Design & Construction

Forum Post: Hotel Gets 19-Story Digital Art Wall

Ed Sullivan — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:26:00 GMT

Here's an interesting project: The Hotel Intercontinental in Miami recently installed a 19-story digital exterior art wall as part of a $30 million makeover. Images and patterns on the art wall are supplied by LEDs in more than 200 rooms. One challenge: making the LED fixtures as nearly invisible as possible within those rooms. Click here to read more about the hotel's 19-story digital art wall.

Forum Post: Metal Buildings

Greg Zimmerman — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 13:37:00 GMT

According to a story in the March issue of BOM, metal buildings are increasingly popular among facility managers because of their low life-cycle costs and flexibility - they're not just for warehouses anymore! Have you used a metal building for any purpose?

www.facilitiesnet.com/.../Sustainability-Flexibility-Help-Metal-Buildings-Grow-In-Popularity--13878

Forum Post: Is New Construction Rebounding?

Greg Zimmerman — Wed, 20 Feb 2013 21:20:00 GMT

According to the AIA's latest Architectural Billings Index (www.facilitiesnet.com/.../Strong-Surge-For-Architectural-Billings-Index--27682) report, there's a new, strong demand for design services. That would seem to indicate new construction is rebounding. What have you seen? Are your organizations considering plans for new buildings that the recession may have put on hold?

Forum Post: Health Care Facility Planning for New Medical Technology

Ed Sullivan — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 16:35:00 GMT

New medical technology imposes complex requirements on health care facilities, especially existing health care facilities. For facility managers grappling with those issues, we've done some coverage recently that might be of interest.

Click here for a look at how innovation in medical technology places heavy demands on facilities and how facilities can be designed to accommodate changes in the future.

And click here for a look at how one leading health care organization is transforming existing operating rooms to hybrid surgical suites.

Forum Post: Re: Cubicles - Rules for Open Offices

Ed Sullivan — Mon, 07 May 2012 14:05:00 GMT

Thanks for your comment, Jim. For policies related to the workspace, one thing I've heard from other facility managers is that it's worthwhile to involve human resources - and perhaps IT - in developing the policy. The policy has to reflect the company's culture. Developing the policy can be an opportunity to reach out to other departments, like HR, and build a network that will be useful in other cases.

Forum Post: Do you design public buildings?

Mike Mooney — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:40:00 GMT

The EPACT 2005 program states that the designers of public buildings are eligible to receive the EPACT 2005 tax deductions. Government agencies do not pay income tax. The EPACT 2005 program allows the qualifying deductions to be allocated to the companies who designed the systems (i.e. Lighting, HVAC, and building envelope) of the public

building. Some examples of public buildings are public schools, public universities, and municipal buildings. Buildings designed for “not for profit” organizations do not qualify for this program. Learn how to take advantage of that deduction. It goes back to January 1, 2006, so you may still use it.

Forum Post: Re: Construction and Renovation Project Concerns

Larry Poole — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 14:07:00 GMT

How did you contend with all of the dust and debris? Did you have dropped ceilings?

Forum Post: Re: Does Your Move Make Financial Sense?

Leonard — Fri, 28 Jan 2011 13:51:00 GMT

Excellent article / rare topic. I have participated in two medical mergers. Above link recommends 12 to 16 months time-frame to plan move. Obviously best practice, yet my experience has been different: short notice and extreme urgency. Entire process from planning to occupancy is under a year. I would like to see more information on moves / mergers in the future. Thanks.

Forum: Design & Construction Discussions

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:42:00 GMT

This forum is designed to create dialogue among facility, maintenance, and engineering managers — not sales and marketing professionals. Managers can share their experiences related to design & construction with their colleagues.

Forum: Design & Construction Products & Services Marketing

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:42:00 GMT

This forum is designed for managers seeking out promotional materials related to cutting-edge design & construction products and technology. This is the only forum in which manufacturers and service providers should participate.

Files: Design & Construction Media

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 17:41:00 GMT

Forum: Design & Construction

Anonymous — Wed, 22 Dec 2010 15:39:00 GMT

Forum Post: Election Delivers Changes, Challenges for Construction Industry

Keith Hobbs — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 22:52:00 GMT

Following an election that brought sweeping changes and switched the leadership of the U.S. House of Representatives, construction industry observers foresee changes in policies impacting this sector. Key issues affecting the industry include funding for government related facility construction, sustainability initiatives and availability of financing for future projects. Gail Warrior, president and chief executive officer, Warrior Group, a provider of premier construction services for permanent modular construction and conventional site-built construction, is hopeful that the building and construction sector will see growth in the coming year.

While future legislative decisions are difficult to predict, examining where legislators have stood in the past is one way to gauge how they will respond to industry issues in the future. Both chairs of the Congressional High Performance Building Caucus won re-election as did many lawmakers who have supported tax incentives for green buildings or who have supported expanding access to credit for building and construction. The new Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee appears to support advancing tax incentives for green buildings. Warrior expects lawmakers to work to expand access to financing for design and construction projects and to support sustainability goals.

“Clearly there will be a strong focus on government spending by the new legislators, which may lead to increased attention on procurement laws,” said Warrior. Qualifications Based Selection (QBS) laws requiring A/E services be procured based on qualifications and not lowest bid may come under scrutiny, since they appear to cost more money. “QBS backers may have to defend the case that QBS can save money in the long run,” Warrior said. QBS has been tested before and survived challenges from both Republican and Democratic Congresses alike.

It is likely that spending by government agencies, such as the General Services Administration (GSA), that procure A/E services, will be cut back as lawmakers push to reduce government expenditures. The President has already proposed holding construction spending close to $112 billion in 2011 followed by a three-year discretionary funding freeze. Meanwhile, the Republicans have pledged to impose budget caps and many want to end earmarks. These factors will likely result in some fierce battles for construction funding. So although the GSA has a backlog in design and construction work, perhaps as much as $10 billion worth, the new Republican majority will likely be reluctant to increase spending on government buildings.

“An easing of credit and available financing for the private sector construction, however, can compensate for any government project losses,” said Warrior. “With commercial construction slowed to record low amounts during the past few years, easing credit and pent up demand should lead to more projects in the future.”

About Warrior Group

Warrior Group, based in DeSoto, Texas, is a multi-million dollar provider of premier construction services focusing on permanent modular construction and construction management. The 13-year old company is one of the largest minority- and woman-owned construction services companies in the U.S. with more than 3.5 million square feet of successfully completed projects in the last three years alone, and with an impressive roster of private and public sector clients across the United States. Warrior is dedicated to building long-term customer relationships by continually surpassing expectations and providing superior customer service, effective construction management and turnkey solutions in the modular and general construction industry. www.warrior-group.net.

Forum Post: Re: Dolphin Water Treatment?

mholzkamper — Fri, 18 Jun 2010 13:40:00 GMT

[quote user="tdiver"]

Our company is constructing a new facility and the Mechanical contractor is trying to push the Dolphin Water Treatment System to us. I have one contractor that has worked with it and wasn't to impressed but the facility doesn't have regular scheduled maintenance on the system( put it in and forget it). Anyone work with the system before have any pro or con comments? I've always worked with chemical treatment and find it good can't find a reason to swith from what we know works

[/quote] We had a 1950 Hospital that had use chemicals most of its life. The last five years I switched to the Dolphin System. I have pictures of before and after. The system dose as the say but their are pros and cons. Pros: We had less equipment failure (Traps, Leaks) with the system. Did not worry about hard water so tube leaks were not a problem. Being in a old building that was a big deal to enclude Traps. The Cons: you use more water, change the bottum tubes almost yearly due to leaks, Weld all tubes to keep from leaking. We had boilers that you could alternate so they would cool down when they were off. I talk to a Navy Hosptial and they say it the best system they have ever seen. They keep all of their boilers hot so they never get cold. And they change tubes yearly.

Forum Post: The University of Washington Saves During Construction

ericakiefer — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 18:34:00 GMT

An excellent article written by Michele Everett at the University of Washington about saving time & money during construction:

http://tinyurl.com/yl3xblw

Forum Post: Re: Building Product Selection poll

Eng.Mohammed Taufiq Jafar Siddiqui — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 07:55:00 GMT

Yes, as standard in construction the suggestions and advise from Achitect - Becuase he the one who design and having aim to recommend the best solution in corporate with cost and time.

That's why;

An architect is the chief of construction.

A electrical or mechanical engineer is the chief in O & M.

Forum Post: Re: Building Performance Standards - Occupancy Quality

Building Envelope Consultant — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 17:56:00 GMT

Steve,

I am an architect with an architectural testing laboratory and consulting organization which has been in business for 35 years. Our focus is on the building enclosure's systems and elements, and we investigate a lot of failures related to water and air leakage and thermal performance. The results of those types of failures, which effect thermal comfort and indoor air quality, is occupant dissatisfaction and reduction of work performance.

The building envelope is certainly a major factor in daylighting, acoustics, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality performance. It is also a major factor in building energy use. I have been a member of the Advisory Group to AIA's Center for Building Science and Performance Knowledge Community for the past 4 years. We have been focused on improving the knowledge of AIA members in designing high performance, energy efficient, sustainable buildings that address the topics of your discussion, occupant satisfaction and performance. There are a number of standards addressing those various issues established by several different organizations such as ASTM, ASHRE, IES, IAQA to name a few.

It is usually up to the building owner to determine the basic functional and environmental qualities the building should have, then the architect must specify the standards that will achieve those qualities, then the contractor must build the building to satisfy those specifications, and provide the quality control and quality assurance procedures to achieve the desired qualities.

Today there is a design and construction quality assurance procedure being implemented known Building Commissioning (Cx) that is intended to assure building performance. It is best procedure available today, but is not often done in the private sector due to first cost concerns of the owner. The full Cx procedure are found in guidlines published ASHRE for the MEP systems and NIBS for the building enclosure. I would be pleased to discuss this with you further if you wish. you can reach me at gblackburn@sunited.com.

George M. Blackburn, AIA, General Manager, Construction Consulting International

Forum Post: GREEN Buildings Don’t “Cost”, they “Pay”

dbruck — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 19:50:00 GMT

GREEN Buildings Don’t “Cost”, they “Pay”

From “A Report to California’s Sustainable Building Task Force – October 2003”

Given the studies and data reviewed above, this report recommends attributing a 1% productivity and health gain to Certified and Silver level buildings and a 1.5% gain to Gold and Platinum level buildings. These percentages are at the low end of the range of productivity gains…. They are consistent with or well below the range of additional studies cited...

For State of California employees, a 1% increase in productivity (equal to about 5 minutes per working day) is equal to $665 per employee per year, or $2.96/ft2 per year. A 1.5 % increase in productivity (or a little over 7 minutes each working day) is equal to $998 per year, or $4.44/ft2 per year. At $4.44 per year, over 20 years and at a 5% discount rate (assuming that state employee salaries are unchanged with respect to inflation), the PV of the productivity benefits is about $36.89/ft2 for Certified and Silver level buildings, and $55.33/ft2 for Gold and Platinum level buildings. Assuming a longer building operational life, such as 30 or 40 years, would result in substantially larger benefits.

EBTRON joined the US Green Building Council in 2003, recognizing the importance of energy conservation and the duty of companies to supply the tools needed to develop more sustainable buildings. EBTRON also participates through ASHRAE’s Technical Committee 1.4 on “Control Theory and Applications” in Chairing the new subcommittee on “Green Building Controls”.

Figure XL-2. Precentage Breakdown of Green Building Financial Benifits (LEED Certified and Silver Buildings)

Source: Captal E Analysis

The productivity and health benefits associated with LEED Certified buildings are huge compared to the energy benefit that most owners recognize. One reason is the improved indoor air quality that results from proper delivery of outside air.

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