Under pressure to make up for lost time on a huge tunneling project, Shinn Mechanical Inc. used cordless Milwaukee tools to install Victaulic grooved couplings on an innovative piping design, shaving months off the original schedule. “Pairing Victaulic couplings with Milwaukee tools allowed us to finish a job scheduled to take eight months in only 10 weeks,” said Mike Shinn, company founder.
For a record-setting continuous concrete pour, Couts Heating and Cooling, Inc. installed more than 20 miles of Uponor radiant tubing to create a thermal cooling system that would ensure the integrity of the concrete as it cured. Applying this new technique, Couts not only smoothed the way for this rapid, massive project, it also benefitted from the ease of installation. The PEX tubing’s “extreme flexibility made it fast and easy to install around the rebar in the base of the structure,” said Mike Martin, Couts piping department manager.
MCAA and our Supplier Partners know contractors aren’t just looking for solutions, you’re looking for Smart Solutions.
When the Centre Square commercial office complex needed a new cooling tower system, HVAC contractor Herman Goldner Co., Inc. turned to SPX Cooling Technologies to address the building needs, then brought in Erickson Incorporated to conquer the formidable challenge of installing the system in a busy, urban site.
To meet an engineer’s demanding criteria for embedding hanger assemblies into concrete slabs for a new seven-story building, Wm. T. Spaeder Company used DEWALT HangerWorks™ software, not only achieving the difficult task but saving weeks of layout time as well. HangerWorks also improved the prefabrication process by enhancing labeling and reporting in Spaeder’s building information modeling (BIM) program.
By working closely with Daikin on design and modeling, ACCO Engineered Systems successfully installed 875,000 tons of sheet metal, miles of condenser and hot-water piping, and 21 large-capacity Daikin Self-Contained air conditioning (AC) units on a fast-track schedule with no room for delays. The energy-efficient HVAC systems helped the premier $1.2-billion Levi’s Stadium, home of the San Francisco 49ers, become the first NFL stadium to achieve LEED® Gold certification.
Close coordination with Jay R. Smith Mfg. Co. is helping the mechanical design assist subcontractor Pan-Pacific/Murray Company (PPMC) tackle a tough job: building the NFL’s most massive stadium complex. At 3.1 million square feet, the Los Angeles Stadium and Entertainment District at Hollywood Park will house not just a 70,000-seat stadium but also a hotel, offices, retail spaces, residences, and restaurants.
For a recent retrofit, Arden Engineering Constructors knew that an accurate as-built assessment of the project was essential to ensure a smooth process, so they put their Trimble® TX6 Scanner and RealWorks® Office software to the test. The scan took one field worker about 4 hours, compared with an estimated 32-man hours for manual measurements—a labor savings of 90 percent.
Since Muir-Chase Plumbing installed Zurn Retrofit Pint urinal systems in every bathroom across campus, Caltech is saving 6,056,130 gallons of water and $42,393 per year. Californians know the value of every drop of water, and the world-renowned science and engineering institute in Pasadena recognizes the importance of being a responsible steward of water resources.
For the new Texas headquarters of a major worldwide corporation, Brandt Construction chose Viega for chilled water and domestic water—a “no-brainer,” because the company does nearly all its work with Viega product. “Viega is dependable, and Viega’s people in town support us really well,” said Craig Hawkins, project executive. “Pressing with Viega is tremendously efficient versus brazing or soldering. We’ve tried other similar products and had issues with them or the quality doesn’t seem to be as good as the ProPress®.
Over the past few years, a greater focus has been placed on employee health and wellness as it relates to the issue of sitting versus standing at a computer workstation. The number of sit/stand workstations is on the rise, causing employees to ask the question, “Is a sit/stand workstation right for me?” Working in the same location for hours can affect concentration and muscles, which can in turn affect work productivity. CNA offers this guidance on how to maximize comfort while working at a computer workstation and reduce pain and injuries.
Using KEY2ACT’s Connect technology to gather building data during a year-long retrofit project, Brandt found glitches in the products it was installing and was able to fix them before completing the work—without going over schedule. Brandt also uses Connect during commissioning to validate a building’s entire system at one time, which has proven invaluable.
iBusiness Technologies’ MobiliForms solution “saves the company in excess of $500,000 annually,” said JEC Service Co. Service Manager Sean Thurston, by increasing labor efficiencies in the field and office. Since the company adopted MobiliForms, field staff complete their startup checklists, project management records, work orders, and timesheets on Apple iPads® for instant transmission. Thurston estimated that JEC’s 20 field technicians save at least an hour a day using this approach, which quickly adds up to substantial savings for the business.
Wasted time and lost productivity are enemies in any welding operation. Many companies have seen significant productivity increases, without sacrificing quality, by converting from traditional welding processes such as stick or TIG to advanced wire processes, such as pulsed MIG and Regulated Metal Deposition (RMD®), a modified short-circuit MIG process from Miller Electric Mfg. LLC. These processes offer consistent weld quality and travel speeds that are three to four times those of stick or TIG.
Based in the San Francisco Bay Area, design-build contractor Western Allied Mechanical, Inc. has been using Viewpoint software for over a decade. As a result, it has streamlined project management and processes—for example, cutting RFI response time from days to minutes.
Rework plagues owners, managers, and subcontractors alike. It is one of the biggest reasons for stagnant and declining productivity and steals hours, days, and even months from projects. In some cases, it causes such severe missed deadlines and budget overruns that subs fail to meet contracts, facing legal consequences or, at the very least, the potential loss of their good name and future business.
Within 90 days of adopting the XOi Vision™ platform’s field service management program See, MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions (MacMiller) landed a huge national account, based in part on the company’s use of video technology. With See, MacMiller technicians can easily link video and photos to customer accounts through mobile devices.