After the First World War, America’s scientific industry took off and the company flourished. Kewaunee jumped at the chance to grow and expand its dealer organization. By the 1930s, the company had broadened its product line to offer both wood and steel laboratory furniture and accessories.

Kewaunee became a government contractor for the Air Corps and a key supplier for the Manhattan Project during the Second World War. When the United States underwent a massive increase in technological advancements following the war, Kewaunee Scientific Corporation was there to meet the demand for high quality laboratory equipment. The company built a spacious new facility in Statesville, North Carolina to help keep up with orders and remains headquartered in that location to this day. Since then, the company has added direct sales offices in India and Singapore, grew the Statesville location to include three manufacturing facilities to serve domestic and international markets, and opened a manufacturing facility in Bangalore, India to serve the Asian markets.

Today, with decades of experience under its belt, Kewaunee is a worldwide leader in the design, manufacture, and installation of technical, laboratory, and healthcare furniture products. These products range widely, and include everything from fume hoods, moveable workstations, and biological safety cabinets to laminate casework, adaptable modular systems, epoxy resin work surfaces and sinks, and standalone benches.

The company’s clientele has grown along with its product line. Kewaunee supplies industry leaders across multiple fields, including government agencies, research centers, universities, and the healthcare industry. The company offers a full suite of solutions for all of these clients, from design and layouts to complete installations.

In July 2020, Kewaunee Scientific Corporation launched a Technical Service Organization within Saudi Arabia. Established in the capital city of Riyadh, the organization will enable access to diverse local talent and support, and will grow the company’s presence in the Middle East and throughout Africa.

“We expect the Middle East and Africa to be growth markets for Kewaunee over the long term as investments continue to be made in these regions to modernize their respective economies,” Thomas D. Hull III, President and CEO of Kewaunee Scientific Corporation, said in a company press release. “We have invested in building relationships with key customers in the Middle East over the past decade and have delivered some of the largest and most complex laboratory projects in the region.”

B. Sathyamurthy, Vice President of Kewaunee Scientific Corporation Singapore and Managing Director of International Operations, added in the same press release, “Having delivered many prestigious projects in the Middle East, our next logical step was to be closer to our customers so we can better serve them, bringing them Kewaunee’s full range of products and services. Thanks to our enhanced presence in Saudi Arabia, we expect to be more successful in building lasting, recurring relationships with our customers in the region. This regional presence will also help our team offer more tailored solutions for the market.”

The company’s success was showcased in December 2020, when the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) honored Kewaunee International Group for its “Customer Centricity” at the National Conference on Consumer Awareness & Protection in Digital Era.

“Kewaunee International was again recognized by CII as an industry leader in customer excellence, recognizing our team’s unwavering focus on serving our customers,” Sathyamurthy said of the award in a company press release. “As the market leader in laboratory furniture and technical products, we recognize the importance of delighting our customers in all aspects of their dealings with Kewaunee. Earning this award during the coronavirus pandemic makes the award even more special and reflects the resilience of the Kewaunee International team during an unprecedented year.”

Hull added in the same press release, “Everything we do begins and ends with our customers and our desire to repeatedly earn their trust as they invest in projects that require the specialized laboratory furniture and technical products in which Kewaunee specializes.”

In July 2021, Kewaunee’s International division announced a strategic alliance with Schneider Electric that will provide key international markets, primarily in Asia and the Middle East, with integrated, turnkey solutions for market-leading laboratories. “We are proud to enter into this alliance just as the pandemic accelerates the needs of the life sciences and healthcare sectors to reimagine and redesign the operation and functioning of smart laboratories,” Manish Kumar, Senior Vice President, Digital Buildings at Schneider Electric said in a Kewaunee press release. “We envision a future where our technical expertise and Kewaunee International’s prowess in manufacturing and infrastructure will render all-encompassing smart labs to create more sustainable ecosystems for our customers.”

B. Sathyamurthy added in the same press release, “The future of laboratory infrastructure is changing and Kewaunee is investing and building capabilities to lead the laboratory 4.0 solution transformations for our customers. We are excited to partner with Schneider to provide these cutting-edge capabilities to our customers and grow together as future-ready companies.”

In August 2021, Kewaunee Scientific announced a new partnership with NuAire Exchange. NuAire has been manufacturing and distributing a wide array of laboratory and pharmacy products since 1971, making the companies a natural fit for one another. NuAire is known for its market-leading equipment designed for extreme conditions, including ultra-low-temperature freezers, animal transfer stations, animal refuse workstations, restricted access barrier systems, general purpose centrifuges, biosafety cabinets, containment ventilated enclosures, polypropylene casework, laminar airflow workstations, polypropylene fume hoods, CO₂ incubators, and more. The partnership will give NuAire access to Kewaunee’s global distribution channels while simultaneously expanding Kewaunee’s product range to include NuAire’s offerings, giving customers more options for superior solutions.

“The global market for products that Kewaunee and NuAire offer continues to grow,” Hull said in the company press release regarding the partnership. “The biosafety cabinet market is growing rapidly due to increased investment in research and development activities requiring the safety and performance of these products. Providing Kewaunee’s customers access to NuAire’s portfolio enhances our value proposition as customers are looking for partners with the capability to provide turnkey solutions when building a new laboratory or modernizing an existing facility. The partnership is a win-win for both organizations, leveraging the strengths of two market leaders.”

In July of this year, Kewaunee launched the EVERHUTCH healthcare brand. The goal is to provide products to healthcare professionals that will organize their workspaces better and increase efficiency. Developed by a team of expert product designers and tested by local healthcare professionals, EVERHUTCH is now available nationally through a dedicated distribution network. Ideal for both healthcare facilities and clinical laboratories, products include specially designed procedure carts, procedure cabinets, utility carts, and tables.

“We have spent the past year developing a portfolio of products and the distribution network necessary to bring this exciting new brand quickly to market,” Hull said in a company press release. “EVERHUTCH leverages more than a century of experience by Kewaunee, producing high quality products which are utilized in demanding environments. The healthcare furniture and storage markets are projected to grow significantly over the balance of the decade as investment is made in facilities requiring these products. I am confident that there is opportunity for Kewaunee to quickly grow market share.”

To be sure, the past two years have been packed with exciting endeavors for Kewaunee, from new partnerships to new product lines. After 115 years of ongoing growth and success, one can only wonder what will come next for this long-lived, market-leading company.

The post New Products, New Partnerships<p class="company">Kewaunee Scientific Corporation</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

This global firm has decades of experience in restoring technical equipment that has been damaged by fire, water, oil leakage, corrosion, dust, mold, salt, physical impact, or other scourges. Returning technical equipment to working order speeds a plant’s recovery and benefits the environment as not having to discard damaged electronics means less waste at landfill sites.

“These days, we see disasters happening everywhere. You can’t read the news and not hear about a flood somewhere, a tornado, a typhoon, a sandstorm. There are situations every day that cause valuable custom equipment to be damaged, which in turn can compromise people’s livelihoods if a plant has to shut down. There are ways to recover from these scenarios very quickly, utilizing the same decontamination processes that are employed daily in printed circuit board and semiconductor plants. It’s not common knowledge that this kind of service exists,” states Amir Rubin, Executive Director of AREPA North America, which is headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois.

“Most folks are not prepared for a disaster and view their options as being very limited when considering the need for fast recovery. There was recently a fire in a semiconductor chip manufacturer in Phoenix. The world is being crippled right now by a shortage of chips. One less plant that can produce these chips is not just devastating to the people that work there, but to everyone else that depends on these chips for their assemblies. Recovery is the quickest way to resume production, saving jobs and minimizing downtime for those impacted by product shortages,” he continues.

AREPA’s main services—all of which are self-performed—include emergency response, preservation and stabilization, decontamination, facilitation of repair and recertification with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), clean lab testing, and preventive reconditioning. Preservation and stabilization centers on slowing or stopping metal surface degradation to avoid pitting. Decontamination involves removing chemicals, soot, and other foreign contaminants from impacted equipment. Clean lab testing entails harvesting samples to quantify the need and the success of the decontamination process. In most facilities smoke does not migrate throughout. Certain areas will be able to resume production immediately, which minimizes business interruption.

Repair and recertification are key aspects of the company’s turnkey recovery services, while preventive reconditioning emphasizes the need to scrutinize operations and keep equipment clean to extend longevity. Once technical equipment has been decontaminated and returned to a pre-loss condition, AREPA works with OEMs to restore functionality and ensure proper calibration. Working with the OEMs ensures that warranties and service contracts are not revoked.

Of these services, “decontamination is the lion’s share of what we do,” says Rubin. “We do help with preservation and stabilization; we perform clean lab testing; and we facilitate repair and recertification, but manufacturers don’t specialize in decontamination post loss.”

The company focuses on commercial equipment for the data center, industrial and manufacturing, renewable energy, marine and offshore, healthcare, and education sectors.

“AREPA can work on equipment from any industry,” he says; however, “We do the most work in industrial and manufacturing plants.”

Perhaps because of its experience dealing with disasters, the arrival of COVID last year did not throw the company off its stride. “COVID didn’t stop hurricanes, tornadoes, flooding, normal accidents, and arson from happening. The need for our service remained strong,” affirms Rubin.

This is not the only company that reconditions technical equipment damaged by fires, floods, and other calamities. Asked how it stands out, he says, “AREPA provides a service that is based on science. Truth be told, our industry is filled with cowboys that chase storms … They’re really no different than ambulance chasers … Every day, two guys and a truck decide that they can fix stuff because there’s insurance money that will pay for it. Insurance carriers are, therefore, leery that equipment that may not be impacted could be cleaned as well, just because it was in the same facility.”

“At AREPA, we think differently. When we walk into a facility, we prove the need for recovery. We quite often also prove, scientifically, our way out of a project, because the equipment was not affected. When you’re working with empirical data, it is what it is.”

The company is also unique in that sustainability and a concern for the environment are core corporate principles. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) “serve as our foundation to reduce our environmental footprint,” states the company website. By restoring technical equipment, it reduces the amount of electronic waste in landfill sites.

“AREPA is committed to environmental sustainability and our clients who are pursuing more sustainable solutions for their businesses and clients. We’ve been doing this for forty years, so our contributions have benefitted the environment and surrounding communities for some time,” Rubin notes.

AREPA’s eco-friendly ethos is also reflected by its support for the right-to-repair legislation. Right-to-repair laws empower users who want to perform their own repairs on damaged electronics. According to a July 15, 2021, article in the New York Times, this can entail making spare parts and information about the product, including “manuals, schematics and software updates,” readily available, allowing unlocking “so owners can install custom software,” and designing devices “in a way as to make repair possible.”

“Without a service like AREPA’s, equipment owners that sustain a loss would have to replace everything by default. The European Parliament will be coming out with a law next year regarding the right to repair electronics. AREPA has already reached out to the European Parliament regarding expansion of this program,” Rubin says.

Given the company’s focus on sustainability, it is no surprise the firm also supports several philanthropic endeavors. “AREPA is called to help restore businesses and livelihoods. The uncertainty people experience during these challenging times is truly heartbreaking. In many cases, our own employees are impacted by hurricanes and tornadoes. As a people-centric organization, we pride ourselves in going the extra mile,” states Rubin. “Over the years, we’ve donated to terrific organizations such as the International Rescue Committee.”

Since the company was founded in Denmark forty years ago, “its focus has always been on recovery of electronic and electric equipment. For quite some time, AREPA was primarily a European entity that focused on losses in their respective markets. They did serve clients outside of those markets, but most of the business was local. In 2017, Envista Forensics acquired AREPA. Envista is a consulting firm that deals with losses globally. It made a great deal of sense to combine an entity that consulted on losses with one that could actually do the recovery work.”

As a division of Envista Forensics, AREPA has branches in the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Denmark and the U.S. The company currently employs about 150 workers, roughly the same number as last year.

“We continue hiring and growing each day!” he continues. “We look for folks with a technical aptitude. We have engineers on the team as well as folks with a high school diploma. Our training takes time. A lot of fieldwork [is required] to build a person’s confidence when it comes to reconditioning equipment they have never seen before.”

This emphasis on training and technical aptitude is important because the company maintains exacting standards.

“All AREPA team members are certified IPC specialists. I’ve never seen any of our competitors obtain this certification. AREPA even has an IPC trainer on staff that trains all new employees. IPC is the bible for the electronics industry,” notes Rubin.

IPC is an international association that offers certification programs and “helps OEMs, EMS, PCB manufacturers, cable and wire harness manufacturers, and electronics industry suppliers build electronics better,” according to its website.

AREPA also wants new hires with open minds and good attitudes. The company encourages a caring and trusting culture and wants staff to be able to express their ideas and share their talents.

For all that, he believes labor is the biggest challenge facing the company at present, not counting COVID. “There is plenty of work. Finding folks that are willing to travel for weeks at a time, be away from home eighty percent of the year or more, is incredibly challenging. Our people are incredible. We embrace them and do everything we can to make working for us as rewarding as possible.”

“We are educating the industry about decontamination as a critical part of preventive maintenance. We do a great deal of work in this space in Europe, although not as much in North America.”

Rubin is very optimistic about the future. “In five years, we’re hoping that AREPA becomes a name that most manufacturers recognize as their partner in recovery.”

The post Saving Money and the Environment by Restoring Damaged Electronics<p class="company">AREPA</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

A global leader in the manufacture of customized modular utility solutions, modular central plants and pumping systems, and the company behind the acclaimed CritiChill® modular indirect evaporative cooling system, Systecon’s services include installation, preventative maintenance, energy management solutions, monitoring of controls, upgrade and retrofit and more. Serving customers in diverse markets such as food and beverage, hospital and medical, retail, gaming, K-12 and higher education, industrial and others, the company remains very hands-on.

Biogas and CritiChill: powering the future
Environmentally friendly and renewable, biogas is quickly gaining popularity as an alternative to natural gas as a source of fuel. Although natural gas produces less carbon dioxide than burning oil or coal, it is still a fossil fuel, and the supply will eventually be exhausted. Recognizing this, the world is looking to biogas – produced from organic matter such as plant material and manure – as a substitution for fueling vehicles, and as a replacement for natural gas as a source of energy.

Playing a significant role in the future is Systecon’s patented CritiChill system, developed by the company in-house. Brought to the market about a decade ago, CritiChill is dramatically more efficient (up to 30 percent greater) compared to ordinary air-cooled chiller plants operating at full loads, and uses only 20 percent of the water required by regular cooling towers.

Although biogas is a fairly recent development for Systecon, the company has been involved in a push for de-carbonization for some time, and CritiChill has long been a part of that equation.

“CritiChill is an electric-based product, so what is the source of the electricity?” asks Systecon’s Sales and Marketing Manager Alex Juncker. “We are working with clients, so they evaluate that.” In some cases, clients want to use the CritiChill system, but their existing power generation is carbon-intensive, such as coming from coal-powered plants. Based on the flexibility of the product, Systecon advocates using water for the heat rejection cycle to reduce the amount of energy consumed, so the impact from that power plant is reduced. “So if we can improve the efficiency of the plant or of the CritiChill unit by utilizing water for evaporation, we can get better efficiencies,” states Juncker.

Systecon is seeing tremendous activity in Canada right now with customers using renewable power and reducing the amount of water they use to cool.

“CritiChill is really able to mesh between those two situations, because it’s not a product necessarily tied to water usage cooling due to its hybrid nature,” says Juncker. “I think that’s a great option for most of our customers when they are looking at electrification; you can use a CritiChill chill unit to do simultaneous cooling and/or heating, but with that, we can also evaluate reducing or limiting water usage, or reducing power consumption by improving the efficiency through water usage. So it is agile from a product standpoint to meet those de-carbonization goals.”

Systecon sees itself being more and more involved with biogas and meeting the low- or no-carbon goals of its customers in the future. With unique abilities to design and plan for these goals and factory-test to see efficiencies of products before they are shipped, the company is well-equipped for a world using fewer fossil fuels and more clean, non-polluting renewables.

The value of virtual reality
Prior to the pandemic, customers came in for tours, where they could see and touch systems for themselves. The pandemic changed that for a time, with the need for physical distancing and safety. Although the company was deemed essential and continued to operate, in-person visits were few and far between.

This compelled Systecon to come up with a unique way of reaching out to clients and giving them a real-world experience delivered through virtual reality (VR).

“The VR came out of the inability to have people travel,” says Juncker. Starting development in the summer of 2020, Systecon unveiled the first prototyping a few months before rolling out the technology to its sales force.

Since customers were unable to physically come to the company’s facility because of COVID, Systecon brought a virtual reality offering to its clients through Oculus VR headsets. Oculus is one of the biggest manufacturers of these headsets. Translating the wearer’s movements into VR, the headsets immerse the user in the experience.

To prepare customers for their virtual visit, Systecon couriers them an Oculus headset, or delivers one through Regional Sales Manager Patrick Gaspar if he’s in their area. Once they don one of these hand control-equipped headsets, clients see a 3D version of the company’s pump package, with experts from Systecon standing by hundreds or even thousands of miles away available to answer questions.

While customers usually plan a VR walkthrough of 15 to 30 minutes, most end up staying at least an hour because of the strong interactive experience, and the valuable opportunity to feed questions about the product to experts.

“You get out of the virtual environment pretty quickly,” says Juncker. “Your brain adapts, and you’re then having a human conversation through the technology, even though he may not be in the same room, state, or even country, which is pretty great.”

Taking the lead on the VR project, Gaspar says customers really enjoy the experience. Systecon can point to how solutions are designed and developed in order to control risk. Real-time conversations in the environment speed up the design and learning process for owners, engineers, and construction managers.

Another pandemic approach included virtual training webinars to keep the business on track.

One-stop shop
Celebrating 50 years in business, Systecon has plenty of industry experience and longevity on its side. A one-stop shop means the experts at Systecon take care of all services and project parameters, from initial design to development, plant design and component selection, factory testing, shipment, start-up, commissioning, and any other related services.

Customers have peace of mind when they work with the professionals at Systecon because systems are tested in-house and backed by a complete, single-source warranty.

“From the customers I’ve spoken to there are multiple advantages,” says Gaspar, “including the availability of full-time, highly skilled and technical trades, engineering, greater speed to market, and risk management.”

With proven processes, Systecon handles requests from initial concept through design, manufacturing and delivery, start-up and turnover. By handling these aspects, Systecon can control costs, the scope of materials, and how equipment is going to perform.

“In addition to performance, safety is a key success factor for many customers,” says Gaspar. “Our safety rating is 0.47, and the industry average is 1.0. If you are above 1.0, you run into insurance and financial impacts for how the job is executed,” he says. “With Systecon’s safety rating, off-site construction is a major benefit when being selected to perform work and control risk.”

Beating the seasons
Another benefit to customers is Systecon’s large facility in West Chester, Ohio. Since it is indoors, weather is never an issue creating systems, and adverse jobsite conditions are eliminated. “Building in the wintertime doesn’t affect us at all; in fact, it’s an advantage,” says Gaspar.

For clients, the facility is also an ideal place to host owners, engineers and contractors (with COVID protocols in place) to come and check over the finished product before it’s delivered, adding additional value.

While performing in all three facets of project management – quality, cost and schedule – Systecon provides a well-rounded solution that is customized for each client accordingly. The result: certainty and confidence from the start, where a client can essentially pre-purchase a large and critical undertaking of work involving multiple trades and different disciplines – all up front.

“And we will hold to that,” says Gaspar, “because it’s a manufactured process. Everything is approved before we buy materials, before we build it and test it, so we eliminate any opportunities for change orders of stick-built construction in the field at the jobsite. Since we are in the factory, we avoid all those issues.”

Ahead of the pack
As the company behind standard pump packages along with customized modular pumping systems like VariPrime® and the ultra-advanced CritiChill® system, Systecon is a business rich in pump system experience. From a design-engineering and construction point of view, the business simply cannot be beat.

“We take pride in quality, and we are smarter than the average bear,” says Gaspar, “and I say that humbly though, because we have a wide range and a very deep bench of resources.”

Many of the company’s employees have been with Systecon between 20 and 40 years. Maintaining that wealth of knowledge and experience on all fronts allows the company to focus on providing products that are high-end, made from the right materials, and that meet all codes or regulations on any jobsite around the world, especially in North America.

“That engineering and experience factor, and having good tenure on our staff, allows us to fully understand what the owner is asking, what problems we are solving, and what the requirements are from an engineering point of view – as well as code, regulation and compliance.”

Acquired by ENGIE in 2019, Systecon’s planned expansion in February 2020 coincided with the arrival of COVID. However, the timing worked out for them, as it allowed for additional space on the production floor, enabling the company to implement social distancing, which it wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise.

“It was fortunate that event occurred at the time it did, with the opening of that expansion,” says Juncker. “It added another 25,000 square feet of production along with lifting capabilities of 70 tons in the production bay.” The company facility now comprises about 146,500 square feet.

In the coming years, Systecon will continue to focus on de-carbonization goals and energy-efficiency improvements. With its unique ability to design, plan and test the efficiency of products before they ship, Systecon continues to provide value to the marketplace.

“For us, it’s not necessarily always the end product; it’s how we work together, and how we can assist the owners and engineers to properly plan for a successful project that will allow for speed,” says Juncker.

“Being involved early is key, and proper planning from inception is very important.”

The post 50 Years of Continued Success<p class="company">Systecon</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

“We primarily operate in Davidson County. We do some work in counties that touch Davidson County,” states Chief Executive Officer Loyd Poteete.

Poteete (whose name is pronounced ‘petite’) brings decades of experience to the business, having worked as a fire fighter, military policeman, and member of the Nashville police force. He is proud of his security team which includes roughly 244 armed officers and guards and roughly twenty-two unarmed guards.

Unarmed guards are only allowed to “observe, record, and report,” he says. They can testify in court if need be and are instructed to “notify local authorities if there’s something going on.”

Armed guards, who are generally retired or active police officers, can perform all the above duties but also have the right to detain suspects until authorities arrive. As a private security force, guards and officers are not allowed to make arrests, however.

Comprehensive Security guards and officers provide their services at a wide array of events and activities. “I’ve been very fortunate to do a lot of film work and special events. There’s a TV series called Nashville—we did all the security, armed, and unarmed, for that series from the pilot right to the finish. I have worked with dozens and dozens of country music artists. We have done a lot of commercials and concerts. I’ve done movies with Tim McGraw and Gwyneth Paltrow—so many films I can’t remember. There was a big convention here a few years ago called the Beachbody [Coach Summit]. They would bring in 25,000–30,000 people. My company was in charge of closing off Broadway, which is our main drag in downtown Nashville, so these people could get out on a Saturday morning and do a workout,” he states.

In addition to such high-profile assignments, Comprehensive also performs plenty of less glamorous gigs. Providing traffic control at construction sites, for example, represents the most common security service the firm renders at present. “We have a good presence on that and have been doing that for many years.”

Regardless of the sector or client served, Comprehensive provides around-the-clock security, seven days a week. Poteete also offers a human touch and strives to establish a friendly connection with his clients.

“I work to develop a relationship with companies. We provide good service; we take care of issues; we build a relationship. I am proud to say I have several contractors who will not do a job without us,” he says.

Comprehensive also operates its own fleet of vehicles. It has eleven patrol cars and four trucks, the latter of which perform double duty, patrolling streets and hauling equipment for certain assignments.

“We started furnishing our own traffic control equipment such as signs, barricades, cones,” he explains.

Poteete, now in his mid-seventies, has a history of hard work and a variety of first-responder positions. He had several jobs as a child, including running a popcorn stand and selling concessions at a music venue. As a teenager, he worked at a grocery store, and then took on a second job as a firefighter for a private fire department. He worked during the daytime in the grocery store then helped put out fires at night.

Shortly after finishing high school in 1965, Poteete was drafted by the military as the Vietnam War was starting to intensify. Before he could present himself to the draft board, however, he was seriously injured in a car accident. Two years later, the draft board decided he was sufficiently healed and he ended up working with the military police in Vietnam.

After leaving the army, Poteete joined the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department in July 1969. He served for thirty-one-and-a-half years, retiring in 2001. He worked for a time at a security company run by a friend then founded Comprehensive in 2010.

Given his impressive law enforcement credentials, Poteete has developed some best practices for his security guards including punctuality, honesty, and being courteous and helpful. Above all, he emphasizes the need to remain cool and collected, even in difficult situations.

“You have to keep calm and treat people with dignity and respect. I can honestly say that [as a police officer] I was able to go in and arrest people in crowds and not have to fight everybody. In thirty-one-and-a-half years, I was probably only in five fights,” he states.

Poteete extends this respectful attitude to the personnel at his company. Some Tennessee private security firms hire guards as contract workers, not full-time employees. This means less paperwork and payroll taxes for the business but fewer protections for the guards. Independent contractors typically receive limited compensation and liability coverage for workplace accidents and lawsuits, compared to full-time employees.

“Every person who works for my company is an employee. Therefore, I furnish liability insurance, workman’s compensation insurance, et cetera,” he says with a touch of pride.

He takes a careful, measured approach when hiring new staff for both armed and unarmed duties. “We look at their attitude; we look at their appearance; we look at whether they pay attention when we’re talking to them or if they try to get ahead of the game—if [they think] they know more than you do. Those are all factors that play into it.”

Comprehensive also wants to know about previous employment history and why a potential new hire left their last job. In the case of former police officers, Poteete tries to ensure they are not suffering from job-related burnout.

“If it’s an unarmed guard, they go to a training course that is sanctioned by the State of Tennessee Department of Insurance and Commerce, which governs security guards,” he says, noting that unarmed guards receive additional training in-house. As part of their training regime, armed guards face firearm licensing requirements and must qualify at a gun range.

While some workplaces are squeamish about hiring staff with visible tattoos, skin markings “are not an issue for us, as long [they aren’t] obscene,” he says. Still, Comprehensive is sensitive to client demands if the team is hired for an event and organizers do not want to see any tattoos on their security team. “We make sure the guards or officers have long sleeves or a jacket to cover them up,” Poteete states.

When COVID struck, early last year, Comprehensive implemented government mask mandates and other virus prevention protocols. While in-person concerts and special events were curtailed, construction was deemed an essential service in Tennessee, so work remained steady in this sector.

The company recently moved its headquarters to La Vergne, Tennessee after being based in Brentwood for many years. “Brentwood borders Nashville on the south side. La Vergne borders Nashville on the east side,” Poteete explains.

Regardless of where its headquarters are located, Comprehensive makes a commitment to supporting various charitable and community initiatives. Last Christmas, for example, staff, clients, and friends donated enough to pay for three pickup truck loads of presents for the local Toys for Tots holiday campaign. This is an annual event that the company supports.

He cites staff recruitment as the biggest challenge facing the firm moving forward. The issue is twofold: there is a relatively small pool of police officers or former officers from which he can hire armed guards. And of course, other private security firms are trying to recruit from the same small pool as well. Poteete has also run into challenges when it comes to hiring new unarmed guards.

Still, Poteete is excited about the future. While he has no plans to retire any time soon, he has taken steps to ensure corporate continuity. “If something should happen to me and I am unable to run the company from either illness or death, the company will continue to move forward under the direction and control of my son, Timothy Poteete,” he states. Timothy started work at the firm as a guard and currently acts as operations manager.

For now, Poteete remains firmly in charge. He is eager to see COVID disappear for good and life return to normal, with a steady stream of in-person concerts, conferences, and community events for his staff to guard.

“Five years down the road, I just want to get back to pre-pandemic [work] levels and have a viable company that can provide for its employees.”

The post Protecting Country Stars and Construction Sites, This Company Does it All<p class="company">Comprehensive Security</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Gabriel was then Director, Business Development at MODLOGIQ – a manufacturer specializing in customized, complex educational and health-care facilities – which was benefitting from the solid connection and synergy he’d formed with Buongiorno’s division at Axis Construction, which specializes in the same areas.

Gabriel says that his new position at MODLOGIQ was long in the making. He came on board in November 2018—prior to the company name change from “NRB, USA” to “MODLOGIQ”— having previously worked in the modular industry in the Ohio area.

“It was an opportunity to come back to my roots,” he said then, “and work in an industry and with products that I wholeheartedly love. In the last phase of my career, this is exactly where I want to be.”

What he didn’t foresee when he joined the company, however, was that three months later, “Horizon North came along and bought NRB Canada, the parent company in Grimsby, Ontario, but they didn’t acquire the U.S. company. That was the beginning of discussions I had with the owners, brothers Bob and Craig McNeil, who had operated the business for over 20 years.”

Building on solid ground
But, Gabriel explained, before acquiring the business he and the McNeils had focused on acquiring new business and re-structuring the company.

“To their credit, Bob and Craig wanted to make sure the business was on solid ground, and that what we had agreed to was not just in the best interests of Bob and Craig, but in the best interests of the company, the employees, and clients like John. All of that had to be factored in.”

Not much has changed since taking over on August 31, Gabriel says.

“Being President is not about going, ‘Wow! I’ve arrived!’” he says. “I’m excited, but there’s a lot of work to be done because the legacy of MODLOGIQ represents the DNA of where we’ve come from, the original NRB Canada company founded in 1979, which gives us a leverage point in our industry,” he explains.

“Lots of companies who claimed to have the secret recipe to success in modular have come and gone, but John and I realize that it’s about taking what we know and have accomplished and using that to get to where we want to be. That’s what I’m most excited about.”

A modular future
Buongiorno says there is still work to be done on public perception of modular construction, but that currently there’s higher awareness and interest in it for several reasons, including the labor shortage with contractors unable to find skilled trades for local projects.

The delivery method itself is a huge plus in terms of the quality that comes from working in a controlled environment that’s not affected by weather. While rain or snow falls, construction continues where it’s warm and dry.

There is also the benefit of time saved. Construction companies like Axis can have the site prepared and ready to accept the modules when they arrive from the factory, 80 to 90 percent complete. With the HVAC and MEP systems installed, doors and windows placed and the interior painted, the building can be zipped up in a matter of days.

And if the project is an addition to an existing building, it means that the building users, whether they be medical professionals or educators, can continue their work with no disruption to patient care or student learning.

People are also realizing that modular construction has gone far beyond its earlier iteration when it mainly produced small to mid-size homes on an assembly line, which did not allow for customization.

Today’s modular construction, or at least the structures built by MODLOGIQ, is all about the customization and complexity required to meet the needs of such industries as health care, education, and financial services.

“When someone understands the process, they can see the benefits for themselves, the schedule savings that the delivery method offers, and the cost certainty. These are things that Jim and I stress when we do presentations to audiences,” Buongiorno says.

“This is starting to be acknowledged and accepted. In the past, the questions were about price. How cheaply can you do it? Can you beat this price? But that’s starting to shift, and that’s good because what we are trying to do is educate.”

Meeting client needs
The issue is, as Buongiorno explains, that clients are sometimes “sold a bill of goods, with a price and a completion date the company can’t possibly fulfill, and then the project starts to go sideways. Client’s goals are not met, and the cost they started with is not the cost they are handed in the end and that does the industry a disservice,” he says.

“When we engage with a client, we do it purely on an educational basis. It’s not about what modular is and how much it costs, but it’s about what modular does. If it doesn’t meet the client’s needs, if our benefits and their goals are not in perfect alignment, the project will not be successful.”

According to Buongiorno, news reports about modular are frequently about the failures, often the result of inexperienced people or companies promoting themselves as experts. Somehow, they convince the client to do the project and it fails, with schedule delays, cost overruns and lawsuits.

“And that is what Jim and I are combating because every time there’s negative press it sets the industry back. So many companies have come and gone in this industry and left a path of destruction behind them, but Axis has been around now for 27 years, and MODLOGIQ (and original parent company NRB Canada) for over 40 years with the same tried and true ownership. We actually do what we say we’re going to do.”

The best projects, Gabriel says, are the ones where all the players are engaged upfront, beginning with preconstruction and design, “because we have to determine if we can design this project in such a way that it maximizes modular off-site construction. If we are involved from the very beginning, in preconstruction and design, this is where cost savings start to come in, because there is no duplication of services.”

Once the decision has been made to go modular, it’s about making sure the entire team – owner/developer, architect/designer, engineering, modular manufacturer, and GC/CM – is at the table working together, communicating daily.

“It has to be a total team effort, and those are the projects Jim and I’ve done that have been very successful,” Buongiorno says.

MODLOGIQ projects
While anyone can walk or drive past a conventional construction site and observe the process, modular construction tends to be shrouded in mystery, especially during the pandemic with its attendant restrictions.

However, in the interests of transparency, MODLOGIQ has created a series of YouTube videos which transport the viewer to New Holland, PA.

The first one puts us on the side of the highway, as a convoy of trucks leave the manufacturing plant, transporting no less than 46 structural steel and poured concrete modules 90 miles to the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMBC), for assembly into a two-story, 20,000 square foot Health & Wellness Centre.

“This was a design-build project and a great one for us,” Gabriel says. He remarks on how happy the university president was with the results. “In a conversation with him, at the grand opening, I recall him saying that he’d done a lot of conventional construction on the campus during his career, but this one was actually fun. This is a testament to the design-build process, which in my estimation is one of the best methods to maximize the benefits of modular construction.”

Another YouTube video features a tour of the facility, where the viewer learns more about the processes of modular construction from employees, including designers. A featured crane lifts steel and concrete modules weighing 30 tons and is used to assemble and disassemble each building on the factory site, making sure all goes well on the construction site.

Gabriel notes that MODLOGIQ had just finalized delivery of another project in Maryland: the multi-story 68,000 square foot Cherokee Elementary School in Delphi, in Prince George County, some of which process appeared in the video.

This is part of a K-12, 98,000 square foot “off-site/on-site construction” hybrid project which will be able to open months earlier than would have been possible with a conventional site-built-only approach. Another plus of building off-site was hundreds fewer contractor trips and material deliveries to the site—which helped minimize disruption to ongoing classes at the current school during the pandemic. The result? Much less noise and dust, and far fewer safety issues.

Another project MODLOGIQ completed this past summer was a freestanding, 3,485 square foot retail branch for a major national bank in Blue Springs, Missouri, which Gabriel describes with some excitement. This was in partnership with the architectural firm of Hoefer Welker and CBRE, a construction management company. The team hopes that this prototype will be the first of many that MODLOGIQ will construct off-site for Chase.

This breakthrough project involved taking the bank’s conventional design plan, which features a high ceiling in the customer service and engagement areas and accommodating it to meet both the intent of the original design and the Department of Highways regulations during transportation.

Elevating the industry
Gabriel calls the bank, completed and installed this past summer, a powerful example of the company’s Modular Prototype Program.

“It’s a program that can help other organizations developing modular construction programs to complete the arduous process of creating production-ready designs and prototype models that can be priced and produced by qualified commercial modular manufacturers throughout the country.”

Buongiorno, too, notes that there are several more office buildings in the New York area in which Axis has partnered with MODLOGIQ: a project they were doing with the U.S. Navy in Portsmouth, NH, to be delivered about the time of this magazine’s publication, “and a couple of potentially great projects that it’s too soon to talk about.”

When a future edition of this magazine interviews these two movers in the construction industry again, there will no doubt be numerous new and interesting projects involving modular construction to report on.

The future looks bright for Axis Construction and MODLOGIQ, and indeed for the entire industry if it follows the company’s example of a collaborative model from the very beginning of each project. It is proving to be a recipe for success.

The post Straight Talk About Smart Construction<p class="company">Axis Construction and MODLOGIQ</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Standing toe-to-toe with some of Canada’s largest competitors of its kind, Kodem specializes in top-tier project management of all types of real estate. The firm’s experience encompasses bringing to life everything from the headquarters of large institutions to hospitality, leisure, and resort projects alongside commercial, industrial, and residential builds. Its portfolio includes ski resorts, shopping centers, condominiums, apartment blocks, and a lot more. As the skillsets and knowledge base for each are highly specialized, the company sets itself apart by being able to complete them all.

Benjamin Sternthal started Kodem in 1998 after working for Intrawest, a public real estate firm that specialized in ski resorts across Canada, the USA and Europe. “Since 1998–1999, we’ve completed around two-hundred projects [totalling around] 8.5 million square feet of building. That’s probably about 105,000 cups of coffee and easily 400,000 phone calls,” he says. With his master’s degree in Architecture that focused on quality development and a bachelor’s degree in Geography majoring in urban systems and environmental studies, all from McGill University, he sees the world very differently from most in his field, and refreshingly so.

“I find that this background is one of the best you can have in real estate development, because it’s all about creating a product,” Sternthal says, adding that it is easy to make a successful product when one understands what ‘best’ means in every aspect of the process.

“I read Peter Pan to my kids all the time. [He] said that the moment you doubt whether you can fly you cease to be able to do it. That is so true. The day you start doubting yourself is when nothing positive happens in business,” he says.

Andre Miller, Vice President of Development, graduated as an architect from McGill University in 1997. After working for one of the province’s largest general contractors, where he gained a vast knowledge of construction across a spectrum of fields, Miller joined Kodem in 2005. “What we do here is guide and lead development projects from the beginning to end. Often clients come to us in need of a bigger building. We guide them throughout the process. Those smiles are priceless,” he says.

Miller describes a recent and complex project in which the Kodem team removed columns from a school gymnasium for it to function better. “Our clients’ success is our success. What we design and build needs to be durable. The decisions you make now are decisions you will live with for the lifespan of the building,” he says, noting that clients frequently thank the company for guiding them to do what is best in the long run.

Sternthal is also a big proponent of Sir Edmund Hillary’s quote: “It’s not the mountain that we conquer, but ourselves,” pointing out that our role as humans revolves heavily around motivating others to reach their full potential. As a result, continuously exploring the highest possibilities of both business and life has become a large motivating factor for him. Of course, with such exploration comes the willingness to adjust to change and bring the non-existent into reality. Sternthal points out that ‘yes’ is a very important word when it comes to recreating oneself and a business.

“As a kid, I believed in magic. As a real estate developer, I believe in logic to create magic. We’re balancing logic and magic in perfect synergy. These are the ingredients we use every day to create amazing, award-winning projects. Real estate development is influential in every sector of business, and has the potential to spearhead significant change in society as a result,” he says. This belief has led to developing a company talent for creating places that naturally blend into their urban surroundings and where people can flourish and live lives filled with happy memories.

He has seen more than his fair share of human suffering throughout the world, so the incredible opportunities that Montreal offers are clear. “I’m a sailor and spend a lot of time looking up to the sky. I love rainbows and hate storm clouds. Montreal reminds me of a rainbow. A city composed of many cultures and people. Its base of blue is home to the French-Canadian culture which needs to be celebrated, surrounded by all these other colors combined forming this beautiful rainbow. Take one color out and the rainbow morphs into a storm cloud,” says Sternthal.

This commitment to Montreal’s people has won the company many of the city’s largest projects. “We’re like David against all these giants. We’re entrepreneurial; we’re sharp, and we’re good at what we do. We make all these projects happen,” he says, pointing out that there is no need for bureaucracy or size to be outstanding. “We don’t have to get bogged down in systems. We can just do what we love doing and be hands-on.”

There have been many proud moments over the years for Kodem. At present, it is working in downtown Montreal on Solstice, a near-$200 million condominium development comprised of forty-four storeys. On budget and on time, this beautiful building is set to be another prize achievement soon. Kodem also created the headquarters for Canada’s largest labour union: Confédération des Syndicate Nationaux (CSN). The building is LEED Silver certified and cost around $65 million. He says that building it was an “incredible experience. We delivered it, I believe, around $5 million under budget for them. We ran it hands-on, [negotiating] every contract as if it was our own money,” says Sternthal.

The company also built Herzliah High School, Montreal’s most modern to date, a school that is believed to be technologically unparalleled in the country. “When we run a school project, we’re responsible for the destiny of a school. They don’t necessarily know what they getting into. It’s a higher level of ownership,” Sternthal says.

Another leader in Canadian education, Collège Charles-Lemoyne in Quebec, is the proud owner of several campuses worth around $50 million that have been developed by Kodem over about fifteen years.

MYST, a $75 million, 140-unit condominium development by the Melki Group on Montreal’s Lachine canal is a stylish signature glass construction with beautiful views and even better amenities. The Kodem team led the development management of the project, leading the design and construction process with the Melki Group. “The iconic part of the Myst project was the sky bridge connecting two towers with an infinity pool on the sky bridge. Go build a bridge connecting two buildings in a climate where it’s -40°C and +40°C. The thermal expansion of the materials is crazy,” Sternthal says.

One of its current projects that is, as yet, under wraps, is a 400-unit twin tower, with extensive gardens and amenities. There is also another school project and a four-season destination resort. The end-users’ ultimate experience of spaces is always at the forefront of how it goes about breathing life into cityscapes. Therefore, it does a thorough pre-development analysis to ensure that cost, investment, and outcomes are balanced.

“Our mission is to transform urban landscapes one project at a time. We design for the market, the client, the end-user, and we quickly establish financial plans. We’re very detailed on our schedules,” Sternthal says.

Sternthal and his wife have also volunteered their services and knowledge in Ethiopia, turning the Shumargie school in the north of the country from an open-air, corrugated iron shack into a two-room, standalone reinforced concrete building that is safe and comfortable for children to learn in.

One of his favourite quotes from Ethiopia’s Museum of Ethnography states that ‘Children must play because playing fosters dreams and dreams build nations.’ Here, many bright ideas are born inside one of the company’s sandbox sessions. While he points out that creative people are “hard to keep on track during meetings,” Sternthal insists that his sandbox sessions keep his imagination alive, and that harnessing the creative energy of his expert team makes them unbeatable.

“I’m fifty-one years old. But I feel like I’m about four years old. [At] six and nine [my children] keep me in that age group. As a four-year-old, I played with my Tonka trucks and built sandcastles. [This] hasn’t changed. Except, today, the trucks are full-size, and I build with reinforced concrete instead of sand,” he says.

Despite the considerably scaled-up toys, Sternthal continues the sandbox tradition. “I find that is where my best ideas are born. That’s the energy behind what you see on our website,” he says.

To achieve this, hiring only the best people is a priority. “We hire the best professionals we can find, and we never save money on our brainpower,” he says, adding that savings are a result of “an incredible team.”

Kodem’s charitable contributions are not simply an annual affair; instead, this forms part of its fibre. When it comes to doing good, the company streams its giving and support into three main areas: education, health, and clean drinking water. Sternthal believes that business leaders must share their skillsets to improve the world, and for him, that does not mean confusing politics with helping communities. Having roughed it through over two hundred countries with a backpack and a great sense of humour, he is experienced in humanitarian work.

It includes personally attending and facilitating a heart-wrenching official rescue mission that saw about three hundred Ethiopian nationals airlifted away from religious conflict in their country. They were repatriated to Israeli absorption camps during the Lebanon war under tremendously difficult and dangerous circumstances to be reunited with their families.

As a result of having lived this richly textured life, Sternthal describes himself as an imagineer and social entrepreneur rather than a capitalist because, for him, profit means more than living a certain lifestyle. It means being capable of giving the world real change, much faster and more effectively than traditional aid organizations typically channel resources.

Sternthal and his wife Julie Schneiderman started Kulam, a grassroots charitable initiative that, so far, has built two schools and numerous wells in Ethiopia, and is providing anonymous financial aid to learners without means. In addition, the Kodem Academy project offers new graduates the opportunity to shadow Sternthal for six months. The company has also done a lot of fundraising in the process, recently helping a tour operator in the same country who nearly lost his Land Cruiser in a violent attack in the current civil war.

Then there is the rebuilding of Share the Warmth, a local organization for people in need that approached Andre Miller for assistance. For the three years it took to complete the truly inspiring, $2-million project, Kodem donated its services and invited all its consultants to donate theirs to this incredible cause.

But the company also takes good care of its own. During COVID-19, everything in the company automatically switched over to virtual meetings and sales sessions, thanks to upgrades done shortly before the crisis hit. Now, next-generation disease prevention technology like specialized air filters are fitted throughout its facility. Its latest designs include touchless technology, barrier-free design, private outdoor spaces, and even COVID-19 and bio-aerosol-eliminating ultraviolet filtration in all its ventilation systems. Hydrogen cell technology also zaps all disease-causing molecules. These are just a few of the measures custom-developed for the company and tested in Sternthal’s home alongside all the other technology the company uses in its developments. The company also donated technology and intellectual property regarding healthy air ventilation systems to schools that it was working on at the time.

Kodem’s integrity leads the way, and nobody goes under on its projects. “You have to keep grounded,” Sternthal says. “If you lose this, you get fooled [by] your own publicity and success. You stop looking at stuff properly. And [that] is easy to do. It is a human problem.” Looking toward the bright future that Montreal holds, Sternthal assures me of bigger things to come. I do not doubt that he is right.

The post Creating Iconic Spaces Through Integrity and Authenticity<p class="company">Kodem Developments Inc.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

A few years ago, President and Chief Executive Officer Pierre Pomerleau read a study from global management consulting firm McKinsey & Company, which pointed out that construction hadn’t seen any productivity improvements for some 30 years. FOX – Pomerleau’s corporate transformation program – is composed of initiatives that tackle roadblocks to change. It helps answer the question, ‘what technologies could be useful to optimize efficiency and safety?’ but also speaks to the process, the ‘how it will get done?’

In other words, FOX ensures that there is a close relationship between offices and sites, and that Pomerleau’s corporate transformation involves everyone, and improves everyone’s day-to-day.

Inspiration for change
Varun Dhawan, a Project Manager in Pomerleau’s Toronto office, recalls a speech by Pierre Pomerleau in 2015 on the urgent need for construction as a whole to change as much as other industries had. Since construction is playing catch-up compared to many sectors, the industry also needs to pick up the pace.

To Dhawan, FOX is an embodiment of Pomerleau’s ongoing commitment to its core values of excellence and innovation in the campaign to root out ‘dinosaur’ thinking.

“Continual improvement is something we always look for in an industry that historically is not known to deal with change efficiently,” he says. “We’ve taken this initiative that many of us are involved in and we’re trying to improve little things. We’ve been in FOX for over two years and come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go.”

It is, he says, a tremendous platform for collaboration across the entire company spectrum, where lessons can be learned, practices improved, and different perspectives appreciated and understood, enhancing collaboration between different divisions like Civil and Infrastructures and Buildings.

The genesis of FOX goes back to 2018 when the company held discussions about how to streamline efficiencies, like eliminating repetitive/duplicate tasks, harmonizing its processes, and focusing on high added-value activities to operationalize change management. Participation in the program is done on a voluntary basis.

Many other construction companies remain top-down in terms of how they transform and how decisions are made, but this is not the case at Pomerleau, where all employees are encouraged to give input on matters great and small. Through FOX, the company then finds solutions to improve processes.

These conversations resulted in some 15 improvement projects that began in January 2019. Monitoring these initial initiatives, Pomerleau launched 20 more the following January, which included a Sustainable Development program.

Serving as an engine, FOX is being utilized by Pomerleau coast-to-coast to foster collegiality and innovation, and to power the company’s corporate transformation and how it continues to evolve as a business.

Employees as drivers of change
One of Canada’s largest and most respected general contractors, Pomerleau was founded in Quebec in 1964. Now in its second generation of Pomerleau family ownership, the business has grown to over 4,000 employees, nine regional offices, and approximately 200 active worksites engaged in projects of all sizes ranging from institutional to industrial, commercial to residential.

Despite its significant presence – currently ranked sixth in terms of revenue in Canada – Pomerleau maintains a family-feeling working environment. For Krista Gill, this continues to resonate through the Foundation for Operational Excellence.

“For me, FOX represent the values of the company I work for, and it’s great that as a business, they are asking for my advice and involving colleagues and me in the change management process. It speaks to how we are treated and valued as people,” says the 12-year veteran Sustainability and Commissioning Manager in Pomerleau’s Halifax office.

“Rather than telling me how to do my work, it’s Pomerleau saying, ‘What do you think, how can we improve this? You’ve had lots of experience, tell me about it.’ It’s that mechanism that allows us to learn from each other to improve, rather than stay stagnant,” she says.

For Gill and others, FOX initiatives can help address a range of inefficiencies including those related to material purchasing. “If you look at a lot of the initiatives, they’re aimed at making the best use of all the resources that we have in our big toolbox, our people and our knowledge,” she says. “Getting rid of inefficiencies in everything is what FOX is all about.”

Involved with FOX for a long time, Gill has experienced its many benefits firsthand across various projects and current initiatives – from the creation of an expert group and in-house trainings for sustainable construction (certifications like LEED) to the deployment of a new integrated document management system for every new project. By bringing like-minded individuals together, FOX connects new and seasoned employees to one another, and represents a milestone in organizational transformation for Pomerleau.

Set up for success, even during the pandemic
While all construction companies have had to face challenges stemming from COVID-19, some at Pomerleau believe the pandemic and working remotely actually unleashed the full power of FOX. The construction industry will play a central role in Canada’s economic recovery and Pomerleau, who has always banked on teamwork and innovation as drivers for excellence, will help drive this recovery forward. Through FOX, the company has continued to empower all staff to seize opportunities, even in the context of the pandemic.

“While COVID took our close networks and separated them a little bit and made us further away from the people we were typically physically close to, it also brought people who are further away closer to us,” says Gill.

Operating coast-to-coast, Pomerleau staff were accustomed to dealing with others remotely, yet the pandemic sped up technology, allowing them to become even more collaborative while getting to know their co-workers from other parts of the country better.

Unique assessment program
Among FOX’s latest initiatives is the Zero Percent Assessment Initiative, a platform used to optimize project kickoff.

For Tomy Drolet, a Senior Project Manager in the Civil and Infrastructures Division in British Columbia, this initiative comes as a welcome change from old-fashioned ways of working, like using a one-pager with bullet points and sitting in a room and taking notes during the initial project meeting. Since Pomerleau is growing and has shared services and knowledge, the company wants to ensure it gathers all information ahead of a project and has developed a method for capturing and disseminating key information.

With the Zero Percent Assessment Initiative – a web-based platform – everyone involved in a project has the opportunity to provide information at a live, accessible, and efficient kickoff meeting.

“When we get to the kickoff meeting, it’s a much more productive process,” says Drolet, who, like Gill, is also a 12-year Pomerleau veteran. “Everyone around the table already has knowledge of the project and knows what they want to bring to the discussion, instead of sitting and hearing all of this new information for the first time.

“It’s just one example of a simple process where we found FOX could bring value to the company by making it a 2021 version, if you will.” FOX, by its very nature, pushes everyone to think outside the box. It is a means of looking at new ways of doing things, sharing best practices, and adapting to various realities in which the company operates.

Many FOX initiatives help bring cohesion to the complex environment that is a construction worksite. It involves not just Pomerleau employees, but trade partners and collaborators to make things more efficient for all.

Onwards and upwards, what’s next for FOX?
As one of Pomerleau’s core values, innovation, including human-driven innovation through programs like FOX, has guided the company’s growth over the last decade. The hope is that paired with the use of processes and technologies like BIM (Building Information Modeling) and Spot the robot dog (Pomerleau was the first construction company in the world to use this technology on a worksite), FOX will helps accelerate the pace of change not just at Pomerleau, but in the industry as a whole. As part of the larger Innovation team and working in combination with the aXlab (Pomerleau’s newest research and development team and facility), the FOX process is set to foster the scale-up of the various processes and technologies to create the construction site of the future.

To date, feedback on FOX has been outstanding. Dhawan, Gill and Drolet encourage other colleagues to be part of its initiatives and are open and responsive to answering questions. Feedback from Pomerleau’s clients and trade partners has been invaluable, with some praising the initiative for saving money and time, and for working with openness and transparency.

No step is too small in a necessary industry-wide revolution and modernization. Having different voices represented and people from different backgrounds involved in crafting practical and effective solutions that will make a difference in the day-to-day on a worksite is a good starting point. That’s how FOX will continue to drive progress at Pomerleau and beyond.

The post Shaping a Better Industry<p class="company">Pomerleau</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

The operation then expanded to create Chesterview Estates, a neighbourhood in Chestermere, Alberta, and continued growth into the nearby Calgary and Spring Bank areas over the ensuing twenty-five years, eventually outgrowing its initial focus on single-family homes to include multi-family, commercial, and rental spaces in its current repertoire.

Marketing Manager Morgan Fraser outlines that the biggest drive forward for Truman Homes is a commitment to quality, sustainability, and versatility, and all the company’s standards and design specifications for home projects are of premium quality. “We always offer the top specs regardless of options,” she says. “The baseline [of specification] is the highest premium we can offer.”

All Truman homes are designed to save money and energy with high-performance wind resistance, quality insulation, high-efficiency heating and cooling systems, and energy-efficient lighting and appliances. Many of its buildings are LEED Platinum certified (the highest Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design certification possible) and are, as Fraser puts it, “as green as can be.” Whether using double-paned windows, unit temperature regulations, or any other number of sustainable solutions, the company’s commitment to using less of the planet’s limited natural resources is a big part of its values.

With over thirty-five years of experience in the home industry, Truman has learned from its experiences and mistakes in that time. The effort to understand consumer trends—particularly those of Calgary—has allowed the company to adapt to home-buying, design, and lifestyle trends quickly and intelligently. One such recent trend is the fact that more people are leaning toward owning single-family homes due to a desire for outdoor space and privacy, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Fraser says that understanding customers allows for a greater ability to provide for their needs, and leads to finding more effective ways of communicating its vision effectively to them. Planning and having a good foundation is vital, not just in the realm of construction but in planning for and accommodating delays or issues with blueprints, materials, or construction times. The staff members of Truman Homes draw on this deep well of knowledge constantly, granting it a certain edge.

Despite anxious times across many industries in the past two years, Truman Homes has kept very busy. Amongst its roster of projects, the West District is Truman’s newest master-planned community, the biggest of its kind in southwest Calgary. The company is taking control of everything from rental spaces and single-family homes to commercial space, road building, and transit.

Fraser believes that this will have the biggest impact on Calgary due to both its sheer size and how it will fit the needs of people in the area, from family homes to commercial space and rental accessibility (the latter being a rarity in the southwest area). The project also involves creating a central park development, intended to be the biggest feature of the district, which will have a pond for year-round community gatherings as well as integrated parks and pathways within the community and surrounding areas.

The goal is to make these places as accessible as possible, promoting a community connection instead of just homes on a lot. A rental building in West District will feature universally accessible housing to fill a large need, based on feedback that rental units can often be inaccessible to those with physical handicaps. Fraser also mentions a combined master plan development in Calgary’s university district, on which the company is focusing as it looks to promote sustainability further.

She feels that the last two years have been strange for the housing market thanks to historically low mortgage rates fueled by notable lifestyle changes resulting from the pandemic, such as a focus on work-from-home employment. She also mentions the industry’s lumber crisis which began last year, leading to the property being “worth more than gold,” with little availability due to material shortages. The issue continues to this day, affecting home construction and selling, leaving companies unable to build as fast as buyers crop up.

Calgary’s home market has seen its strongest sales of the past five years, which Fraser explains was just about enough to offset the losses from the first COVID-19 shutdown into the surge of new buyers. She notes that the biggest challenge for every homebuilder, regardless of the market situation, is meeting customer needs and keeping specifications within budget.

Amid a busy time for the homebuilding sector, Truman’s biggest focus in the next couple of years will be on developing Calgary’s West District even further, making it an accessible and growing area. Fraser says that plans are in place to create a road that connects both sides of the district as, at present, only certain areas are accessible without a connecting road.

After the completion of West District, further attention will be given to rentals and the development of 17 West, a rental development project close to downtown Calgary. The idea behind this project is to give those seeking more flexibility in their lifestyle an opportunity to find a great place to live, such as professionals who travel a lot, or people who don’t want the added pressures that come from home ownership.

Fraser notes that the trend of home buyers wanting single-family spaces will likely continue into 2022, as people in the market seek a space that truly feels like a home rather than just a place to sleep and eat. Time and care are paid to build around what a customer wants and needs from a living space as well as trends and area demographics, and Truman strives to offer its premium specifications with the thought that everyone can live better in a sustainable and timeless home. Truman always makes sure these wants are considered while allowing for flexibility in the space for the different lifestyles.

Truman Homes focuses on “homes that withstand trends and focus on quality overall to ensure they can withstand ten to thirty years without needing major updates or changes that would impact our green initiative.” The company is ready to handle the changing needs of its clients, as it has for over three decades.

The post Calgary Homebuilder Turns Dreams into Reality<p class="company">Truman Homes</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

A full-service contractor, Lacey Construction provides stunning custom residential and commercial work in B.C.’s Fraser Valley, with more than 22 years of experience in building, renovations and commercial repairs.

At the heart of the company are founder Erik Lacey, his wife, Business Manager Lesa, and a dedicated team, all of whom make it their mission to provide exceptional design, construction, and customer service from beginning to completion of projects of all sizes.

“My husband started the company about five years after graduating high school, and he essentially bootstrapped it,” says Lesa Lacey. “I’ve been with him for 18 years, and we’ve grown from $100,000 a year in revenue and two employees when I met him, to 50 employees and about $10 million in annual revenue now.

Even during periods of exponential growth, Lacey Construction’s dedication to managing and maintaining its company culture has been essential. It’s a culture that encompasses a range of diversity and inclusion, and in particular, the encouraging, mentoring, and hiring of women in trades.

“It’s a huge focus for me,” says Lesa. “I think it’s really important for us as industry members not just to complain about trade shortages, but get actively involved and work toward providing solutions. If we raise the level of participation to nine percent of women in field staff, we could essentially remove the trade shortage we’re experiencing.”

To that end, Lacey Construction is proud that approximately 19 percent of its field staff are women, stemming from the company’s relationship with its long-term Construction Manager, Claire Seymour.

“Working with Claire and seeing how awesome she was with the clients and our trades, we wanted to have more women join our team,” says Lesa. “I started attending women-in-trades events, essentially hoping to coach someone, and I just got drawn into it.”

Being part of the Industry of Training Authority (ITA) the company has collaborated with them on the best practices for hiring women in trades, and Lesa has volunteered at the Skills BC Canada Women in Trades Event for several years.

“Now I’m proud to be sending out our own tradeswomen in my place to schools and different speaking events,” she says. “It’s interesting to continually try to bring the conversation back to residential trades being an excellent choice for women.”

Lesa attributes the company’s success in attracting women to the creation of a safe work environment for women not just physically but emotionally, and opening lines of communication that allow their tradeswomen to reach out to anyone in the organization for support.

“We’re also working to strengthen that experience right now with a more formalized orientation, onboarding, and mentorship program. I think a mentorship – having a mentor you can talk to – is one of the most successful aspects for retaining women in trades,” adds Lesa.

Reaching out to women at a younger age is also vital in drawing them into the field. At the last provincial skills BC competition, the company addressed Grade Six students from two local elementary schools and bookended that with information from a trades college teacher and an ITA representative. In high school, says Lesa, it’s also important to educate girls about higher education possibilities.

“Knowing about that career path and working against some preconceived notions that university is the be-all and end-all is important,” she says. “When I talk to women in high school, I take care to frame trades as also a great opportunity to own your own business. If you’re a plumber you can go out on your own. It gives you that flexibility to be your own boss.”

Lesa says that while there’s still a stigma about the trades, she sees the tide changing. “I think the stigma is more so with parents, but it’s shifting and it’s moving in a really positive way,” she says.

That shift, says Lesa, is a direct result of the women and their allies, like Women in Trades and Technology, who have blazed the way with hard work. She adds that it’s good to acknowledge that there are safe and positive roles for women in construction everywhere at this time.

“There’s a big push toward this with events and bringing more STEM into younger grades,” she says. “Homebuilding is getting more and more technical. It’s not a fallback choice – it’s something to be proud of. It will be awesome to drive past these homes 20 years from now and see that you were a part of this time in a tangible way for this family.”

That theme of family and its importance weaves its way through many aspects of Lacey Construction’s mandates and is one that the company works to uphold with every client and team member.

“We always bring it back to the fact that we’re families working for families, whether it’s a $500 repair or a $5 million commercial project,” she says, adding that five of their past employees are previous clients or family members of previous clients. “At the heart of it, we are a family business. Erik and I work together every day, so every interview involves our dogs and our team. We hire much more on attitudes than experience.”

Maintaining that close family atmosphere means not only working but playing together, with Christmas, golf, and skiing meet-ups common among team members.

The entire company is also committed to volunteering and giving back in any way possible. Just a few of their projects include Isthmus Canada – Because Hunger Doesn’t Take Weekends Off, support for SARA for Women Society’s Fronya Thrift Store, and collecting and dropping off donations in response to the 2017 and 2021 BC wildfires.

The company also supports numerous causes such as Agassiz Fire Department, BC Children’s Hospital, Canadian Cancer Society, and Sasquatch Inn Jim Maclean Golf Tournament for Heart & Stroke Foundation.

“We’re focused on giving back where we work,” says Lesa. “We host the First Nations housing forum every fall, focus on Indigenous housing managers and giving back, information sharing, and participating with our community through Canadian homebuilders. Thankfully, with Erik and I working the way we do I can be a bit more removed from the day-to-day and be more active in the industry.”

Plans for Lacey Construction include expanding its reach geographically and possibly tackling some jobs in North Van and South Surrey.

“We’re looking for steady growth and moving into an office building in Mission when we can find space,” says Lesa. “Maintaining our role in the industry is important to us, being involved in some of the major consultations and moving our team into those roles as well.”

Mentorship, adds Lesa, is a top priority for the company as it strives to focus on helping others whenever possible.

“We want to see every team member succeed personally and professionally – whether that’s with us or not,” Lesa says. “We look to foster team members who have moved on and potentially start their own businesses.”

Lacey Construction typically continues to work with former employees, hiring them as contractors and supporting and fostering their work as well. While the company doesn’t want to lose them, it’s “really exciting” to see them build their own crews and “do their own thing.”

“We learn so much from everyone who joins our team,” she says. “Every employee is an opportunity to hear that feedback and move forward with continual improvement. We’re always looking for where we can get better, and the end goal is creating a very positive experience for our clients with high-quality product.”

One of those incredible – and award-winning – projects is the Sandpiper Resort in Harrison Mills where the team recently completed seven new cabins.

“Erik started working with the Pretty family, who own that property and developed the resort, very early in his career,” says Lesa. “It’s now in the hands of Keltic Canada, and we’re excited to be working with them on the next phase of the Sandpiper Resort.”

Recognized provincially as a Georgie and CHBA National Award Winner, the project was completed in less than eight months, no easy feat considering that everything from ground preparation, clearing, and underground service installation to full design-and-build construction services were done outside of peak operating season to fit into the course’s busy season.

“It’s just really exciting because it’s a full-circle thing for us,” says Lesa. “They’re some of Erik’s earliest business mentors. We’re renovating structures he had a hand in building originally. It’s really exciting to be the second generation of that.”

That pride in workmanship and being part of an experience is an ongoing commitment for a company that regards success as “not just based on dollars and cents,” but a matter of how they added to that client’s experience, and where can they improve.

“We really celebrate team milestones and empower our team to make experiences for their clients special, such as a new baby or other family occasion,” says Lesa. “We didn’t go into it thinking this is what we want to get out of it. It’s coming from the heart, and what does come out of it is special. We’re thankful to have clients we call friends. It’s pretty cool to have this community around us.”

Although the company has received numerous prestigious awards over the years – including 2020/2021 Best Residential Builder two years in a row; Custom Home Builder in the Fraser Valley from CHBA; two Georgie awards, two national awards, and numerous local awards – all of them pale in comparison with celebrating those things together as a team, says Lesa. “I honestly think our biggest accomplishments are the company culture we’ve been able to create, and the amazing team we’ve been able to have join and work with us.”

The team’s desire to bring a high level of focus to every job, no matter the size, the location or budget, continues to drive the company.

“A huge part for me is recognizing that a lot of our clients are making the largest single investment they’ll ever make in their life,” she says. “We really try to honour that – and review our processes and what we do day-to-day to see if it honours that commitment. What sets us apart is that we’re not trying to be set apart – this is us, we’re doing best practices and it’s coming from the heart.”

The post Families Working for Families<p class="company">Lacey Construction</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Specializing in radon mapping, radon testing, radon measurement, and mitigation, Vancouver-based REM is also a consultant. To educate and raise awareness about the risks of radon, the company presents educational seminars for building associations such as the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, the Canadian Green Building Council, and similar organizations in the United States.

As the only full-service radon company, REM is leading the industry. With a team of geologists, it produced the first geologic radon potential map of Canada in 2012, and it offers a complete line of radon detection options. These range from residential home self-tests to professional devices for home inspectors and radon mitigators.

The primary focus of the business is radon mitigation solutions. “We’ve invested a lot of money and time over the last ten years developing new technologies that go beyond what the requirements are in the code to prevent radon during new construction, so we’re quite unique in that respect,” says Alan Whitehead, President and Chief Executive Officer at REM.

This involves radon reduction and mitigation of indoor air and the level of radon in well water. Radon is soluble in ground water and it can enter the home through taps and faucets. When a toilet is flushed or a shower is running, the water is aerated and radon gas is released as a result.

REM is heavily involved in the research and development of its high-performance technologies, and has ownership in the intellectual property through patents and registered trademarks. Its most well-known and trusted products are Radon Guard™, Radon Block™, Radostat™, and Airwell™

The company has developed essential partnerships in the industry and uses many distributors to sell its products in various markets. These sectors include residential home building, custom home building, commercial construction, and industrial construction

For five years now, one of the company’s most beneficial partnerships has been with the Holmes Group. REM is the exclusive consultant and provider of radon reduction and prevention solutions for Holmes approved builders. “These builders are building to the Holmes standard and beyond the code in most areas of construction. They’re building healthy homes, and to do that, you’ve got to understand that radon could be an issue in regards to indoor air quality. They’re all about ‘building it right’ and take measures during new construction to put in the best systems that are available, which is where our technologies come in,” says Whitehead. REM’s line of products is the perfect match for the high standards of Holmes Approved Builders.

The move toward net zero energy homes drives the need to continue raising awareness about radon exposure. The building envelope of a net zero home is built much tighter, and there are fewer air exchanges, which creates a perfect storm for the build-up of soil gases and volatile organic compounds. Fortunately, the majority of architects, developers, and builders now understand the need for a plan to ensure that the indoor air quality is safe and healthy.

“Radon is present in every indoor environment bar none, the only question is to what degree and the only way to know is to test. You can’t see, smell, or taste it, so the only way to know what the level is in a home or school or workplace is to test using a radon detector and from there you would look at whether you need to mitigate,” explains Whitehead.

Building codes have progressed significantly in the past five years to require that radon control measures are installed in all new construction, whether it is a home, commercial, or industrial building. Radon awareness in the building sector has grown, and REM often consults with large project developers to design efficient radon control systems.

The circumstances are vastly different for the existing housing stock. Currently, there is no requirement in Canada to test and subsequently mitigate if the radon level is high. In the US, it is a requirement in most states that a residence must be tested for radon at the point of home sale, and if it is above the Environmental Protection Agency guideline, it must be mitigated before being sold.

Unfortunately that is not yet the case in Canada, but there was one step forward in British Columbia as of June 2020, where it is now a real estate disclosure requirement when selling a house to provide information on whether or not the home has been tested for radon. The Prairie Provinces, which have high levels of radon potential according to REM’s radon map, are also beginning to include more legislative measures to prevent public exposure to radon.

The changes are helpful for new housing developments, but since new construction represents only about ten percent of the housing stock, the real issue is raising awareness among homeowners.

To increase education for the other ninety percent of the housing stock, REM partners with the radon industry’s biggest stakeholders: Health Canada, the Canadian Cancer Society, Provincial Lung Associations, and other organizations that want to make the public understand the risks of radon exposure.

Radon is produced through the presence of uranium in the soil and rocks, and the health risk for people is that it causes lung cancer. Even when the radon exposure comes from well water, the primary health risk is lung cancer, as it enters the body through inhalation. As mentioned earlier, this is because radon in the water returns to a gaseous form when using the water for household activities such as running a bath or flushing a toilet.

Radon exposure is the leading cause of lung cancer after smoking. “The World Health Organization estimates that sixteen percent of all lung cancers are caused through radon exposure, and just to put that in context, that’s about 200,000 cases worldwide a year resulting in death,” says Whitehead. Three causes of lung cancer—smoking, exposure to radon, and asbestos—are all completely preventable.

Non-smokers can get lung cancer, and it is often due to radon exposure. Even worse for smokers who are also exposed to high levels of radon, the risk of developing lung cancer goes from one in seventeen to one in three because the effect is cumulative. “When you breathe in radioactive gas, there are alpha particles which are basically radioactive particles that attack the DNA and break it. Usually the body is pretty good at repairing that DNA and returning it to normal but sometimes, depending on the genetic makeup, that doesn’t happen, and that’s what results in lung cancer,” explains Whitehead.

One of the reasons Whitehead is so passionate about radon prevention and mitigation is his personal experience. Ten years ago, his wife Janet was diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of extremely high radon levels in their home. She has fortunately beaten the disease and continues to be a major driving force for Whitehead and the important work being carried out by REM.

A good indication of the increase in radon awareness is that REM’s business and sales have doubled year over year for the last two years. Also, the pandemic, in general, has influenced the demand for better indoor air quality. With more people working from home, it is especially important to test the area where they live, work, and sleep. Homes with finished basements are particularly hazardous because radon is heavier than air and sits in low places, but it can travel up through the rest of the house with the stack effect as windows and doors are opened.

The positive news is that testing for radon is inexpensive. With a new build or an existing build, it is affordable to mitigate the problem through REM. Typically, testing is as low as $40 for a single test kit, and around $300 for a continuous radon monitor. A professional device can range between $1,500 and $2,000. Mitigation for a standard home of roughly 2,000 square feet would cost approximately $3,000 to $5,000 for both new construction and an existing home.

Radon is present in every indoor environment, and what matters is finding out how much. Health Canada has been very proactive with mail-outs in the last three years and has sent roughly 3.0 million postcards to homes in high-risk areas. Through clear messaging, the cards let people know that radon is in their home and they need to test the level in order to protect their family.

“They used to say radon may be in your home, but now they just say radon is in your home and you need to know the number. That triggers a lot of testing, and that’s what we want to see,” says Whitehead. “There are quite a few stakeholder groups now that are very active and trying to get legislation in place to make it a level playing field so everyone knows about it and can take action if they need to.”

The post Radon Prevention and Mitigation – Raising Awareness and Exceeding Code Standards<p class="company">Radon Environmental Management Corp</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.