Posts Tagged ‘construction project’

Needham, Mass. – March 25, 2008 - A free white paper is helping building owners avoid the complaints, business disruptions, and out-of-pocket costs that can result when they’re forced by the construction schedule to occupy new or renovated facilities prior to “system final completion.”

“There’s a disturbing trend in the construction industry towards final completion of building systems after occupancy,” says Mike Della Barba, Director of Commissioning Services at EH&E, a leading environmental engineering and consulting firm, and author of the white paper “Getting the Building You Paid For.” (On the Web at: www.eheinc.com/inchstonewhitepaper.htm).

“Tight construction schedules often result in owners occupying newly constructed buildings that don’t fully meet occupant needs in terms of heating, cooling, lighting, power or other systems. This often proves very costly to the owner in higher maintenance and energy costs and shortened equipment life,” added Della Barba.

The solution, however, is surprisingly simple, he said. By tracking key construction project deliverables – termed Inchstones, as opposed to milestones – building owners can often predict, and therefore prevent, possible schedule delays and the resulting performance shortfalls. Developed by EH&E after a detailed analysis of numerous construction projects, the Inchstones process is detailed in Della Barba’s white paper.

The 16-page white paper also details:

• The expectations and reality of project completion;
• The evolving definition of “completion;”
• The three stages of completion;
• The roles of the general contractor, commissioning engineer, and building owner;
• The impact of incompletion on building occupancy and performance; and
• Maximizing building value using the Inchstones process.

Download the white paper at: www.eheinc.com/inchstonewhitepaper.htm.

About EH&E
EH&E (www.eheinc.com) has provided an extensive range of environmental and engineering consulting services for 20 years. The EH&E team consists of more than 60 experts with an outstanding record of providing business-focused solutions for issues that affect the built environment. EH&E has a depth of knowledge and credibility unmatched in the industry. The firm’s wealth of readily-accessible information is a powerful resource for its clients.

EH&E’s new Inchstone Project Monitoring solution (www.eheinc.com/inchstone.htm) is the latest example of the firm’s continuing effort to provide this knowledge and information to a wider range of companies.

# # #

Public Relations contact: Tiziani Whitmyre Inc., http://www.tizinc.com/

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Technorati tags: EH&E, construction project, building owner, facility manager, new building, white paper, whitepaper, project monitoring, building management, construction management, construction schedule

Newton, Mass. – November 28, 2007 – Despite the certificate of occupancy, substantial hidden costs from unfinished systems often plague building owners after moving into newly constructed buildings. A new program introduced by EH&E draws on the firm’s experience as a leading commissioning firm to help.

Even though a newly constructed building may be certified for occupancy, a variety of hidden issues and costs can occur when mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems are not completed prior to the move-in date. As a solution, EH&E’s new “Inchstone™ Construction Monitoring Program” tracks key project deliverables (the inchstones) to maintain the project schedule and ensure systems completion at the time of occupancy.

“Tracking these deliverables during the project provides a finer degree of scheduling oversight for the building owner and gives the project team notification of potential delays early in the project when corrections can be more easily – and inexpensively – implemented,” said Mike Della Barba, Director of Commissioning Services at EH&E (www.eheinc.com/inchstone), a Newton, Mass. based environmental engineering and consulting firm.

Building owners and facility managers utilize the program to track and organize critical project deliverables that, if let slip, could result in a maintenance or budgeting crisis after occupancy. The program combines a customized service along with a web-based interface management application that provides building owners with instant access to real time information on selected critical project deliverables.

The associated service consists of an initial review of the contract document language to ensure all critical project deliverables are included. Then a dedicated account manager provides all record-keeping services required to maintain site currency during the project, including the creation of electronic documents from printed material as required.

Owners and managers can utilize the password protected, web-based site for information on the construction project schedule and status at all times. The customized application enables instant access to all aspects of the project, including status reports, progress graphs and charts, as well as upcoming deadlines for all identified contractual deliverables.

“Through this system we provide owners with information they can use to more accurately predict project delays early in the project and take action - avoiding the additional maintenance costs, higher energy costs, and shortened equipment life that incomplete systems can cause,” said Della Barba.

Inchstone Heads Off Unexpected Downtime
According to EH&E’s engineers, the most common problems experienced by owners and facility managers upon occupancy are equipment start-up deficiencies and balancing delays, either of which can result in many thousands of dollars in unexpected maintenance costs and hundreds of hours of downtime or employee inconvenience.

”The root cause of almost all of these problems is incomplete systems testing prior to occupancy, because while all systems need to be functional to get the certificate of occupancy, verified design performance (full value purchased!) is not a requirement. Our system tracks key indicators that we’ve shown can accurately predict when this situation is likely to occur, giving the construction team time to react,” added Della Barba.

For more information on how building owners can obtain maximum value from their new building, download the new white paper, “Getting the Building You Paid For,” at: www.eheinc.com/inchstonewhitepaper.htm.

To learn more about the Inchstone Construction Monitoring Program, visit http://www.eheinc.com/inchstonewhitepaper.htm or call toll free 1-800-825-5343.

About EH&E
EH&E (http://www.eheinc.com/) has provided an extensive range of environmental and engineering consulting services for 20 years. Our team consists of more than 60 experts with an outstanding record of providing business-focused solutions for issues that affect the built environment. EH&E has a depth of knowledge and credibility unmatched in the industry and our wealth of readily-accessible information has become a powerful resource for our clients.

Our new Inchstone Project Monitoring solution (www.eheinc.com/inchstone.htm) is just the latest example of our continuing effort to provide this knowledge and information to a wider range of companies.

# # #

Public Relations contact: Tiziani Whitmyre Inc., http://www.tizinc.com

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Technorati tags: EH&E, construction project, building owner, facility manager, new building, white paper, whitepaper, project monitoring, building management, construction management, construction schedule

Newton, Mass. – September 19, 2007 - A free white paper detailing a new construction monitoring strategy to help building owners obtain maximum value from their new building is available for download at: www.eheinc.com/inchstonewhitepaper.htm.

The white paper, titled “Getting the Building You Paid For,” is based on an analysis of numerous construction projects, and offers the building owner an inexpensive way to track key construction project deliverables which if not completely implemented have been shown to directly or indirectly lead to schedule delays and performance shortfalls.

“We see a disturbing trend in the construction industry towards final completion of building systems after building occupancy, says Mike Della Barba, Director of Commissioning Services at EH&E (www.eheinc.com), a Newton, Mass. based environmental engineering and consulting firm.

“Tight construction schedules often result in the owner occupying a building that does not fully meet the needs of the occupants. This often proves very costly to the owner in higher maintenance costs, higher energy costs and shortened equipment life.”

The solution can be surprisingly simple. The white paper details a process developed by EH&E that tracks key contractual sub-tasks with corresponding deliverables (termed “Inchstones”).

Experience has shown that the absence of these deliverables can provide an early indication of project scheduling difficulties that will lead to incomplete building systems.

Download the free white paper at: www.eheinc.com/inchstonewhitepaper.htm.

About EH&E
EH&E (www.eheinc.com) has provided an extensive range of environmental and engineering consulting services for over 19 years. Our team consists of more than 60 experts with an outstanding record of providing business-focused solutions for issues that affect the built environment. EH&E has a depth of knowledge and credibility unmatched in the industry and our wealth of readily-accessible information has become a powerful resource for our clients. Our new Inchstone Project Monitoring solution (www.eheinc.com/inchstone.htm) is just the latest example of our continuing effort to provide this knowledge and information to a wider range of companies.

# # #

Public Relations contact: Tiziani Whitmyre Inc., www.tizinc.com

bookmark to del.icio.us

Technorati tags: EH&E, construction project, building owner, facility manager, new building, white paper, whitepaper, project monitoring, building management, construction management, construction schedule