New Resource

By Ross Edwards

 

Sources of Escalation:

There are four main sources of escalation in a concrete structure: subcontractor markup, labor cost, concrete material, and rebar/pt materials.  This document will discuss each area of escalation, its relative percentage cost for the structure, and suggestions on the best ways to mitigate the escalation.

This summary assumes that we are in an improving economy with inflationary pressures and increasing work coming for the construction industry.  If we revert to another recession some or all of the escalation currently being forecasted to come into the market may go away.

 

1. Subcontractor Markup (6%-20% of total cost):

Subcontractor markup varies based on the amount of available work in the market place and the competition for the available work.  Each subcontractor has a certain core crew of personnel that make up the life blood of their operation.  In the last few years subcontractors have had to constantly reevaluate their core crews and adjust their markups to try and keep their core crews busy.  The last few years have severely shrunk the core crews of the concrete subcontractors operating in the Bay Area.  Once the core crews have a backlog of work, markups for the remaining work will start to rise.  As additional work is added to the backlog the markups can start to dramatically increase.

• A. Mitigation of Markup Escalation:

All indications are that additional work is coming to the Bay Area.  This is being seen by a dramatic increase in the number of plans and opportunities that are coming into our office.  Time will tell which of the projects are able to get off the ground.  The best way for an owner/gc to mitigate escalation in this environment is to get their projects bought out immediately, as the earlier the projects are bought in this cycle the lower the markups will be.

 

2. Labor Cost ( approx. 35% of total cost):

The escalation for the labor cost comes from increases in the union labor rates and labor increase from productivity estimating forecasts.  The current collective bargaining agreement for the Carpenters expires this year on June 30, 2011.  A new bargaining agreement is currently being negotiated.  As such we are in a period of uncertainty until the new agreement is completed for the carpenters.  The productivity forecasts are based on the quality of the workforce available.

• A. Mitigation of Union Labor Rates Increase:

There is no current way to mitigate the increase from union labor except by starting the project as early as possible.  The increases hit our books on July 1^st of each year.  For the last three years the increase has averaged 5%.  We are anticipating a similar increase this year.

• B. Mitigation of Estimating Productivity Forecasts:

This item is an estimating item and is based on historical costs of the workers performing the work.  As the work gets busier the quality of the available workforce gets spread thinner and lesser quality workers get added to the workforce.  Currently, the quality of the workforce is at an all time high and we are estimating historically high production rates.  To lock in high production rates which equate to less man hours per unit of work requires committing as early as possible to the work as most people believe that we will be in an ever improving business cycle over the next few years.

 

3. Concrete Material ( approx. 20% of total cost)

The escalation in concrete material comes from three primary sources: cost of fuel, aggregate cost and cement costs.  There is currently pressure on all three areas.  For the last three years the price of concrete has been at historic lows when compared with inflation.  The entire supply chain is under a great deal of pressure to raise prices.

• A. Mitigation of Concrete Material Costs:

In speaking with one of the major concrete suppliers there is currently no way of mitigating the concrete material escalation without starting the building as soon as possible.  The price escalation with respect to the cost of diesel is approximately a $1.00 increase per CY of concrete for every $1.00 increase per gallon of diesel fuel.  For example, if the cost of diesel fuel increases from $3.00 per gallon to $5.00 per gallon a yard of concrete will increase by $2/cy.  This equates to about $0.10/sf on the cost of the gross sf of the building structure.

For the cost of the aggregate and cement the industry is currently forecasting a 5% increase per year.  This increase equates to about $.30/sf for every year the building extends from this year.  For example, if half the building is completed in 2012 and half in 2013, the part completed in 2012 would cost $0.30/sf more than today and the part completed in 2013 would cost $0.60/sf for an average increase of $.45/sf over todays costs.  The diesel charge would be additive to this increase.

It is possible to buy out the concrete material to a schedule and have the concrete companies take all of the above risk, at time of bid the various options can be explored.

 

4. Rebar and PT (approx. 35% of total cost)

The escalation from rebar in a concrete building comes from two primary sources, one from the cost of the material and two from the cost of the men installing the work.  There are also production and markup costs similar to the one described in the labor cost item 2 above.  The hourly cost of the men is controlled by collective bargaining agreements and is a known quantity although the agreement is currently being negotiated so the exact amount of the increases is not known at this time although it is expected to be about 5% per year for the next three years.

The rebar for the projects is all purchased from mills operating in the United States, and the rebar is sold on a $/lb basis.  The price/lb of the rebar is published monthly by the various mills.  The mills also typically provide some guidance on future price increases.  Often times this guidance is self serving in the hope that they can get the increases to stick if they advertise them in advance.  The rebar in the United States is made entirely from scrap steel and the price of scrap has a direct bearing on the cost of rebar.  There is a worldwide market for scrap so the cost of rebar in the United States is affected by the global demand for scrap or events that prevent scrap from being transported (i.e. the recent flooding in Australia).

• A. Mitigation of Rebar Material Costs:

To mitigate the cost of steel the most effective way that we have used is to pre-purchase the rebar for a given job and store the rebar in an insured warehouse for use once the project has started.  The exact details of the project do not need to be complete for this to happen just the rough bar sizes as the bars are purchased in 60 foot lengths.  The steel for the job can then either be bought in one lump sum or purchased over time allowing the subcontractor to play the market for when the best time to buy the steel is.  In either of these scenarios the contractor is paid for the steel as stored materials.  In the scenario of buying the steel upfront or overtime the contractor would take the risk on the full price of the steel.  We are currently doing this on one of the high-rises getting ready to be built in San Francisco.

If pre-purchasing the steel is not a viable option then the mill price of the steel at the time of bid can be identified along with the total pounds of steel for the project.  When the project is then ready to start and funding is secured the price of the mill steel can be verified and the cost per pound in the contract can be modified by this increase or decrease.  There is adequate documentation available in the market place for this to occur.

The last option is to put all the risk on the contractor and have them put in their own escalation for the project.  At bid time numbers can be obtained for this scenario and compared with a price for the owner to take the risk on the steel.

 

By James Collins

 

Technological advances in concrete have empowered builders to challenge forces of altitude and weight in building construction. As illustrated in the NY Times article, “The Age of Concrete”, the 20^th century skyscraper construction in the United States welcomed a critical role for concrete. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/13/opinion/13brownell.html?ref=concrete

Throughout the past 40 years, this material has been refined and improved, resulting in a versatile building material that has allowed builders to continuously challenge building standards.  As stated in the article, ‘the compressive strength of concrete has tripled in the last four decades, allowing concrete structures to be thinner, lighter and far, far taller.’

The construction of buildings such as the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building in the early 1900s first highlighted the versatility of concrete and its ability to defy the laws of building height. The construction of the Sears Tower (now known as the Willis Tower) in 1970 took nearly 3 years to build, at a cost of $150 million. Over 74,000 cubic yards of concrete were used in the Sears Tower construction, enough concrete to complete 5 miles of an eight-lane highway. The 21^st century has seen even further advancements in concrete technology, allowing for construction of buildings at heights once deemed impossible. In January of 2010, the Burj Khalifa was opened in Dubai, UAE. At 2,717 feet, the Burj Khalifa is now the tallest building in the world, far surpassing the height of the Willis tower of 1,730 feet. The Burj Khalifa hosts luxury residences and a variety of businesses. Its structural frame of reinforced concrete has allowed for its height to reach a remarkable peak.

Decade after decade, one of the most widely used and available materials in construction has enabled builders to advance limits of height and weight, resulting in awe-inspiring structures throughout the world. As concrete technology continues to advance, it will be important that Pacific Structures remain a leader in innovative building.

 

By Jo Appleby

My husband brought home two Peace Lilies from our local nursery the very day he read “A Superhero Scrubs the Air: The Mighty Houseplant” (By Gwendolyn Bounds, March 15, 2011, Wall Street Journal.) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704893604576200423930895948.html

Having 2 boys under 5, we are always on the look-out for alternative ways to clean our house; especially if it takes no effort on our parts whatsoever. Reading through the article, I realized why my husband ran out to Sloat Garden Center, with our 2 boys, to buy houseplants.

Bounds article lists several benefits to keeping houseplants. They are excellent air purifiers and can improve the air quality of indoor air by absorbing pollution, reducing VOC levels by as much as 75%, and can even reduce the amount of dust in the air by about 20%. “People spend more than 90% of their time inside, where levels of a dozen common organic pollutants can be two to five times higher than outside, according to the Enviromental Protection Agency.” Organic pollutants, which can become highly concentrated indoors, can cause “…headaches and asthma to respiratory diseases and cancer.”

The most amazing accomplishment of the humble houseplant is this: “…six or more plants in a 1,200 to 1,500 square-foot house could achieve noteworthy contaminant reductions.” That ain’t nothin’. $19.99 for a large plant x 6 = $119.94. A small price to pay for clean air. “Potted plants can provide an efficient, self-regulating, low-cost, sustainable bioremediation system for indoor air pollution.” So far, we have four new air scrubbers at home (Peace Lily, and the Janet Craig) as well as a couple of Peace Lilys at our workplaces.

Some of the common houseplants that have gone through lab testing, and are shown to help reduce contaminants include the following:

· English Ivy

· Mother-in-Law’s Tongue

· Weeping Fig

· Peace Lily

· Devil’s Ivy

· Flamingo Glower

· Janet Craig (my personal favorite)

· Asparagus Fern

Put some houseplants to work in your home or office – they do the work and you don’t need to lift a finger; *Just don’t forget to water them.

By Renée Kerson

What is appropriate in one context may not be so in another. Appropriate technologies are relative to their surroundings, the environmental, Cultural conditions as well as economically feasible to its user and intended situation. AT describes technologies that are suitable in developing nations. Some of the principles of AT are that the systems are usually small, locally obtained, with few moving parts, that can be easily repaired and affordable. These technologies have a gentle impact on the earth.

Appropriate Technology was a term coined by economist EF Schumacher in his book, Small is Beautiful. “Small” meaning the affordable and adaptable technologies that put in the hands of the users is easily controlled and maintained.

May researchers have taken the studies of AT to the third world with hopes to bring aid and help people. Without adequate knowledge and observation of the environmental and cultural traditions AT applied incorrectly can be fatal. I have cited a lecture; specifics have been left out, about an African tribe which traveled many miles every day to collect scares fire wood for their camps. Scientists/ Researchers introduced the use of Solar Cooker to the tribe as a feasible solution to their fire wood problem. After the researchers left the site many people died of malaria related disease.

Any idea why?

The Solar cooker which when applied in the correct setting can be a very useful technology; was the indirect result of the spread of disease! For century’s smoke from fires has been used as a natural insect repellant. The chain reaction was smoke kept mosquitoes away and without the implementation of fire the solar cookers where helping the tribe from traveling miles to find wood, but were depleting centuries of tradition, causing disease. With an adequate observation period the researchers would have seen the correlation between the two and could have preventing the tribe from disease by implementing a mixed use with the cookers and traditional fires. In a case where observation was not clearly taken in to consideration AT was applied incorrectly; hence the reasons why observation research and design are so extremely vital before implementation.

When applied correctly Appropriate Technologies have been very useful. I have only cited one example of why it’s so important to research and observe before implementation.

Some other forms of appropriate technologies are passive solar, natural buildings, such as Cob, Straw bale or Adobe; peddle powered bicycles, natural paints, nontoxic house hold cleaners, sanitation systems such innovative wastewater treatment plants and gray water systems; Just to name a few.

For more examples and information visit http://www.appropedia.org/Portal:Appropriate_technology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arcata_Wastewater_Treatment_Plant_and_Wildlife_Sanctuary

Recommended Books;

Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World; Alan Weisman,

Small is Beautiful; EF Schumacher,

Permaculture Designers Manual; Bill Mollison

Is Black Friday Dead?

By Steve Holland

My Thanksgiving was great! We had a houseful of friends and family, our favorite Popeye’s deep fried turkey infused with Cajun spices, too many side dishes to fit on one table, and desserts to tempt even the most packed tummy. Football on the big screen and conversations into the early evening hours. A good time was had by all. But then, Black Friday.

’ve spent more than my fair share of time out in the cold waiting for those doors to open at 5 or 6AM to snag that unbelievable deal, following my wife from department to department, then store to store, clumsily holding onto all the treasures picked up along the way. Waiting in lines that never seemed to move. Then heading home to leftovers and to try out our purchases, or wrapping them up for Christmas.

This year was different. We were excited about Black Friday. We opened the newspaper and looked through the ads with wide eyes. But it seemed as if the ads were the same weekend ads we’d seen all year…nothing special. Certainly nothing worth getting up at 4AM, or even 7AM. What happened? There’d been plenty of hype. I heard of stores opening as early as Thanksgiving evening, but for what? A $500 laptop? A 24 inch television? 2 for 1 t-shirts? No thanks. Wait, maybe the deals had gone online in a switch to Cyber Friday! Well, I certainly got a lot of emails announcing wonderful deals to be had, but it seem to be the same stuff at the same prices I’d seen all year. I found it strange that shoppers still seemed to be out in force, and buying in bulk. Maybe the economy and consumer confidence had reached a point where people were just ready to buy. Maybe there were secret deals I had missed. I don’t know. I DO know I don’t feel like I missed out on anything by sleeping in on Black Friday. Maybe next year…

Innovate or Die – Part 3 – Ross Edwards

In our last post we discussed four areas that many scholars think will provide the most growth in the next century – Food, Energy, Medical and Water.

Clearly the United States must take a leadership role in helping the world deal with increasing population and scarcity of resources. We are very fortunate to live in the San Francisco Bay Area which is home to many of the companies that will make a global difference in dealing with these major future growth areas.

The companies of New Resource are all located in the Bay Area and our collective skills lie in building buildings and infrastructure primarily in California and primarily for private companies and businesses.

The innovate or die series is about figuring out where to move one’s business to capture future trends occurring in the world around us. Clearly energy, medical, and water are areas that construction companies can be involved in. As discussed we have been involved in the alternative energy areas providing work for Chevron, Sunpower and REC Solar. We continue to look how to expand our building skill set to the new alternative energy field. We are also looking for other places where we can apply our skills in the new growth areas.

However, we still have our biggest skill set that is currently being underutilized. Many construction companies have migrated to the public sector or better yet were already there to try and fill there backlogs. However, the public sector was already filled with competitors and now there are even more. So is the public sector truly the panacea for companies to migrate to? Clearly the answer is dependent on the size of the company. If your company has a large infrastructure and is not easily downsized the government sector is currently probably the only area to find work.

The San Francisco Bay Area Housing Report prepared by the Association of Bay Area Governments, http://www.abag.ca.gov/planning/pdfs/SFHousingNeedsPlan.pdf, lays out the housing needs for the Bay Area for the next 7 years. The housing plan states that the Greater Bay Area will need an additional 214,000 housing units by 2014. The graph below shows the increase in population growth in the Bay Area.

http://www.spur.org/publications/library/article/bay_area_housing_market

Given the increasing population and the quality of life the Bay Area affords it is only a matter of time before housing makes a comeback in the Bay Area.

The question now is how to position our businesses to capitalize on the future need for housing. How can we build things for less? What does the building of the future look like? One of our companies www.buildpods.com is exploring building prefabricated bathrooms and kitchens for multi-story projects. These bathrooms and kitchens would be built in a factory using lower cost labor and then shipped to the jobsite for installation similar to a dishwasher. Clearly there needs to be innovation in how we build. The building process has not changed much over the last 50 years and we need to all come together to figure out how to make building less expensive. Thoughts?

International Acclaimed, the USGBC’s Green Builders 2010 is going to be heald in Chicago IL. November 17-19th 2010. With Key-Note Speakers such as; Colin Powell, former US Secretary of State , Paul Hawklins, author of the book, Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution (1999) & Shaun Donovan, US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

The LARGEST Green Building Conference and Expo of it kind will result in a very informative & productive week for Chicago; Spreading knowledge Internationally of innovations in Green Building Practices and Technologies.

http://www.greenbuildexpo.org/Home.aspx

By James Collins

In the past few years, the State of California has passed Assembly Bill 32: Global Warming Solutions Act (http://www.arb.ca.gov/cc/ab32/ab32.htm), and the Federal Government has attempted to pass House of Representatives 2847: Green Jobs Act of 2007 (http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h110-2847&tab=summary). Within these bills was language that either directly funded green jobs, or mandated a reduced carbon footprint, thereby indirectly requiring companies to invest in creating or purchasing green power. While earlier in this decade it may have seemed like a fad, “going green” its clearly here to stay.

Beyond the goals of environmental responsibility, green spending has escalated to a new “space race” with major global players in the market. As author Thomas Friedman put it in his NY Time Op Ed piece last year, “The New Spudnik” (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/opinion/27friedman.html), even China has been forced, albeit out of necessity, to develop “clean-tech” alternatives to their manufacturing methods. As he explains, China’s decision to go green was the modern day equivalent to the Russians sending up Spudnik as a challenge the world to enter the space race. Once China realized that they had no choice but to change their ways, they quickly focused on the opportunity to make money and potentially be the world leader in manufacturing within a new industry. “China’s leaders, mostly engineers, wasted little time debating global warming… they also know that… the demand for clean, renewable power is going to soar as we add an estimated 2.5 billion people to the planet by 2050. In that world, E.T. – or energy technology – will be as big as I.T., and China intends to be a big E.T. player.”

As a manufacturing poweress, China’s ability to apply the ‘Walmart Model’ to green manufacturing poses a threat to the competitive position of the US. In the attached NY Times article by Keith Bradsher, (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/25/business/energy-environment/25solar.html?_r=3&hp) Chinese company Suntech Power Holdings CEO Shi Zhengrong, stated that “to build market share, [Suntech] is selling solar panels on the American market for less than the cost of the materials, assembly and shipping.” On top of this, “Chinese governments at the national, provincial and even local level have been competing with one another to offer solar companies ever more generous subsidies, including free land and cash for research and development. State-owned banks are flooding the industry with loans at considerably lower interest rates than available in Europe or the United States.” Although in a later NY Times article (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/27/business/energy-environment/27panel.html) Dr. Shi later revised his statements to say that the loss was due to administrative costs of running a US based subsidiary, the author suggests that Suntech could be accused of dumping, which is a practice of selling goods in a foreign market at lower than the cost of production. German company Bundesverbandes Solarwirtschaft has already considered taking legal action against China for alleged dumping of solar panels on the German market (http://www.businessgreen.com/business-green/news/2249935/china-gathers-panel-top-solar).

Given the increasing global focus on green energy, we must pay close attention to foreign manufacturers of green equipment and products. Most state and federal green jobs bills, including the Stimulus Bill, are written with “buy American” clauses, which require that the products purchased with government money must be made in the US. As we climb out of this recession and the demand for “clean-tech” within private industry grows, the US companies which manufacture these products must position themselves so that they are competitive in a post government sponsored program era. The US construction industry can play an important role in helping the US stay competitive in this market by reducing the costs of building solar or wind farms. It is equally important for the US to evaluate its relationship with China so that dumping practices don’t negatively impact the role of the US in green manufacturing.

By Eric Horn

The concept of quality, factory built assembly line products certainly isn’t new, Henry Ford did an admirable job of bringing the concept into the mainstream in the early 1900’s. In the AEC industry within the United States the concept of “factory built” components has mainly been limited to appliances, cabinets, electrical and HVAC integrated box components. In addition, there has been a tremendous advance in the development of sustainable building materials, energy monitoring and renewables in the recent wave of “green “building technologies. New technologies and ideas that improve quality/safety/schedule/price and reduce the overall embodied carbon content for a project within the built environment will win immediate acceptance within the AEC industry.

So would you rather build a car in a parking lot or in factory? Unfortunately, most of the AEC industry operates under this operating principle. Bring the materials, labor, and equipment to the jobsite and then build the project in the winter and subject yourself to schedule delays, damage to finished product, labor shortages, perceived coordination, dimensional intolerance of finish tolerances, rework, punch lists, lots of CYA paperwork, and extra unnecessary but necessary costs of “building” on a jobsite. Welcome to building a car in a parking lot.

A “Pod” is an assembly line, factory built room that is delivered to the jobsite in its final finished condition; much like a factory built car is delivered to a car dealership. The most popular forms of pods within the AEC industry are bathrooms and kitchens. The POD concept has been alive and well in Europe and Asia for over 20 Years. Although the US AEC industry has embraced some forms of factory Built assembly ( modular classrooms, mobile homes) the industry as a whole has been slow to adapt to the idea of factory built units in the larger built environments of student housing, hospitality, healthcare, military and high rise residential projects. To meet the demand for the ever pressing need for greater predictability, efficiency and schedule reliability in construction, a high tech, easily deployable and dependable response is required. PODS offer an industry proven solution that meets market demands and design conditions for today’s competitive building market.

Traditional means and methods of field finish construction for bathrooms and kitchens are compromised with dimensional trade intolerance, multiple punch lists, schedule and material delays and the huge inefficiencies of multiple trades working in a single area. As discussed in the previous “Build a car in a parking lot” analogy these means and methods lead to project delays and cost overruns. By Utilizing Pods provides practical, integrated solutions to the many challenges associated with field-built construction. See the attached article from Balfour Beatty who recently completed a student housing village that utilized factory Built POD bathrooms. Quote from Balfour Beatty Superintendent,” To help us deliver this project on time, we prefabricated nearly all of the 716 bathrooms. These factory built units saved us substantial time, reduced tons on on-site waste, and will significantly shorten the time to punch out the whole project”

With BuildPods factory built and building integrated PODs, every aspect of the building process can be automated in a factory environment. It is far easier to plan the work and the sequencing of materials in assembly line labor fashion in a factory built environment rather than the open and unpredictable confines of a project jobsite. BuildPods utilizes a quality-controlled, and fully integrated manufacturing process which insures the highest level of quality and dimensional consistency and accuracy.

For Owners/Architects/General Contractors:

With PODS, you get a factory-built, quality-controlled, tested and finished room delivered to your jobsite. Every pod project is completed based on the OWNERS/ARCHITECTS design and finish specifications. Taking this into consideration, each Pod is constructed with the highest level of dimensional consistency allowing for complete integration into the building design. Pod designs are optimized and integrated into the Architects design to insure there is no compromise of loss of interior floor space. Field hook ups to the Building MEPS spine are plug and play and take only a fraction of time to complete in comparison to traditional field build construction; think of hooking up a giant dishwasher. Since the pod is delivered with exposed studs on the exterior side of the pod, there is no change to traditional wall close up and plumbing testing. No matter the type of project ( housing, hospitality, healthcare) taking the rooms with the highest concentration of finish surfaces ( usually kitchens and bathrooms) out of the critical path will improve the overall schedule and put more focus of the building structure, skin and MEPS system schedule components. How much time saved will vary by project type and will translate into real $ saved on general conditions, worker parking, trade coordination, material escalation, punch lists, etc.

The math is simple and the benefits are clear. PODs offers a higher quality product at competitive prices in a shorter, PREDICABLE time frame than traditional field built Construction.

At Buildpods LP BuildPods integrated system approach for factory built rooms is ideally suited to meet the following traditional and emerging projects with repetitive “Pod” elements:

· Housing( Student, Senior, Affordable, Luxury- Pod bathrooms & Kitchens)

· Healthcare ( patient rooms, patient bathrooms, exam rooms)

· Hospitality ( guest bathrooms)

· Military Housing ( BEQ, residential base housing- overseas and domestic)

BuildPods is one of 3 leading manufacturer of factory built rooms in the United States approved by Turner Construction and Procurement. We differentiate ourselves from our competitors by using a fully integrated approach to incorporating the POD into the architecture without compromise in floor space and/or functionality of space. Whenever possible, we employ sustainable materials and processes that will contribute to 11 achievable LEED credits offered by the USGBC. The combined result of an integrated approach and a sustainable process is predictability in quality, cost, safety and schedule. Fragmented on-site construction of the rooms is eliminated and replaced with a 100% completed room ready for job-site fit up.

BuildPods is advancing the United States built environment with and innovative and integrated approach to sustainable building that provides dramatic cost savings, faster delivery and improved quality.

Quit the process of building a car in a parking lot; contact us today and find out how BuildPods can enhance your project. We will be releasing our state of the art design manual in the coming weeks to assist the AEC community on evaluation POD concept from design, sustainability through construction and cost evaluation- look for it to stay linked to one of the most innovative ideas to hit our industry in decades.

www.buildpods.com

November 1, 2010

By Eric Horn

As we witnessed this evening, our beloved band of misfits, freaks, old guys and knuckleheads have brought a World Series Championship to the City of San Francisco. Yes it was one for the ages, really one for multiple generations of baseball fans in the bay area. It was one of the best-played World Series of Baseball ever.

1954-2010 pretty amazing stuff; still baseball but with some subtle changes:

In ’54 it was cut your hair; shave your beard, drink lots of milk, first black & white TVs released for commercial use, water to quench thirst; no trainers; no tech

In’10 it is don’t cut your hair, dye your beard with shoe polish ( combine it with a Mohawk), some even say let Timmy smoke , HDTV & lots of personal grooming required to be on the big screen; G2 to quench thirst; motion capture training; Phiten energy necklaces; lots of tech.

Sacred to the ages have been the love of the game and the inspiration of a winning team to all of those involved. Yea, sometimes the chips are down, but it usually takes the dedication, drive and determination of one or a couple of team members to inspire and motivate the team to a win. It’s something we preach and practice at work, at home and with our kids – we all know it to be true; really cool to witness it.

Using today’s technology and the innate human traits to take a chance on an opportunity, defy logic and play aggressively inspires others to WIN. Baseball and our business, the business the developing, designing and constructing the built environment have this in common. For those of you that were fortunate enough to witness game 2 of the World Series, to be there during the game and in the streets of San Francisco afterward, the atmosphere was electric and intoxicating in more ways than one. Irrational exuberance was a term that came to mind. That evening there was no great recession, zero unemployment in our industry and 50 tower cranes in the city; working; building great buildings.

I am pretty certain that by the Giants winning the World Series won’t solve the current ills our building industry; sure there are some short term economic benefits for the city and the surrounding businesses; but we still have a long ways to go. We all know this; I don’t need to recite the facts and figures here; too depressing.

While we are whale shit low in all of this, we need to learn from the gifts the Giant’s have given us. Remember the adrenaline rush of building and how to get there.

1. Play aggressively (that’s right, “Play” like the Kaiser Permanente commercial recommends). Business is game; we are all gamers.
2. Reap the benefits of Technology for our AEC business band of misfits. Our industry continues to be starved for innovation, R&D; really tough to spend money on it right now; but it needs to happen. Huge advances in energy use/monitoring, renewable energy and modular construction methods continue to lead the way. Not bad to be located in the Heart of Silicon Valley either. Just like the Giants used motion capture technology to improve their athletic skills, we should continue do the same by applying technologies/processes for other industries to our AEC arena.
3. Remember your Team: Just like the Giants; there is not one company that is a band of superstars. Weather you are the owner, general manager, coach marquee player, bench player or even a bat boy you need to focus on the task at hand, balance your energy (no need to wear the Phiten energy necklace- its all in your head) which will ultimately inspire others around you to do the same; we all know that its contagious. The thrill of victory is just around the corner; we just need to make it happen.
4. Embrace Change/Innovation: Many consider Bruce Bochy as an artesian of change/innovation. Through his quiet, stealth, quick & decisive leadership he constantly changed his line up, listened to his players, knew his competition and used some pretty innovative tactics to ASSIST all his players to perform well to focus and compliment the team’s efforts. The main change in our industry has been obvious, not enough work. A pretty tough change to overcome, adapting and innovating during this time period has been tough, but we have been made smarter in the process. For those of thus that have embraced this fact, you will find that it helped your business become leaner, more competitive and innovative; a great spot to be in preparation for the thrill of many future victories.
   

http://sports.tmcnet.com/applications/articles/113058-giants-early-tech-adopters-now-reaping-benefits.htm