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BIM Visualizes the “How,” Unlocks the “Why” and Provides a Relationship Value-Add

May 11, 2010 in Construction Trends, Customer Relationships, Leadership, Management, Projects, Technology, Tips from the Field | No comments

Last week, I mentioned a partnership I’ve fostered with WP2DC, the company who designed and implemented a cloud-based application for Stewart Perry. We’ve managed to get all our internal information into an easily accessible virtual file cabinet. As a result we’ve cut out a lot of duplicated efforts.

Using a Building Information Modeling (BIM) is our next goal for being more efficient and a better resource. The American Institute of Architects defines it as a “model-based technology linked with a database of project information.”  Basically, BIM catalogues a structure throughout its lifecycle in real time 3D. All the details—from design, to functionality, to construction, to operation—are accessible from one file. We had a project T’d up using BIM and because of the Recession the project was delayed. We believe that BIM will be a huge value-add for our customer relationships. That’s because, for us, BIM will:

  • improve project visualization
  • improve productivity with easy retrieval of information
  • increase coordination of construction documents
  • isolate and define scope of work
  • increase delivery speed
  • reduce errors
  • reduce costs

BIM will allow us to harness technology to drive long-term improvement in project delivery. It’s a soup to nuts philosophy. If problems come up down the road, building owners can look at how a facility was designed, engineered and built. They can address problems with a holistic approach, often saving them tons of time and effort trying to track down the unknown.

BIM is a huge tool for establishing and continuing relationships. However, I won’t recommend BIM without a word of warning. Adaptation means you’ll have to change the way you look at building phases. There’s a lot less alpha and omega and a lot more ebb and flow. Architects, engineers, contractors and other stakeholders will be sharing more information than they’re used to. It’s more effort up front, but in the end, BIM bridges the information loss often associated with handing a project from design team to construction to owner/operator.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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Increase Efficiency by Turning Vendors Into Resource Partners

May 7, 2010 in Customer Relationships, Leadership, Management, Projects, Technology | No comments

Around here, everyone knows that when we enter an agreement to purchase goods or services we look at it as a two-way street. We want to both give and get more from a project than just the transaction.

Last year we entered an agreement with WP2DC, a very capable technology firm in Los Angeles. They helped us launch a cloud-based data system for our new business leads. It’s been a huge asset for my team, allowing us to keep all our data in a centralized location. We now have one place to store everything and seamless Internet access to our information, even if we’re offsite. We’re up and running, but true to form, that’s not end of our relationship.

Over the past eight or nine months, the principals of WP2DC and I have regularly exchanged our thoughts on what we are seeing in the market. Our most recent conversations have been about the various tablet devices that are coming to the market, the iPad in particular. We discussed how these might specifically be integrated into a useful purpose for our company. I have learned that WP2DC is a great source for tech information and they look to us for applications. Through the leverage we are both stronger.

I think you’d be amazed at what building a relationship with vendors and subcontractors can do to improve your business model. In turn, you’ll ramp up their efficiency. Both companies win. A little communication is all it takes.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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How I Leverage Time and Effort

May 6, 2010 in Leadership, Management, Technology | No comments

It seems that in the construction business—design and finance—there is an ever-accelerating outpouring of technology and knowledge. Because I sometimes worry that advances will pass me by, I’m always trying to figure out how to leverage my time. I want to maximize what I do without decreasing quality or cutting corners. But how?

Someone recently told me: “If sleep didn’t get in the way, I would have time to accomplish all my goals.” Don’t we all feel that way sometimes? Here are 5 things I do to increase my personal efficiency, so that I can get lots taken care of and still find time for a little shuteye.

  • Save industry reads for downtime. I go through the Wall Street Journal every Saturday morning, cutout  the pertinent articles, then read them on my next airline trip.
  • Get an executive summary on technology. I subscribe to two bloggers who deliver an overview of what’s happening in marketing, social media and technology. I think these guys are pretty sharp, and worth my time. Check out Chris Brogan and Mashable.
  • Carry an electronic data recorder. Mine is small and relatively inexpensive. Whenever I get an idea or think of someone to contact, I record the thought straight away, then take action later. I’ve saved a lot of good fleeting thoughts this way.
  • Use voice to text. I use Dragon NaturallySpeaking software to dictate my e-mails. It saves a lot of keystrokes, freeing me up to communicate more often.
  • Subscribe to RSS. I use Google Reader, an amazing product. At a glance one can gain knowledge of specifics across a wide spectrum of publications and in my case on construction, design and finance.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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Take Lemons and Make Lemonade: Embrace Workplace Evolution

April 21, 2010 in Leadership, Management, Recession, Team Building, Technology | 1 comment

I was listening to NPR recently and they were discussing how the Recession isn’t the only culprit behind recent job loss. Throughout modern society, the ability to work in certain fields has ebbed and flowed based upon changes in culture and advances in technology.

The example they gave was from the 1920s. Before motion pictures had sound, every movie house had an organist who performed the soundtrack for each film as it was being played. When “talkies” became a reality, there was no longer a need for the in-house music. Suddenly thousands of organists were out of work through no fault of their own—the technology simply changed. But there’s a flip side. Now there are sound engineers working on every set and in the editing process. The motion picture industry evolved.

It seems to me that inevitable technology changes are accelerating in our era. As managers, that should motivate us to rethink processes. It’s occurring organically in the today’s economic downturn. Many of the cut positions were, in their current state, no longer essential. They would have eliminated themselves eventually, the Recession just made it happen quicker.

Fortunately, the changes that result in the demise of one type of job often lead to the creation of new opportunities. In our organization, I’m seeing positions evolve, and I think it’s a great thing. Jobs are adapting to employee interests and specialties. I’m convinced it makes us a stronger team. Here are 3 questions we keep top of mind so that as we change, we grow professionally:

Can we reorganize daily tasks among the team to make us all more efficient? Since I don’t love automated systems, I’ve requested that our receptionist still answer the phone. However, we moved her desk into our central office area so she can easily help with administrative communications.

How can we embrace the latest in tech knowledge without overdosing? I feel we need to limit the time spent evaluating. We want to be leaders, but the research could also become a full time job. That’s not practical for us just yet. We seek balance in this area.

What can we learn from others? Since it’s hard to keep up with every single technology option, we are members of several local user groups, some with our competitors. This provides a way to share ideas so we are all more efficient and successful.

In our business we only have influence over so many things. We couldn’t change the credit markets, supply and demand or employment. But we can start in our backyards. As a manager, communicate with your employees. You might be able to help a team member grow into a more valuable new position. The evolution benefits us all.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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Can Drywall Be Green?

April 14, 2010 in Construction Trends, Green Building, Projects, Technology, Tips from the Field | 1 comment

Drywall going up on one of our projects is always a welcome sight. It means that we are in the “final lap,” meaning the structural, mechanical and electrical components of our project are complete. As we’ve evolved into a greener construction company, choosing the right drywall has become a major conundrum. The harmful affects of Chinese Drywall and gypsum have been in the news a good bit lately and we’ve been researching alternatives.

Fortunately our company never used any Chinese-manufactured drywall in our projects, mostly because we try to buy local. As it turned out, Chinese Drywall had unusually high levels of hydrogen sulfide, which significantly increases corrosion of metals, specifically silver and copper. Claims are that it blackened metal in or near electrical fixtures, appliances, plumbing and air conditioner coils.

From my perspective, the Chinese Drywall situation occurred because of a shortage or created shortage of drywall supply in the U.S. Last week the Department of Housing and Urban Development released a report stating they recommend complete removal of all “Chinese Drywall.”

Beyond the Chinese drywall problem, paper wrapped gypsum drywall was one of the great postwar building material advances. It replaced lath and plaster, making the construction process faster and less expensive. The downside is that gypsum drywall is made of calcium, sulfur and water. The production is a major contributor of greenhouse gas.

The process starts with crushed gypsum “cooking,” which removes the water but also produces tremendous amounts of CO2 and water vapor. The dried gypsum is mixed into a water-based slurry and wrapped between thick sheets of paper. This “wet” drywall must then go into a gas fired drying process again, which produces even more CO2 and water vapor. The production of gypsum drywall combined with the production of cement creates nearly 12% of the manmade CO2 in our atmosphere.

So we’re back to the original question: Can drywall be green? The answer is for now, it can be green-er, but we’re looking for ways to make it entirely planet friendly. Here’s how:

RESEARCH. Several manufacturers are trying to find new approaches to reduce or eliminate the CO2 and water vapor results of gypsum drywall production.

ECO ROCK. Produced by Serious Materials, this drywall uses “slag” from steel and glass blast furnaces. Slag is a leftover that furnace operators used to throw away. Although there’s been CO2 in its making, the logic is we might as well use it as it’s already dehydrated, can be made into slurry and pressed between fiberglass sheets. It doesn’t need to be dried, so both CO2 producing processes are eliminated.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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Start Spreading the News: Even an Existing New York Building Can Go Green

April 7, 2010 in Conservation, Construction Trends, Green Building, Remodeling, Technology | No comments

I’m sure you’ve heard the industry’s excitement about LEED certified construction. Once considered more ideology than practicality, we’re realizing that green building can actually be more cost effective than traditional methods. The trend is catching on, and it’s not just private companies who’ve embraced sustainability. In 2006, government agencies began requiring all new buildings meet certain LEED certification thresholds. This translates to a huge emerging market for our industry.

But what about major cities, where construction is land-locked? Retrofitting and remodeling become essential since structures are already standing. The prime example? New York City.

The Hearst Tower, home to publishing company Hearst Corporation, shows the trend in action. Completed in 2006, it became the first occupied commercial building in NYC to achieve a LEED “Gold Rating.”

Norman Foster of Foster + Partners designed the Tower to be constructed over and around an existing 6-story building. The new entry plaza houses the entire shell of that base, which was erected in 1928. Truly a marriage of old and new, the Tower was constructed from recycled steel, and uses 26 percent less energy than conventional NYC buildings.

Sustainable features include:

  • Rainwater collection on the roof to replace water lost in air conditioning system and reduce sewer deposits
  • A 2-story “Icefall” in the atrium area uses chilled collected rainwater to cool the vast area in summer and humidify in winter
  • Coated glass to reduce solar radiation and cooling load
  • Sensor-controlled artificial light based on amount of natural light available
  • Walls coated with low vapor paints
  • Low toxicity furniture, furnishings and carpeting constructed from sustainable or recycled materials
  • Concrete surfaces treated with low toxicity sealants

I think the words of Old Blue Eyes sum it up perfectly: “I’ll make a brand new start of it, in old New York; If I can make it there, I’ll make it anywhere.” If Foster + Partners can make LEED Gold happen in midtown Manhattan, we can do it anywhere.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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Looking for an Easy Way to Invest in Green? Purchase Power Credits.

March 30, 2010 in Conservation, Green Building, LEED certified, Preservation, Technology | No comments

This April marks two years since we moved to our new corporate campus. The upcoming anniversary got me thinking back to 2005 when we first started the design of our building and grounds. Being a responsible member of our new community was of the utmost importance, so it made sense to build with minimal impact and sustainability top of mind. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards seemed like a great guide to follow.

As many of you know, LEED is the certification program developed by the USGBC (U.S. Green Building Council), which gives points in the following categories:

  • Sustainable sites
  • Water efficiency
  • Energy and atmosphere
  • Materials and resources
  • Indoor environmental quality

Depending on the points a site accrues, the USGB grants certification at these levels:

  • Silver
  • Gold
  • Certified
  • Platinum

LEED was brand new to me back in 2005. We worked hard to educate ourselves and attain a Silver certification.

As we were getting ready for our final submission to the USGBC, I tallied up points. I discovered then that we could buy green power credits for points toward the certification. This means we would pay a little extra to use “green power” to offset the electricity used during construction and subsequent operation of the building. What you buy is based the anticipated building usage, guaranteeing energy is added to the grid from renewable sources like solar, wind, geothermal, biomass and hydro.

This seemed like cheating after all the hard work we had put into building materials and systems. After investigating, I determined the opposite was true. We were creating awareness, helping support a fledgling component of our power grid and reducing carbon emissions. You can do the same.

The EPA has created the Green Power Partnership (GPP), which works with organizations to determine if green power purchase is right for them. During the past year, the top 20 participating retailers had a combined green power purchase of nearly 3.3 billion kilowatt hours annually. That’s enough electricity to power more than 300,000 American homes for a year.

Kohl’s, Whole Food Markets, Pepsi, Dell, Deutsche Bank, ING, Dannon, The Tower Companies, and North Face are using green power for 100% of their U.S. electricity use. We’re working hard to get there too.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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Water Preservation 101: Points on Collaboration and Education

February 5, 2010 in Conservation, Green Building, LEED certified, Preservation, Technology | No comments

Last week, I attended the Cahaba River Society’s (CRS) annual meeting. I’ve been a board member for about a year now. The Society protects our beautiful river and facilitates public conversations about environmental well-being.

While the CRS still focuses much of its energy on the River and its basin, it is also evolving into something much greater and more important from my perspective, and that is the business of “water education.” Without quality water, there’s not much life. The health and abundance of our water supply has immeasurable impact on our environment, both now and for future generations. It seems vital that we teach the public how to protect this resource.

Unfortunately, environmental campaigns are often politically charged and met with equal parts support, resistance and apathy. As the organization grows and matures, I’ve seen the CRS learn better ways of being collaborative in efforts to deal with those who might disagree. They are listening, being transparent and stating operations clearly. I have always found that if two sides are opposed, as long as there is a sliver of agreement, some kind of compromise can be reached. This has rung true for the CRS as they deal with local businesses and the public.

This meeting focused on educating about the environmental impact of storm water. Both as a conscious citizen and as a builder, I found these lessons valuable and thought I’d share takeaways here:

• How we build our communities and deal with storm water today will determine the kind of rivers we have forever.

• If proper designs are not put in place, the increased runoff from development will degrade water quality, increase flooding, collapse riverbanks, impoverish the river’s diverse life, and make our drinking water more expensive and scarce.

• A natural forest absorbs rain like a sponge, replenishing groundwater and keeping our rivers clean and flowing, even in droughts. Maybe we begin to think about fewer hard surfaces and single points of discharge.

• Designers might consider concepts of low impact development and green infrastructure – rain gardens, permeable paving, green roofs, cisterns – practices that use rain as a resource, infiltrating and reusing it.

• Low-impact development tries to keep as much water as possible on site so that it can be infiltrated to replenish groundwater or harvested and reused in a manner that reduces the use of treated municipal water.

• It’s important to get involved with municipalities and storm water partners to nurture a working relationship for a unified voice to the policy changes needed to protect us all. Would you consider using this knowledge to better the environment? More importantly, would you please share what you’ve learned with others? Simplistic as it may sound, together we can make a difference.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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How to Make Family a Priority When Traveling for Business By Robbie Cather

November 25, 2009 in Leadership, Management, Technology, Tips from the Field | No comments

When work and family time intersect and you have to be away from home for a couple of days because of a business obligation, there are ways to minimize the impact your absence has on those around you.

• Minimize the overnight stays – In today’s high-speed world, there is often a way to travel a big distance in a short amount of time. With good planning and a little luck, what used to be an overnight trip can be reduced to long day on the road. To me, an early morning and a late return flight is always better than hotel towels and a lobby breakfast. Changing a business dinner to a lunch, a cab instead of a rental car, and making more frequent but shorter visits can also help.

• Plan your travel on specific days – During the week in our household, Mondays are the busiest and Fridays are the most relaxing.  I try to confine my trips to mid-week. It helps my family plan around my schedule even though there is often no advance notice of my departure.

• Find a time to talk, even from a thousand miles away — There is a very small chance that you can find everyone home in the evening hours at our house. We juggle too many activities, homework, etc. Instead of an evening call home, I try to phone in the morning and wake the kids up for school. It is a good time to talk to everyone, and a more pleasant time to chat.

• Take advantage of technology – By far, the best way I have found to visit with the kids when I am away is the use of video conferencing. With the investment of a USB camera and the use of the free Skype service available on the Internet, we can have a full screen interactive video call. It is easy to set up, easy to use, and an invaluable way to visit. Kids pop in and out of the room, the cat walks by, I’d say it’s the next best thing to being there, and it does not cost a dime.

• Never forget the goodies – I don’t know if there is an age where a person outgrows the excitement of dad unpacking his bags and producing a gift from a far away land, or the next state over.  I have tried them all – candy, jewelry, toys…  The best take home gift I have found is a destination t-shirt.  My kids have a wardrobe of shirts from cities, states and landmarks. They wear them all the time.  No more cheap toys to break, unhealthy treats, or expensive gifts that get lost in the drawers.

There are always going to be times when you must sacrifice and compromise the time with your family.  I have often thought that those of us who do not get to spend seven nights a week tucking the kids in are forced to figure out how to make the time that we do have as special as we can.  There is always time that is not used to its fullest potential, and only with the realization of how finite that time is are you capable of taking full advantage of it.

Robbie Cather is a project manager for the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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How to Innovate Your Organization Through Design

November 20, 2009 in Leadership, Management, Team Building, Technology | No comments

Recently, one of our long-term client relationships sponsored a forum in New York City on innovation of company culture through design. While I wasn’t able to attend, I did get my hands on some great notes from a friend.

Design of function has evolved to be much more in the center of technology, business and people. Innovation now flows from all these points of view and enables design to flourish in a real way. With this in mind, these guidelines for action should drive design:

Differentiate: Set yourself apart from your competitors.

Simplify: Offer efficiencies and help the supply chain support the customer.

Innovate: Don’t simply be an observer. Set imperatives around insights and you will create a cycle for new solutions, moving from abstract to concrete. People will come along with you.

As a designer of the function, your focus is different. Engineers start with technology. Business minds and venture capitalists start with the money side—profits. Design starts with the people side and then moves into thoughts of technology and profit. As a function and process designer, you are always thinking about what people want as your key driver, or at least you should be.

Hire Renaissance employees who can see the big picture
There are three categories of knowledge bases that will categorize your team: “Silo-ed,” “T-shaped” and “Pie shaped.”

Silo-ed is the traditional type of employee. They have highly specialized expertise, which used to be desirable, but is now becoming less acceptable.

T-shaped employees have deep expertise in one area, but are collaborative.

Pie shaped team members have diverse combinations of experience like engineering + business or art + finance. They are quickly becoming the most desirable hires.

In my opinion, we should look for people who have broad perspectives, teamwork capabilities and maintain a balance of innovation and creativity. For example, a team should have financial modelers from the inception, showing the monetary impact of the design in addition to the creative side. Employees who have a passion for change and the ability to work with others are huge assets and can capture the “collective IQ.” Interdisciplinary collaboration yields real innovation—Fight “Silos!”

Conquer the fear of failure
If team members come from the business perspective that “they do not wish to look stupid,” they will narrow decisions, dooming them from the start. Research shows that people fall into 2 kinds of intelligence:

Entity Theory: Every encounter you have is a measure of IQ. One works hard not to look stupid.

Development Theory: One seeks out those challenges as a way to learn and the values it bring.

How can we encourage risk taking while balancing finances? There’s a need to accept failure as a part of change. Position the innovation as a “learning launch” with management. It is an experiment that we expect to learn from and change. This gives freedom, helps prevent failure from capital “F” emphasis to a small “f” acceptance and can yield real successes.

Round Up
Maybe we all should be thinking more about what we can do to make design innovations in the organization and our people more innovative?

*Panel discussion moderated by Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind: Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future with Bill Moggridge, 2009 Lifetime Achievement National Design Award Winner, co-founder of IDEO, Sam Lucente, Vice President of Design, Hewlett-Packard Company and Jeanne Liedtka, Professor, University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business

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Merrill Stewart is Founder and President of the Stewart Perry Company, a commercial building contractor based in Birmingham, Ala. Contact him via email.

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