.

directly to the requests.

“VOS’s product line-up and vision aligns perfectly with our vision of enabling our

B2W Maintain and B2W Inform utilize

construction clients to focus on ‘Building’, not back-office data crunching while

a single database for equipment lists,

ensuring that resources, including cash, are being deployed in the most efficient and

jobs, employees and other operational

controlled manner possible,” says Jammil Handal Founder and CEO of TheoBuild.

data. Linking inspection form fields to this database allows drop-down menus to be populated with valid, up-to-date options, minimizing errors and the effort required to fill out forms.

Florida project Aventon Companies, a prominent, vertically integrated multifamily

Improved visibility InEight Inc., has announced the rollout of the first in a series of quarterly platform enhancements designed to enable deeper project insights. These innovations will include a full range of enhancements to its extensive portfolio of integrated construction project management solutions, which aim to improve productivity and strengthen collaboration for users, resulting in better project outcomes.

“From day one, InEight’s vision has been centered on how technology can enable all construction project stakeholders to get better with every project,” said Brad Barth, Chief Product Officer, InEight. “That means having better insights and better visibility to risks, which leads to better planning, and that leads to better execution and more predictable outcomes on large capital projects.”

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developer with active projects throughout the mid-Atlantic and Southeast, has begun development on its latest apartment community within the Tampa area submarket. Aventon Clearwater, located on US-19 North, will be a 22acre, 396-unit, amenity-rich apartment community conveniently situated near major employers, renowned beaches and shopping destinations. Aventon Clearwater will be developed through a joint venture with Maryland-based private equity firm, FCP®.

Consisting of ten garden-style buildings, offering one, two and three-bedroom spacious floor plans, Aventon Clearwater will feature the finest finishes and technology. Designed for easy living, over 8,000 square feet of covered amenity space includes a state-of-the-art fitness center and yoga studio, coffee bar, pet spa, and poolside lounge. Among the outdoor spaces, residents will find a private resortstyle pool, cabanas and day beds, hammock garden, outdoor kitchen, walking trails, and a dog park. Additionally, in an era of remote work, on-site offices and associated communication spaces along with automated package delivery simultaneously mix work and play.

Scott + Cormia Architects have designed Aventon Clearwater’s buildings, while the interiors will be finalized by Beasley & Henley Interior Design, each local to central Florida.

News Community revitalization

Working together

After 35 months

Lendlease and Google Cloud have formed a

of construction,

new global partnership. Working together,

Clark Construction

the two organizations will help usher in safer,

Group has reached

more sustainable, and efficient urbanization

substantial completion

projects globally by partnering in three key

on 1950 and 2000

areas: advancing Lendlease’s next-generation IT

Opportunity Way,

strategy; integrating new artificial intelligence

the first two office

(AI), machine learning (ML), and smart data

buildings to be

features into Lendlease’s Podium building

delivered in the next

software platform; and collaborating on joint

phase of Boston

go-to-market initiatives to drive sustainability

Properties’ new

projects industry-wide.

transit-oriented

“Remaking buildings is both the greatest need

development that

and the greatest opportunity in addressing our

expands Reston Town Center in Fairfax County, Virginia.

future,” said Bill Ruh, CEO, Lendlease Digital. “By

2000 Opportunity Way is a 28-story, 800,000 square foot office building, including

using Podium to digitize supply chains, firms

8,000 square feet of retail space and a six-level parking structure. 1950 Opportunity Way

can plan construction projects with accurate

is a 20-story, 623,000 square foot office building with 8,000 square feet of retail space

parts, pricing and supply. This means fewer

and a six-level parking structure. The two office towers are structurally adjoined at levels

delays to projects, more precise build plans, and

7 and 8 by a 20-foot-high connector floor. The project also includes a 7,000 square foot

a reduction in cost estimate errors. This will also

fitness center, a roof deck, and multiple private roof terraces.

put important information about the lifecycle of

“The success of this project is due to the tremendous collaboration between Clark,

building projects into the hands of employees

Boston Properties, Duda|Paine Architects, Cooper Carry, and our many talented trade

at their work locations, including construction

contractors,” noted Terry Simon, a senior vice president at Clark Construction Group.

sites and within owned property assets.”

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GAMETIME Construction

It’s

GAMETIME GAMETIME Construction https://gametimeconstruction.com Services: General contractor

Despite its youth, GAMETIME Construction is making impressive movements to build its name under the leadership of Marcus Roebuck

W

ith 20 years of experience and the invaluable wisdom of his father, Marcus Roebuck is geared with the tools to build big goals for his own construction company.

Although still in its ‘middle school phase’ as he says, GAMETIME has grown to specialize in building colleges, universities, sports arenas, as well as homes and luxury condominiums.

Since 2017, when the business was first

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established, Marcus has dedicated himself to absorbing as much knowledge and advice as he can from his colleagues, which has been particularly useful when it comes to creating built solutions that can handle natural disasters raging regularly through the States.

For Marcus, his carpentry capabilities and industry experience in the built environment provides GAMETIME with the expertise to create infrastructures capable of withstanding

potential devastation. “There are many reliable and responsible construction companies, but where I come in is the various skills across the whole team. I do have some contractors and consultants with more experience in concrete and electrical, so our general contracting focus is very helpful for building safe and sturdy spaces,” he shares.

Is this what sets GAMETIME apart from other contractors? Well, for Marcus camaraderie is

Exclusive Feature key. Rather than viewing other companies as competition, he prefers to see them as teachers with ample knowledge on how to excel in the construction field. “Obviously we want to be successful and I want to pay my guys well but at the end of the day, we are all builders, we have to all come together and build as much as we can and I still have so much to learn from everyone,” he adds and this tactic is clearly working. In the short time that the business has existed, it has successfully expanded into to Georgia, Illinois, Tennessee and Alabama, proving that while some new start-ups may choose to take their time in scaling up, Marcus is ready to take risks. “I have already laid out the map just because of the rapport I have with colleagues of mine, as well as people who are actually interested in the business on a larger scale,” he says.

Amongst his ambitious goals to continue to grow GAMETIME, he recognizes the importance of taking care of those working under the company name. “I know all the guys on my team on a personal level and I take time to understand what’s happening in their lives because I think that’s the best way to make a team feel motivated. You have to get to know your people and encourage the team in a way that makes them feel heard and appreciated for the work that they do, and I think that in the long run, this is going to play such an important role in making our company culture one of the best out there. We are not waking up just to get the job done; we want to be great and motivated, inspired and innovative. Above that, we want to be cutting edge, especially as a minority business enterprise, we have to shine twice as bright,” Marcus explains.

According to an Annual Business Survey conducted by the US Census Bureau in 2018, only 18.3 per cent of all US businesses were minority-owned. In Marcus’s experience, this reality has often led to GAMETIME being overshadowed and underestimated to get the job done. “There is this idea that we can do the work but we can’t lead the work, and I think that is where I want to leave my mark. Thirty years down the line, I want to able to prove that no matter what, we did our best and we completed every project well because there was no reason why we couldn’t,” he shares, and so far, Marcus looks on target to achieve just that.

Not even a pandemic could slow this company down. Although the first few months of 2020 were tricky as projects for universities and government agencies slowed down, Marcus remained patient and strategic

Above: Marcus Roebuck to keep the business going. “Streets still needed to be paved, pot holes still needed to be filled, so there was definitely work to be done. Aside from funding being a bit of a hiccup, my persistence and consistency didn’t change. I just had to stay motivated for the team,” he adds.

Tied with his dedication to training a strong team, Marcus is equally as passionate about extensive community involvement. Having lived in Chicago for close to ten years, he made the decision to register with the Chicago Housing Authority to help redevelop and liven up neglected areas within the metropolis. “I learned a lot through my adult years living there, which helped me understand both the political and commercial side of the industry, and it puts fuel in the tank to give back to the communities,” he expresses.

Marcus is proud to share that the GAMETIME journey could not have been possible on his

own. His eagerness to learn from other experts in his field is setting him in good stead to grow the business and achieve the impressive goals that he has set for the company’s future. “Our name stands for ‘God answers me every time’ so whenever I say ‘GAMETIME’, it happens for a reason. I am incredibly grateful to everyone who continues to help us grow and invest in the projects that we take on; I’ve had to have different freelance contractors help out and some of my colleagues advised me on different ways to approach marketing and how I conduct my operations, similarly to how they run theirs. This industry is constantly changing so I believe that talking and learning from like-minded people gives me that extra push and motivation to deliver the best service I can, which will put us in a great position to take on new projects, grow and ultimately achieve great things,” Marcus concludes.

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eMars Inc.

eMars Inc.

Paying it

www.emarsinc.com Products: Certified payroll on-line compliance software

forward

Compliant Client by eMars Inc. makes payroll easy and worry free for any construction company doing business

A

s countless satisfied customers have come to discover, The Compliant Client system by eMars is the answer for worry free-time saving compliant payment. Easy to install and use, the system provides immediate, concurrent, real time visibility of all payroll records of the sub, prime, plus – the owner agency. All screens are printable, and every

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submitted payroll is audited, on line and in real time, against the wage determination and all 30 causes that are in support of Davis-Bacon and Related Acts.

Designed with considerable input from the Department of Labor, and various other agencies and contractors, Compliant Client requires only a PC and less than 30 minutes of training to get started, and complete

implementation takes less than a single day after loading the wage determination. With a typical payroll prepared in less than five minutes, the system represents an 80 percent productivity improvement compared to paper and pencil preparation. Furthermore, instant recognition of payroll errors prompt the user as to how to solve the problems and guarantee compliance.

Exclusive Feature

Another unique feature of Compliant Client is that it encrypts at-rest data, providing an additional layer of security. “Security and peace of mind for our clients is our major concern,” explains President of eMars Inc., Woody Chamberlain. “We handle, save, and encrypt hundreds of thousands of bits of information for our clients, and we understand that their workers’ privacy and sanctity cannot be compromised.”

A further benefit of Compliant Client is that it is made available to auditors to receive and review electronic payrolls. eMars authorizes approved auditors to utilize the system so that they can thoroughly interrogate the data and see what is going on with a particular company’s payroll. The auditor also has the ability to send out internal messages within the system, which is another innovative feature of Compliant Client. “By supporting not only our clients, but also auditors, we are delivering a two-pronged service for the betterment of all parties concerned,” Woody enthuses.

The multiple system features of Compliant Client are also helping to lend it to other associated demands facing construction companies in 2021. “A new development to have arisen in the last year, in light of the pandemic, has been an increased pressure for public employees working on State of Government funded projects to show that they have been vaccinated against Covid-19,” Woody details. “We have the ability to store this information within our system, providing easily retrievable records of every worker on a project and his or her respective vaccination status and eligibility to work.

“The ability to store data that helps to facilitate the correct and legally binding running of projects also extends to things such

as the recording of worker’s criminal records.

Many of our clients carry out construction projects on active college campuses, and a general rule is that you cannot have a convicted felon active on said sites. Compliant Client can help to identify those with a prior conviction and therefore would be disallowed from joining a particular project.

“We feel it is this ability to store large swathes of easy-to-access data on vaccination and conviction status, as well as elements such as what percentage of a workforce is male or female, or the percentage of say minorities or military veterans there are on a given project, that places our system ahead of the current pack.”

With a Spanish language version of Compliant Client currently being actively explored, Woody goes on to conclude how the system is constantly evolving to meet the needs of clients not only today, but in

the future. “As we have displayed numerous times to date, whenever a new requirement is presented to us by either a client or the wider industry, we are very adept at making adjustments to Compliant Client in order to serve said need, before making it available to everybody.

“Unlike many other systems out there, which have various versions active at any one time, there is only ever one version of Compliant Client out there, and that is the latest one!

Our system operates in real time, so when we roll out an upgrade we immediately make this accessible to all of our users. That is how we continue to introduce change to the market.”

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Enwave Energy Corporation

Moving energy

forward One of the leading core-competency district energy operators in North America, Enwave Energy Corporation provides sustainable energy solutions that suit the needs of individual communities

Enwave Energy Corporation www.enwave.com Services: Cooling, heating & power solutions using sustainable technologies

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Enwave Energy Corporation

W

ith the help of proven, sustainable technologies, Enwave Energy Corporation has built its reputation on solving the cooling, heating and energy needs of municipalities, communities, and higher education campuses. A fully integrated district energy services provider, the company’s intelligent systems generate, store, and share different forms of energy throughout regions, delivering the benefits

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of scale, reliability, and sustainability to individual buildings and homes.

Providing its services for over three decades across Canadian cities like Toronto, London, Charlottetown, Windsor, and Markham, Enwave has grown quickly over the last ten years. As CEO Carlyle Coutinho explains however, despite its growth, the company’s core competencies and essential appeal remain much the same.

“A district energy system is a highly efficient design connecting many buildings with differing energy profiles to low carbon energy sources,” Carlyle says. “Providing heating and cooling at scale is more efficient, allows for access to renewable technologies, and displaces the need to install separate space heating, cooling and hot water systems in each building.

The district energy system does the work, providing valuable benefits.

“Depending on the location of a district energy system, Enwave can apply a range of solutions to meet the demands of the system or of individual buildings. These might include deep lake water cooling, thermal battery solutions, combined heat and power, waste-to-energy and geoexchange.”

Headquartered in Toronto, Enwave remotely monitors its production facilities and customer sites in-real time to ensure supply and demand are aligned, performance managed, and efficiency optimized. As with any major business, technology plays a significant role in the smooth running of these operations.

“At Enwave, we benefit from a range of advanced technology that helps improve efficiency. This includes a sophisticated asset dispatch system with weather forecast and utility pricing inputs that can predict district loads and generates weekly, daily, and

hourly dispatch strategies,” Carlyle states.

“Right now, we are undergoing a major digital transformation to implement machine learning, artificial intelligence models, and systems that will help our plants and customers achieve NetZero goals. Our aim is to utilize data to reduce energy consumed in buildings and provide our customers with real-time portals for better decision making.

“As we speak, our energy management and optimization team is working hard to reduce energy intensity and lower our carbon footprint by setting annual targets. Similarly, plant management teams are finding ways to meet these targets and ensure high efficiency equipment and assets are procured.”

Leveraging its vast experience in the energy industry and its innovative approach to development, Enwave continues to provide customers with efficient and reliable solutions that help them achieve their energy goals. Partnering closely with contractors, the firm is always looking to push the envelope in terms of product development,

striving to implement these systems at a large scale so as to deliver maximum impact.

One of Enwave’s most recent major ventures began in 2020, when the firm started work on the Deep Lake Water Cooling Supply Expansion (DLWC) project. Set to be completed by the spring of 2024, the $100+ million project will reduce greenhouse gas

emissions and reduce the strain on local electricity and water systems.

“The DLWC expansion project required strong partnership with the City of Toronto, and, more specifically, Toronto Water,” Carlyle reports. “Projects like this are very challenging otherwise. Our partnership helped us achieve benefits for all parties,

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Enwave Energy Corporation

like optimized use of assets, reduced GHG emissions, and less strain on electricity grid.

“In evaluating this project, we highlighted the advantage of expanding the system with a renewable source, like lake water found at an ideal temperature, versus using electricity and traditional systems to create chilled water. The traditional system alternative was also evaluated as part of the Environmental Assessment process, in which Enwave and Toronto Water jointly undertook a process to ensure that there were no components of the system that would negatively impact the environment.

“The solution itself is a complex engineering challenge and required a significant amount of technical due diligence to ensure its feasibility. Having a strong construction partner to deliver on the design and appropriately mitigate associated risks is key to ensuring success, while our partnership with Toronto Water will allow us to fully leverage the project by scaling efficiencies to other components of our system.”

Elsewhere, in Toronto’s vibrant King West neighborhood, Enwave is carrying out work beneath The Well – a visionary mixed-use development featuring more than three million square feet of retail, office, and residential space. After originally expecting to install water tanks in The Well’s parking garage, plans evolved and, in what was a

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huge technical undertaking and a major collaborative exercise, Enwave and its development partners, Allied Properties REIT and RioCan REIT, instead installed a giant subterranean tank and 55-foot-wide void under the site.

“This two-million-gallon thermal storage tank beneath the P7 parking level at The Well can be used to store chilled water and hot water at night when loads are lower,” Carlyle points out. “At peak hours during the day, the chilled water and hot water can be exported back into Enwave’s district energy network to offset peak loads. The tank is used for heating during the winter and for cooling during the summer.”

Determined to combat climate change, Enwave is focused on accelerating clean economic growth and enabling customers to meet their carbon reduction targets. The company’s commitment to these priorities is evidenced in its recent geoexchange project with Mattamy Homes.

“We are currently involved in building a 300+home community in Markham, Ontario,

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Enwave Energy Corporation which will use what’s known as a district geoexchange system - the largest of its type currently proposed in Canada,” Carlyle reveals. “Having drilled our geo bore field in the streets, allowing the community to tap into geoexchange energy, heating and cooling in the area can now be delivered at a neighbourhood level, through a single common ambient pipe buried underneath the community and connected to each home, like that of an electrical grid.

“The project brings great value not only to the developer - Mattamy Homes - but also to the City of Markham. By providing low-carbon energy solutions to single family home development through this geoexchange project, we are helping the client and its customers reap all the advantages of a lowcarbon community.”

Incredibly, Enwave has managed to continue delivering these key projects in spite of the difficulties presented by the Covid-19 pandemic over the last 18 months. Because of the essential nature of its operations, the firm was able to have uninterrupted operations despite Covid-19.

“It was a difficult period, but we worked hard, and continue to work hard, to make sure everyone – our employees, partners, and the communities in which we operate – stays safe and healthy,” Carlyle remarks.

“Over the last year and a half, we have simplified communications with our employees to provide relevant updates in areas like prevention, symptoms and resources, and our workforce’s health and wellness remains at the forefront of our minds.

“Even before the pandemic, safety was a core value at Enwave, and we are determined to support our people in performing their work in a safe, healthy, and responsible way. The pandemic only highlighted these values. Our employees are our first line of defense and first opportunity for resilience, so we doubled down on operational HSE procedures, including control room sanitization, personal hygiene initiatives like face coverings, decreased access to our sites, and the sharing of resources like mental health awareness and coping strategies. Our protocols have resulted in zero workplace outbreaks. We have come through a tough time together.”

Of course, instrumental to the company’s resilience and strong performance since early 2020 has been Enwave’s skilled and hardworking team. Quick to praise

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his employees’ commitment, motivation, and talent, Carlyle believes that Enwave’s workforce is what has made the firm a leader in the district energy market.

“Our people are at the heart of our success,” he asserts. “We aim to clearly link our employees’ daily activities to our strategy and purpose, and to provide continuous learning and development opportunities.

Our recent focus has been to build the capabilities of leaders and managers so that they can develop their teams, create an entrepreneurial-based culture and demonstrate strong leadership.

“We also ask every one of our employees to live and embody our values. We reinforce this through training, communication and in how we recognize and reward performance.

Vitally, we will continue to invest in our people at every level, from early careers to senior management, empowering them to be successful both personally and

the programs it facilitates, Enwave values innovation above all else in its pursuit of sustainable, low-carbon energy solutions.

As we move closer to the end of 2021, the company’s vision for a better future is clear: to support cities and communities in the fulfilment of their low carbon aspirations; to lead the way in creating a world that runs entirely on clean and affordable energy.

“As well as launching Enwave Geo Communities in February 2021, we recently became the first district energy company in North America to develop a guideline for public investment by releasing our Green Financing Framework,” Carlyle declares. “Looking ahead, we are very excited to be driving sustainable and scalable solutions that deliver on our customers’ goals for greater savings, economy, flexibility, reliability, and competitiveness. We want to be a positive force in our communities and that is why we

professionally.”

From the technologies the company implements, to the policies it supports and

are committed to moving energy forward, enabling the sustainable transformation through district energy.”

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Champion Specialty Services Provider

Paint the

town

Having been in action for over 15 years, Champion Painting Specialty Services Corporation is making the most of every opportunity to uplift and enhance the aesthetics of structures across the world

Champion Specialty Services Provider www.championssc.com Services: Heavy construction specialty services provider

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hampion Painting Specialty Services Corporation (Champion) has been an industry leader in the road and bridge, heavy construction, military, and industrial markets since 2006, and – as a veteranowned business – the company works particularly hard to support veterans and

military personnel. “Every Friday, our team wears red to ‘remember everyone deployed.’

As a Veteran-Owned Small Business and knowing many of our team members fought for our country’s freedom, we work hard to acknowledge and appreciate all that the armed forces do for our country.

People fighting for our country are often

Below: Tribeca Pedestrian Bridge

only recognized when they come home or once a year in remembrance, but our team knows the importance of paying tribute while our heroes are away from their family and friends at home. This is why we also aim to hire veterans whenever possible as the experience they have gained through their service translates exceptionally well to

various project management and operations roles,” shares Kyle Hough, the Executive Vice President of Champion. He discusses with us the capabilities that Champion has established to make it an industry pioneer.

With a mission to deliver high-performance services to its clients in both the public and private sectors, Champion maintains

the highest degree of safety, quality, and integrity. “Being a sector leader means we will meet or exceed performance requirements for every client on every project,” Kyle says. With offices rooted in both US and international soil, the business is succeeding in achieving just that. Its widespread locations allow it to mobilize

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Champion Specialty Services Provider

Miami Dolphins Stadium

“In each location that we conduct work in, our team seeks out locally owned partners and vendors; Champion searches out new opportunities to develop working relationships with companies that provide quality options for procurement of materials, services, equipment, and manpower”

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quickly around the globe to meet any specialty service needs. Over the years, the company has curated an impressive catalog of projects that aptly showcase several of its capabilities, such as the George Washington Bridge, Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, Mercedes Benz Stadium, the I-595 Highway Expansion, the Joseph M. Farley Nuclear Plant and the Tribeca Pedestrian Bridge, to name a few. On the Tribeca Pedestrian Bridge project, the team was required to replace the 70-yearold bridge and reconstruct the Suitland Parkway/I-295 interchange. Due to its age, condition, and functional limitations, the span itself has been classified functionally obsolete. Improvements include; making the structure safer for cars and pedestrians, enhancing multimodal transportation options, increasing community access, and supporting economic development on both sides of the river.

Of course, in undergoing these projects, the company’s utmost priority is safety.

Measures have been implemented to surpass industry safety standards throughout all on-site tasks to ensure the safety of team members. “We have QR codes placed on our equipment to illustrate operation manuals

or maintenance records,” explained Kyle. “We also utilize scheduling software to ensure manpower is effectively allocated when needed and equipment tracking software that provides GPS coordinates to ensure maximum utilization and security. These measures present preventative suggestions and require regular maintenance to ensure the highest level of equipment availability.

“We also implement team member qualification tracking to ensure our workforce retains their effectiveness and readiness. In a similar vein, the business works in strict accordance with environmental laws, policies, and guidelines, and we have a culture of respect for the environment. We do not perform any sandblasting, only abrasive blasting,” Kyle continued. This, he emphasizes, is crucial because silica sand can cause silicosis, lung cancer, and breathing problems in workers who are exposed to it. “Our expectation for every task on each job is that it is performed safely. We work across many high-risk industries, and it is our responsibility to manage that risk. Every member of our team has the right and expectation to stop any unsafe act and ask questions when unsure. Our team conducts pre-job briefs,

A Champion full containment set up

two-minute rules for evaluations, and postjob briefs to keep safety at the forefront, allowing us to perform in a successful and error-free manner.”

Aside from its exceptional safety measures, Champion sets itself apart from its competitors by exercising cost-effectiveness through the use of blast media and efficient blasting techniques performed by its highlytrained crews. “Because our team utilizes industry-leading equipment, we can minimize waste and maximize production rates, which allows us to complete heavy sorts of construction projects,” he adds, continuing to note that these measures have refined the business in becoming leading experts in blasting practices. “The technical term for the surface preparation techniques is dry or wet abrasive blasting in addition to ultrahigh-pressure water jetting. The blasting media is typically coal slag or steel. We blast steel to various levels of cleanliness based on SSPC/NACE joint standards and owner requirements that are necessary to prepare the surface for new protective coatings.

These surface preparation standards exist to

Sherwin-Williams True support for our customers goes beyond coatings.

Sherwin-Williams offer global owners, engineers, architects and contractors collaborative solutions to support projects and optimize asset service life. Through industry expertise, material selection assistance and specification development, we help our customers achieve smarter, time-tested asset protection.

In addition to expertise, we provide high-performance coatings to combat corrosion in demanding markets such as oil and gas, water and wastewater, bridge and highway, steel fabrication, flooring, food and beverage, rail, power, government, marine and passive fire protection.

No matter the project, our trusted resources will stand by your side to make it a success.

Learn more: Sherwin-williams.com/protective.

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Champion Specialty Services Provider Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge

both maximize the life of the applied coating and minimize costs associated with coatings projects,” he emphasizes.

Subsequently, these practices have allowed the business to mobilize quickly, leading it onto new ventures, particularly in Guam, where Champion flourishes. The company announced a centrally located hub in the Pacific region to conduct municipal, state and private operations. The location was strategically determined in response to the United States Department of Defense’s ‘Pivot to the Pacific’ initiative. The facility houses a complete array of abrasive blasting and coating equipment in addition to a climate-controlled storage capability, and Champion is focused on providing the Department of Defense with abrasive blasting and coatings services, hangar remediation, and related support activities for new and existing facilities. According to Kyle, these advancements are the perfect example of how the company succeeds on new projects with an open mind and lasting determination. “Champion will succeed in any region that it goes to, simply because

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we employ the best people and consistently meet or exceed customer expectations while doing so safely. In Alaska, Champion is the only standing location that is QP1, QP2 and QS1 certified in the entire state. Additionally, the company is currently working on proposals supporting petroleum industry and Department of Defense projects in the region, and we are on the lookout for other projects at city and state levels.”

It goes without saying that the skillintensive business would not be as successful as it is without the people working under its name, and to this, Kyle states that Champion is all about surrounding itself with great people. “The executive team has made it their mission to develop a workplace that provides growth for all employees. The organization’s culture enables employees to enjoy coming to work each day, and I feel that when you like what you do and where you do it, the tough times are easier to get through. Take the pandemic, for example; Champion grew its revenue and had a record year. We also had a record year for team member bonuses.

Not one Champion team member missed

an hour of pay. We supported our people, and they supported us in return. As a result, in 2019, National Association for Business Resources named Champion as one of the Best and Brightest Places to Work, which is a testament to how our team feels about the work environment we have created,” he shares. Champion has recently been recognized for this award again in 2021.

Going hand-in-hand with its company culture, the business also strives for mutually beneficial supplier relationships, an equally essential part of Champion’s success. On this, Mat Bryant, Champion’s Operations Director, was especially keen to comment on the business’s strategy of maintaining lasting professional relationships. “In each location that we conduct work in, our team seeks out locally owned partners and vendors; Champion searches out new opportunities to develop working relationships with companies that provide quality options for procurement of materials, services, equipment, and manpower,” says Mat. “Yet, we also maintain our national relationships with our jobs, and it is vital to work with

suppliers that our team can trust to be reliable, consistent, and honest. Champion is continually looking to develop and deepen our supplier relationships because we know how fundamental they are to our organization’s continued success. We simply cannot be effective without them.”

With each of these pillars robustly in place, the company’s future endeavors are looking promising, as Champion continues to operate with a sturdy growth strategy in mind. “We are currently evaluating opportunities to expand our footprint and market share in several geographic and service areas. We will strive to provide industry-leading services while meeting our customer’s requirements and maintaining the highest levels of safety and quality. We will make capital investments in our equipment and systems to ensure we remain on the leading edge of the specialty services industry, but, above all, I am determined to see Champion continue to recruit the best people and give them the tools and freedom to operate effectively and keep our name at top-of-mind when thinking about our services,” Kyle concludes.

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Battaglia Associates Inc.

Paving the way forward

Battaglia Associates Inc. https://battagassoc.com/ Services: General contracting

Since 2007, sister-owned general contractors Battaglia Associates Inc. has been breaking new ground for women in construction

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hristine Meyer and Jennifer Battaglia have owned Battaglia Associates Inc. (BAI) since purchasing it from their father in 2007. What was initially intended to be a real estate investment company soon grew into an industry-leading general contractor, and a certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE).

By 2011, BAI was making around $2 million a year, and since then the company has gone from strength to strength, as it continues to empower women in the male-dominated world of construction.

Battaglia Associates Inc. provides procurement construction, maintenance and repair services in the heavy commercial, industrial and energy markets. Since being taken over by Christine and Jennifer, the company has worked on projects across Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington DC and Virginia.

The company has experienced impressive growth under its new leadership team. In 2015, after obtaining a few security projects, it brought on its first project manager.

Following this, the company won eight more

projects and began specializing in substation work for utility companies.

With this success came the need to expand, as company President, Christine Meyer explains: “In 2019 we purchased a local excavating company and BAI Excavating LLC was formed as a full civil service contractor, to support the utility work. In 2020, BAI Excavating started working on projects outside utility, and it truly became its own entity.”

Battaglia Associates Inc. is unique in its ability to innovate in response to the needs of

the construction industry, whilst also leading the way for a fundamental shift in the sector as a whole. In 2020, the Woman Presidents Organization (WPO) and Forbes Magazine ranked BAI as the 5th fastest growing WBE in the US, and in 2021 the company received an award from the WBNEC for its DE&I program, highlighting how important female representation in the construction industry can be.

This recognition is certainly well deserved, as the company continues to provide an impressively broad range of specialty

services. From UL certified panel fabrication and security infrastructure installation, to structured cabling, and substation construction and maintenance, BAI is a company designed to meet the specific needs of contractors across numerous states.

As a result of its expertise in these areas, BAI continues to work on exciting new projects. “Atlantic City Electric’s Higbee Substation rebuild project is one we are proud of, as it was our first high profile job,” reveals Christine. “The Substation provides power to most of the major casinos in

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Battaglia Associates Inc.

Atlantic City, as well as the Convention Center.

The purpose of this project was to replace the existing switchgear, control enclosure panels, and capacitor banks, which included the construction of a new switchgear building.

This was the first project that put all Battaglia companies together, and we are proud that it was such a success.”

On top of its range of services and successfully completed projects, BAI is built upon a very specific, family-orientated company culture. “We bid and manage every project with a team approach, and try to bring that philosophy to our customers while working with subcontractors,” details Christine. “You can speak with any member of our team, and they will know details on most of our projects, because we are all invested in the success of the company.”

This sense of community is central to what BAI does, as Christine continues: “There is a pride that we all have watching this company grow, knowing that every person on the team has been crucial in making that happen. We have created many partnerships with subcontractors and customers with this approach to our projects.

“We also focus on a diverse, local workforce with our subcontractors, partners and staff. Our DE&I Program is on the honor roll with the WBEC-East, and last year we had over 40 percent diverse spend with our

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subcontractors. It’s important to us that we practice what we preach.”

These connections between people are the foundations of BAI’s success, as Christine goes on to discuss: “We are very fortunate to have partnered with some of the best contractors in the Mid-Atlantic, as well as some emerging businesses in the area. Our first partner was Battaglia Electric, Inc., and from there we partnered with Bartech Group, out of Chicago on the east coast. Together, we have a solid working relationship and they are partners in every sense of the word.

In addition, we have worked with Olympic Fence, which has been reliable and a steady subcontractor for us; we have even done work for them on the electrical and civil side as well.

“Our customers are so important to us, clients such as BG&E, DP&L, ACE, and PEPCO are the reason we have been able to celebrate all of the awards we have received. We have also begun to work on various County and State Projects as we are MDOT, DelDOT, DC Dot, NJ DOT, and PennDOT certified as a DBE, and WBE,” she adds.

As it continues to move forward and grow, Battaglia Associates Inc. remains focused on four core values: faith, family, ethics and safety. As Christine explains: “When we say faith, we mean faith not just in God, but in each other, and the work we

do. Family references the fact that we are a family business, and when someone works here, they become a part of that. Ethics is important to us, because we will not do anything that will compromise the morals of anyone or the company. Finally, safety: every member of this family will go home to theirs when their work is done.”

This compassion is not limited to those within the company, either, as BAI is known for its community outreach and charity work. “We work with several organizations, and Battag Cares is a program that allows our office staff to take two paid working days a year to volunteer for their favorite charity,” says Christine. “We work with the Green Beret Project, which is an organization that helps support young people living in challenging circumstances to access mentoring and find their place in the trades, military, or college.”

BAI is also interested in tackling gender inequality, as Christine affirms the importance of female empowerment within the company: “We as an industry need to make sure that young women believe that all the options are available for them. Over 25 years ago, my father sent me to work with another contractor, E.J. DeSeta Company, for a few years. It really showed that he believed in me, and I doubt we would have taken the chances we have taken in buying an

Below: Christine Meyer on site

excavation company if that confidence was not instilled.”

Today, Christine and Jennifer continue to inspire this confidence in emerging female project managers and contractors, as Christine asserts: “Everyone deserves to be given opportunities. After all, the only thing that matters is the quality of your work.”

For Battaglia Associates Inc. the future is bright as well as female. Aiming to open two more offices in the next few years, and in the short-term hire more estimators and project managers, it is clear that the company is on the path of steady success. As it continues to innovate, grow and meet the needs of an ever-changing, ever-demanding industry, Christine concludes with one final message: “Girls need to know that they can be more, there is a whole world waiting to be renovated and built by them.”

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W.T. Rich

Built to

last

W.T. Rich www.wtrich.com Services: Construction management company

Driven by a philosophy rooted in the guiding principles of Performance, Quality and Integrity, W.T. Rich Company is a family-owned construction manager delivering some of Massachusetts’ most exciting and challenging public construction projects

F

ifty-three years since its founding, W.T. Rich Company enjoys a reputation as one of the region’s most reliable and top-performing construction managers. Walter T Rich, who now serves as Chairman of the Board, launched the company in 1968 with a devotion to excellent performance, reliable quality and unshakable integrity. Walter’s son, Jonathan, came on board in 2003 and leads the company’s ongoing development as CEO. Two

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generations and hundreds of buildings later, the firm’s projects have grown in complexity and sophistication, but a commitment to those founding values remains unchanged.

W.T. Rich Company built its first project in 1968 as a small family firm based in Newton, Massachusetts. Now a $150 million business with more than 70 employees, the organization has developed unique capabilities to serve the public construction market and perform highly sophisticated complex

new construction, renovation and historic renovation work. The leadership of Walter and Jonathan has earned W.T. Rich an outstanding track record and enviable reputation among owners, architects, engineers and sub-contractors.

“As a construction manager and prime contractor running a sizable operation in the Massachusetts area, we are focused almost exclusively on public construction. That includes a lot of schools, public safety buildings

Main image left and above: Manchester Memorial Elementary School

and other facilities owned by towns, cities and the state,” Jonathan explains. “I often describe us as a boutique construction manager because we specialize in a focused sector of the construction market. We don’t take on a massive number of projects typically only around five to eight at any one time - but they tend to be pretty sizable, ranging anywhere from $20 million to $150 million in construction value.”

The most rapid period of W.T. Rich Company’s growth has occurred over the last 15 years. It is a journey best illustrated by the fact that, in 2007, the company carried out its very first public construction management at risk project. Yet by early 2021, W.T. Rich had performed more than 40 projects in this

capacity. Public construction management now makes up approximately 90 percent of the firm’s total project volume.

“Throughout our history, we have been drawn to highly complex projects,” Jonathan states. “We are fortunate to have very talented people within our firm that are experts at delivering this type of work effectively. Some of the challenges we face in our more complex projects include occupied sites, sophisticated phasing requirements, highly confined work sites, complex logistics and historic restorations.

“We are also leaders in sustainability and green building construction. For example, W.T. Rich is currently constructing a number of schools in Massachusetts, the majority of

which are LEED certified. In fact, W.T. Rich is proud to have served as the construction manager on the only two Massachusetts K to 12 schools that have achieved LEED Platinum certification.”

One recent school project - the Manchester Memorial Elementary School - is now in the process of finishing site work, with students and staff already enjoying the benefits of the new school. A $41 million, 78,000square-foot, new school construction, Manchester Memorial has been built in phases within an existing, active, fully occupied elementary school community. This unique challenge made the Manchester project one of the company’s most demanding projects to date.

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W.T. Rich Left: Beverly Police Station Images: © 2021 Damianos Photography

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“At Manchester, we began by demolishing a small wing of the existing school to make room for Phase 1 new construction,” Jonathan explains. “We then built the new two-story, 40,000-square-foot classroom wing, which was located within 10 feet of the existing, operational school.

“In phase two, we demolished two large academic wings of the existing school and constructed the balance of the new school, including the administration area, media center, music room, gym, kitchen, cafeteria, and a central hub, which is a really nice, double-height space connected to the classroom portion.

The third and final phase will now involve demolition of the rest of the existing school, as well as the installment of new parking, a new drop off loop and a new playground area.

“All in all, it’s a project we are really proud of,” he adds.

“Everyone has worked hard and collaborated exceptionally well to ensure that construction could happen so quickly. Despite inherent space restrictions and wetland constraints on three sides of the site, phases one and two were completed in just 11 months each, which is incredibly fast, especially given the occupied nature of the school. Our client has been thrilled with how the project has turned out. Vitally, the impact to the school learning environment was minimal, so I think the project really showcases our abilities as a specialist firm that can deal well with these types of complexities and challenges.”

W.T. Rich Company’s expertise extends beyond merely the academic construction market. The firm recently completed construction of the new three-story, 32,800-square-foot Beverly Police Station. The state-of-the-art building includes a detention area, booking facility, sallyport for vehicle processing, expansive locker rooms, evidence handling facilities and a sophisticated 911 dispatch control center.

“Beverly Police Station was an important project for the City of Beverly,” Jonathan says. “We were told that we were selected as the construction manager because they were looking for someone proficient in the mechanical, electrical, plumbing and IT phases of construction, who could also help lead the implementation of a highly integrated system with inbuilt security, fire alarm, access control and building management systems.

“It was a fast-track project - from foundations to occupancy in just 14 months,” he continues. “The building has been designed to achieve net zero energy. We helped to achieve that through high-performance envelope, an all-electric HVAC system, and geothermal wells for ground source heating and cooling. It was our fifth geothermal project, and also included solar ready infrastructure, which is being designed and implemented currently by the City under a separate contract.”

The success of these major projects reflects the firm’s aptitude for satisfying the complex needs of its clients. But W.T. Rich understands that at the heart of every achievement is teamwork and honest communication. Jonathan believes that the company’s ability to develop strong and long-lasting relationships is one of the most critical factors behind its ongoing growth trajectory.

“We consider our clients as well as architects, owner project managers and subcontractors, as ‘construction partners’ because collaboration and communication are critical to understanding each other’s needs and delivering a successful project,” Jonathan remarks. “We know that if issues come up,

raising those points and working together on the best way to navigate them is really important.

“Our goal is really simple: we want our construction partners to be absolutely thrilled with W.T. Rich Company. We want them to be singing our praises at the end of each and every project. If we can do that, then life will be easy.

“Along with partnership building, we are now invested in a new initiative around client satisfaction, which focuses on feedback channels and making sure people can speak freely to us if they have areas they think we should improve on. We want our projects and our construction partners to be successful; we will do everything we can to make that happen.”

W.T. Rich Company is determined to remain a market leader and build upon its achievements by growing its portfolio of complex projects and expanding its construction relationships in the years ahead. Jonathan believes one of the keys to maintaining the firm’s continued success in an inherently competitive sector is playing a more active, supporting role postconstruction. This means helping customers better understand, operate and maintain their new buildings’ systems and critical infrastructure for the decades that follow initial turnover.

“The buildings we deliver are getting more and more sophisticated, as are their mechanical systems for heating and cooling, electrical infrastructure, and control systems,”

Jonathan notes. “Most of these properties are designed with a 50-year life cycle in mind, but a lot of the focus in the construction industry has been on the construction process and the initial handover to the owner. We want to look beyond this and, as a result, have created a program we call Building Performance for Owners (BPO). Focusing on three core areas – Prepare, Turnover and Perform – we are providing clients with peace of mind that their experience, the value they receive, and the actual performance of their building systems will meet or exceed their expectations for decades to come.”

Like the hundreds of projects that make up the company’s portfolio, W.T. Rich was built to last, and the firm plans to remain that way.

While Jonathan and his team don’t necessarily have any specific targets regarding the future

volume size of the organization, they are certain that we can expect to see more healthy expansion from W.T. Rich during the next five years as the business becomes more widely recognized within the Massachusetts public sector as the best, most reliable, and highest performing construction manager on the market.

“So many people we work with already feel this way about W.T. Rich,” Jonathan says of the above statement, “but now we really want to broaden that perspective of our ability. If you asked the average businessperson in Boston to name some construction companies, our name might not come up because we don’t do private work or have big billboards, but within our industry focus, we hope to be viewed as the best.”

The last 18 months have brought unprecedented circumstances that required adaptability and transformation. Jonathan maintains the utmost confidence in W.T. Rich Company and its team members to continue navigating even the toughest obstacles with the same devotion to performance, quality and integrity that has driven the firm forward since 1968.

“We have a very dedicated, hard-working group of people here at W.T. Rich, with some exciting young talent coming through to support them,” Jonathan declares. “Our current mid-level people are becoming leaders and the younger staff are becoming more experienced in how we operate. The progress is clear and the future is bright.”

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Accès Location +

A head

for heights

Accès Location + www.acceslocation.com Services: Aerial equipment sales and rentals

I

A specialist in the sales and rentals of aerial equipment and associated products, Accès Location + is driven by its mission to surpass expectations through the quality of its actions

t was in 2004 that Harold Dubé made the decision to establish Accès Location + in Beloeil, Quebec. Beginning life with a handful of aerial lift machines, the business quickly experienced a growing demand for its services, leading to the acquisition of a greater number of machines and an increased focus on the sales and rental of high lift equipment including scissor lifts, articulating and straight boom lifts, forklifts, telehandlers, and rotary telehandlers.

Faced with the above mentioned rapid growth, the company moved into new premises in 2017. Four years on, its 33,000-square

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foot state-of-the-art headquarters and 232,000-square feet of land, located on the edge of a major highway in the metropolitan area, continues to contribute to the company’s visibility and development.

Two years after it was formed, Luc Bertrand would join the Accès Location + team, initially as a rental representative. He would soon take on more responsibilities, becoming a shareholder and Vice President in 2012, and eventually President of the company in 2018. “Accès Location + is proud of its track record, and of being among the best managed companies in Canada,” Luc tells Construction Today. “We are a

leader in the Greater Montreal area and now have branches to serve our customers on Montreal’s South Shore, North Shore, and in Quebec City.”

As of the summer of 2021, the company boasts an impressive fleet of high-quality equipment, totaling more than 1200 lifts. For Luc, its success is due to the exceptional work of his team members. “At Accès Location +, we are one big family,” he proudly states. “Our professionals are dynamic, consistently offer exceptional service, and are not afraid to take on new challenges. It is thanks to them that we have experienced accelerated growth over the last few years, and it’s heartening to know that

Below: left: François Garon, Director of Operations and right: Luc Bertrand, President

today the Accès Location + team is made up of nearly 70 people who are truly passionate about heights.”

What also makes the business stand out amongst its peers is its large selection of specialized quality equipment from recognized brands, such as Skyjack, JLG, Genie, MEC, and Dieci. Accès Location + has the youngest fleet in its industry – with an average age of 36 months – while its personalized service has helped to build customer loyalty, and an unmatched reputation in the rental industry.

Accès Location + regularly acquires new products and specialized accessories to facilitate

the work of its customers. It has the largest range of Ultra Boom Lifts in Quebec, including aerial work platforms of over 100 feet tall.

Meanwhile, equipment acquired more recently typically comes equipped with telematics tools that allow for remote diagnosis and geolocation of the equipment.

“Our facilities are at the cutting edge of technology when it comes to the inspection, maintenance, and repair of equipment,” Luc adds. “They have been designed to maximize the productivity and comfort of our mechanics, while the latest tools, machines and programs are available to all of our employees, in order

to facilitate their work and deliver increased efficiency.”

To improve and enhance its outstanding customer service, Accès Location + has also recently launched its customer portal. This virtual platform provides a more complete experience for the needs of its growing clientele, and is one of the first advances of its kind in the equipment rental sector. “The online customer portal was developed over the course of several months in collaboration with Orion Software, creating a virtual customer space which meets several needs of our clientele,” explains François Garon, Director of Operations at Accès Location +. “In addition to managing their rental contracts, customers can schedule an equipment rental return directly on the virtual platform, as well as make requests for maintenance from their job site.

“Further to this, access to order history is always available, as is the ability to generate relevant reports of transactions made. This new technological support allows greater autonomy to companies in terms of accessibility of their data and offers additional interesting tools to facilitate their accounting. This is a major innovation in the industry, an interface that was custom designed according to the requirements of our clientele, tested and approved by a pool of targeted users.”

Equally as vital to the company’s success as its equipment and programs, are its people and its relationships with suppliers. “Corporate culture forms a core part of our DNA here at Accès Location +, and our people are always placed at the heart of our priorities,” Luc enthuses, noting that said culture has earned the company a Bonboss certification; recognition that underlines good management, fulfilled employees, and a healthy working environment.

“As well as regularly highlighting and rewarding

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Accès Location +

our people’s work through employee recognition schemes, we also provide access to wellness areas such a gym, yoga room, games rooms, and various social activities, all of which provide opportunities to build solid ties between individuals or teams, and create a strong sense of belonging. We consider ourselves to be one big family, and we know that an employee who is happy, appreciated and feels like a valued member of that family will want to invest more back into the business.”

Meanwhile, on the subject of its suppliers, Accès Location + has worked exceptionally hard over the last 20-plus years to develop relationships based on mutual trust and satisfaction. “With the volume of purchases increasing significantly – we have invested nearly $75 million in new equipment over the last five years alone – our suppliers have only

Equipements FDS Acces Location + is Equipements FDS’ Dieci RENTAL Partner, and we are very proud and honoured to be associated with Acces Location +’s great team.

Business practices, integrity, service, empathy, credibility, availability, transparency, equity, vision, and passion are all qualities spread across the organisation.

Please make sure to keep reinventing the rental business in Quebec, Canada.

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risen in importance, keeping us informed of new products and market trends, and playing an invaluable role in the company’s ongoing growth,” Luc confirms.

The growth that Luc alludes to has come in spite of the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“At the onset of the pandemic, we actually took advantage of the forced shutdown period to develop new projects, for which the entire management team of Accès Location + was mobilized. This resulted in, among other things, the planning of new acquisitions,” Luc highlights.

“The company also focused on the optimization of numerous internal projects, such as the redesign of documents, the development of technological tools, and a training program for members of the management committee. These projects and initiatives have helped us to recover from the shutdown, and become better prepared to reach our long-term objectives.”

One long-term mission for the business is to adopt ever-more sustainable practices as part of its ambition to significantly reduce its environmental footprint. These efforts are companywide, and extend all the way down to small daily gestures, such as the use of reusable bottles, the reduction of printed paper, and the establishment of a community garden.

A recent action of note has also been the company’s decision to replace the 12 vehicles used by its representatives with brand new Ford Mach-E’s. “We actually offer a $1000 subsidy for employees of Accès Location + who wish to purchase an electric vehicle, and have installed recharging stations at our Beloeil, Laval, and Quebec City branches that they can use for free,” Luc points out.

As it continues to grow and be a leader in its industry in Quebec, Accès Location + understandably wants to leverage this momentum, while also remaining several steps ahead of its competition by relying on a combination of good business practices, its sense of innovation, and its ability to make key decisions quickly. Among its many aims for the coming years, the company intends to build its fleet up to 2000 machines by 2025, and continue to offer its customers reliable equipment and a world-class level of service.

One final topic that Luc is keen to address is the company’s commitment and contributions to wider society. “We support a number of causes, particularly those that involve children’s health and people in need,” he says. “As well as supporting several local organizations, Accès Location + is proud to be a member of Entreprise Enfant Soleil, and to support

ambitious projects to provide care and services to sick children and their families. This social involvement is part of the company’s values and members of our team willingly adhere to it by volunteering for various fundraising activities.

What this all comes back to is my belief that a successful company must give back to society, and we try to create several new initiatives each year that allow us to make a difference in the community.”

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Magil Construction

Magil Construction www.magil.com Services: Construction company specializing in project management and turnkey developments

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The Magil

touch

With a track record for building strong client relationships and delivering specialist turnkey projects, Magil Construction is recognized as one of the top 20 construction companies in Canada

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Magil Construction

1, Square Phillips, Montreal

“As project management and design-build experts, we, at Magil, are capable of overseeing all elements of a construction project, as well as collaborating with architects, engineers and other key professionals. We have the tools and expertise to do it well

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P

owered by innovation and a team of skilled, flexible and dedicated employees, Magil Construction has, over the course of more than 70 years in business, carved out an enviable position for itself in both Canada and the wider world. Specializing in major industrial, commercial, institutional and residential projects, the company has become renowned for carrying out complex builds that push the boundaries of what was previously thought possible.

“Before I joined Magil in 2017, I was actually working for one of the company’s clients,” recalls Vice President of Operations, Alexandra Murdock. “Through our dealings, I knew Magil to be a really co-operative, good value business, with a trustworthy team and strong leaders. Even back then, it was a very attractive proposition.

“Construction is a tough industry,” she continues. “People are under a lot of stress to carry out complex projects, but inside the

walls of a company like Magil, everyone is very respectful and collaborative. There’s no competition between our people – they are all committed to working together and performing great work in line with the values of our business.”

Boasting five offices across Canada - in Montreal, London, Toronto, Vancouver and, most recently, Quebec City - Magil’s latest projects include construction of a $560 million residential tower slated to become one of the tallest buildings in Montreal. A collaboration with Brivia Group, the 61-storey development (1, Square Phillips) will house over 800 residential units and offer breathtaking views of historic Montreal. The project is set to be completed by 2024.

Elsewhere in The City of a Hundred Steeples, Magil is nearing completion on a project at the Montreal Heart Institute (MHI).

Set to be fully operational by 2022, the company’s work at the MHI has involved the expansion and redevelopment of emergency

and critical care units, consolidation of outpatient activities, construction of a training center and storied parking facilities, as well as regrouping of the Institute’s administrative sectors.

In order to remain the industry’s first choice for these types of projects, Magil continuously strengthens its highlyrespected project management credentials with ongoing investment in people and technology. Alexandra explains more: “If you don’t have the people and the tools to build and manage your projects, you won’t get very far,” she declares. “On the people front, we need to be attractive and retain our employees in order to keep moving forward.

It’s important to offer them an environment in which they really enjoy working. You have to show your people that you are willing to invest in them as the company grows.”

As part of this commitment to its people, in June 2020, Magil achieved accreditation from the Certificate of Recognition program (COR®), an occupational health and safety initiative that ensures companies meet national standards. Magil’s next goal in this arena is to cement its place as a leader

Vice President of Operations, Alexandra Murdock

in health and safety, making for better productivity, professionalism and, most importantly, the increased wellbeing of all its employees.

In terms of technology, Magil President John Marcovecchio maintains a clear vision for the future and continues to encourage the organization to invest in collaborative tools and software, like Procore and Revizto.

“All of our R&D activity occurs internally, through our BIM-VDC department, which was opened in 2016, and has already been the recipient of the CanBIM Innovation Spotlight award for Construction Management in 2020, and been nominated for the same in 2021. This activity helps us to find new technologies and software - such as drones, LIDAR technology and virtual reality for instance - that can then be implemented in our projects. We also have a team that invests 100 per cent of its time in discovering new, cutting-edge applications and products for us to make use of, and what we have done so far in this area is really encouraging.”

Of course, like many companies across the world, Magil’s rapid growth was temporarily hindered in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic.

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Magil Construction Nevertheless, the company rebounded in the second half of 2020 with employees working tirelessly to help Magil overcome the difficulties presented by governmentmandated Covid-19 regulations.

“It’s certainly been a very challenging two years,” Alexandra reports. “Even now, prices are going up, which creates a lot of uncertainty around projects and certain contract issues. Evaluating risk has never been more important because it’s hard to know what’s around the corner, which can complicate lead times and scheduling, but still, we have a team in place and a workforce we know we can trust. By working together, we know we can overcome whatever might impede us on the road ahead.”

Despite the trials and tribulations of a very demanding year, Magil still recorded a number of major achievements in 2020. For example, in September, the company began work on Symphonia Sol, a $41 million luxury condominium project for Westcliff. Located on the southern tip of Nuns’ Island, on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, the 94-unit residential development features innovative

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architecture incorporating the latest best practices. Alongside a maximization of natural light, the site will include condominiums, penthouses, townhouses, two outdoor pools, cabanas and a pavilion, all within a quiet living environment close to downtown Montreal.

The Symphonia Sol project, Alexandra says, is just one of many exciting developments in the offing for Magil as demand for construction rises and the industry bounces back from its Covid-19-induced slowdown.

“Here in Quebec,” she adds, “part of the government’s strategy is to reignite the economy by launching a lot of new construction projects. We definitely want to play a role in it.

“On the private side, prices have risen quite high, but the demand is still there. In spite of any uncertainty they might still feel, developers are still going forward with their projects and the public remains really strong, so all in all, the prospects are very positive. We have always done a lot of condo work, private projects and repeat business, but if that market slows, we can easily shift and focus more on the public side of things.”

In the months and years ahead, Alexandra hopes to see Magil performing more complex projects and achieving better results than ever. Using the tools and talents at its disposal, the organization hopes to add more value for its clients for decades to come.

“At Magil, it’s not just a game of volume; we want to be good at what we do,” Alexandra states. “We want to master our work, so it is important for us to find more and more clients in need of our expertise.

“As project management and designbuild experts, we, at Magil, are capable of overseeing all elements of a construction project, as well as collaborating with architects, engineers and other key professionals. We have the tools and expertise to do it well. Our goal now is to create a better future. In doing so, we shall continue to improve and to craft a better company for ourselves, our clients and for generations to come.”

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Universal Builders Supply (UBS)

The sky is

the limit

Universal Builders Supply (UBS) www.ubs1.com Services: Scaffolding, hoisting, protection and access solutions

Celebrating its 90th birthday in 2021, Universal Builders Supply (UBS) continues to be a pioneering at-height solutions provider, participating in some of the most prestigious and challenging projects in the world

S

ince 1931, Universal Builders Supply (UBS) has been a trusted and experienced supplier to the construction industry. Now one of the largest scaffolding, hoisting, access, safety, and protection companies in the United States, UBS was founded in New York City by Harold A. O’Callaghan Sr., and began life supplying welded wire fabric and wire

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mesh, with its most memorable job in its early years of existence being its involvement in the construction of the iconic Empire State Building.

Today – in what is its 90th year – the company is headed by President and Chief Operating Officer Chris Evans and third generation Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Kevin O’Callaghan. In the intervening

decades, UBS has shifted and pivoted accordingly in order to establish itself a reputation for innovative engineering, design, and state-of-the-art inventories of high speed hoists, aluminium access equipment, and the latest patented access and protection systems.

The result is a company that is proud to have participated in some of the most prestigious and challenging projects in the world.

“Originally founded as a building supply company UBS has evolved to become a turnkey solutions provider,” explains UBS President, Chris Evans. “When it comes to our client’s scaffolding, hoisting, access or protection challenges, we have the ability to conceptualize, design, fabricate, install, and maintain a system to fit their needs, making us a veritable one-stop-shop, if you will.”

As Chris goes on to note, what helps set UBS apart from other players in its field is its adaptability, creativity and capacity. “As we are able to follow a project through from conception to completion, we have a lot of input when it comes to delivering advice on things such as value engineering, efficient design, lightweight structures, the means and methods of constructability, and other

aspects of a job that can provide a client with significant value.”

Where UBS especially likes to position itself in the market today is handling truly complex, challenging, engineering-heavy undertakings.

This approach has led to it taking on all manner of notable projects, working on buildings such as the Washington Monument, Washington National Cathedral and The Capitol Building in

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Universal Builders Supply (UBS) the nation’s capital, as well as St. Patrick’s Cathedral, 3 World Trade Center, The Spiral, AOL Time Warner, and One Vanderbilt skyscrapers, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

UBS’ involvement in such projects has – in no small part – come about thanks to its excellent track record for delivering innovate solutions to complex problems.

“When it comes to innovation and product development, we have never really followed a ‘build it and they will come’ philosophy,” Chris states. “What we do instead is, we look for a specific need that has to be fulfilled or an opportunity for something new, and we get to work on devising a product in-house that will fill said space. A lot of the time, we will readily work alongside our various partners, be it our clients, our suppliers or vendors, or specialists within our industry that we are close to and develop solutions that our engineers and fabricators bring to life. These are then tested and refined until

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they are ultimately put to successful use, and hopefully adopted widely by the industry in time.”

Prime examples of UBS’ pioneering

developments include its Common Platform Solution, the UBS Cocoon, and the recently revealed Canopy Overhead Protection System (Canopy). In the case of the Common Platform Solution, the origins of this date back to UBS’ involvement in the Battery Park project in New York City in the 1980’s and a recognition that while hoists are necessary to lift materials and personnel as buildings rise, they can also hinder the timely completion of a project if they take up too much building frontage.

The Common Platform solves this issue by allowing up to six cars to run off of one 15’x15’ platform. This concept was further refined and improved upon in 2000 on the AOL-Time Warner Building, where increased service heights and runbacks necessitated the development of a higher capacity system.

“What the Common Platform Solution also does is it creates one central access point into the building,” Chris points out.

“So, instead of a scenario where you are having to leave out, say, 80 feet of window, curtain wall and building façade, you are leaving just enough to make the necessary connections and to provide a doorway into the building itself. This allows for the project to be finished, fitted out, and completed weeks, if not months ahead of schedule. Such has been the success of the Common Platform Solution that it very much remains the cornerstone of UBS’ business to this day.”

Moving on to protection systems, the UBS Cocoon is a patented system introduced to the New York City market approximately 15 years ago, designed to protect the

leading edge of floors under construction.

Consisting of vertical panels, solid horizontal flaps, and a secondary safety net, the system is designed to provide fall protection and debris containment at the source instead of catching it after the fact.

Connecting to the top two most recently constructed floors, the system extends approximately two-and-a-half additional floors, and is another example of UBS being at the leading edge of safety and protection innovation.

Indeed, UBS has been providing high-end, overhead pedestrian protection for decades now, and the next evolution of this comes in the form of the Canopy. “Traditionally, overhead protection has been very utilitarian,” Chris states. “What Canopy does is revolutionize the typical sidewalk shed with a contemporary design that combines function with aesthetics, and the response that we have received to it has been fantastic! We rolled it out in December 2020, and less than year later we have several up across New York City, with many more projects to come as the system continues to gain momentum.”

An ongoing mission for the company is to expand its presence throughout the United States, and one of the things making this aim a reality is the much-praised UBS Partnership Program. This unique service gives builders, owners and developers the ability to rent the company’s state-of-theart inventory of equipment, coupled with expert consulting and project support.

Through its Partnership Program, UBS is capable of engineering and renting any Common Platform hoist, setback tower, scaffold or access solution needed.

“One of the things that the UBS Partnership Program allows us to do is supplement and/or complement existing relationships that clients may have elsewhere in North America,” Chris reveals.

“For example, say you have a building being developed on the West Coast, and you have a particular hoist contractor that you trust and like to work with, but they maybe lack the expertise or equipment that UBS has developed over the course of 90 years. What we can do through our program is partner up with both the developer and contractor and fill that engineering and equipment gap by providing a comprehensive solution to meet their needs. As a result of this, we now have a presence on projects across North America, in Boston, Nashville, Tampa,

Washington, Vancouver, and Toronto.

Meanwhile, scheduled for installation in the upcoming months are projects in New Orleans, Austin, and San Francisco, with others in development.”

As UBS enters its tenth decade of operations, its immediate focus is to concentrate on reinforcing the strength of its core competencies, while continuing to expand the use of its innovative solutions and the reach of its UBS Partnership Program. UBS also has a firm foothold in the oil and gas industry, with UBS Canada, a full-service construction solutions based in Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada and UBS Industrial Solutions, a safety and solutions provider based in Houston, Texas serving the Gulf Region and beyond.

So, while the future looks very bright for UBS, Chris is keen to add that its mission for the next three-to-five years is first and foremost to maintain control of its

ambitions. “What we don’t ever want to do is over promise and under deliver. We have to ensure that however successful we become, that all commitments that we make to our clients or partners we follow up on. What benefits us is that, while we are not afraid of any challenge, we take a measured, pragmatic approach to the work that we take on. We like to work with good companies that share our values, and we have every intention on retaining this philosophy as we grow our core group here in the North East as well as our partnerships across North America.”

Chris admits that the bar for the longterm plan for UBS has been set high, but he and the company have every confidence of its ability to wow the industry, to improve upon its own capabilities, to become evermore efficient, and most importantly of all, continue to provide a high-end service to its clients.

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Prescient

Digital

visionaries

A pioneering modular building company developing complete turnkey steel structures, Prescient is leading the industrialization of offsite construction

Prescient www.prescientco.com Products: Modular building company

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D

etermined to transform an industry that has, for many years, been reluctant to embrace the power of new, technology-driven methodologies, Prescient is ‘revolutionizing the building environment’.

At the forefront of change for close to a decade, the company believes that the construction sector’s choice is clear – digitize or die out.

Launched in 2012 by John Vanker, a real estate executive; Michael Lastowski, an architect and structural engineer; and Satyen Patel, an entrepreneur; Prescient’s Founders had experienced the inefficiencies of traditional construction firsthand and shared a vision to modernize the $10 trillion industry. Working from a 6000-squarefoot aircraft hangar in Broomfield, Colorado, the trio soon designed and patented a construction system that would lend itself to better repeatability, standardization and industrialization.

“At Prescient, we manufacture a kit of four core structural elements - posts, panels, trusses and roof decks - out of steel and light gauge steel,” explains company CEO Magued Eldaief. “What really sets us apart though is that these parts can be used in collaboration with our own software application, allowing us to model the elements in 3D and employ an algorithm for an automated process of solving the engineering for a building structure based on any bespoke design using our system.

“Once the design is set, our software identifies every single structural element and material for the project and assigns it a QR code that will shepherd those structural components through our automated manufacturing process. Uniquely, the software adapts to the area in which you are building, meaning that if you are constructing a project in a high wind area or seismic region, for example, the software will automatically set the geometry and placement of the elements to ensure the building structure meets building code.”

Boasting manufacturing facilities in North Carolina

and Colorado, Prescient’s manufacturing process has become renowned for its efficiency, speed, cost advantage, safety and accuracy. By embracing digitization, the company can now carry out steel engineering with a precision of 1/32nd of an inch.

“Our company name, Prescient, comes from our visionary approach and process,” Magued says.

“Traditionally, in construction, you would arrive on a job site and find yourself hit with all sorts of surprises due to poor co-ordination, but at Prescient, we deliver an incredibly high level of predictability, eliminating waste and onsite inefficiencies.

“Sustainability is another key benefit,” he adds.

“The steel we use in our structures is 90 percent recycled, meaning you could pretty much disassemble one of our buildings and recycle it for use in a different structure.”

In support of its production sites, Prescient also operates a Global Technical Center in Poland. Home to more than 200 employees, the Polish location oversees the smooth running of the company’s software, as well as engineering back office functions.

As of July 2021, Prescient had completed over nine million square feet of construction over 62 projects in 17 states. Focusing on four major segments – apartments, student housing, hotels and senior living - the organization can perform developments up to 180 feet in height.

“We are now expanding into new geographies that are historically difficult to build in,” Magued points out. “These include places like California, where labor costs are high and building cost effective seismic projects is a real challenge.

“In 2020, we completed a 1.3 million square foot housing project at UC Davis– the largest ever built in the United States. Currently, we are working on two 500,000-square-foot projects in San Francisco, so we are certainly gaining traction. People like what we do and now we are getting repeat business, which is really important for us.”

Having recently raised $190 million from investors,

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Prescient

Prescient will continue to invest in the company’s technology and wider growth in the years ahead.

Expansion into new locations and geographies, such as Europe, will also be a core aim going forward.

“In Europe, I think our solution has the potential to resonate even more than it does in the US,” Magued argues. “We have carried out studies on the continent and we believe we have some significant advantages, particularly in terms of cost and labor.

For example, using our approach, we can build 20,000-square-foot per five-day work week with less than a 30-person crew. If you were to do that same project with traditional methods, you would probably need twice the amount of labor and double the amount of time.”

Ongoing software and hardware enhancements, as well as continuous R&D efforts, reflect Prescient’s determination to see more owners adopt its revolutionary platform. Ultimately, the organization believes that its ability to marry digital and physical processes - making for more automation on the factory floor and further development processing at the job site - can not only remain successful in the multi-family sector, but in a whole range of similar markets.

“There is a shortage of housing all over the world and that is going to accelerate the adoption of platforms like ours,” Magued states. “There hasn’t been a whole lot of innovation and R&D expenditure in this industry compared to other sectors, but I think that is finally changing.

Construction is a multi-trillion-dollar industry crying out for new ways of doing things. It’s an exciting time to be a company like ours.”

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