Our TS3 building has topped out and we are excited about the high- performance skin. On a recent visit to the site, I asked Sabrina Bernstein with Turner construction about the skin construction process. It is being built by Garner in Cartersville. Crown Corr is also involved with the project. I was joined on the site visit to Garner by Lindsey Cottingham, PE, LEED AP and Dan Nemec, AIA, LEED AP which are a part of Amanda Mewborn's Planning, Design, & Construction team.
These high-performance skins are factory built and installed on the building. The factories apply the sealant in a controlled setting with extensive quality control. The pre-assembled units save field construction time and cost.
The adaptation of technologies such as this are a part of our Construction Cost Reduction Program. There have been multiple times through history that building technologies have adapted. During World War II, items were rationed, and different solutions were found. When energy cost increased, different insulation systems were created.
Today we are faced with the challenge of high construction costs. Costs are so high that the financial viability of projects can be difficult to justify. Our team is trying to focus on different technologies to push back the construction cost despite being in period where costs continue to escalate. One fact remains....if we do nothing, costs will continue to rise, and we will be forced to build less. If the industry works together, I wonder what possibilities we will find?
For our valued design firms and contractors that work with Georgia Tech Infrastructure and Sustainability, we are asking for your help as well. Let's work together to bring more innovations to our buildings to lower our cost. That can be anything from new systems, standardization, or creation of processes that can help us achieve cost reduction.
When I worked in manufacturing, all of our cost translated into a product cost. The same is true for construction except that we are not selling our buildings. We need to have that same mindset that helped many industries survive first the migration of production to Mexico and then later to China. Industries that survived found ways to cut cost in appropriate areas, create better processes, and still create higher quality products. We can do the same, but it takes the entire ecosystem.
Let's make some things happen!
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