Emory University brought us in to build and install the mechanical HVAC system for a world-class, 200,000-sq.-ft. building. We saved more than $1 million on this complex project by reviewing thousands of specs — then suggesting and taking a number of actions. Building and welding the piping in our 90,000-square-foot fabrication studio ahead of time was a big one. But smaller ones added up as well. Among them: using insulated wire outside the conduit and employing a Trimble locater system to ID where to hang hundreds of pipe hangers.
Much of that work is now conducted at the Health Sciences Research Building, where Batchelor & Kimball was hired to build and install the heating, cooling and ventilation system.
HSRB’s 200,000-square-foot space contains environmentally controlled vivaria, chemistry and biology labs and meeting spaces — as well as Biosafety Level-3 labs, where scientists study harmful viruses.
With such sensitive materials at hand, safety is paramount. So BSL-3 labs are built according to strict, federally mandated safety standards. B&K’s work would have to perfectly control air flow to
The biggest challenge: executing this complex scope while staying on budget. To answer the challenge, we reviewed thousands of project specifications to identify cost-saving measures.
We could make-ahead major components – at about half of the cost of cutting, welding and assembling in the field.
We could make-ahead major components – at about half of the cost of cutting, welding and assembling in the field.
Some of these were small and individual. For example, we showed that in certain concealed areas, we didn’t need to install the wire inside a conduit. Instead, we could use a safer insulated wire and place it outside the conduit. This small change — one of dozens — saved $100,000.
Others involved building components ahead of time. Once project plans were finalized, we created a detailed model using our 3D software. By drawing the entire scope from start to finish, it was easy to identify what pieces we could build ahead of time in the B&K fabrication shop.
With state-of-the-art machining equipment, plus cranes that allow workers to access pieces at chest height instead of using ladders, we could make-ahead major components – at about half of the cost of cutting, welding and assembling in the field.
Maintaining a precise climate inside the Emory research building requires massive quantities of chilled water and steam – systems that need hundreds of hangers. The low-tech way to install pipe hangers in concrete is to drill holes once the concrete hardens. It’s a lot of work, and the kind that’s hazardous to workers’ lungs.
We took a route that was more cutting-edge: the Trimble locating system.
As we poured the wet concrete, we loaded the Trimble’s laser projector with the 3D model we’d made to locate inserts for hangers. The Trimble shone a light on every location where we’d need a pipe or duct hanger, so workers could install an insert right then and there, saving even more time.
Total project savings: just over $1 million. But our greatest reward was a happy client – who later hired us to work on a bigger, bolder Phase II.
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