It was June 18^th, 2012, and things were not going according to plan. The goal of this first day in the Canadian office with the new team was to start strong, to show these recruits that FMG was headed for success. But instead of being able to get the ball rolling with coaching and demonstrations, Publisher Jeff Hocken found, instead, that the power was out.

So, Jeff did what Jeff does best—he improvised and made it fun. This first day was not going to be what he had planned, but it would be a good day. Jeff took everyone to the pub, which turned out to be the perfect environment to get FMG to quickly transition from a group of strangers to a group of friends.

Reflecting on this day almost 10 years later, Operations Director Adam Cameron starts to describe how calm and unworried Jeff was about all this, but Jeff starts to laugh. It turns out, Jeff was panicking on the inside on this first stressful day, but he clearly had the leadership chops to project confidence, and that helped set FMG’s core philosophy of integrating fun into the workplace from day one.

“I hid my fear well, and it’s a good thing I did because Adam’s still here 10 years later, possibly because of that day and how it all started,” says Jeff. “Work has to be fun! If it’s not fun, I don’t want to be here.”

“I think I’m going to like this,” thought Adam at the time.

The early days

Focus Media Group actually has its genesis in Australia, where Jeff Hocken, his business partner at the time, and their dynamic team refined their business model.

With a degree in geography and a work history that ranged from military to sales, Jeff’s role as business owner and publisher of business magazines might not have been an obvious choice. But Jeff has always been a ‘yes’ person when it comes to opportunities. He is curious, drawn to adventure and fun, and is never the sort to turn down anyone’s idea without giving it fair consideration.

With Controller Jen Hamilton’s administrative skill and keen eye for detail, and Robert Hoshowsky’s experience as a writer and editor, the first publication, Australian Construction Focus, was born, and FMG began to refine its business model to best tell the stories of companies down-under.

As that magazine grew, the volume of work soon demanded more writing staff, and Jeff reached out to his brother, Tim Hocken (an aerospace engineer, of all things) and Jaime McKee (who holds a degree in community development) to help fill in until he could find more staff. As it turned out, Tim and Jaime enjoyed the work—the freedom to work remotely, the opportunity to learn about businesses all over the world, and the chance to work with family—and along with Robert, they formed the early editorial team at FMG and turned a temporary gig into a rewarding career.

In 2012, with the lessons learned in the Australian market, Jeff was ready to start anew in North America. Having been born and raised in Canada, the Halifax launch really represented coming home for Jeff. For Adam Cameron, however, it initially represented confusion.

When Adam first came across the job posting for Focus Media Group, he was immediately interested in the role, particularly the content research side. With an attractive on-target earnings number, he happily agreed to an interview. However, when the calendar invitation came in from an Australian email address for an interview at eight o’clock at night, Adam was certain it was just a scam, so he didn’t accept the invitation.

But, as Adam would later learn about Jeff’s personal approach, a declined calendar invite is not going to stop him. Jeff called at the proposed time anyway, catching Adam off-guard!

“So, come eight o’clock this weeknight back in 2012,” Adam recalls, “my phone starts ringing and it’s from this crazy number. I answered it and it was Jeff. I think the interview went alright—I don’t really remember it!… In the end, I think it went alright, because he set up an interview for when he was coming to Halifax! I still wasn’t sure. I still had my doubts up until we met.”

Eventually, Adam would transition into management, becoming FMG’s Operations Director—after convincing Jeff that he wasn’t, in fact, “too nice” for the role.

Modern management

The two make a good team. Adam cites Jeff’s flexibility and willingness to take risks as key to the company’s growth, while Jeff champions Adam’s compassion and sense of fairness. “I try to put myself in their shoes,” says Adam, of the company’s staff. “I do hold people accountable, but not in an unjust or unreasonable way.”

The entire leadership team share some core values that help make FMG what it is today. Employees’ ideas are always welcomed, and management is flexible and open to different ways of getting things done. Content Developer Jamal Francis-Anderson describes it as “a very close-knit community… It’s not that large of a company that you can’t just go talk to senior leadership when needed, and senior leadership doesn’t view the employees as beneath them.”

For Graphic Designer Ashley Dowling, this rings true. “Being a part of FMG means that you become a part of the team instantly. Your input is taken into consideration and we all collaborate to become better and more successful. I am trusted to get my work done so I have a lot of freedom in how I schedule and prioritize my work,” she shares. “FMG values teamwork and collaboration inside and outside of work, doing extra-curricular activities to let loose and talk with one another. We all eat lunch together and are able to reset ourselves by being in a social environment. It’s nice working in an office where having fun and being social is also important.”

As Jeff says, “every voice in the company matters.”

The FMG way

An open and supportive management style isn’t the only way FMG sets itself apart. Owing in part to a business model that has always supported remote communication, FMG has been green from the start. Business in Focus, alongside sister publications Construction in Focus, Resource in Focus, and Manufacturing in Focus, make it their mission to highlight eco-friendly organizations, initiatives, and technologies, and FMG walks the walk.

Jeff explains that, even before COVID, “I wanted to prove that we could do the business from home to reduce commuting, and I wanted to prove we could do short-run print, with the vast majority of our distribution online. That was what we started with and we’ve remained green,” donating issues to local high schools and maintaining a paperless office.

This ability for much of the team to work from home has also meant that FMG has never taken the staff writer approach. In fact, editorial is kept deliberately independent from the sales side to ensure journalistic integrity, and FMG is thus able to draw on a breadth of unique voices and perspectives. The end result is a rich, tailored finished product with the client’s voice coming through the clearest.

“We have independent journalists so that our readers have engaging articles that speak to them,” Jeff explains. “We hire people from all over the world because we want different, diverse perspectives.”

Contributing Writer Allison Dempsey found that this model was just what she was looking for. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed writing for FMG for the past two years and, in fact, I’m hard-pressed to think of a company I’ve liked working with more,” she says. “As a long-time freelance writer, FMG has provided exactly what I always look for: highly interesting assignments; positive, constructive feedback; the ability to work at my own pace within a prescribed deadline; and an overall welcoming and encouraging environment. As an added bonus, I’m continuously impressing my friends and family with all the new facts and inventions I learn about on a monthly basis!”

“This new way of doing things,” says Jeff, “led to clients asking more and more about using their articles as brochures, which is why we began doing just that.” Every client receives a completely custom brochure version of their feature article—a valuable tool for trade shows, branding, and recruiting, and a point of pride for the FMG team members who are able to make it happen.

A culture built on people

Adam believes that it is partly this bespoke nature of the work that draws people to FMG. “The description of the role is intriguing: searching for content for a magazine. It’s interesting and it’s different,” he says.

“And why do they stay? I truly believe it is the culture that we have here. I’ve worked a lot of jobs and I’ve never seen a group of people get along as well as they do here—and for 10 years!”

“I credit those early employees with affecting the environment and culture going forward,” says Jeff. “They helped set the foundation, they helped build the company—it’s their company as much as anyone else’s.”

Content Developer Wendy Hood-Morris agrees. “I work at FMG for the people,” she says. “The people I work with day-to-day make going to work a pleasure. We’re a close-knit team and rely on each other. Also, I love talking with business leaders across North America and learning their stories!”

Sales & Marketing Manager Luke Simms, who has been part of the team for seven years, enjoys the opportunity to learn and contribute in a fun environment. “When I was looking for a career and a place to work, I wanted to be around cool, like-minded, fun people,” he says. “With FMG, it’s been a lot of fun and a learning experience to ride the wave of a growing young company and to have a hand in some of the decisions that were made along the way. That adds value to the work that I put into the company.”

For Contributing Writer Jessica Ferlaino, “reflecting on this milestone is exciting from both a personal and professional standpoint, as I have had the opportunity to grow alongside the organization and its publications. Ten years ago, I wrote my very first article for Business in Focus, which kickstarted my career as a freelancer, and today, I am grateful to continue to work alongside the team as they strive for even greater outcomes in the future. It has been an absolute pleasure… being part of something so amazing that shines a light on some really great stories and companies across North America.”

Looking ahead

Focus Media Group has evolved over the years, and the founding principles that have always made it fun continue to make it a success. Taking calculated risks, building integrity into the business, and maintaining an open-door management policy—all set against a backdrop of fun—have been cornerstones to the business’ growth and adaptability. “As long as we’re all working together for a common goal, there’s nothing we can’t handle,” says Jeff. “That was the whole idea; if everyone assumes we’re going to win, we’re going to.”

That wild first day in 2012 set the tone, and what followed has been quite the ride. “In the beginning,” says Jeff, “optimism is all it was… We look at what’s possible.” We’re excited to see what further possibilities lie ahead.

Sidebar:

Management and the Art of Ping Pong

As you might imagine, this writer is keenly aware of Jeff’s lifelong love of ping pong. “I loved this game,” he says; “I would play for 19 straight hours and figure out food later. I couldn’t get enough. So my dream, when I opened a business, was to make enough money to justify the square footage required for a ping pong table.

“I brought it in primarily to be a team building activity… a semi-competitive, ‘have some fun before getting back to work, get the blood flowing so you’re not tired’ activity, a fun activity for lunches,” Jeff shares.

“But the cool part,” he says, “is our team invented new rules to be more inclusive… They changed it so you can’t hit the ball twice in a row when it’s your team’s turn to hit it. No matter where the shot goes, you have to back up, get out of the way, and work as a team.”

Sidebar:

Where ‘Healthy’ and ‘Fun’ Go Hand in Hand

At FMG, “healthy” and “fun” are a package deal, resulting in a healthy workplace where people can both be successful and let loose. The ping pong table is a key piece to this puzzle, as are some other fun lunchtime shenanigans!

For example, a local tavern had a promotion one holiday season where patrons who came in singing a Christmas carol would get a free beer. Somehow, the whole office ended up participating! “We took everybody,” Adam recalls. “We all went down to the Red Stag. We decided which song we were going to sing on the way in, and we all sang this entire song.” The bartender was satisfied after the first verse, and started pouring, but the team insisted on finishing the entire carol together first, before enjoying their drinks and heading back to work. How many days of Christmas are there again?

This healthy, fun attitude, nurtured in part by the flexibility and trust afforded to staff, is punctuated regularly by such memorable events, but the big company parties might have a little something to do with it as well. Many companies have big Christmas parties, and FMG pulls out all the stops for those, but it also hosts epic summer parties at the FMG Lakehouse, to let off some steam in July in the natural beauty of Nova Scotia. Singing around the bonfire, paddle-boarding out to tiny rock islands, or just chilling out on a giant ‘floaty’ in the lake—this outing has more of a summer camp feel to it than office party, for sure!

The post The Story Behind the Stories<p class="company">Focus Media Group Celebrates 10 Years</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Expanding its services to include utility locating, utilities, and telecom, the almost 400-employee-strong business has come a long way from its early days, says President Alan Boudreau.

Soon after moving to California in the late 1980s, the young Alan began working with his father, learning plumbing from him. “I was the one that liked to play in the dirt, so I learned how to run one of the backhoes,” he says. “I was the shovel guy in the ditch. Instead of renting backhoes, I ran the one backhoe that we had.”

Starting his first rental company called A&B in 1996 as an owner/operator, Boudreau began bidding on jobs, soon leading to his first major project in Rancho Santa Margarita.

There, he took on a project for a large electrical company at the Port of Long Beach. This soon found him working on school infrastructure and other big jobs, including a 400-home project in the Orange County city of San Clemente. “That got us to be able to grow,” he says. “It was a master development.”

Getting bigger…

With the business growing unstoppably from a one-man operation to a company of almost 400, Boudreau Pipeline today works on projects ranging from about $10,000 for small fire lines into the millions for big jobs that take months.

At present, the company is busy with four projects ranging from $10 million to $20 million. With quality and timely delivery themselves the best advertisement, Boudreau Pipeline doesn’t do a lot of proactive marketing, since approximately 85 percent of its work comes from repeat customers.

“We have built a reputation, and really don’t have to go out and solicit,” says Boudreau. “We turn down anywhere from 45 to 55 percent of the work we’re asked to bid on – we don’t have the capacity to do it.”

Big or small, every job is a reflection of the company’s professionalism and teamwork. This comes across in its strong culture, and an upbeat get-it-done attitude, entrenched in Boudreau’s philosophy.

Internally, employees get votes from their peers for their can-do. Externally, the business continues receiving awards and has been a top workplace for six years running in Southern California. A big factor in the company’s ongoing success is the people who join Boudreau.

“The quality of people that we want to hire revolves around what we call our intangibles. That’s work ethic and willingness to learn, passion and heart,” says Boudreau.

“The team philosophy is hungry, humble, and smart. They all look after each other. No one is above anybody else. They care and take pride in their work. Their values include communication, accountability, owning what they do, and treating people with mutual respect. So when you have those three elements there, it makes for a great work environment.”

… and giving back

For years, a notable element in the company’s success has been its willingness to give back to the community. Before the business’s 20th anniversary in 2017, Alan Boudreau was actively working with different charities and making donations, but then realized that strength in numbers would make an even greater positive impact.

This saw the company holding different charity events every quarter. In time, these morphed into a large single event held annually, a charity car show featuring unique vehicles, crafts, and a barbecue and brews.

At the beginning of the year, Boudreau’s charity committee gets together and decides on the charities that will be their year’s focus; often, these turn out to be the ones that are near and dear to staff.

Although COVID in 2020 prevented the company from holding a charity event, the next year’s one was Boudreau’s biggest to date, supporting the Autism Society of Inland Empire and Leaps and Bounds, which provides equestrian therapy for children with disabilities.

“We had 135 cars and bikes, and over a thousand attendees,” says Boudreau. “It’s a short day, and a lot of planning that goes into a single day that starts at nine and ends at two, but we were able to raise over $53,000 this year, and our entire team gets into it.”

Adding to the efforts of the staff, the company works with the City of Corona. The local fire department brings an old, restored fire engine to the show; there are kids’ areas, and local schools bring their rhythm and dancing sections in for performances.

And instead of handing out run-of-the-mill awards, company mechanics use broken mechanical parts to create unique trophies.

“It’s been great for all of our employees,” Boudreau says. “They love to participate.”

Like other businesses, Boudreau is facing challenges finding skilled workers. Despite this, the company has a three-person team dedicated to recruiting and managed to hire over 200 people last year, netting about 105.

Investing for greatness

Along with getting the right people for the job, Boudreau Pipeline continues making investments in equipment, including The Telebelt®. Resembling a fire engine ladder truck, The Telebelt has a large conveyor belt that extends and telescopes.

This makes it ideal for moving or removing stone, gravel, sand, and other materials and for performing tilt-up work on distribution centers for clients like Amazon and Target.

Along the coast of California, large underground detention systems are required to retain rainwater, allowing it to percolate back into the ground. With pipes up to 140 inches, it is not unusual for these systems to be the size of a football field.

To create these detention systems, a considerable amount of rock and other material has to be filled in around the pipes. The Telebelt allows Boudreau to feed and distribute material over and around these large systems with great efficiency.

Representing an investment of about $800,000 and requiring a specially trained operator, The Telebelt is presently being used on a large project for Hillwood Development. Intended to be a 2.5-million square-foot Target distribution center in Riverside County, California, the project is expected to keep the team at Boudreau on the job for another four to five months.

Complementary growth

To meet the growing needs of customers, Boudreau has created several new entities over the years. In 2014, the company launched Boudreau Utility Locating, which works with engineers in locating existing utilities to aid in the utility design for new projects.

Two years later it was Boudreau Utility Services, which often works with mobile-home parks on special programs related to safety.

Then, in 2020, the company established Baseband Telecom Corporation. Working with different providers like Cox and Verizon, Baseband is helping with upgrading infrastructure fiber work, increasing bandwidth, and 5G and other Internet-related services.

Turning 25 this year, the company is working on several initiatives, including an open house for customers and vendors, and the annual car show.

Several years ago, Boudreau set a goal of being completely paperless and digital by 2023 and is in the middle of an ERP implementation and process improvement project.

In the coming years, Boudreau plans to move into new areas including Northern California on the pipeline side, and expand by acquiring other companies. “The growth plan is definitely to have more locations, find other adjacent industries and complementary businesses that we can form to give people opportunities,” Boudreau says. “We are a people company, not a pipeline company.”

The post In the Business of People<p class="company">Boudreau Pipeline</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Ecofitt is a diverse, award-winning manufacturer and installer of conservation-focused products and programs. It serves utilities, government agencies, and residential and commercial customers with energy efficiency programming, furnace upgrades and maintenance, lighting, weatherization, and smart home upgrades.

Dedicated to providing clean energy solutions to customers and clients, Ecofitt’s focus on conservation products allows it to offer a comprehensive range of services and support, from program development to implementation and management, energy audits, retrofits, custom energy-saving kits, and rebate programs.

“We’ve been in the manufacturing side for a while; however, in about 2005 we saw a need in the market here for a Canadian company that would do the supply and distribution of conservation products across Canada,” says CEO Robert Mains.

“That was mainly because there were no Canadian companies doing it at the time, and currently, there are still none.”

According to Mains, most companies who work in the industry have to source products through U.S. partners, which easily gets complicated by cross-border issues, particularly in the last couple of years.

“Ecofitt was mostly doing distribution and supply; however, in 2015 we saw another need in the market – for direct-to-manufacturer in Canada – so we started manufacturing our own line of lighting and water conservation products.”

That proprietary line included “Eco Brilliant” LED lighting products, as well as two water-saving product lines, the “ULTRA” and “ECO MASSAGE” series.

The company is completely committed to delivering exceptional results to each of its clients while also introducing clients to the most up-to-date products and technologies to help them succeed with their programs.

The company has also looked at sourcing some new items — including the idea of EV chargers — but in general Ecofitt sticks to supplying the government and working with energy efficiency programs across the country.

“We’ve predominantly manufactured for ourselves and for sale of the energy- and water-saving devices,” says Mains. “The Ecofitt products have become a smaller portion of our overall company. Our specialty over the past few years has been in the supply and install of energy savings products and conservation services to low-income and Indigenous communities.”

Those communities were identified through strategy sessions in 2018 as being generally underserviced with energy efficiency programs. The company also partners with governments and utilities, believing that it is much cheaper to conserve a unit of energy through energy efficiency and conservation than it is to create one unit of energy.

“In a household, if you can spend $100 to save $1,000 worth of energy in the year, that’s the basic principle of it,” says Mains.

“The provincial authorities that regulate the electric and gas utility systems have an integrated planning process. What comes out of that process is a series of specific programs for conservation,” says Mains. “Those are the programs we generally operate. There are a lot of bigger companies that do industrial, but we’re more focused on the residential and small commercial. It’s harder, but it’s our specialty. There are a lot of smaller transactions and smaller stuff from an energy conservation perspective, but that’s our focus.”

That focus allows the company to help others conserve wherever possible. For residential it’s easy if you consider the basic science of it, he says.

“You live in a box, and whatever heat you put in that box you want to keep in the box, and there are a number of ways to do that.”

That could mean more insulation in the walls, the basement, and the ceiling, which, depending on the size of your house, is the biggest part of the box exposed to the outside.

“Windows feel so cold because they generally only have about one-tenth of the insulation that walls do, and that’s the reality of a windowpane,” says Mains. “You can’t get insulation in the windows, but the walls or ceiling can have the biggest impact depending on the size.”

“We have programs all across the country from BC to Newfoundland to the Yukon,” Mains says. “In some areas, you sign up and get a kit of light bulbs, a window sealing kit, the plastic that goes over it, all the way to what happens in BC, where we’re doing insulation and furnaces, and all that is free for income-qualified customers.”

Although the industry may be small, it’s growing, but that growth often relies on whatever government happens to be in power at any given time.

“The changed governments in Alberta and Ontario at around the same time both decided that energy conservation wasn’t a thing that needed to be done,” he says. “But that’s recently been changed by the same governments, bringing back conservation. It’s an economic argument as much as an environmental one. If you can spend three cents, or even one cent, to save a kilowatt-hour versus 10 cents to create a kilowatt-hour, you should do the one cent first. It just makes more sense.”

All governments have both introduced and cut programs, he adds, but it’s the unpredictability of these government changes that creates turmoil. It’s a four-year cycle that affects the business significantly.

“I’ve been in this business since 2008, and I started with the federal EnerGuide program, which is basically the same as Greener Homes, but rebranded,” says Mains. “The most successful long-term programs are housed in utility systems. Once programs are embedded into the utility system, then it generally stays for a longer term.”

It’s a challenge they face, he says, but generally, all governments see the benefits once they realize the economics, and so the company perseveres with its energy-saving products.

While Ecofitt doesn’t currently manufacture its own thermostats or hot water heaters, he adds, it does have a number of supply partnerships with companies that do. More and more, Ecofitt projects involve the installation of smart technologies, such as current projects in BC and Newfoundland that install devices on regular water heaters that allow owners to put them on a schedule, or turn them off if they were gone for a length of time to save on unnecessary usage.

Another part of the equation is called “demand response,” says Mains. Ontario is having an issue (and also had one in the past) with rolling blackouts due to running out of energy. Rather than just turning off all the energy in one spot, the concept around demand response programs would be to turn off 1,000 hot water heaters across a bigger region, to keep everything level.

“This hasn’t been as big an issue in Canada, but the U.S. has a lot of programs that look for demand response where you can just turn off people’s energy – but turn off things that aren’t going to affect their lives too much.”

Ecofitt’s own challenges have included being completely shut down for eight months in 2020 due to COVID, and the company has fortunately escaped any significant impacts from the ongoing supply chain issues.

“There’s no manual for a pandemic,” Mains says. “They don’t teach you that in business school. There were some mistakes made, and it was a tough time, but we came out relatively unscathed. We’re still a company and a going interest so that’s good.”

That interest continues to flourish in a society where staying at home has become a new normal, coupled with an increasing awareness of conservation and energy efficiency in the general population, which, he says, ‘trickles up’.

“It trickles up to the people who create the programs and that’ll get us more interest which makes it easier. To be honest, it’s hard to give away free stuff. People don’t trust it, and they think there’s a catch.”

Other obstacles have included maintaining the labour force, but Mains believes the company’s mission speaks to people and will attract them to the organization.

“More people now are looking to do something with their lives that means something,” he says. “There’s a general interest across the board in climate change. People start researching and next thing you know, you’re getting an uptick on your recruitment.”

The company is also moving into small commercial lighting with programs across the country that focus on small-to-medium enterprises and new, smart lighting technologies that are showing growth in demand as well.

“It’s an interesting industry,” says Mains. “It’s really small and not a lot of big Canadian companies are involved. There are usually a lot of smaller local players which is good in a way. And we don’t run it like a big company. We’re technically medium-sized, but our regional offices run their regions independently, and we provide oversight and additional information and support for the regional offices.”

For now, Ecofitt relishes its unique niche in a market where U.S. companies that are trying to come into Canada don’t fully understand the market.

“It’s like taking California, turning it sideways and stretching it out by three times and up three or four times,” says Mains. “It’s a different beast. We’re specialized. We understand the market. We have regional offices and people to handle the relationships. I think that’s our strength; we’re national but we’re local. And we’re more local than national so that’s one of our big advantages.”

The post Committed to Conservation<p class="company">Ecofitt</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Enter ENERSOLV Design + Build Ltd.

Located in Vancouver, British Columbia, the company has been transforming the industry for over 15 years. Already known for its turnkey delivery of HVAC and plumbing systems, Enersolv recently added an electrical division to offer complete Mechanical, Electrical, and Plumbing (MEP) services for complex, mixed-use projects—making the company unparalleled across Canada when you factor in their unique design-assist and design-build processes.

While the traditional tender-bid-build process may have worked well in the past, the desire to hit lower carbon goals has increased the complexity and scale of projects to such a degree that the historical dollar-driven choices are no longer viable. Designers know the many ways to lower carbon emissions, but contractors understand the nuance of labour and material cost as well as real world practicality. When designers don’t consult with constructors and vice versa, developers find themselves spending more money than expected or are faced with an inability to meet their low carbon targets.

Enersolv has everything under one roof.

“In breadth of offering, I think we are pretty much unparalleled across Canada. There may be larger mechanical contractors or larger electrical contractors, but we have our own consultants, our own engineers, and our own asset developers,” says Business Development Director Adrian Ryan.

Enersolv’s ability to offer design-assist and design-build streamlines the process for developers and allows them to make well-informed decisions to maximize cost efficiency and ensure their low carbon goals are met or exceeded.

An example of the value of the design-assist and design-build process is in Appia’s SOLO project located in Burnaby, BC. Enersolv has worked with SOLO from its first phase through to its fourth, where the first phase began with a traditional tender-bid-build process. For its second and third phases, Enersolv was selected for design-assist. For its fourth and final phase, SOLO elected Enersolv to do the design-build process. Throughout the 10-year long SOLO project, we see in real time the market’s shift from the traditional process to new, more effective delivery methods.

Design-assist and design-build are the ways of the future. Having everything under one roof allows Enersolv to provide a business case backed by great engineering, robust financial analysis, and current market pricing. For developers, a business case tailored specifically to their project is an invaluable asset because it gives them financial justification based on numbers rather than opinion. With the big picture in mind, they are able to ensure their projects meet or exceed their low carbon targets both practically and efficiently in the real world and throughout its life cycle.

Ryan notes, “Those developments are now so complex that the developer has worn the scars of going for the cheapest contractor or the lowest bid, and they’ve realized that they now have to hire contractors that are more sophisticated who can help reduce risk with an integrated design and construction process.”

As the market shifts, Enersolv continues to grow. “We’ve expanded the business to such a point now where we have a world-class service offering, and we’re just focusing on building on our world-class team,” says Ryan. “We invest in our staff, and they, in turn, invest in us.”

Over the last three years, the number of employees has risen from approximately 75 to 150. The team leaders understand the importance of loyalty to its staff, which has resulted in a reciprocal commitment from employees. A world-class team will be instrumental in Enersolv’s continued work in transforming the industry, pushing the market limitations to encourage innovation and technological advancement, and solidifying the company’s seat at the table of large-scale, complex projects that exceed their sustainability goals.

The post Adding Value through Design-Build and Design-Assist Services<p class="company">ENERSOLV Design + Build Ltd.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

It’s a true marvel of Canadian ingenuity and engineering and with 4,000 vehicles crossing per day (pre-COVID), it has made a huge economic impact.

The bridge was a long time in the making – 130 years in fact – in final fulfilment of a promise made in 1867 by the newly-formed Dominion of Canada to link Prince Edward Island to the mainland if it joined the Confederation, which it did in 1873.

The promise was initially kept by CN Marine (later Marine Atlantic) which operated a ferry service across the Northumberland Strait, from Borden-Carleton, PEI, to Cape Tormentine, NB, and which for many years transported entire passenger and freight-carrier trains.

Overrun by demand

That solution was far from perfect, however, because it seemed that no matter how many ferries were in operation or how frequently they crossed the strait, they couldn’t keep up with the demands of the tourism or transportation industries, both vital to PEI.

In the years after trains stopped running in PEI, wait times of up to four hours faced commercial transport drivers and young families packed into cars, eager to get to the island’s beaches, or islanders with business on the mainland. And since the ferry service did not operate after midnight, the only way to get off the island in an emergency was by air.

The years of frustration ended on May 31, 1997, with the opening of the appropriately named Confederation Bridge.

The name not only recognizes that long-ago promise to link PEI with the mainland but also acknowledges PEI’s role as “The Cradle of Confederation”. For it was at a meeting held in Charlottetown in 1864, with representatives from New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Upper and Lower Canada (Ontario and Quebec), that the idea of forming one nation was born.

Even though it had been obvious for many years that a fixed link, as opposed to a ferry service, was crucial for the island’s economy, there was a surprising amount of opposition in the 1980s when the idea was proposed.

Proponents cited the much-needed economic boost the bridge would provide, but opponents voiced concern around environmental, safety, and financial issues. The debate was settled by a plebiscite in 1988 in which 59.4 percent of islanders voted in favour of the fixed link.

A modern marvel is born

We had the privilege of speaking with Michel Le Chasseur, General Manager of Strait Crossing Bridge Ltd. (SCBL), who arrived on site on October 7, 1993, the day the Government of Canada and Strait Crossing Development Inc. (SCDI) signed the contract to build the bridge, creating a public-private partnership, or P3.

He’s been on the job, ever since, overseeing all aspects of the bridge. “I was only 38 years old when I arrived, and this year I will be 67,” he says.

“It has been an incredible experience and I am extremely lucky to have done this. It’s been my passion. I’ve been supported by a great team, including others who’ve been here since Day One, too. And to me, it’s like winning gold at the Olympics; it’s something I cherish.”

Le Chasseur explains the partnership structure, unique in Canada at that time. It shifts the risk of construction, budgeted in 1993 at $730 million and equal to the subsidy, from the government, and allows SCBL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SCDI, to recover the delta to the actual cost of $1 billion by collecting tolls which are also used to operate and maintain the bridge for 35 years.

At the end of that time, in 2032, management of the bridge will revert to the Government of Canada, unless it should choose to continue with the present arrangement.

The multi-award-winning 12.9 km bridge, which saw 6,000 employees and sub-contractors cross the gates during the four-year construction period, was designed by a consortium headed by a joint venture of J. Mueller International and Stantec (then SLG Consulting).

It used precast concrete parts, which were fabricated on a 150 acre open yard and assembled on site.

The bridge is composed of a multi-span concrete box girder, with the 11 km long main bridge supported by 44 piers. The 1.3 km New Brunswick approach from Cape Jourimain rests on 14 piers, with 7 piers in the 0.6 km approach from Borden-Carleton, PEI.

“What may be a surprise to people outside the industry, is that the bridge features a hollow core,” Le Chasseur says, “and 12,000 km of cable, which is what really holds it together.” This hollow core allows engineers to carry out regular inspections.

More than just a stroll
Walking the length of the bridge, from PEI to New Brunswick, “is part of our ongoing maintenance program,” says Le Chasseur. “We’re walking and eyeballing, taking pictures and comparing them with the last time we were there. We carry laptop computers, and we can bring up construction drawings to analyze something in particular,” he says.

“Our inspections include going down hollow pier shafts along with diving inspections to see what’s happening at the bottom of the strait. As well, the bridge is equipped with tiltmeters to monitor its movement, and ice flows are also monitored. On top of that, there’s a full annual inspection with independent engineers, and their report goes to the federal government, owner of the bridge, and Strait Crossing,” he explains.

“After 25 years the bridge is in excellent shape and now the thinking is that it will last longer than the 100 years it was designed for. One of the biggest challenges in the construction process was the presence of ice in the strait, but with the warming of the planet, scientists are now predicting there will be no ice in the strait by 2050, which seems to be good news for the longevity of the structure.”

While ironically, the bridge may benefit from global warming and climate change, it has also contributed significantly to the environment by eliminating 44,000 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gasses that the ferries produced annually for the past 25 years.

In addition, all the lighting on the bridge has been converted to LEDs that consume 30 percent less energy than the ones used in the initial design.

“We are mindful of whatever we can do in terms of improving the environment. We are talking about micro-solar farms and looking at acquiring electric trucks. They are hard to come by, but we have them on our radar,” says Le Chasseur.

25-year connection
Not only is structural safety paramount, so is vehicle safety. In control rooms at each end of the bridge, traffic is watched 24/7 through 25 cameras posted along the crossing. If a vehicle stops at any point, a patrol vehicle heads out to assess the situation, which could of course be serious or something as trivial as running out of gas.

Ready to respond is a dedicated towing service along with EMS services – fire, police, and ambulance. “We do whatever it takes to keep people safe, including monitoring weather conditions. We’ve been fortunate with very few accidents over the years,” Le Chasseur says.

Things couldn’t have been better for the Confederation Bridge and the tourism and transportation industries until March 2020, when the unexpected occurred: the first of several COVID-19 lockdowns. The bridge remained open, and commercial traffic, deemed an essential service, flowed freely across it, but with restrictions on interprovincial travel, tourism came to a grinding halt.

“What kept us going was commercial traffic, but we had a 40 percent reduction of overall traffic in 2020 and 2021. Because the island doesn’t produce most of what it needs, everything is shipped from the mainland, so it was extremely important for the bridge to remain open when all other travel was strongly discouraged. Commercial traffic became our bread and butter.”

Apart from tourist and commercial traffic, the bridge plays a vital role in helping separated families. “Children go back and forth between parents on weekends, and in the space of a year the cost could be onerous, if you are driving your own vehicle at the 2 axle rate,” Le Chasseur explains.

The solution was to offer a self-serve shuttle for only $4.75 instead of the regular toll of $50.25 (for 2-axled vehicles) in which one parent can drive the children across the bridge to meet with the other parent, as long as the car returns within 40 minutes of departure.

The same program works for other applications such as university students who go back and forth on weekends. “We have 500 such accounts, so that means the system is working.”

Plans to come

Twenty-five years is a milestone anniversary, and Le Chasseur is hoping that he’ll be able to arrange some events of significance, however, COVID-19 and attendant restrictions remain an unpredictable variable.

“COVID has made things difficult, but we think we are moving toward the end of the pandemic and the provincial government is talking about removing restrictions by April 7.”

Still, when we talked in mid-February it was too early to reveal definite plans. “We are looking at different things, but we are not ready to announce.” He hints, however, that it could involve several smaller events spread across the tourist season, starting with the anniversary of the bridge opening on May 31.

“But it will have to be a bit different from our big 20th anniversary celebration which was timed to Canada 150 celebrations.”

Those interested should check social media toward mid-April for announcements.

Meanwhile, the Confederation Bridge remains open, as it has throughout the pandemic, with opportunities for contactless payment through Interact and major credit cards when leaving the island at the toll plaza in Borden-Carleton. Tolls are tax exempt.

Frequent users can utilize the StraitPass transponder system, which is a convenient and secure link to the driver’s credit card. It can also be connected to other toll facilities which accept the MacPass, (for Halifax’s MacDonald and MacKay Bridges and the Stanfield International Airport parking lot) and the E-Pass at the Cobequid Pass, north of Truro on TCH 104.

The post The 25-Year Link<p class="company">Strait Crossing Bridge Ltd.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

A 400-year-old legacy established by the Ludovisi family in Rome, Italy is firmly rooted in New Lexington, Ohio, where the same stylish and strong range of color, texture, and shape options flourish today.

With a life expectancy of over 100 maintenance-free and color-permanent years, these tiles save the environment from harsh chemical cleaners, and landfills from roofs that need replacing every few decades.

“I’ve been with Ludowici since 2004 and whenever I tell my family and friends what I do for my job, they say, ‘your company makes those Spanish and Mission roof tiles like you see in the southwest U.S.,’” says Vice President Rob Wehr. “I say, ‘that’s a small portion of our business.’ We make way more products than just those types of tiles, and if we only made Spanish/mission tiles we probably would have gone out of business a long time ago.”

While the company once operated out of five factories around the U.S., Ludowici now houses all its production in one of the original five factories in southeast Ohio. The reason is found in the ground. “Southeast Ohio has some of the finest clay deposits in the world,” says Wehr. “There are a lot of local brick and clay and pottery plants, and then our world-famous roof-tile plant. We’ve made products that are on so many historical structures around the country, and we’ve been in the same building operating since 1888. It’s really a great story.”

One of the biggest misconceptions about Ludowici and its product, says Wehr, is the automatic assumption that terra cotta means only reds, oranges, flowerpots, and Spanish and Mission tiles.

“We do so much more than that,” Wehr says. “One of the things that has allowed us to operate for so long and still be in business is that we have this amazing color palette. We have the ability to apply all these ceramic glazes to our terra cotta raw material, and the colors are permanent and last for as long as the tiles do.”

With a 75-year warranty on Ludowici tiles, clients should be careful to choose a color they truly love because they’ll be looking at it for life.

“We have a long, successful track record of making these non-traditional terra cotta colors that don’t fade,” says Wehr. “You have to be really particular when you pick your color for projects because that color will stay there and look the exact same way for 100-plus years. That color technology has been a huge part of our success.”

That success also lies in the strength and durability of Ludowici’s products.

A natural material made from earth and water that’s been modeled and sculpted for thousands of years and used in buildings for many centuries, the company’s terra cotta is environmentally friendly, long-lasting, and made entirely of clay.

It’s also clay that’s free of petroleum-based materials, sand or silica, cementitious materials, unproven synthetic materials, or surface sealers.

The one-of-a-kind manufacturing process produces no waste, and tiles are completely recyclable.

“Clay is abundant, so we’re not destroying or using any type of harmful applications to mine the dirt,” says Wehr. “We take that dirt, add water, turn it into shapes and it goes onto the production line. We also take the clay right off the top of the earth, so it’s not a deep mine or a strip mine.

“It’s a very easy process – literally just removing a little topsoil and then taking the clay from underneath.”

The results are not only beautiful, they’re resilient.

“A lot of our competitors make clay and terra cotta products that can only be used in warm weather climates in areas where there are no freeze-thaw cycles,” Wehr says. “Our terra cotta is some of the finest, purest clay in the world, and it’s fired at 2100 degrees for 24 hours. That’s why it can be used in any climate or any weather. “We do a lot of work in Canada, and we’re on historical buildings in Chicago and Boston. The tile performs very well in those places.”

When it comes to color options, you don’t have to settle for natural brown or traditional reds, either. Ludowici has more than 50 standard colors of ceramic glaze, which become permanent when baked into the clay.

“When people hear the term glaze, they automatically think glossy and shiny, but glazes can be any sort of sheen,” says Wehr. “You can have matte finish glazes, semi-gloss or high gloss. The majority of our products for buildings are matte.”

For a company to have survived and even thrived since its beginnings in 1888, diversification is vital. Ludowici now makes not only traditional terra cotta roofing materials but a wide range of innovative terra cotta cladding products – NeXclad – through its subsidiary Terreal North America.

Also manufactured at the New Lexington facility, NeXclad shingle style products are available in two sizes, NeXclad 14 and NeXclad 16, while NeXclad True, the newest product, is a flush-mounted version of the original NeXclad terra cotta solution.

“Ludowici makes all these different tiles and traditionally they’ve been used on roofs, but if you take one of those and move it down below the gutter line and apply it to a wall it’s what we call NeXclad.”

Wehr says the product has its roots in the work of world-renowned U.S. architect Michael Graves, who had been using Ludowici terra cotta products for many years. In 2006, he ran into issues while designing the 30,000-square-metre, geometric pavilions made of glazed, traditional brick for St. Coletta School in Washington, D.C..

“The project came in way over budget due to the glazed bricks, but Michael Graves and his team wanted to have this type of design and use fun, glazed, natural terra cotta colors. So, they went to Ludowici and used one of their flat, clean line, interlocking roof tiles. They had Ludowici glaze it like they do for us all the time on other roof projects.”

The contractors found that these interlocking flat roof tiles were more economical than glazed brick and switched the entire building’s design to the tiles now called NeXclad.

“If you fast forward from 2006 to now, we’ve done tons of these buildings across the country where they’re using historically roof-tile shapes to clad building walls, and that’s how it all developed.”

NeXclad is essentially bricks for the roof and walls, but instead of being mortared on, they use a mechanical attachment method. Ludowici, in conjunction with its parent company Terreal, also makes large planks and modules of terra cotta, up to two feet tall and six feet long, that can be used anywhere.

Then there are baguettes, long tubes of clay with hollow cores that can be mounted to buildings on an aluminum or stainless-steel tube. This allows architects to create visual effects and differing shades forms, and designers like to use them as solar shades, mounted on building exteriors above or in front of the windows.

“Our terra cotta baguettes and solar shades are similar, only they’re a colored permanent-clay piece going over the top of windows on the outside to help prevent heat and solar gain from the outside getting inside the building,” Wehr says. “It’s a decorative element but can also reduce AC cost in summer.”

While Ludowici can customize the tile’s texture, surface, shape, and color, those are not the tiles’ only selling point.

“There’s a misconception that almost all terra cotta products, whether roof or wall tiles, are heavy,” says Wehr. “We have a couple of interlocking tiles that can be used on both the roof and the wall that are considered lightweight.”

Lightweight materials are defined as weighing less than six pounds per square foot installed, and Ludowici has several interlocking terracotta tiles that meet that criterion. This is a definite selling point for clients and designers who want to utilize these types of products without having to beef up the design and structure to carry a heavy weight.

They’re not only lightweight and color durable, Wehr adds, but also proven in testing to be the strongest tiles in the world. With a very high breaking strength and very low water absorption rate, Ludowici terra cotta products can be used in any weather environment in the world.

“We lead the industry in both of those things,” he adds. “But what really sets us apart from everybody else is our diverse color palette and products that give peace of mind with a 75-year warranty from a 133-year-old U.S.-based company. That’s a big differentiator.”

Being in continuous operation in the same building in the same city since 1888 is also a huge differentiator and something to be celebrated, hopefully for another 100 years.

“We love to be innovative and adapt our raw material, which is clay, and its manufacturing process to meet the changing needs of the marketplace,” says Wehr. “As concerns about the environment continue to grow, and as architectural trends change, we must be able to adapt and change with those so that we continue and stay in business.”

Making smart decisions and moving forward while utilizing all those blessings – an impressive history, great endurance and longevity, being privy to an outstanding source of raw material, and with skills and knowledge that are only acquired with time – to remain the leader in a changing market is the goal, he says.

“Companies and products come and go,” says Wehr. “We’ve been able to weather the storm of changing design philosophies and architectural trends. You can imagine how many changes there’s been over the years, and we’ve been through all of them and we’re still here today, so that’s pretty amazing.”

The post Stylish, Strong, and Sustainable<p class="company">Ludowici</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

From custom-designed and engineered overhead cranes, workstation cranes, and jib cranes to hoists, freestanding runway systems, and parts and services (including inspections, repairs and troubleshooting) fabrication, machining, engineering, and training, G.W. Becker, Inc. is truly a one-stop shop on a quest to make the lifting life better and easier.

Based in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, the company is an Executive Member of the Crane Manufacturers Association of America, Inc. (CMAA), which has member companies serving markets across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Specialists in the design and manufacture of custom overhead cranes, hoists, and components, G.W. Becker, Inc. fabricates high-quality products to exacting CMAA Specifications (Class “A” through “F”), and/or Association for Iron & Steel Technology standards.

The company is also proud to be affiliated with the Material Handling Industry of America (MHI) – America’s biggest association for material handling, logistics, and supply chain – and some staffers hold membership in the non-profit Association for Iron & Steel Technology (AIST), which has over 15,500 members from more than 70 countries.

Advancing its knowledge since the company was created in 1980 in Grove City, PA, G.W. Becker, Inc. today has grown to a staff of over 70 and counting. From general laborers and welders to certified welders, electricians, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers, and structural engineers to machine operators, service technicians, and a fully staffed engineering department, the business is comprehensively equipped to handle every customer’s crane need.

Industry-wide praise

“We pride ourselves as an overhead lifting solutions company,” says Sales Manager Ron Piso. “We are turnkey; we are not just products, but products, services, and people,” he says.

“The products part is the cranes and the components. The services are repairs, troubleshooting and inspections in engineering and training. And we think the people we have here are the best in the industry.”

In business 42 years, G.W. Becker, Inc. began as a crane parts distributor and has been manufacturing cranes for over 24 years. This includes the company’s own brand of cranes for 23 years. Although the company is sometimes seen as a regional crane builder, it is so much more, with over 50 percent of its cranes already in Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, and West Virginia, and is now eyeing far-flung projects in Jamaica and other locations.

But no matter where clients are based, or the type of crane, decades of top-quality products and outstanding service result in satisfied customers.

“We have a very loyal customer base, so when they’re in need of a new overhead lifting solution, we’re the ones they call,” says Piso of G.W. Becker, Inc. which will build a new crane, and disassemble the old one. At present, about 85 percent of the company’s customer base are end-users, with the remaining 15 percent being construction companies, contractors, engineering firms, and others involved in erecting buildings.

“We work hand-in-hand with construction companies, the contractors, subcontractors, the engineering firm, and the end-user to make sure the equipment is functioning properly once it is all installed and ready to use.”

With solid and experienced teams, the company self-performs about 90 percent of its work. This covers all aspects, from designs created by its engineering department to manufacturing and professional installation by its service crew.

After the crane is installed, G.W. Becker, Inc. performs maintenance or repairs on all cranes, not only those it provides.

“Our focus for the company is ‘Overhead lifting solutions,’ so we go from design to build, and from service to inspection and training. We are also a major distributor for every major crane brand, and its crane parts, in the world.”

Safety first – and always

Along with building a reputation for quality and service, G.W. Becker, Inc. is known for its strong safety record, which includes zero injuries/zero recordables, and no OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) violations.

To maintain its enviable record in the workplace, the company has implemented a rigorous Safety and Health Program training employees in safe work practices, and how to recognize and correct unsafe conditions.

“Our Safety Policy has equal importance with G.W. Becker, Inc.’s policies of providing the best quality and most productive service in our industry,” says the company on its website. “It is our goal to completely eliminate accidents and injuries. Because of the many different hazards of our industry, we must maintain a constant safety awareness to achieve this goal.”

Holding monthly safety committee and Toolbox Talks every week, the company covers everything from conservation programs to forklift training and machines. “Something comes up probably every quarter in our safety committee meetings that we address and add to the list, making our workplace safer,” says Piso.

Well-timed expansion

To keep up with customer needs, G.W. Becker, Inc. began planning a much-needed expansion throughout the third quarter of 2019 before giving it the green light in December 2019, when the project broke ground.

By March/April 2020, the company was already under roof, which proved to accommodate its growing production needs. “The reason the expansion was greenlighted was because actual growth and projected growth were significant,” says Piso. “We had a tremendous backlog from 2019 and needed more room in our manufacturing facility.”

This saw an expansion of 60 percent to the company’s existing building – which today has about 68,000 square feet under roof, including office space – and the purchase of new equipment, including plasma tables and shot blast.

The objective, says Piso, was for the G.W. Becker, Inc. to become as vertically integrated as possible, bringing in raw material and turning it into cranes.

On the business side, the investment in expansion is already paying off. In the past 18 months, the company has built nine automated cranes for clients, as automation is fast becoming a significant growth opportunity across all the industries it serves, along with steel and steel providers.

“I think that may be the silver lining of COVID. In the manufacturing process with cranes, when you’re moving heavy items, automation is going to explode, and it kind of has already.”

Ahead of the curve

Continuing to innovate, G.W Becker, Inc. recently introduced the first automated-coil handling (via magnet) crane in North America. The product evolved from a meeting in early 2020 with a company providing the software end of a fully automated warehouse system dependent on cranes.

Best of all, the new system is 100 percent fully automated and does not require human touch until it is prepared to ship. “We do all the manufacturing, and we joined with this company to make sure everything is in the control panels of the automation,” says Piso.

The crane was built for a new greenfield facility in the southern part of the country and features branded names: G.W. Becker’s – the crane manufacturer/designer, the software company, the magnet company, and the end-user. “There were a lot of hands in doing this. It was interesting and a very successful process for everyone.”

Acquiring significant business through word-of-mouth and referrals over the years, G.W. Becker, Inc. is now also bumping up its presence in social media and implementing broader marketing tools. These include accurate tracking of the impact of marketing on sales revenue, empowering the marketing department to better meet the company’s requirements, and being a stronger presence in several trade shows a year.

In the coming years, G.W. Becker, Inc. aspires to keep growing, but also to respect and maintain the family-owned values that have served the company so well.

George Becker, the company founder, maintains an open-door policy and an enthusiasm for training up people and sharing his knowledge, while his son and company president, Chris Becker, is always there for everyone in the company for any reason, personal or professional.

“That’s our message,” says Piso. “We may be categorized as a small company, but we are a large-thinking company, and the three strongest aspects are our people, our products, and our service.”

The post Creating the Cranes that Clients have Always Wanted<p class="company">G.W. Becker, Inc.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

From roads to bridges, railways, and water purification plants, the world of heavy civil engineering is complex. As the conversation around cutting carbon emissions is growing more urgent, we take a closer look at a few of the current solutions taking center stage. Committing to a radical change in its greenhouse gas situation, California started working toward dropping its emissions through its Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, also known as AB32. By 2030, the state aims to nearly halve these toxic gasses from what they were before the start of the new millennium.

Today, there are just under eight years left, and the state is reportedly well on its way to achieving this goal. The Environmental Defense Fund reports that, “After the first decade of AB32 implementation, California’s economy is growing while carbon pollution is declining. With innovative advancements in clean energy and energy efficiency, the state is well on the way to meeting its renewable energy target.” The next goal is an 80 percent reduction of the 1990 levels by 2050.

The process has not been an easy one, and professionals like Natural Resources Defense Council Senior Advocate Sasha Stashwick remind the government of its responsibilities, regularly. Stashwick was recently quoted by Ingrid Lobet in a piece for KCET about growing infrastructure threatening California’s emissions targets, as saying: “If hundreds of billions of dollars are going to be spent on repairing roads, bridges, highways, tunnels, this massive investment in American infrastructure, at least some portion of that spending should be going to low-carbon materials procurement.” According to Lobet, the southern part of the state has many concrete producers that can make reduced carbon concrete, but the government has been slow to embrace such materials in public infrastructure.

In addition, the state Building Standards Commission confirmed an amendment of its building energy efficiency standards on December 14 last year. These standards will be enforced as of January 1, next year. People appear enthusiastic about embracing the issue of weaning buildings off of fossil fuels. By the end of 2021, 48 cities and counties around the state were reported to have signed up to implement the statewide building energy codes.

Leaders in local government have been equally vocal. On February 9, 2022, Los Angeles councilmember Nithya Raman tweeted that, “The city’s buildings account for 43 percent of our carbon emissions—more than any other sector.” Raman also announced the city’s new commitment to planning net-zero construction to “move toward a green economy.” She proposed a marked shift away from natural gas toward electricity as the preferred energy source in new and old homes.

At the end of March 2021, the California Nevada Cement Association (CNCA) released its strategy to attain net-zero carbon emissions by 2045. In a prnewswire.com article on the subject, CNCA Executive Director Tom Tietz said, “We cannot get to net-zero alone, and this roadmap is also an invitation for state leaders, environmental groups, and stakeholders throughout the cement-concrete-construction value chain to collaborate on pursuing this bold goal.”

As the main component of concrete, cement and its manufacturing processes contribute significantly to annual global greenhouse emissions. Part of CNCA’s proposal includes making this more earth-friendly by minimizing emissions throughout the process, which includes fuel switching. Carbon capture, usage, and storage are other goals listed in the plan.

The article does, however, mention a surprising list of prohibitive factors that must be overcome before the strategy can be fully implemented. The industry’s adoption of the idea is only one obstacle. The report also mentions “statutory, regulatory, and permitting hurdles, market acceptance barriers, cost challenges, supply limitations, and technology gaps delay or constrain their deployment and limit their impact,” as legitimate concerns.

The association is determined to make a difference. “We recognize there are no shortcuts to achieve carbon neutrality. We look forward to working with key policy and regulatory decision-makers to urgently address barriers to emission reduction opportunities,” CalPortland Company President and Chief Executive Officer Allen Hamblen said in the same publication.

Since then, stakeholders have been responding positively to the association’s invitation. Oregon State University College of Engineering has just completed testing portland limestone cement, a low-carbon cement that is set to be used on future freeways throughout California. Caltrans, the construction company in charge of building the roads, predicts carbon savings of around ten percent per year from this sector thanks to the material’s limestone content, according to one report.

Jason Weiss, professor of civil and construction engineering and the Miles Lowell and Margaret Watt Edwards Distinguished Chair in Engineering, who headed the project, stated that the material is as good for this purpose as traditional materials while being cheaper. Moreover, 30-plus state departments of transportation have already started using the material as an alternative to standard portland cement.

When looking at how heavy civil engineering construction is beginning to implement net-zero carbon measures in California, it becomes clear that lawmakers are working to put legislation in place to achieve the commitments made at the Paris Agreement. Now it is a matter of creating, finding, and implementing the materials and methods that will make this goal possible. These are indeed exciting times for construction, and we are closely following the North American race to win the zero net-carbon challenge.

The post Cutting Carbon<p class="company">Reducing Emissions in the Heavy Civil Sector</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

Known for its extreme summer temperatures that can chase the mercury as high as 110°F, Las Vegas is a city where swimming pools are genuinely appreciated. Sadly, some shady operators have caused swimming pools to become an option that homeowners eye warily. Jon T. Banning, founder and Chief Executive Officer of JTB Landscapers and longstanding childhood friend of the Kline brothers, noticed this while installing outdoor living areas and other garden amenities. That is how the idea for the two companies to partner came about several years ago.

From concept to completion, there is nothing in the landscaping field that this team of industry experts cannot achieve together. “It’s a perfect pairing. We share the same facility in Las Vegas, Nevada. People can go and look at what their pool selections are and get some ideas. They can also finish the hardscaping, which goes hand-in-hand with our pool work. We have a symbiotic relationship that is good for both our clients and our businesses,” says John Kline, co-founder and partner of Kline Brothers Pools Las Vegas.

Though Kline Brothers is a newcomer to Las Vegas, it brings years of experience in the pool industry. The company has been in business for 24 years, specializing in landscaping and fiberglass swimming pools throughout New Jersey. Alongside a loyal and trustworthy staff, the brothers have built a reputation for quality and value that is second-to-none.

Jon Banning worked with Kline Brothers in New Jersey nearly from the business’s inception before going to Las Vegas in 2008 and establishing JTB Landscapers, a landscaping and hardscaping business of his own.

After several years of toying with the idea, the Klines and Banning eventually decided to establish a pool installation company branch in Las Vegas in 2020 and set about getting their documents and certifications in order. Then COVID-19 arrived on the scene, slowing matters down.

“It was March of 2021 when I could get back out there [with the certification agencies open]. Nevada has a pretty rigorous testing and requirements license,” says Kline. By June 2021, all certifications were in place, and the team had a Nevada pool license.

Today, JTB Landscapers has around sixty staff members and Kline Brothers has around nine people who work permanently in Las Vegas. The owners could not be prouder of the outstanding work their team does. “We have a fantastic staff. Two people have done a [particularly] tremendous job. One is Kendra Weaver, our pool installation office manager. Then there is Dave Stitzinger, who has been in the pool business for thirty years. He has brought a lot of experience, particularly [in terms] of Nevada code enforcement, which is slightly different,” Kline says. “These are just two of the people who have done a fantastic job so far. We’re building a really good staff out there. Jon [Banning] does a great job [at finding and keeping] the right people,” he adds.

Kline underlines that Banning’s skill at recruiting the best people is a deciding factor in keeping clients as satisfied as they can be. “We were unknown in that area, and we’ve already established an outstanding reputation through referrals in a very short time.”

He has high praise for the partnership with JTB Landscapers, and things are going great for the brothers and their new partner out in Las Vegas. While Kline Brothers installs top-quality pools, JTB Landscapers creates hardscaping and stunning outdoor spaces that include awnings, patios, outdoor kitchens, and much more.

“We’re well ahead of schedule, where we expected to be. My goal was to sell and install essentially one pool a week. We now have four or five months to go, and we have 36 under contract,” he says. Some recent projects include a spa installed for a family with young children and a pool with magnificent cityscape views visible from inside the swimming pool.

Integrity is everything, so the question its staff members ask themselves always remains the same. ‘How would I design this outdoor living space if this were my own home?’ Working to accomplish this end has earned the company more word-of-mouth business than is usual in its industry.

There is more to Kline than just a love of business, however. Until he started the business, he had never even been to Las Vegas. “Through the process, I’ve been there many times, and I have grown attached to the national parks that are close to the area. I always make it a point when I go to visit one of them within an hour’s drive or so of Las Vegas. I’ve grown quite fond of it.” Other internationally famous natural attractions are close by with the Grand Canyon being just one of them.

Kline believes that fiberglass adds to the versatility of its product. The material can hold heat. It can also accommodate salt generators for cleaning as opposed to traditional chlorine. “The salt system we use is more of a natural system than a chlorinator, greatly reducing the amount of chemicals in the pool,” Kline says. Fiberglass is also extremely durable and easy to maintain, with significantly lower upkeep costs than shotcrete or vinyl liner pools.

In addition to employing a single contractor to complete the entire project, clients also benefit from some of the latest technology. The team uses software to give clients a three-dimensional preview of their beautiful, new, outdoor spaces.

“The 3D rendering makes it look like the pool is [already] on their property. That allows us to check the various colors and shades, so people have a really good feel for what they’re looking at because they don’t believe it until they can see it,” Kline says.

The other great advantage of working with the company is its talent for translating clients’ dreams into reality. Many people will no doubt recognize the frustration of working with a designer who simply does not appear to hear what clients want. However, Kline Brothers’ designers are trained to understand clients’ needs and bring them to life exactly like the pictures they show.

Designers first ensure that they are completely clear on what role the pool will play in clients’ lives, and several questions will lead them to the answer. Why do they want it? What should it do? Do they swim often? Do they have children or grandchildren who will be using it? Most homeowners in Las Vegas, Kline tells me, are interested in swimming pools to cool down in and to entertain around.

Kline is open about the high water use involved in owning a swimming pool and emphasizes the importance of making clients aware of the costs of water and pool care before installation. To help mitigate costs and environmental pressure, the company uses, as per Nevada law, pumps that minimize energy use. Custom plumbing also means that the process is significantly faster, improving the energy and time efficiency even further.

The Las Vegas branch of Kline Brothers is growing sustainably. The team is especially aware of not growing faster than its legs can carry it. “We stick with the old rule of under-promising and over-delivering. Our reputation is really on the line out there. Fortunately, we have JTB Landscapers that’s been [in Las Vegas] now for a good amount of time. They’ve established a great reputation,” says Kline.

It is also clear that Kline Brothers and JTB Landscapers make a solid partnership, especially when creating shimmering blue pools that last and feature quality hardscaping. There is much value in this team that knows how to put a sparkle in its clients’ eyes.

Sidebar:

A Look at JTB Landscapers
JTB Landscapers in Las Vegas, Nevada has won its fair share of awards, earning it a reputation for being the best in landscaping for private homes and businesses in its local region. “It turns out the very thing I learned at Kline Brothers Landscaping was the very thing that propelled me to start this company in Las Vegas, Nevada,” says Jon T. Banning, Chief Executive Officer.

Available all week every week, including on weekends, the firm moves fast and effectively. It also offers free design consultation and quotes via its website. After nearly a decade in the industry, JTB Landscapers has become a household name across the Las Vegas and Henderson regions. Most jobs, Banning says, range between thirty to forty thousand dollars, but it has also completed contracts for as much as $250,000.

The company makes a point of using its website as a tool to add value. Its blog is packed with the practical, necessary information to consider when hiring a landscaper and deciding what would work best for one’s own unique needs. It also offers the latest trends and some tips on what to avoid. Furthermore, there is advice on appropriate plants, do-it-yourself-hacks, and reminders on what to keep in mind with the local climate. From ideas on custom pavers to outdoor lighting, whatever the question, there is either a blog post or a designer to help.

One of JTB Landscaping’s most exciting contributions to the heritage of the area is Banning’s passion to help conserve local flora by using as many threatened species in the company’s landscaping work as possible to help sustain and protect these plants. Not only are these endangered plants important to save for ecological diversity and stability, but also because native plants cope well in this hot, dry region. This means more water-wise gardens and sustainability.

The outdoors is not just a nice option for those who love nature, and neither is a swimming pool for many people. “It isn’t just a pool. It is, essentially, an outdoor living space in your backyard. That’s been the driving theme over the last decade,” JTB Landscapers can couple pools with everything from artificial lawns to fire pits and anything else a client could desire. That is why this fortuitous partnership is fast becoming one of the hottest acts in all of Las Vegas.

The post Transcending the Ordinary<p class="company">Kline Brothers</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.

One company has a bold new future in mind for construction, helping decrease build times and costs while simultaneously repurposing plastic and construction waste. PLAEX™ (pronounced Play-X) Building Systems is looking to fundamentally change both the construction sector and plastic waste recovery in its native New Brunswick, throughout Atlantic Canada, and beyond. This rapidly-growing enterprise is moving beyond the start-up stage to bring its first proof-of-concept products to consumers across the area.

Thanks to the hard work of the team at PLAEX™, plastic waste by-products from Canada’s agricultural industry can now have a new use by becoming PLAEX’s interlocking blocks. An estimated 40,000 tons of plastic generated annually in baling wrap, greenhouse film, silage bags, twine, and more present a plentiful source from which to draw materials.

Founder and Product Developer Dustin Bowers explains that those products, along with plastic from marine applications like winter boat wraps and rope, are well-suited for PLAEX’s purpose. “Those products have stabilizers in them that are designed to give long life within a natural environment,” he says.

Bowers describes the transition from construction professional to entrepreneur. “I’ve been building houses since I could walk, really,” he says of his years with a family construction business. After working on the West Coast for several years, he returned to New Brunswick in 2017. With the birth of his first child, a natural shift in perspective followed. “One of the things that struck me, with the work we were doing, was just how much garbage we were dealing with,” he says.

PLAEX™ was born out of a desire to not only reduce this waste but repurpose it into a positive. “Twenty to thirty percent of all materials purchased for a job site end up going straight to waste, which is pretty substantial when you think about it,” Bowers says. “Just that alone can create massive savings in a project, by eliminating all the waste material.”

Thanks to Atlantic Canada’s heavy investment in entrepreneurship, the company was able to get organized quickly, with a patent filed for its proprietary composite material and products in 2019. While the company’s Brick&Panel™ system requires further testing, the material itself has been proven viable. Its compression strength has been measured at over 19 megapascals (MPa), considerably above the Canadian National Building Code’s required minimum of 15 MPa.

Bowers admits his biggest concern was the material’s ruggedness in the face of Canada’s fluctuating freeze-thaw cycle. “Our material has a 0.3 percent water absorption,” he says proudly, placing PLAEX’s metric far above concrete’s 8 to 12 percent water absorption and clay brick’s 18 percent water absorption. “We’re expecting to get that down to zero.”

The material’s composite nature means that the blocks are stable through any weather. “Due to the nature of the composite, we have very little thermal shrinkage or thermal expansion,” Bowers says. Finally, the material’s composite nature is expected to greatly expand its longevity. “We’re still in lifespan testing,” he remarks, “but we’re expecting over 100-year lifespans for all our products.”

The company is still undertaking tests on its larger Brick&Panel™ system but the company’s first product is almost ready to hit retail shelves across the region. LinX™, a line of smaller interlocking blocks, is designed for landscaping applications and will also demonstrate the company’s trademark recycled plastic composite. The LinX™ system’s components are currently available with eight sides, enabling connections at 45, 90, or 180 degrees. A twelve-sided version is currently in development, to facilitate even more precise angles for more design flexibility.

Easily bolted together and attached to a foundation, LinX™ will be able to form retaining walls, flower beds, privacy walls, playground edging, and more. The blocks also come in a variety of naturally dyed colours, which Bowers describes as intended to aesthetically match existing building materials as closely as possible. “Initially, we’re looking at a grey and brown, and potentially a red and a black product,” he says.

He and his team see LinX™ as an eco-friendly alternative to traditional materials like concrete and clay, while simultaneously giving PLAEX™ a chance for its materials to enter the market on a manageable scale. After years of testing formulas, Bowers says, it is time to go public. “We have something that gives us a very consistent product end result now, and now it’s just a matter of scaling that up,” he says. “We’re hoping to have it in retail stores in early 2023.”

While LinX™ enters the market, PLAEX™ will be able to continue testing and certifying its larger Brick&Panel™ system to get them market-ready, with numerous proof-of-concept projects in the works. “We will be building a few showcase buildings with them,” Bowers says. These include a storage shed and several retaining walls. As with LinX™, exhaustive tests will verify the bricks’ responses to fire, saltwater, and hurricane-force winds to prepare them for harsh Canadian winters.

When deemed ready—Bowers estimates a further eighteen to twenty-four months—the Brick&Panel™ system will integrate seamlessly with other building materials such as drywall and be able to incorporate electrical and plumbing infrastructure to drastically reduce assembly time. The Brick&Panel™ will also eliminate the need for exterior features such as siding, by replacing it with the fully interlocking PLAEX Panels™. Though its insulation R-value has yet to be proven through testing, it is much higher than concrete, and the PLAEX Panels™ allow for the addition of laminated insulation materials to meet any local requirements.

One future addition to the Brick&Panel™ system is the integration of PV solar panels into the PLAEX Panels™. “The solar integration will be a key step for our Brick&Panel™ system, as we move into a future focused on sustainable energy,” Bowers says. “That is really quite a simple integration with our panelling.” As PLAEX™ expands operations it will likely be possible for clients to further customize PLAEX Panels™ designs according to their needs.

PLAEX™ is also hard at work developing an in-house Builder CAD (Computer Aided Design) to help simplify and streamline project design and ordering. The PLAEX Builder CAD™ will allow designers, architects, and DIY clients to design their dream project in a virtual world with the assistance of AI (to identify and resolve structural issues), and to order directly through the software. The software will allow for auto generation of instruction booklets and structural drawings. PLAEX™ also sees a great opportunity here to leverage block-chain technology to ensure more accurate shipping logistics, helping achieve the goal of zero waste. “It is very much in Alpha mode at this point but will be a major game changer.”

As it moves beyond its seed round, the company is seeking early adopters to help prove the viability and versatility of its products. The company is also expanding its personnel ranks and is seeking like-minded employees who share PLAEX’s passion for the environment. Roles in logistics, manufacturing, engineering, equipment operation and automation, as well as bilingual sales professionals, will help the company expand nationally and internationally.

He makes it clear that the company intends to cherish its workers: “We offer all of our long-term employees equity options and have a culture of lateral information flow to remove bottlenecks and encourage innovation and reward efficiency.”

“We are in the early stages of becoming a certified B Corp and are committed to the UN’s 17 sustainability goals,” Bowers says. This certification is given by international non-profit B Lab to recognize environmental and social performance.

Once the LinX™ system has proven PLAEX’s composite formula and its bricks have entered the larger construction market, Bowers foresees changes nothing short of exponential in build-time reduction. “We’re looking at being able to do builds in a day rather than months,” he says. “Stick-frame construction has so many different parts and steps involved,” he continues. “Something like ours will be competing in speed with 3D printing.” He believes that the LinX™ and Brick&Panel™ lines will be superior to 3D printing, as they can be prefabricated offsite, require no curing time, and are easy to disassemble/modify when the homeowner inevitably wants to do a renovation, or the structure is no longer needed. “No more waste.”

Accelerating build times even further is PLAEX’s embrace of automation. “We’ve developed this whole system with automation in mind,” Bowers says. “The future of construction is autonomous.” Eventually, he hopes that the entire production line—between material collection, manufacturing, and installation—will be fully automated. To this end, the products have been designed for easy manipulation by current-generation robotics, allowing for rapid deployment and integration as the company expands.

This, Bowers explains, harkens back to a philosophy of simplification. “How we really create the efficiencies and solve the waste issues is by reducing the cost as much as we can and simplifying things,” he says. “People like things to be simple. If you want people to recycle, it has to be easy, and we’re really working hard to make that happen.”

But above all, he and his colleagues hope consumers and businesses see the massive versatility in PLAEX’s offerings, as well as their environmental advantages. “We’re excited to see what people build with them,” he says, noting that a sizeable part of the idea behind the product came from his own sense of childlike creativity. By making building materials environmentally responsible, easily assembled, and cost-effective, Bowers hopes PLAEX™ can help reinvigorate construction as a passion rather than just an industry.

“We want to make building fun again and encourage people to be creative about the things that they build,” he says. “We’re dedicated to making sustainable products that can allow people to creatively express through building.”

The post The Building Blocks of Tomorrow – A Bold New Future in Sustainable Construction<p class="company">PLAEX Building Systems Inc.</p> appeared first on Construction In Focus.