The business was founded in 1914 by Herbert Bassett McClure and Curtis Fisher, and over the ensuing century, it has grown into a full service commercial/industrial mechanical contractor.

Shelly Matter, the firm’s Director of Business Development, refers to the transition of the company being purchased by Bob Whalen, CEO of HB Global LLC, in 2008, then becoming an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) business in 2010, which means that HB McClure is 100 percent employee-owned.

Matter says the ownership change has led to a culture that is second to none in the industry because everyone who works for the company is an owner of it and, now employees across the board take great pride in the company. “HB is made up of hard working great people – we consider one another family.”

Carl Feaser, Vice President of Commercial Construction at HB McClure, emphasizes that its goal is world-class customer service. The focus is on delivering quality work and overall customer satisfaction, a solid focus for the company ever since the 1980s when the company moved to including pre-construction in its philosophy.

Smart acquisition
Thus far into the company’s formidable progress, Matter feels its biggest accomplishments, aside from becoming an ESOP, are its many acquisitions of strong companies whose core values align with its own.

The team’s first sizable acquisition was in 2014 when they purchased IT Landes located in Harleysville, Pennsylvania, which enabled HB McClure to extend its reach closer to the Philadelphia market.

IT Landes operates as a separate division of HB Global LLC, which has allowed for a great deal of growth on the commercial side of the business, including a count of over 500 employee owners on the roster (compared to a decade ago when there were a little over 200 employees altogether, Matter recalls).

Further acquisitions include design-build mechanical contractor Worden & Shewell of York, Pennsylvania in 2015, and purchase of commercial HVAC contractor Accu-Aire Mechanical Services, Inc. of Lancaster, Pennsylvania in 2018. The company has seen marked growth over the past decade.

These acquisitions obviously dovetail with Feaser’s statement that HB McClure sees itself as a one-stop mechanical and plumbing business that can design, build, maintain, and replace anything that a customer may desire, and its resources and the wide-ranging skills of its sizable body of employees make this possible time and again.

Celebrating milestones
HB McClure has recently celebrated its 10-year anniversary of becoming completely employee-owned, a huge milestone.

Matter sees this placing of the company in the hands of employees as a phenomenal opportunity for employees to become personally vested business owners. “The employees earn shares in the company and as the company grows, their stock value increases,” she says.

The business also offers its employees many opportunities for individual growth thanks to initiatives like HB University, a department within the company that establishes training modules for workers to acquire new skills in several different areas, should they desire to grow in such a way (for instance leadership, soft skills, and even public speaking).

Feaser has himself witnessed the impressive growth this extensive training has allowed and feels that it is within the company’s four major values of team, trust, growth, and grit. These values continue to lead the way for the HB workforce.

Employees at HB McClure seek to cultivate relationships with clients in the same manner that the familial relationships within the business are made and nurtured. With their commitment as owners, workers look to always provide superior service.

Company employees are highly proactive in client relationships, often participating in training on better ways to service clients as providers.

This client-first attitude extends to the company’s approach to community outreach. According to Matter, the company is highly involved with many non-profit organizations. Employees volunteer time and efforts to causes like Junior Achievement, The Salvation Army, Bethesda Mission, Girls on the Run, American Heart Association and even local sports teams and charitable initiatives like the Heart Walk and the United Way Day of Caring.

The company is actively involved in charitable efforts throughout the region and is always looking beyond its considerable success to give back in some form or fashion, another way in which its core values of trust, team, grit and growth are lived out every day.

Constructing a future
Regarding the construction industry, Feaser sees challenges ahead in 2021.

The rise in material costs and a degree of uncertainty in the country has reduced the inclination of both individuals and companies to spend as freely as before. There has also been increased pricing pressure, with a greater number of bidders on each project, as well as individuals fleeing the cities for the suburbs (although Feaser sees this as an opportunity as much as a challenge).

“During tough times,” Feaser says, “the true identity of a company comes out and we have had to work a lot harder.” During the initial advance of COVID-19 in 2020, construction in Pennsylvania was largely shut down, which led to HB McClure having to “slam on the brakes” on its projects. The company was forced to lay off 95 individuals and its operations were effectively stopped for around a month and a half.

Although HB is back on its feet, quarantine measures continue to make things a bit harder as projects can be shut down at a moment’s notice if even one worker develops a COVID symptom. The delays inherent in these quarantines have led to the speeding up of the end date on many projects so a lot of work has had to be sandwiched to be completed.

Aside from the timing complications of the past year, Feaser says that the process of finding skilled workers is a constant challenge to HB. So far, the best way to handle this challenge has been to make HB McClure simply the most rewarding choice of employment, in every way, to those rare and sought-after people.

The company’s status as an ESOP has been a huge help in this, as has offering in-house opportunities for growth, such as with HB University. Matter also notes that the company is currently dealing with a global trades shortage due to the mass retirement of baby boomers, which is a problem, Matter notes, that has been haunting the industry for some 20 years.

Matter observes that, because the generations that came after the boomers were so strongly oriented toward college and universities, the trades were neglected as a long-term profession. Consequently, companies like HB are becoming much more actively involved with trade fairs, job shadows, internships, and any other available ways to raise awareness of the employment opportunities in the trades, and also awareness of the support available to those on that career path.

A good start
As 2021 rolls on, it looks as though the HB McClure people will continue to pursue growth both as individuals and as a company and to succeed regardless of the economic conditions in the market.

As for the company, it has new plans to grow beyond its current geographic area and to continue to strengthen its bench while it does so. Matter also happily regards the company’s winning of the ACCA 2021 Contractor of the Year award as an omen that a good year stretches ahead.

This prestigious award is an industry recognition that the company has had its eye on for some time and plans are in motion for a proper celebration.

The HB McClure company has seen setbacks successfully faced and victories enjoyed in seemingly equal measure for the last year, and both have added to its momentum.

There’s no doubt that the employee-owned company has begun 2021 with its spirits up, with a motivated workforce, and with clear goals in mind.

The post Building on 100 Years of Success<p class="company">HB McClure</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

The core of McMillan Electric’s success can be attributed to key hiring decisions, the strategic reorganization of its procedures, diversification, and its emphasis on establishing a strong company culture. “We’ve built an extremely strong, one-of-a-kind culture with inspiring leadership, top performing managers and young ambitious people thriving in an environment of mentorship and autonomy where they will continue to grow into the future leaders of our company.” Proof of this culture was recognized last year when McMillan Electric was named in the Top 2 Best Companies To Work For in the entire Bay Area resulting in #1 Best Contractor!

The business started in 1965 when Pat McMillan, Sr. and his wife Charlotte travelled to Sacramento to apply for the business license and permit needed to hang a beer sign and install its outlet. Pat McMillian, Jr., the second generation, took over in 1994 as the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. As part of an effort to restructure and restore it, he enlisted the assistance of Bill Musgrave.

Bill recognized a market need for an electrical contractor that, in addition to its core competencies, could provide all low-voltage and networking services to building managers, owners, or general contractors so they would not have to coordinate with multiple sources throughout the project. Typically, low voltage systems, cybersecurity and networking services are outsourced, and contractors work simultaneously with an external information technology (IT) team. Much low-voltage work is done through IT since most services are networked, and this has caused a convergence of construction and IT. Bill decided to diversify the company to get more involved with the networking side of the business and simplify the electrical construction process. As a result, MNetworks became a new division of McMillan Electric.

“When I came on in ’99, the company was content and cruising along… we were more of a mom-and-pop service/tenant improvement type of shop. Growth and diversity were simply not the focus at the time. We were doing average-sized to smaller projects and had revenue in the $16 million range with forty employees, and now we are a $150 million company with about 350 employees,” says Bill, who first joined the company as a project manager and is now the President and Chief Executive Officer.

Fortunately, McMillan Electric was able to build its way out of the “dot com” recession. Within a few years, Bill was promoted to vice president, and by the time of the next recession in 2008, was named President where he then enlisted David Auch as Vice President and future partner. They helped McMillan Electric survive and found new ways to improve the operation by diversifying and adapting to a changing market. Through this, the company emerged as the largest IBEW San Francisco electrical contractor at the time.

“We employed more people through that recession than any other union contractor in San Francisco,” says Bill. “Through it all, we have continued to grow the business, diversify into different markets, diversify our client base, and diversify our services where we specialize.”

Growing from a small-to-medium-sized tenant improvement contractor to one of the largest in the Bay Area in such a short period is significant. Today, McMillan Electric, owned by Musgrave, Auch and Vice President Ryan Mahoney, can achieve any size project in tenant improvement, new construction, housing or life science construction in conjunction with its networking, cybersecurity, and other low-voltage services.

To make such drastic changes, the company leadership initially focused on building the internal culture of the business. “We had to get better from the inside before we could get bigger on the outside,” Bill says.

To support MNetworks, the company built an in-house network operations center (NOC) with offsite servers. The level of protection for power is N (normal) plus 4 across Dual Power Grids, UPS battery backup and multiple generators. The Network protection is N (normal) plus 7 – meaning over seven internet connections. “The security and monitoring is current, present day technology. We are supporting buildings not only in the Bay Area but across the world. We have a building online in London right now that we support,” says Bill.

A large portion of the business for MNetworks is riser management. Riser management companies manage all the telecommunications infrastructure, wiring, and routing equipment in a building. Often, these are run by call center operations subcontracting the work out to third parties. Rather than do this, the MNetworks option comes with the trusted reputation and experience of McMillan Electric.

“When you call MNetworks on the riser management side, you’re going to get dispatched McMillan employees; we’re not going to call some other company to come out and do the work,” says Bill. “This allows the building owners and managers to have a relationship with their riser manager and build trust and confidence that they are getting employees from the company they’re working with.”

Other in-house services provided by McMillan Electric include offsite production and on-site production, both referred to as OSP. McMillan prefers to plan entire projects upfront to streamline the process as much as possible, using building information modeling (BIM) for “a job when BIM isn’t even required. We’ll get it into [preconstruction] and start to look at how we could most effectively build the job, either offsite through prefabrication or, in some cases, particularly in San Francisco, we will mobilize an OSP unit.”

When mobilizing an OSP unit in San Francisco, the company creates a safe, monitored, productive environment on the project site. There, it can build entire assemblies rather than having to walk up and down a ladder multiple times to assemble the pieces. It is a controlled environment with a workspace at counter height where the electricians can comfortably assemble parts which, in turn, is beneficial for the health and safety of employees while helping the General Contractor to streamline its process, avoid trade stacking and mitigate logistical issues.

Often, when electricians retire around the age of sixty, the next step is to have surgery on a knee or shoulder from all the years of wear and tear on their bodies. McMillan Electric’s OSP approach allows employees to limit the amount of time spent on hands and knees or climbing up and down ladders. It is a much healthier system, and it is especially helpful for retaining an ageing workforce. “In the end, everybody wins. Logistically, there are less people on the job site, less people going up and down the elevators, less materials being hauled into the building, and less garbage being hauled out. We’re able to control our waste and our recycling and, ultimately, in the end, it’s a win for the end-user,” says Bill.

Over the last year, companies have been forced to make major changes and develop entirely new operating procedures to adapt to pandemic conditions. For technology companies, a big part of this shift has been implementing remote working systems and moving employees offsite. This has meant a significant reduction in the demand for new office projects in technology-dense regions in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area. Fortunately, McMillan’s diversified approach has enabled it to address this challenge.

Several years ago, the company’s leadership identified a growth trend in the life sciences industry and, believing that this sector would become the next big surge beyond technology, began to build laboratories and medical facilities. Now, as technology companies continue to move their employees into remote positions, the demand for new buildings in the life sciences sector is growing every day.

One landmark example of a McMillan project in the life sciences space is a 150,000-square-foot biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility for Allogene in Newark, California. The project involved retrofitting an existing facility to create a facility for its Car-T cancer therapies.

This posed some unique obstacles. The existing electrical infrastructure was insufficient, and the building itself was limited in its structural weight-bearing capacity. Despite difficulties, McMillan was able to solve these problems and complete the project on schedule, eventually netting the customer more than $1.3 million in savings from its innovative electrical design, pre-construction process and value engineering proposition.

McMillan’s experience in the Bay Area construction market enabled it to identify the shift toward life sciences well before many competitors. Going forward, the company believes that the demand for human-health-related projects is going to be huge stimulus for growth in the Bay Area.

McMillan Electric has grown tremendously in the last twenty years by diversifying its services and simplifying the process from start to finish. “You can call any contractor to build out your space, but in this world of ever-changing technology, they have to be innovative, curious, and adaptable, and we are all of those things,” concludes Bill.

The post Rapid Growth Through Diversified Electrical Contracting Services<p class="company">McMillan Electric</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Business is first and foremost about people. With a clear mandate to serve, Bird Mechanical Ltd. is a mechanical contractor that offers sincerity and a genuine concern for its customers’ problems and needs regarding turnkey mechanical piping, installation, and a host of maintenance contracting services provided to the industrial, commercial, and institutional markets. To ensure top quality at all times, its qualified and experienced plumbers, welders, steam-fitters, refrigeration mechanics, and installations staff perform as much work as possible in-house.

Based in Toronto, Canada, the company established a fast-expanding office in Halifax, Nova Scotia in 2018 from which it serves the East Coast. The Toronto office mainly works as far afield as Barrie, Midland, Hamilton, but occasionally signing projects beyond this general region.

The well-equipped and able company specializes in supporting, upgrading, and expanding mission-critical facilities like data centers, hospitals, as well as municipal and government amenities. Generally, there is no such thing as shutting down for the work. As a result, the team is experienced with going about tasks in fully operational facilities, so customers can get on with their missions relatively unhindered.

The company prefers to secure everyone’s safety by being the prime contractor on large projects, ensuring open, direct communication with project owners. It also takes the safety of its people seriously. It received a Certificate of Recognition or COR certification for the Nova Scotia region in January this year. This makes it more competitive, guaranteeing that the team comes to work knowing that the company upholds some of the highest safety standards in the industry. In addition to the Nova Scotia certification, the arrival of the same certification for Ontario is imminent.

From re-siding and reroofing buildings to re-paving parking lots and heavy civil excavation work, Bird Mechanical Ltd. is always ready to step in with outstanding execution and professional service. “We do everything from heating, air conditioning, and emergency systems, like backup generators, fuel systems, rooftop units, chillers, equipment maintenance, and emergency support. These are all part of our everyday service offering,” says Brandon Bird, Chief Executive Officer.

The company started in 1971 when Brandon Bird’s grandfather, Jack Bird, opened its doors as a residential and light commercial plumbing outfit. The business went from strength to strength, eventually welcoming Brandon’s father Brian Bird sometime during the mid-1970s. Just as his father started from scratch, Brian also began as an apprentice plumber, becoming chief executive officer during the grinding 1991 recession. He turned the business toward bigger things, incorporating services needed in industrial, commercial, and institutional markets. Bird Mechanical Ltd. pulled through and soon it started shining in its new role.

Brandon joined the outfit in 2002 as a school kid, spending his weekends and summer holidays getting to know the business. He remembers assisting where he could after when the company won a $7.7 million project for a large chiller upgrade at the Hospital for Sick Children. Nobody could believe that a company its size was awarded the job. But, as always, Bird Mechanical Ltd. completed the project, making an impression on the youngster.

After completing studies in film, Brandon returned several years later and assisted in setting up the new piping prefabrication facility. Only six months into the gig, he was smitten with being back. “I walked into my father’s office and said: ‘Okay, sign me up, and I’ll do the plumbing apprenticeship, and be the third generation of plumbers in this family,’” Brandon says. “To this day, I haven’t forgotten the smile on his face when I walked in and said that.” The proud grandson took over the chief executive chair in 2016 when his father retired after four decades of service. At just over thirty, Brandon may be one of the younger members of the team, but he knows this business. And, as the next generation starts filling positions, he foresees great opportunities in skilled trades.

To run any operation smoothly takes skilled workers, diligence, planning, and really good communication. “Our project managers are more involved than usual. They have a good understanding of the mechanical systems and the overall construction process because we quite often act as a general contractor,” says Brandon. Project managers and coordinators work side-by-side with field staff during every step of every construction phase.

If COVID-19 has taught the world anything it is the importance of community, and this company creates a sense of belonging, affectionately referring to its people as the ‘Flock,’ reflected in hashtags like #ourflockisbest. It holds its people together with group activities and lets them grow together, only one of the reasons that people are known for looking forward to arriving at the office every day.

Its approach works, as twenty percent of its team has been with the company for ten years or longer, and two employees are celebrating their twentieth year in 2021 and 2022. In a transient market, this is an undeniable achievement. With this lesson in solidarity and the firm’s obsession with great work and quality as principles, the Flock is focused and determined to keep growing and improving with the full support of the company’s management.

Diversity is another driver of its success. “Having people with solid backgrounds and depth of knowledge makes it a lot easier for clients. With us, [project owners] are getting the people with technical skills at the table in stakeholder meetings, so they can consult with our project managers and foremen who guide them through the process,” says Brandon. Several generations contribute to the unique solutions that the market has come to expect of it.

When asked about his fifth year as CEO during such a significant time in history, the dynamic young leader is positive. “It’s going to be a good year. It’s definitely an exciting time with it being our fiftieth anniversary and in the way we see the year starting to shape up for us. It will be our biggest year ever,” he says. He points toward construction and skilled trades being deemed essential services as what fuelled its success during the pandemic.

Bird Mechanical Ltd. saw a marked rise in its support services for medical facilities, permitting it to operate during a period that saw many businesses shut down. Another major emphasis was on preventative maintenance. This allowed facilities to keep running during a time when replacing infrastructure and equipment was not achievable for many, resulting in healthy growth for the company’s service divisions as their expertise was suddenly in even higher demand than usual. “Our service side boomed throughout [the pandemic] because everything became more budget-conscious [but with the need to] keep things moving,” Brandon says.

“It was an amazing time for us because we got to see how strong and tight-knit our team is from both the field operation side and the office side. It was refreshing to see because everybody came together to overcome challenges and hurdles. Everybody worked together,” Brandon adds. Despite the company initially having to temporarily lay off a few people, others still pitched for meetings while others volunteered to take salary cuts. “It was unbelievable to see the spirit of the whole team through [this] challenging time. Now it is only onwards and upwards from here,” he says.

After the bleak prospects of last year, the company is hiring more skilled tradespeople than before. Opening in Atlantic Canada came with a set of trials for which this respected Ontario firm was not quite prepared after being rooted in the same place for fifty years. Being new placed it in unknown territory. Bird describes the early days as something very close to starting a new business where performance is needed to secure new contracts. That is exactly what it did. The Flock started performing, and the rest is history.

While the Atlantic operations are ballooning, the company recently won another bid in the region doing the $6 million, early works piping infrastructure installation for Cape Breton Hospital in Sydney, Nova Scotia. “It’s not only the largest project that we’ve taken on to date in Atlantic Canada. It’s also a game-changer for that office because it will showcase the amazing abilities of our team and what we’ve done [in a similar style of intricate, challenging work] here in Ontario,” Brandon says.

This year, the company is completing work on an $8 million ice rink complex update for the City of Mississauga. Alongside this project, it is working on a project for the Centre for Mental Health and Addiction (CAMH), where it is replacing a complete induction system with individual units in each suite. It has been a completely new struggle to partner with clients to ensure staff safety from COVID-19.

“This has been particularly challenging for Dan and his team because there are active outbreaks in the facility,” says Brandon.

Escalating from $ 1 million to $2 million to $6 million, annually, is certainly a robust expansion. This has given rise to what started as an office challenge made by Rey Galac, Vice President of Estimating, Service and Atlantic Canada: the goal of attaining $50 million in revenue for the company’s fiftieth year. The good news is, it is well on its way to hitting the mark.

To ensure that it can select from among the top tradespeople to help build the business in the future, the firm recently made a generous pledge to donate $150,000 to Durham College in Oshawa, Ontario. The college is currently in the process of bringing to life a new plumbing lab. Considering skilled trades-shortages and the fact that half of the company’s apprentices qualify at this school, this investment in around 750 newly-qualified plumbers every year is well worth it.

But the company’s East Coast operations are not its only growth. Bird Mechanical’s refrigeration and heating, ventilation, and cooling (HVAC) department has also expanded by leaps and bounds since our last conversation in 2018. As more facilities slowly start to install new ventilation equipment to ensure better air quality, the HVAC department has expanded from mere service and maintenance into performing large, fully-fledged, complex construction installations. “Sales-wise, we’ve pretty much doubled on what we were looking at last year when it comes to projects and service for the HVAC side. It’s been busy,” says Rey.

“We have two managers on the HVAC side continuously looking for work and opportunities outside, new clients that are coming in,” says Dan Lewis, Vice President of Construction. The company has also been upgrading equipment, adding a plasma table for specialty cutting, new welding machines, and a host of other machines to remain up-to-date with the latest trends in technology.

True to this philosophy of moving forward, Bird Mechanical Ltd. acquired a civil contracting company in 2018 so it could add civil engineering to its services. Now it can complete new tasks like wall openings, concrete work, drywall, and ceilings, all in-house. “This gives us better control and flexibility to take on projects for our clients, especially because we’re so focused with about ninety percent of our work being direct-to-owner,” says Brandon.

Despite adding a considerable amount of civil work to its portfolio, the firm remains a general contractor. Heading up challenging projects makes for a resilient niche market that it intends to grow.

Sitting comfortably at one hundred staff members, Bird Mechanical Ltd. will undoubtedly increase that number considerably as it nears and exceeds its $50 million goal, and is aiming for 150 people within the next few months. “To be on track for our strongest year ever in our fiftieth year is just unbelievable. [Having said that] we want to be the best, not the biggest,” says Brandon. And we concur, wishing the Flock the greatest year in the company’s history.

The post Fifty Years, Three Generations, and a Growing Flock<p class="company">Bird Mechanical Ltd.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

We spoke with Paul Marchesani, General Manager of Panelized Building Solutions’, who explained that his company is in a position where it has to be careful about booking anything, schedule-wise. “It’s just crazy; in the first few months of 2021, for the first time ever, we booked out for the whole year,” said Marchesani. “Last year builders sold out all their units, and now they’re in a big rush to get their units built. In the last month or so, we’ve had to say no to a lot of jobs because we’re just so booked up.”

For six years now, Panelized Building Solutions has been providing pre-fabrication products to the homebuilding and construction industry in the Greater Toronto Area and recently has expanded into Ottawa. Owner and framing contractor Vince Leto got his start in the framing business in the 1970s and would eventually go on to become one of the province’s largest framing contractors.

Leto observed a shrinking skilled labour situation, a need for building speed and better quality. This, coupled with the rise of panelized systems in the construction industry, spurred Panelized Building Solutions to meet this growing need in the market.

“We then vertically integrated into panels and lumber,” said Marchesani, who is Leto’s son-in-law. “We go to builders, offering a full package which includes the supply of lumber, the manufacturing of panels and the site installation.” I’d say the vast majority of our traditional stick frame builders have now switched to a panel system.”

Built the right way
This is because the pre-fabrication involved in a panelized system means savings and quality are built right in. PBS’ process uses approximately 26 percent less lumber, takes at least 37 percent less construction time than conventional stick-built homes, and saves clients approximately 50 percent of waste bin costs, resulting in significant overall savings for builders.

By completing so much of the work in-house, PBS also maintains a tight grip on quality control. “Precision is paramount in the pre-fabrication process,” says the company, with materials being cut to exact lengths using an integrated computer-controlled measuring system. PBS is in fact the only Canadian panel manufacturer to use a single platform Design & Engineering Software. This level of precision, coupled with the company’s proprietary Wall & Floor Lifting System, creates a tighter and more efficient building envelope in the final structure.

PBS goes the extra mile by including design coordination, installation, and delivery using its own fleet of trucks and trailers. The PBS design team works with the builder, architects and structural engineers throughout all projects, and it is an exacting process. The team coordinates all mechanical, windows, doors, and stair openings with the contractor, supplies the wall and floor panels, trusses, and all loose lumber, including footings, bracing, roof load and rough-in, and offers complete installation services, with a highly skilled team of professionals and all the equipment required to put the panels securely into place, including a wide range of cranes.

This level of coordination between the different disciplines makes for a tighter process and a better end result for the client. “Our One-Stop Shop system just makes it so much easier for the site foreman, workers, engineers – really everyone. We’ve learned a lot over the years, and I think people have learned from us too,” said Marchesani.

PBS offers what he calls ‘the trifecta’ to a breadth of award-winning contractors and construction companies. The company provides the lumber and materials, builds parts of the structures in its huge facilities to be put together on a building site, and cleans up afterward, leaving virtually no waste and no soft costs associated with the work.

A wise investment
The results are impressive. With a panelized system, housing developments can be installed in mere days as opposed to weeks because the key elements – floors and walls – have been prebuilt in PBS’ facility in Maple, Ontario, just north of Toronto.

Marchesani says in some cases, this kind of system may prove to be a fraction more expensive, but when builders take into consideration the advantages, it evens out. “When you look at it all, there may be a $1.50 to $2.00 premium per square foot for a panelized system supplied to a site, but that doesn’t take into account the time, speed, wastage, lumber, bin savings, and most of all the safety… Most builders see the value.”

The process the PBS team uses means they can install structures faster, obviously a big selling point. And the company need not call for more materials – also big, with lumber costs through the roof. Some media outlets have reported as much as a two hundred percent increase in lumber costs since the pandemic took hold as people are staying home and choosing to make home improvements rather than go on vacation.

The result has Marchesani comparing the price of lumber to the price of gold, making his company try even harder to minimize waste by always using cut-offs and other wood scraps to minimize waste and cost overruns.

Exceeding client expectations
Panelized Building Solutions supplies its pre-assembled flooring and wall products to leading builders like Arista Homes, Andrin Homes, City Park Homes, Daniels Corp., Deco Homes, Poetry Living, and VanMar Constructors. One of Marchesani’s favourite duties is taking visitors on tour at the company’s 70,000-square-foot factory-warehouse in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada where he gets explain how the company builds a house in sections to get it delivered.

“We build the floors in panels and the walls in panels, and those get labelled; it’s almost like an Ikea system. The framers will look at the drawings, and they’ll build accordingly, like a jigsaw puzzle.”

Marchesani is most proud of his company’s efforts on midrise, six-storey buildings – which is the limit for wood-framed residential buildings in Ontario. The company does a lot of those, he said, because other framing contractors will back away from those jobs due to the difficulty. They take a lot of engineering, he explained, and a lot of contractors stay away from them. PBS welcomes the challenge, however. “We tend to gravitate toward them, from building them to getting them installed. It’s our niche.”

Looking ahead
One challenge PBS – like all companies industry-wide – has faced is labour shortages, with this year bringing extra challenges. “We are seeing that it will be an issue,” Marchesani shared. “We’re already preparing our customers because we do think there’s going to be some issue this summer with installers. New home sales have significantly increased and the pressure is on to get the homes built.”

That is because construction is yet another industry affected by, you guessed it, COVID-19. For years before the pandemic hit, a shortage of skilled tradespeople has been a factor in the industry. Now it is impacted even further because of travel restrictions. Ontario is one of the worst-hit areas for the virus, and workers who traditionally come across the border from Quebec are not coming. The same situation exists with workers who travel between the Prairie Provinces and British Columbia. Border closures have also put a strain on workers coming from abroad.

“With the shrinking labour force out there, we need to make the build simpler, quicker, and easier to install as well as more repeatable,” Marchesani explained. Fundamentally, these are the advantages underpinning a panelized system, so the company is in a strong position moving forward. “That’s what we try to achieve with our systems. We all believe that what we’re doing is the future.”

The post Prefabricating the Future<p class="company">Panelized Building Solutions</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Started in 1995 by the late Tom Smerchanski, AMC is committed to both energy efficiency and a faster building process, while meeting the North American building code’s goal of Net Zero and carbon neutral buildings by the year 2030.

Now run by Tom’s son Justin Smerchanski and a progressive management team, AMC’s long family history is one he’s proud to continue. Through innovation and technology they continue to develop EPS products that have changed how insulation is used in the building industry.

“My dad’s background was in insulation, working in a family business called Aerofoam prior to AMC for just over a decade,” he shares. “My grandfather was involved with the business as well, and his father’s brother Mark. So, our family business started in insulation and then along came AMC.”

The company commenced manufacturing from an 8,000-square-foot building with two employees that are still working with the company today. AMC continued to grow, eventually moving to 10,000 square feet building on Paramount Road. At that time, it had three employees, one block moulding machine and was contract moulding for a national ICF company. In 2002 AMC, together with four other EPS moulders, formed a consortium and developed the LOGIX ICF brand with manufacturing and distribution in both USA and Canada.

“Everyone wore multiple hats and did whatever needed to be done to grow the business,” explains Smerchanski. In 2013, AMC moved to its new state of the art 115,000 square foot building in Headingley, Manitoba and today employees in excess of 60 people.

AMC’s “bread and butter” remains its insulated concrete forms – LOGIX ICF, based on the concept of interlocking blocks that create a quick-building, long-lasting, soundproofed, energy-efficient wall system which is fire rated for up to four hours. In terms of being environmentally conscious, ICF also helps conserve natural resources by promoting sustainable, green building practices, conserving natural forest resources, and reducing fuel consumption.

While AMC originally started as a contractor moulder for insulated concrete forms, the company has diversified and now manufacturers a variety of other polystyrene insulation products to service the needs of the of the construction industry.

“LOGIX is an advanced building system probably more advanced than its time,” says Conrad Hoeppner, Vice President, Sales. “The codes and housing construction practices are really just catching up to that now. In the meantime, we have also gone one step further: we are changing the way we think about insulation in terms of all six sides of the building and not just the four outer walls. We now also have more advanced insulation for the roof and the floor.”

Changing how the world thinks about insulation means embracing the complete building envelope — not just a highly advanced wall system, but floors and roofs as well. The most recent example of AMC Foam’s capabilities is a seven-storey ICF apartment block at 30 University Crescent in Winnipeg. The apartment block features all LOGIX ICF exterior walls, and interior demising concrete insulated walls between the suites. Concrete interior demising walls mean that in addition to being highly energy-efficient, each suite is very quiet, and tenants cannot hear their neighbours.

“Normally a developer or general contractor would see a building of that kind – a concrete insulated building – and it would be a premium project and they would expect to pay more,” explains Hoeppner. The real story behind this job is that the apartment building was completed ahead of schedule and under budget. Move-in was several weeks ago, and at that time they had only three suites vacant out of 104 available.

According to Hoeppner, the building’s owner says in comparison there is a relatively new multi-storey apartment block down the street constructed from wood, but tenants are choosing the ICF concrete building instead because of the quality of the build, its energy efficiency, and its sound proofing. “That really speaks to the economics of such a building,” he says. “It was constructed under budget, it has a premium energy performance rating and people want to live in it.” That all makes sense to a developer.

Because of these benefits, other contractors and developers are taking notice, which will lead to future, similar projects down the road.

ICF is so specialized that it is considered a revolutionary product. When you build with LOGIX ICF, AMC works with the developer, contractor and installer providing training and guidance through the whole process from design to installation.

“We consider ourselves more than a manufacturer, especially the last half-decade,” he adds. “We pride ourselves on being more than that. We support our customers with marketing. We have got five drones and we’re constantly stopping by the projects that involve our products, and just help out anyway we can. We feel like together we are strong. Our success is delivered through transparent communication, shared goals, and mutual support.”

Despite the proven success and abilities of ICF, Hoeppner says one of the biggest obstacles is still education within the industry. “We’re salespeople. We make insulation, but we really see ourselves as more than that. We’re advocates for better construction.”

Hoeppner’s favourite analogy comes from his uncle who works as a mechanic. “He says he can’t afford to use low-grade gas and always buys premium, because he knows that the premium gas makes his car drive further and there are fewer maintenance issues. The rest of us do not know that because we are not in the business. He’s on the inside; he understands the mechanics and knows what the gas does.”

In the construction business, AMC knows what a premium performance building does for the market, what it does for the occupants and the owner – but if you are not personally in that space and do not talk about these things, you will likely want a bare-bones building to put on the market to make money. “That’s our biggest challenge is just to get the word out,” says Hoeppner.

To this end, AMC communicates with architects, engineers, and developers, going to great lengths to conduct studies and performance modelling of the actual wall systems and what they do for the enhancement of a home. Getting that message out to the builders and buyers can be a challenge, although there are more people onboard now. When Hoeppner entered the business 17 years ago, there was much more resistance.

“It was really a handful of fringe voices like mine in the marketplace saying, ‘build like this because it’s better for you,’ but now you see a real push even from government saying, ‘by 2030 we’re going to build up to Net Zero standards’ and that’s unheard of in the business,” he says. “A lot of people are still wrapping their heads around that. How are they going to accomplish that? It takes advanced framing and construction, which is slow to change. Change is difficult for most people.”

That change will also come due to the current state of lumber, he adds, with costs shooting up several hundred percent recently. Hoeppner says he has daily conversations with developers about converting from lumber to LOGIX to save money and energy.

“It’s not a long-term investment that pays off in 30 years — it actually pays off now, the moment you move in, and it doesn’t cost multiple times more to build this way,” he says. “I live in a LOGIX house, for instance, and we just need more people to tell the story about how it feels and how it functions. As the word gets out, people understand that it’s real and then we get more of this changeover in the way we think and in the way we build.”

As for other challenges, COVID, of course, has played a significant role this past year, but not as significantly as it could have. With safety implementations in place, construction and quoting growth remained steady within AMC’s active areas in central Canada and the United States, including Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Smerchanski says the bigger challenge remains with production planning, raw materials and longer lead times. But he remains positive about the company’s future.

“We’re a true family business,” he says. “My dad did not take over his father’s business; he started his own. I am a second-generation owner, and we try to wow every customer. We put our customer at the centre of everything we do. We treat them like family and try to understand their needs and always exceed expectations.”

Activities like monthly barbecues and recognizing everyone’s birthdays is an important part of AMC’s family culture. “Titles are one thing, but we feel like everyone has an open door and we all depend on each other. We’re all pushing for the same goal,” he says, something his father would support.

“It’s a blessing to continue on with his legacy and push for the goals that he had,” says Smerchanski. “The company’s been growing every year and we feel like we’re in a really good industry at a good time. We always try to find a better way. We promote a culture of innovation and continuous improvement, so we’re constantly seeking personal and professional growth.”

While AMC embraces its strong family history and commitment to providing a quality, proven product, its dedication to a long lasting, successful future of productivity, customer satisfaction and protecting the environment is also a top priority.

“We need to be doing things better because conservation of energy is a hot topic. It fits so well into climate change goals,” says Hoeppner. “We’re reducing waste and we can actually get a better home, a better building for the same price – and that’s the exciting message.”

The post Concrete Thinking: Not Your Parents’ Insulation<p class="company">AMC Foam Technologies</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

No one appreciates top-performing blacktop more than Adrian Alblas. “When the road’s causing damage to your car or wear and tear, and then you turn onto new pavement and enjoy the ride without your coffee spilling, that’s a good feeling,” he says. “It’s creating quality of life for people.”

Alblas is president of Burnaby Blacktop Ltd., an award-winning paving company in Burnaby, British Columbia, a growing city just outside of Vancouver. Burnaby Blacktop has won a consumers’ choice award four years in a row since 2016. It’s an honour he shares with his team, including his younger brother, Arlun, who handles daily logistics while Adrian focuses on driving sales.

Note the repeat A in their first and last names. They’re from a close-knit family of nine kids, whose names all start with A.

“Not sure why, but we’re all hard-working. My parents started with the first two and just kept going,” Alblas laughs. He’s the first-born and Arlun is 10 years his junior.

The brothers plan to keep the company in the No. 1 spot. “It’s a vote you earn; you can’t buy it,” Alblas says. “So I recognize that and put it out there to our company, telling employees they earned this award and we’re excelling, getting better every year.”

Business is brisk. The main reason the company’s services, which run the full gamut from site preparation, asphalt milling, paving and seal coating to winter snow removal and salting, are in such high demand? The solid reputation for a job well done and dedicated customer service.

“It’s about getting that phone call, getting back to people fast and creating that relationship,” Alblas says of building a customer-focused culture that raises the bar. “Then it’s giving them super service and the follow-up after.”

While some pavers have tarnished the industry by not showing up for jobs, not answering phones or returning calls, Alblas says his differentiator is, “the focus on customer satisfaction and no matter what, leaving them happy.”

It’s paid off. As much as 70 percent of the company’s business comes from repeat customers, like property managers who may have six or more jobs every year, city engineers who need sidewalks and roadwork, and referrals from residential clients.

Burnaby Blacktop has built a reputation for reliability, and was thus called in for a major job to do the base prep, curb and gutter work, and pave the expansive property for a new ice arena and sports complex. The company that was initially hired couldn’t deliver and city officials called Alblas to step in. He took immediate steps to review the plans, secure similar pricing and get a crew onsite to turn around the project to meet the original deadline.

“We brought our solutions and produced a beautiful product by the end of it,” says Alblas. Check out the project video on the company website to see the results and client satisfaction. It is a beautiful job!

The company serves a large area of what’s called the Lower Mainland from West Vancouver to the commuter town of Hope at the eastern end right by Fraser Canyon. It’s a fast-growing area of the province with beaches, forests and the iconic Rocky Mountains. (You could, in theory, relax on a beach and ski in the mountains on the same day.) The lifestyle and population growth means great business potential, especially when you’re in the construction industry. In fact, the challenge for Burnaby Blacktop is keeping up with the demand.

“Right now we’re going from 70 to probably 90 staff in this next season. We’re building three more crews, and then the infrastructure to support that expansion in the company,” Alblas says of the additional office administrators, human resources and tech platforms.

Staffing hasn’t necessarily been a big challenge for Burnaby Blacktop, as the appeal of joining the company is about the family feel and pride in working with top-of-the-line equipment. The team also makes a commitment to giving back to the community by way of donations, participation in bike rides from Vancouver to Whistler to raise hospital funds, and heading to Mexico to clean up beaches.

To be sure, Burnaby Blacktop has an impressive track record with humble beginnings. It all started as a side project when the recession of 2008 hit and Alblas was laid off from his job with a tugboat company that helped dock ships in the Vancouver harbour. His dream was to be a tugboat captain, but he developed a knack for producing beautiful driveways for people.

“A friend said, ‘I’ll show you how to make a little bit of money on the side,’ and I bought a pickup truck and some old barrels and filled them up with oil and started knocking on doors and trying to sell a product for sealing driveways.”

He says his persistence helped him found Burnaby Blacktop in 2010 with a partnering friend, a used dump truck, and a second hand steel drum roller. About two years later, the partner left for another job and his brother Arlun came on board.

“[Paving] is an old-school trade with a lot of companies that have been around for 20, 30 years and we were young and fresh to the industry. So we worked really hard and put a lot of passion into it,” Alblas shares.

That kind of passion and commitment drives achievement and resiliency, and when COVID hit in 2020, the brothers shut down operations briefly and then made sure all health and safety measures were well in place before they opened up shop again. Having developed a COR partnering comprehensive OHS program was key.

While the pandemic has presented challenges, construction is still gaining ground. Alblas says many businesses that had to close, for example, decided to use the time for maintenance and upgrades like paving. Homeowners who can’t plan vacations are spending on home improvements like a freshly-paved driveway to enhance comfort and curb appeal. In fact, with fewer cars on the roads because of the stay-at-home restrictions, the logistics of getting crews and materials to jobs have become more efficient.

Alblas is confident about continued business growth as we come out of the pandemic’s third wave, but also says it’s been a time to reflect on priorities. Not only is Burnaby Blacktop creating jobs to boost the local economy, it’s providing a service that really improves the community.

“When you’re seeing a problem causing someone discomfort or pain, whether it’s driving down that horrendously long road full of potholes and bumps, maybe even causing an accident, you want to make it safe,” Alblas says. “You get to go in there with your milling machine and smooth that road out perfectly, and then go in there with your million-dollar paving machine and pave a fresh road. And you get to see and feel the quality out on the road.”

The post From a Pickup Truck to Million-Dollar Paving Machines<p class="company">Burnaby Blacktop</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

The independently owned, small batch, craft cannabis brand leading East Coast legalization brought BKA Architects, a team with specialized cannabis experience, in on the project to work with Dacon Corporation to construct a 23,500 square foot facility. The new facility has allowed for the innovation of new cannabis products for enthusiasts in Massachusetts. “Starting out in medical prior to embarking on recreational we didn’t predict the trajectory, so we’ve been very fortunate in terms of our growth,” says Thomas Winstanley, Vice President, Marketing for Theory. “When we first moved into the cannabis industry, there was no road map around where the industry would take us. What we experienced was not only a lot of enthusiasm, but significant increases in demand as we transitioned into recreational sales.”

Because Theory Wellness controls its supply chain from cultivation to final product, the company is able to develop products in-house, with Theory branded products in its retail stores across Massachusetts. Offerings entail approximately 60 products spanning flower, edibles, concentrates, extracts, tinctures and topicals.

“Being able to control manufacturing has expanded brand development from both a retail and manufacturing perspective,” Winstanley says. “We’re small batch. We embrace a startup mentality and look to craft beer breweries for inspiration. At the heart of our products’ quality is select availability and unique genetics.”

Flower – the plants/buds that are rolled or consumed in a pipe – remains the core product line, says Winstanley. “Flower constitutes the largest part of sales. We invest a lot of time evaluating their genetics and nuances.” The properties of this flower may aid sleep, enhance energy or increase focus. “In the same way that farm-to-table restaurants look at heirloom tomatoes, we look at cannabis genetics. We are addressing a discerning user who doesn’t want a mass-produced product.”

Theory Wellness focuses on investing in technology that creates ideal environments for plants to reach their full potential. “Part of what differentiates us in the market is that we’re not very large. As a private company, we are able to be nimble and reactive to market trends,” says Winstanley. Theory pivots its operations to address different needs and challenges. Starting out in the medical realm, the company never anticipated the scale the recreational sector would create.

“As we got into the recreational market, we considered what scaling our operations looked like. It’s a continuously evolving process, but that’s where we started working with Dacon in terms of creating a new facility.”

Dacon Corporation is a fully integrated design build firm providing comprehensive facility development services for unique projects, including architectural design, engineering and construction management. With massive growth looming, Theory Wellness realized they needed to invest capital in facility design.

“We wanted to design a new facility that was the culmination of a breadth of learnings around manufacturing and cultivation, product demand, consumer preferences and emerging technology.”

Architecture, space functionality and goods produced were all vital to consider, along with a solid partner. Winstanley knew the company wanted to build an unparalleled facility, so finding a partner who could handle rigorous requests was challenging.

“We went through a pretty heavy RFP process and Dacon Corporation stood out as a key partner,” says Winstanley. “They align with our vision and asked meaningful questions. They understood what we aspired to achieve even though it was something that had never been seen.”

Indoor cultivation requires implicit knowledge of lighting cycles, humidity, in-room temperatures, airflow and decontamination. The level of sophistication required to control variables that give plants optimal growth conditions is a symphony of technology. Leveraging organic growth to advance plant health and optimal flowers is the basis of Theory’s entire operation. Dacon fit the bill.

“They understood the technological needs as we explained them,” says Winstanley. Dacon also constructed enough square footage within the facility for a beverage canning line – one of the first in Massachusetts in the cannabis industry. Theory Wellness now produces Hi5, a rapid onset, cannabis infused seltzer, with plans for millions of cans in 2021, along with a state-of-the-art chocolate manufacturing line.

“This facility allows us to move into different categories that fulfill consumer interest. We listen very closely to what their needs are. At the end of the day, the product has to speak for itself,” says Winstanley. “You can’t be a small batch craft cannabis company with sub-par products; we can’t rush these things into the market. The quality thread from flower rooms to final product – everything has to be right.”

Theory’s mission includes setting a precedent around creating a legal and safe industry. “We always said we want to help define what the future of cannabis can be. For us it’s an independent, free market.”

As with any other industry, the cannabis sector is challenging. “I think there are always going to be hurdles in this new landscape, but being nimble and very hungry, we’ve adapted to the new policies. Each time we come back stronger having learned from navigating the legislative process,” shares Winstanley. An offshoot of this is Theory’s social equity program for fledgling cannabis start-ups comprising $100,000 debt-free, zero-interest loans that provide entry capital as well as $150,000 worth of product on wholesale consignment. The recipients of their inaugural program Legal Greens opened recently in Brockton, MA following years of regulatory applications with the city and state. “There are many challenges we face so we realized that we were in a rare position with a lot of knowledge and support to share,” says Winstanley.

Recognizing a massive change in the market also led Theory to use its influence as a conscious brand to partner with a local farmer to grow outdoor cannabis. Ted Dobson is a pioneer of the farm-to-table movement who has been growing different types of table greens for the last 35 years. “He knows the soil better than anyone,” says Winstanley. “We’re really excited as partnering with a farmer is a model that we think can be of use in this industry. Ted knows the land and the plants, plus he’s helped us cultivate in an entirely new climate. We’re heading into our third season of outdoor cultivation.”

As for technology and operations, Winstanley has nothing but high praise. “Versus other facilities I’ve been through, the facility Dacon created is like the International Space Station – both futuristic and state-of-the-art. They were accustomed to performing under fast-paced deadlines and understood what was needed.” Winstanley says the mastery of engineering will hopefully help produce best-in-market results. “There’s no way we could have gone there without the support and the partnership that we had with Dacon to recognize that vision and help us get there,” he says.

Theory’s latest project is Hi5, a zero calorie, all natural, gluten free, cannabis infused seltzer. The line of beverages are designed to produce a controlled but rapid effect when consumed, which is a different type of consumption when compared to standard edibles.

“It’s a controllable way to consume cannabis,” Winstanley says. “One of the first of its kind on the East Coast, it opens the market to a much broader audience. This is for those who tried edibles or are less familiar with cannabis or feel like the control isn’t there for them.”

This opportunity will help further differentiate the Theory brand with a new category of products with the end goal of making cannabis available for all. “We hope people try cannabis. We hope to reverse the stigma that cannabis is something that’s a counterculture product. Cannabis access should be available for all. We’re fortunate to have this team. We’re all incredibly passionate about this industry. We believe it shows in our products and service.”

The post Flower to the People – Theory Wellness On the Grow with Dacon<p class="company">Theory Wellness/Dacon Corporation</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

“The single biggest change since 2017 is that we’re under new ownership,” says President Dennis McCann.

The venerable company was launched in 1916 as the research and development arm of the Portland Cement Association (PCA) then “spun off in the 1980s as a subsidiary consulting and testing firm. At the end of 2019, we were acquired by [Barco Investment Group]. That ended our hundred-year-plus direct connection to the PCA. We still maintain a very friendly relationship with our former owner,” he notes.

Another big change took place earlier this year when CTLGroup inaugurated a New York City office. “We have done work in New York City for many, many years but never had a physical office there,” states NYC branch Senior Architect and Manager Giulia Alimonti. She specializes in building envelope consultation, a field that can entail leak investigation, condition assessment, waterproofing issues, and building envelope exterior restoration. She has also worked on green and solar roofs, which are becoming increasingly common in New York City.

The company headquarters are still located on an eleven-acre campus with multiple buildings and ample laboratory space in Skokie. The firm has a third branch in Texas, which is being moved from Austin to Houston, and a joint venture with a lab in Qatar. CTLGroup recently closed an office in Florida but is eager to return to the Sunshine State.

The company’s engineers, architects, and scientists offer consulting, engineering, and testing services. Because of this, CTLGroup currently has ISO 9001, ISO 17025, AASHTO (American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials), and NQA-1 (Nuclear Quality Assurance) certifications. Its labs are dedicated to materials testing of concrete, cementitious substances, industrial by-products, metals, mortar, and paints as well as microscopy and petrography – the scientific classification of rocks. A structural and transportation lab is responsible for testing rail car, track, and bridge components, among other tasks.

CTLGroup’s services cover building science, structural engineering and evaluation, materials science and engineering, concrete and cement-based materials, and laboratory work. The company’s services are provided to markets ranging from insurance and manufacturing to buildings, energy and resources, litigation, materials, rail, water resources, and transportation.

“We do a considerable amount of testing work for the railway industry. That includes both developmental tests that manufacturers and suppliers use to develop and optimize their products and testing to various railroad standards. We perform certification testing, often witnessed by an independent observer, to demonstrate that a product or component used in a railway application meets a specified performance standard,” explains Richard Kaczkowski, Vice President, Structural Engineering.

Unlike many of the company’s competitors, CTLGroup is able to provide high levels of both consulting and testing expertise. “When we do tests for the railroad industry, we can also weave in consulting support, not just taking the component or assembly, performing a standardized test and reporting the result but helping to optimize, improve, diagnose a potential failure,” he adds.

Structural health monitoring, a burgeoning specialty, can involve “adding sensors or creating ‘smart structures’ where we obtain data about the performance of a structure remotely. This includes vibration-based damage detection, acoustic emission monitoring, things of that nature,” says McCann.

The energy industry – particularly nuclear power plants and fossil fuel companies – has been a chief source of work for the firm. Company officials are well aware, however, that the energy industry is in transition.

“We know wind and solar are going to make up the vast majority of new energy starts in the U.S. in 2021,” states McCann, who notes that the company also still works with traditional energy companies. “We’ve seen, just in the past few years, an uptick in our work in both wind and solar. With new technologies, there’s always a learning period. We’ve had a few projects related to solar energy plants where there have been some operational challenges, where there’s not a long history of how components and structures at these plants are supposed to perform. When they run into trouble, that’s where CTLGroup comes in. We’ve helped with a variety of troubleshooting, doing root cause analysis in the solar sector,” he explains.

“On the wind side, we’ve done a little bit of work in the wind sector related to foundations for turbines of ever-increasing height. As wind farms are encroaching on other infrastructure, we get involved in how ground vibrations from say the neighboring quarry may impact the performance of the wind turbine.”

Insurance and claims adjustment-related work represents another rapidly growing sector for the firm. The company offers property loss consulting in the wake of natural or manmade disasters. Insurers will hire CTLGroup to evaluate the extent and cause of property damage and the degree to which repairs can be made.

Since early 2020, the company has had to deal with COVID, and the pandemic “had a real impact on our work,” asserts McCann, who says some projects were delayed or cancelled.

CTLGroup serves the construction and insurance industries and is considered an essential business, so it did not have to close its offices and labs. The company did, however, introduce new workplace protocols to keep its staff safe.

It “got creative with scheduling. When things started to reopen officially last June, most of us came back to the office. At headquarters, we made sure we were wearing masks, keeping socially distant, and using hand sanitizer and all those things,” he recalls.

CTLGroup also got creative when it came to promotion and marketing. In the wake of COVID, and the closure of in-person trade shows and industry events, the firm enhanced its online presence, updated its company website, and launched a successful, ongoing webinar series devoted to technical topics.

“I will say, global pandemic notwithstanding, we’ve spent the last year getting healthy – financially healthy – and making some organizational changes that I think are going to set us up for future growth,” he says.

When last profiled, CTLGroup had 110 employees. This figure has been pared back to about 80 personnel, due to retirements and consolidation, but the company is keen to return to previous staffing levels.

CTLGroup is also excitedly waiting to see if the new Biden administration in Washington, D.C. tackles public infrastructure funding. A big push for new infrastructure, backed by generous federal funds, would be a massive boon for firms such as this. While hopeful, the company keeps a realistic outlook. “We’re cautious because promises for infrastructure spending have been ongoing for as long as I’ve been practicing,” says McCann.

Should such spending be authorized by Congress, the materials division, which handles cement and concrete work, could see a flood of new projects. The materials division performs “any mass concrete consulting that may be part of that infrastructure work plus any transportation-related issues that go with concrete are going through that group,” says Boyd Clark, vice president, materials. “We recently won a couple of research and development projects with the Florida Department of Transportation and Missouri Department of Transportation.”

These transportation contracts are only some of the high-profile projects CTLGroup is currently undertaking. It continues to work with NASA, for example, providing services like consultations regarding concrete mixtures and structural health monitoring of the NASA deep space antenna network.

Deep space antennas are “NASA’s means of communicating to Mars, so, in one small way, we’re helping with the Mars Rover,” says McCann, proudly. The company is also doing projects with the U.S. Department of Defense and Department of Energy.

Another new initiative has seen CTLGroup “transferring some of our knowledge in cement and concrete from the construction sector to the medical sector,” he says.

This cutting-edge work entails the use of cement in medical products. Medical work is “just one of the areas where we’re taking things that we’ve learned from our experiences in the construction industry and expanding off to other sectors.” Given this progressive approach, company officials are confident they can bring it back to previous levels of employment and beyond.

Within five years, McCann would like to see the New York office have ten to twenty staff, with branches “in South Florida and Houston. Longer-term, having a presence on the West Coast is also something CTLGroup is striving for. We want to make sure we’re getting into as many major urban areas as we can.”

The post New Office, New Outlook and New Markets<p class="company">CTLGroup</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Prominent in the architectural industry for over two decades, Senior Principal and founder of Altius Architecture, Graham Smith, fondly recalls his time as a student in the early- to mid-1990s and his involvement in construction, where the roots of the company he would create took hold.

Of fellow student, and today Managing Principal and founder of Altius, Cathy Garrido, whom he met back then, he says, “We hearken all the way back to first year architecture together. We get along like siblings.”

Studying architecture at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Smith and Garrido were in the co-op program when the recession of 1993 struck. Since no jobs were to be had, Garrido went off to work with her father, a contractor in Kitchener, while Smith and other students embarked on their own general contracting business doing design-build.

It was a natural fit. All the students had some experience in construction including Smith, who had previously worked as a general labourer for a contractor who performed work on his parents’ house while Graham was in his teens.

Formative years
Starting off with small jobs like backyard decks, Smith and his team soon began picking up larger construction projects while still attending university. Around 1996, he was the largest co-op employer at the University of Waterloo with a staff of seven, surpassing fledgling Research in Motion (which later became tech giant BlackBerry), with five co-op students.

“We were this collective of architecture students who all had construction backgrounds, desperately trying to find any kind of relevant work experience that would have qualified for our co-op,” says Smith.

Needing a name for the company, the group came up with Altius, a name discovered by Smith, they’d used earlier to enter student design competitions.

Working at the Toronto Design Exchange, a not-for-profit museum, Smith had came across a book on the history of the Olympics. He was struck by the cover and its Bauhaus-style lettering which read Citius, Altius, Fortius – Latin for ‘Faster, Higher, Stronger,’ the Olympic motto.

For Smith and his team, the word ‘Altius’ meant higher design. Starting on the design-build side in 1988 and evolving into an architectural firm in 2002, Altius Architecture has been going strong ever since.

Range of services
Growing to a staff of 18, a mix of architectural technologists, architects, accountants and construction managers, Altius has completed about 600 projects to date.

A multi-disciplinary firm known for its unique contemporary designs, the company’s award-winning work includes larger multi-unit residential and commercial jobs, and an outstanding array of individual cottages incorporating sustainability within natural surroundings.

Handling residential work including urban residences/homes and farms/rural properties/chalets exclusively linked to ski hills, and cottages, Altius is much more than an architectural design firm. Services include liaising with government authorities, identifying any restrictions or potential issues, serving as technical managers and construction administrators, construction management, and more. From landscape design and interior design to facilitating sustainability options, LEED, passive home design and the latest energy efficiency technologies, Altius creates design options to suit every need.

Luxurious cottage designs
When asked about the effect the COVID-19 pandemic has had on Altius, Smith doesn’t believe it has created a lot of new work, “but it has taking some latent lifestyle aspects and amplified them. All of a sudden, our cottage work has taken on new meaning.”

The architects of stunning waterfront/rural works including Pine Lake Cottage, Tondern Island Cottage, Big Rideau Lake Cottage, and Chandos Lake Cottage, the Altius team was already seeing growth in areas outside huge urban hubs like Toronto prior to the pandemic.

Long ago, many cottages were uninsulated three-season structures, meant to be closed in the fall and opened the next spring. But for the past 15 years, every cottage Altius has built is made to be winterized or is already winterized. With many cottage owners able to take advantages of fun winter activities like snowshoeing, cross-country skiing and snowmobiling, more owners are using their cottages year-round instead of just from May to October or November.

Along with winterization, another factor behind growth in cottage country is better high-speed Internet in Muskoka and Georgian Bay, especially with Starlink coming on board.

Constructed by SpaceX, Starlink will see thousands of satellites in a ‘constellation’ working with transceivers on Earth to provide vastly improved Internet access. With more stable connectivity, cottagers are no longer dependent on high-speed internet at home in Toronto. So they can literally be on a boat in the middle of a lake up north conducting meetings, or reviewing legal documents.

“Some customers are asking, ‘why did they live in Toronto?’ The biggest answer I can provide is, because we had to,” says Smith, who was working from his cottage instead of at the office last year, at the beginning of COVID, because of good Internet access. “If you’re a day trader or lawyer or whatever, all of a sudden you can literally work from anywhere.”

Catering to a strong client base including bankers, entrepreneurs, doctors, lawyers, and civil servants, the team at Altius is seeing a rise in Gen X and Baby Boomers on the cusp of retirement, or even still employed, who want to work remotely from their cottages the entire year, and don’t relish going to Florida for the winter, especially with Coronavirus.

“It’s been a big change,” says Smith, “and for us it came at a really interesting segue for what we were doing in our practice.

Cottage spec projects
In the spring of 2019, Altius and a group of investors decided they could do it themselves, faster, cheaper, and better.

This saw Altius embarking on its first two cottage spec projects. Finding large, newly-severed properties on Lake Joseph in Ontario’s Seguin Township, about 172 km from Toronto, the architectural firm started work on Waylon A and Waylon B.

Originally, investors behind the cottages were going to be part of the redevelopment of a trailer park with prefabricated modules. Despite never finding quite the right property for the trailer park idea, the passion remained, and the two spec cottages were born.

“This is a story about what happens when an architect is asked to build a cottage, but doesn’t have a client,” says Smith, who designed the cottages, on the company’s website. “Essentially we designed the cottage as we would have designed it for ourselves while infusing it with a myriad of successful features from previous private cottage projects.”

Constructed on a seven acre site with 337 feet (102 meters) of straight-line frontage, the cottages are on a secluded area of Lake Joseph, looking out onto the tranquility of Waylon Bay. According to Altius, this location was selected because of the ability to “maintain maximum separation” from other cottages – over 450 feet (137 m) to the east, and 300 feet (91 m) to the west.

For Graham, choosing the site was one thing, the design of the cottages entirely something else. Owing to the nature of spec projects, the decision was made to go with transitional styles like old-school vernacular Muskoka outside, but open concept inside, with kitchens leading to dining and living rooms.

“We designed them to a passive house standard, which means these two cottages we did are probably the most energy-efficient cottages ever built in Muskoka, if not ever built, period,” he says of the highly sophisticated building envelopes, and efficient mechanical systems.

“We actually gave the ability for the building to shut itself down in the wintertime,” he says. One reason is the multi-generational nature of cottages. In summer, children, friends, and sometimes grandchildren come to visit, with a dozen or more people staying over. In the winter, however, the situation often changes.

“You’ve got to have this building that’s flexible enough to house a huge group and allow that social dynamic to work without everybody killing each other,” says Smith, “but then have this comfy, cozy kind of place where, if it’s just you and your spouse in the dead of December, it still feels homey and comfortable and there are things to do.

“So we really geared the design of these two projects to be fantastic for 12 to 14 people, and we still needed to be wonderful for two. And it has to be affordable for two.” To keep winter cottage heating costs to a minimum, both cottages have systems where only certain rooms, like the master bathroom and the bedroom are warmed during winter occupation.

Comfortable in all seasons, Waylon A and Waylon B were designed with all the amenities of urban properties, but in an idyllic lakeside setting. Open concept living rooms extend beyond the interior to a 300-square-foot screen porch.

As well as large bedrooms, en-suite bathroom, pantry, and laundry, both properties boast decks, walk-in closets, linen closets, large customizable basements and a crawl space.

With six bedrooms in total, the cottages measure a total billed square-footage of about 7,000 over two floors, with the residential portion of the main cottage interior, minus screen porches, measuring about 4,500 square feet.

The first cottage completed was Waylon A. After they had seen the unique property, Waylon B was privately sold, unfinished, to a couple who are now in the process of customizing the interior. The proud owners of both cottages are baby boomers with grown children and grandchildren. The couple plan to stay in their lakeside residences six to seven months a year.

Building the future
Freely admitting that the construction of the two cottages was a stress-inducing event, Smith says it was also a valuable learning experience, one which will see Altius take on other opportunities in Ontario’s cottage country.

“Two projects down, and we are actively combing for projects right now,” he says of the company, which is currently developing new development projects.

And even with COVID-19, Altius Architecture is going great guns, signing-up more work in 2020 than it did in 2018 and ’19 combined.

“As far as Altius goes, we will never stop working for private clients,” he says. “But I think the spec-build component will become an increasingly bigger part of our practice, especially in cottage country. I would never dream of doing it in the city – way too much uneducated competition. There are too many people who are prepared to lose money doing it. In the country, you can have a $1 million-dollar cottage next to a $15 million-dollar cottage, and if you buy the property between them you can do pretty much anything!”

The post Where Style Wins Hearts – and Awards<p class="company">Altius Architecture Inc.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Sadly passing away in 2006, Dennis M. Peed left a legacy that lives on in his company.

With locations in Temecula, California and Las Vegas, Nevada, the business remains solidly in family hands. David Peed, the youngest son of the founder, having learned the ropes from his dad and mother Carolyn back in the day, is today company President.

Carolyn, who played a vital role in the company’s success from day one, still handles accounting, while David’s son Dylan, representing the third generation in the business, started working at the company recently.

Going green
Peed Equipment Co.’s selection of equipment is impressive.

With a highly trained staff of 110, Peed can answer all and any questions with its fleet, which includes Tier 3- and Tier 4-powered CAT 657/E G scrapers, CAT 992G/K wheel loaders, CAT 6015B excavators, and CAT 777F/G haul trucks, along with motor graders, water trucks, crawler dozers, wheel dozers, and compactors. Depending on the model, some equipment is available with GPS.

“We focus on heavy construction and mining,” says Operations Manager Ken Rudenski, “and the average machine cost is between $1 million and $2 million dollars. We have the best machines with the best uptime, which translates into more production and cost savings.”

Acknowledging the global need to reduce carbon emissions, Peed Equipment made the voluntary decision several years ago to go green to benefit the environment.

Switching from diesel-powered engines to Cat’s ACERT (Advanced Combustion Emissions Reduction Technology), the new engines are more efficient, cleaner fuel burning, and produce less noise than their traditional counterparts.

By converting 100 percent of its diesel engines to ACERT, the company’s fleet has a lower cost per hour, better performance, improved fuel savings, and is Tier 3 and Tier 4 compliant in California.

“We were one of the very first companies to start re-powering our machines back when California started to introduce their government help programs,” says Rudenski, who has handled all of Peed’s daily operations and project contracts for the past five years.

“And ever since, we have been one of the top leaders and still are at the front of that march with one of the largest – if not already the largest – fleet of Tier 4 Final 657 scrapers. We currently have over 20 Tier 4 Final CAT 657 scrapers, and are constantly working on the next one as well as some of our other equipment like the CAT 777F haul trucks where half of our fleet of 30 trucks is already up to Tier 4 compliance.”

Continuing to expand, Peed Equipment invested in additional new 775G and 777G haul trucks and support to add to its mining fleet.

Adding a new office in Las Vegas to help with its growing out-of-state business, the company can go anywhere to meet customer needs, including all over the United States, Canada, and even down into Mexico. And along with new buying new machinery, the company has made some recent personnel changes to help serve its customers and crews better. This includes promoting Tony Albitre to equipment supervisor. With years of experience leading the company’s field technicians, Albitre’s knowledge of the industry is unsurpassed.

Rentals, maintenance, and more
Competitive pricing, decades of combined experience, and outstanding customer service are just a few of the reasons customers keep coming back to Peed Equipment for their heavy equipment rentals.

With the company already supplying scrapers, loaders, excavators, haul trucks and other machinery to clients working on coal mines, natural gas power plants, dams, highways, landfills, and other projects, there is literally no job too big or too small for Peed.

To complement its heavy equipment rentals, the company also supplies mechanical staff and job trailers on-site, “with the abilities to build Cat and non-Cat hoses (and spare parts / components) to ensure maximum availability and production on your project,” according to its website.

And depending on client and project needs, Peed Equipment’s options include providing skilled operators.

In the event of mechanical issues, Peed maintains a huge inventory of parts, ensuring timely, reliable repairs for customers, and as little downtime as possible. Peed maintains a supply of larger pieces such as engines and transmissions along with rebuilt components, enabling the company to swap out items if needed.

Safety first
At Peed Equipment, safety remains high on the list.

Employees are not only skilled in their particular discipline, but most have received MSHA (Mine Safety and Health Administration) and OHSA 10 (Occupation Safety & Health Administration) training, which is delivered by authorized OSHA Outreach Trainers.

Through strict protocols and a crusading belief that accidents can be eliminated, the company keeps improving its safety record with every job.

“Safety is always our first priority,” says Rudenski. “You must think and plan before any task. Everything we deal with here daily is heavy and on a large scale, so doing something too quickly or getting complacent can get you into trouble real quick.

“All of our mechanics and a large percentage of our operators are MSHA and OSHA trained and get retrained at least once a year, with supplemental training throughout the year as tasks change or there are updates.” Safety never sleeps, and Peed Equipment strives to ensure that all employees are protected.

Substantial projects
This year alone, Peed Equipment has tackled several big works, requiring the use of a pair of 657E scrapers in Arizona; mining for gold with a 6015B hydraulic excavator; and a Cat 390F LME excavator working on some newly blasted white calcium carbonate.

The company is seeing an increase in sectors including construction and mining. With soaring gold prices likely to go up 11.5 percent this year alone to $1,974 US an ounce, Peed Equipment expects continued growth on mining sites across the United States.

Busy with new projects every day, Peed is working in Southern and Northern California, throughout Nevada and the Reno area, Arizona, Utah, Colorado, Texas, Florida, and South Carolina right now.

For the company, they are all exciting jobs ranging in scale from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of cubic yards being moved. With a reputation for quality machinery and service, Peed looks forward to expanding its operations in the coming years.

“We have the best equipment backed by the best service,” says Rudenski. “Peed Equipment is a small company with a big fleet, and we take pride in our machines and the work we do. With the highest production numbers and lowest equipment downtime we let our reputation speak for itself. We are very grateful for our long-term loyal customers, and are always looking to work with new ones so give us a call any time.”

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