A digital transformation in cancer therapy
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J UNE 2 0 1 9
The rise of the adaptive data center
RAGINGWIRE A global platform for hyperscale enterprise SVPs Joe Goldsmith and Kevin Dalton on designing, building and operating mission-critical data centers
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FOREWORD
W
elcome to the June issue of Construction Global!
Elsewhere, we spoke to Nordex about the mammoth task that is harnessing the power of wind, and discussed the growing data centre market further with Aligned Energy – it’s vital to think about the impact these powerhouses of tomorrow have on the environment.
Globally, the data centre market is set to be worth $174bn by 2023, driven in part by the numerous businesses making the move to cloud storage. This sets a challenge not just for those businesses, but We also include insights for the construction from SPIE on smart industry: how will we buildings, or as George Kevin Dalton, house the massive Adams prefers, ‘healthy SVP, RagingWire Data Centers volume of data at our buildings’, and from Oracle fingertips which is only on the digital transformation set to grow? of the construction industry, plus much more. We sat down with Joe Goldsmith and Kevin Dalton of RagingWire Data Do you have a story to tell? Centers which connects customers Don’t forget to email to a global network of more than 140 daniel.brightmore@bizclikmedia.com data centres in 20 markets. They told to be involved in an issue John O’Hanlon all about RagingWire’s of Construction Global. plans across not only new locations in Silicon Valley but also to develop in Enjoy the issue! emerging markets too. Daniel Brightmore w w w.c o nst ruc t i o ngl o b a l. com
03
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CONTENTS
12 RAGINGWIRE DATA CENTERS:
RagingWire mission-critical data centers for hyperscale cloud and large enterprises
38 Bringing greener cities to life through connectivity and innovation
50 Can a building become its own ecosystem?
Construction in the cloud with Oracle
76
Sustainability on a massive scale
ERP AND THE POTENTIAL TO POWER CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTIVITY
90
60
100 Aligned Energy
116 Proton International
130 The Nordex Group
146 Hansen Yuncken
164 Level Crossings Authority
194 Emaar, The Economic City
182 Digital Realty
RAGINGWIRE MISSION-CRITICAL DATA CENTERS FOR HYPERSCALE CLOUD AND LARGE ENTERPRISES
12
WRIT TEN BY
JOHN O’HANLON PRODUCED BY
TOM VENTURO
JUNE 2019
RagingWire Sacramento CA3 Data Center Skywalk
13
w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
R A G I N G W I R E D ATA C E N T E R S
14
As part of NTT, RagingWire is one of the largest data center providers in the world, connecting customers to a global network of more than 140 data centers in 20 countries and regions
T
o say the world is facing an
RagingWire was one of the early
unprecedented explosion of
start-ups that helped create the data
information may be a cliché,
center colocation industry back in the
but it’s true. Globally, the data center
early 2000s. Since then, the company
market is estimated to reach revenues
has steadily grown its presence across
of around US$174bn by 2023, largely
the US, with campuses in the top data
driven by the massive growth in cloud
center markets of Ashburn, Virginia,
computing and the migration of large
Dallas, Texas, Silicon Valley, Chicago,
enterprises from in-house data centers
Illinois, and Sacramento, California.
to colocation facilities. These are the
In Ashburn, the number one data
fundamentals behind the strategy of
center market in the world which is
RagingWire Data Centers.
known as “Data Center Alley” for its
JUNE 2019
15
RagingWire Ashburn VA3 Data Center – Security checkpoint large concentration of colocation data
data center campus which is home to
centers, RagingWire operates a 78-acre,
a marquee 16 MW facility. Four more
securely fenced campus with room for
large data centers are planned for the
seven large data center facilities, one of
campus, which would bring the campus
which is opened and two of which are
total to 144 MW of critical IT load.
under construction now. Combined with
In Sacramento, California, about
two other data centers RagingWire
90 miles east of San Francisco and
previously opened in Ashburn, the
outside the earthquake zone of the
company owns space for a total of nine
Bay Area, RagingWire built three
Ashburn data centers which could offer
data centers with a total of 53 MW
a total of 236 MW of critical power.
of critical power, all running on 100%
In Dallas, RagingWire owns a 42-acre
renewable energy. w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
R A G I N G W I R E D ATA C E N T E R S
Recently, RagingWire announced
increasingly outsource data center
plans to build new data centers on
capacity to take advantage of greater
coveted land in Silicon Valley (Santa
economies of scale, efficiencies,
Clara to be exact), and in Chicago.
speed to market, security, space and
These new locations complete Raging-
reliability than they would have if they
Wire’s portfolio in the most popular U.S.
housed their mission-critical comput-
data center locations, but the compa-
ers at their own facilities.
ny is also planning developments in other emerging markets as well.
In January 2014, NTT acquired an 80% equity stake in RagingWire. Four years later in January 2018, having
16
NTT BRINGS GLOBAL CONNECTIVITY TO RAGINGWIRE CUSTOMERS
doubled RagingWire’s capacity, NTT
Today RagingWire is focused on
remaining shares.
meeting the demands of large enterprises and cloud providers which
exercised its option to purchase the By joining the NTT family, RagingWire became the platform for NTT’s
E XECU T I VE P RO FI LE
Joe Goldsmith Joe Goldsmith is Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at RagingWire Data Centers, responsible for all aspects of go-to-market strategy and execution including: sales, marketing, product management, business development, channels, and sales operations. Goldsmith is a proven sales executive with more than 25 years of experience, including more than a decade in the data center industry.
JUNE 2019
“ Hybrid IT is the new world order and I don’t think you will find any CIO in America who has not contemplated or executed a cloud component to their overall strategy” — Joe Goldsmith, Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at RagingWire
RagingWire Dallas TX1 Data Center – Lobby w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
17
R A G I N G W I R E D ATA C E N T E R S
“ The new data centers have to be super reliable of course, and scalable, but the one big consideration for hyperscalers is speed to market” 18 — Kevin Dalton, Senior Vice President of Construction and Critical Facilities Engineering and Design (CFED) at RagingWire
RagingWire Sacramento CA3 Data Center – Lobby
data center business throughout the
huge market for the cloud and software-
Americas, and became part of one of
as-a-service (SaaS) providers, it’s not
the largest data center companies in
one in which most of the US-based
the world with strong financial backing
cloud service providers have deep
and more than 140 facilities in over 20
infrastructure. Being able to support
countries and regions.
them in the European and Asian
RagingWire’s customers value the
markets is really powerful for us.”
global reach enabled by NTT. Accorddent and Chief Revenue Officer Joe
EVERYTHING HYPERSCALE PLAYERS NEED, AND NOTHING THEY DON’T
Goldsmith, “Though Asia represents a
It makes less and less sense for
ing to RagingWire Senior Vice Presi-
JUNE 2019
19 E X E CU T I VE P RO FI LE
Kevin Dalton Kevin Dalton is Senior Vice President of Construction and Critical Facilities Engineering and Design (CFED) at RagingWire Data Centers, responsible for leading the team that designs and delivers world-class data centers. Dalton is an expert in leveraging supply chain optimization and modular pre-fabricated construction techniques to drive rapid growth, improved quality, and speed to market. Throughout his career, he has set the standard for next generation data center designs.
w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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21
RagingWire Dallas TX1 Data Center hyperscale cloud providers like Google,
include bringing their operating
Amazon, Alibaba or Microsoft to take
expenses down through more efficient
the time and expense to build the
cooling, better management of energy
capacity they require in a data center.
and the like,” Dalton says. “The new
The hyperscale players are driving
data centers have to be super reliable
the market right now, says Kevin
of course, and scalable, but the one
Dalton, Senior Vice President of
big consideration for hyperscalers is
Construction and Critical Facilities
speed to market. Demand is so intense
Engineering and Design (CFED) at
right now that these customers can no
RagingWire. “We’re meeting [the
longer meet it from their own resourc-
hyperscalers’] changing needs, which
es, which is why they are reaching out w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
A simpler approach to a future-proof data center. With scalable pre-fabricated solutions like Vertiv™ SmartMod™ and the quickly deployed Power Module, Vertiv is standardizing modular systems so you can get your data center running, faster. Vertiv.com
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to organizations like RagingWire.” We are in the early stages of a tech
As Goldsmith puts it: “The hyperscale players’ core strength lies in building
boom driven by huge opportunities
and developing software, infrastructure
with the Internet of Things (IoT),
and cloud services. There are many
artificial intelligence (AI) and Big Data,
markets where they simply don’t have
and nobody doubts that soon self-driv-
the ability to catch up with the demand.
ing vehicles and smart cities will
That’s where they can turn to a third
create new demands for data centers
party like us that can help them achieve
and the servers, storage, and network-
their business objectives by fulfilling
ing devices that live there. Combine
their data capacity requirement.”
these new and emerging demands
Goldsmith mentioned that enterpris-
with continued growth in enterprise
es like insurance companies, banks or
computing and the future looks bright
large manufacturers may still have
for RagingWire.
some on-site processing or a data w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
23
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“ We have been innovating in the area of modular design and supply chain, to both shorten construction lead times and to lower costs” — Kevin Dalton, Senior Vice President of Construction and Critical Facilities Engineering and Design (CFED) at RagingWire
To do this, he and Joe Goldsmith work closely with customers to understand their business plans and capacity requirements. “This is an iterative process for us in collaboration with our customers,” says Dalton. “Clearly, without access to reliable, cost-effective power and fiber connectivity you can’t have a data center. Cost of land and labor are other challenges.” But these are secondary to being in the right location at the right time. RagingWire is constructing, for example, a new four-story data center, SV1, in Santa Clara, California, in the heart of Silicon Valley. The 160,000 sq. ft. facility
center, but most are executing a hybrid
is going up on a 3.3 acre site, with 64,000
strategy that includes legacy applica-
sq. ft of data floor space and 16 MW of
tions, proprietary systems, private
scalable, critical IT power and will be
cloud, and public cloud.
operational in 2020.
“Hybrid IT is the new world order
New data center space in Santa
and I don’t think you will find any CIO in
Clara is rare. The vacancy rate among
America who has not contemplated or
at least 30 data centers in the area is
executed a cloud component to their
under 8%. There will be no lack of
overall strategy,” Goldsmith said.
takers for RagingWire’s new facility. To be prepared for the ground-shaking
BUILDING DATA CENTERS BIGGER, SMARTER, FASTER
that is characteristic of the Bay Area,
Kevin Dalton’s job is to locate, design
a seismic-stability system used by NTT
and construct new data center space.
in its data center in Japan, a location
RagingWire’s SV1 Data Center will feature
w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
25
R A G I N G W I R E D ATA C E N T E R S
26
RagingWire Ashburn VA3 Data Center JUNE 2019
NTT (RAGINGWIRE’S PA R E N T C O M PA N Y )
$118bn+ Approximate revenue
283,000
Approximate number of employees
140
Data centers worldwide
w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
27
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prone to earthquakes. A subterranean
area of modular design and supply
pendulum isolation system protects
chain, to both shorten construction
the building from the ground moving
lead times and to lower costs,” Dalton
below it. Using the same system, NTT’s
says. “There are huge advantages in
Tokyo facilities were unharmed by the
having standard designs where we
catastrophic 9.1 magnitude earthquake
can pretty much drop in electrical and
and tsunami that devastated eastern
mechanical modules at any location
Japan in 2011.
around the country. Time to market is
This is a great illustration of one of
vital to the cloud providers.”
the advantages that RagingWire gains
With this approach, the equipment
from its parent group, however Dalton
for an electrical room can be reduced
returns to the agility RagingWire offers
to a couple of elements that fit on a
as the main differentiator across the
flatbed truck for delivery to a core and
USA. “We have been innovating in the
shell at any location in the country. w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
29
BUILDING BETTER
MODULAR ELECTRICAL SOLUTIONS FOR DATA CENTERS
www.fibrebond.com
“ Most of our customers have green policies so being able to offer them renewable energy helps them maintain those green credentials” — Kevin Dalton, Senior Vice President of Construction and Critical Facilities Engineering and Design (CFED) at RagingWire
are in place, installing the infrastructure should take no more than a few months. Purchasing agreements with global equipment manufacturers lead to volume discounts that can be passed on to customers. “We do as much work in advance as possible to procure the equipment and ship it to the integrator so they can put it together for us, test it and hold it as inventory ready to ship,” Dalton explains. It’s all about consistency in design, so that customers can deploy systems and RagingWire and their NTT colleagues can manage data centers worldwide. Design drives operational synergy. The modular approach allows RagingWire to
Another advantage of partnering with
replicate facilities in different markets
vendors, he adds, is that they are willing
while tailoring the data centers to take
to hold an inventory of fully functioning
advantage of the unique characteristics
and tested modules – the old way of
of the geography.
build to order takes too long to meet hyperscale cycle times. Close management of the supply
REDUCING TCO WHILE INCREASING RENEWABLE ENERGY
chain, allied to sophisticated forecast-
In a market that is expanding at the
ing, means that much of the construc-
rate of the cloud, total cost of owner-
tion can be done ahead of time.
ship (TCO) is a major consideration for
Customers need to know exactly when
providers when building a business
their facility will be up and running.
case. RagingWire is addressing TCO
Once the core and shell of the building
at every level. Power represents the w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
31
R A G I N G W I R E D ATA C E N T E R S
biggest operational cost, and mechan-
now is to find affordable and reliable
ical systems such as cooling are the
renewable energy sources. RagingWire
largest consumers of power. In the
has taken a proactive approach to
data center industry, the ratio between
renewable energy at its three data
mechanical systems and computing
centers in Sacramento, Calif., which
equipment is assessed using the
together offer 680,000 sq. ft. with 53
power usage effectiveness (PUE)
MW of critical IT power. In Sacramento,
metric. “Efficient cooling systems lead
RagingWire now offers 100% renew-
to efficient data centers that reduce
able power that is fully available and
your operating expense and ultimately
backed by a 100% uptime service level
lower the total cost of ownership for
agreement (SLA) to customers.
the customer,” explains Goldsmith. Over the years, data center designs 32
have become highly efficient. The quest
JUNE 2019
Sustainability is a major priority for customers, emphasises Kevin Dalton. “Most of our customers have green
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘RAGINGWIRE DALLAS TX1 DATA CENTER VIRTUAL TOUR’
RagingWire Dallas TX1 Data Center – Lobby w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
33
R A G I N G W I R E D ATA C E N T E R S
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policies so being able to offer them renewable energy helps them maintain those green credentials. In Sacramento, we work with our utility partner, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD), to ensure that our energy utilization is a combination of wind and hydro, solar and biomass. We are also working with energy providers in all of our locations to develop renewable energy options for our customers.” Recycled concrete and repurposed steel are other ways he cites to reduce the amount of material sent to landfills.
EARNING A REPUTATION AS A TRUSTED, STABLE PROVIDER For Joe Goldsmith, a big benefit of being under the NTT umbrella is that the parent represents a single, stable, and substantial source of capital. “Unlike a lot of the data center providers in the market today, especially the private-equity backed companies, we have a single source of capital,” Goldsmith says. “We don’t have to go from bank to bank when we want to come into a new market, raise debt, raid equity, look for investment partners, or manage to restrictive covenants. This
“ Efficient cooling systems lead to efficient data centers that reduce your operating expense and ultimately lower the total cost of ownership for the customer” — Joe Goldsmith, Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at RagingWire RagingWire Dallas TX1 Data Center – Data Floor w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
35
R A G I N G W I R E D ATA C E N T E R S
“ Unlike a lot of the data center providers in the market today, we have a single source of capital. We don’t have to go from bank to bank when we want to come into a new market, raise debt, raid equity, look for investment partners, or manage to restrictive covenants” — Joe Goldsmith, Senior Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer at RagingWire
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RagingWire Ashburn VA3 Data Center – Showcase Conference Room 37 takes uncertainty out of the equation,
service. Customers don’t want the
and that is something the hyperscale
volatility that comes with new owners,
players really appreciate.”
new contracts, new pricing, and new
RagingWire’s capital plan is re-
operations. They like to know that the
freshed annually, and this gives its
site will be operated in a proven and
clients confidence that their future
consistent way by people they know
plans don’t depend on a company that
and trust.”
might run into difficulties. “Another thing in our favor is that we are not subject to the consolidation that is going on right now in the data center market,” Goldsmith says. “It’s too easy for a data center start-up to be more interested in their exit strategy than their growth strategy and customer w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
SMART CITIES
38
Bringing greener cities to life through connectivity and innovation Hosting half the world’s population on 2% of the planet’s surface poses a unique set of challenges, says Mike Hughes, Zone President UK and Ireland, Schneider Electric WRITTEN BY
JUNE 2019
MIKE HUGHES
39
Deloitte’s headquarters, The Edge Building in Amsterdam w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
SMART CITIES
T
ackling climate change and
population is expected to grow by over
creating sustainable cities in the
1bn people over the next thirteen years,
face of rapid population growth,
reaching 8.6bn in 2030.
ageing infrastructure and the
Meanwhile, the increasingly digital,
pace of technological change has
connected and electric nature of our
never been more important. Cities
lives means that we each as individuals
make up 2% of the world’s surface
have greater energy needs than ever
but house more than half of the world’s
before. Is this pace of growth sustain-
population and consume 75% of
able for urban centres and cities like
energy resources. By 2030, urban areas
London or Paris, let alone megacities?
are projected to host 60% of people
The answer is yes, but only if we make
globally. Very soon, one in every three
our cities ‘smarter’.
people will live in cities with at least half a million inhabitants, as the world’s 40
JUNE 2019
Incorporating renewables into our energy mix is a vital part of reducing
our environmental impact, but their potential is being wasted by our inefficient use of that energy. Modern technologies, smart sensors and services that can help us identify and tackle energy waste can and must help to improve cities’ efficiency, sustainability, and resilience. For any city, going ‘smart’ can be difficult. The sheer size and complexity involved in building a truly integrated
“ Creating sustainable cities means creating smart cities, powered by clean energy that is responsibly consumed and saved” — Mike Hughes, Zone President UK & Ireland, Schneider Electric
and sustainable smart city is difficult to comprehend. In India, Schneider Electric is helping to build Naya Raipur, 41
w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
SMART CITIES
“ The only way we will tackle climate change and create cities fit for the future is by rethinking our relationship with energy as individuals, businesses and nations” — Mike Hughes, Zone President UK & Ireland, Schneider Electric
a project which aims to build an entirely new capital city for the newly created state of Chhattisgarh. The funding, expertise, organisation, planning and collaboration to create this smart city from the ground up is incredible. Smart cities at this scale require multi-level governance, expert consultants, technology firms and vendors working together to make the concept a reality. But the vast majority of the world’s population live in existing towns and cities, not brand-new developments.
42
Naya Raipur is a smart city project located in the newly formed state of Chhattisgarh in India Photo © Smart Cities Council India
Ageing city infrastructures pose connectivity and network management challenges. At the same time, a 24/7 society and a wide array of IoT-enabled devices and electric vehicles (EV) are fuelling greater energy demand. While cities are tasked with improving services and building new transport networks, hospitals, schools, and homes to accommodate population growth, they do so with tightening budgets. Critical infrastructure (old or new) – such as hospitals, airports, live entertainment venues, schools and office buildings – must be reliable, functional but also efficient if we are to build a sustainable future. And it is in efficiency where there is potential to
JUNE 2019
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR’S NEW STATE-OF-THE-ART STADIUM WITH ADVANCED ENERGY MANAGEMENT FACILITIES’ 43 unlock huge financial savings that
of projects to improve their water
could, in turn, reduce running costs,
systems, local or regional energy grids,
helping to fund future investment.
transport infrastructure or buildings.
Developed cities considering going
These precincts or district-scale
‘smart’ simply don’t have the option to
developments are not city-scale, but
rebuild everything from the ground up.
they are large enough to form multiple
They are busy, functioning ecosystems
smart city domains and become a
that need to continue to work whilst
visible and useful reference point to
improvements are made. As a result,
encourage future investment. Indeed,
a piecemeal approach to making cities
by working collaboratively with both
smarter is the only option. It is essen-
public and private sectors, Schneider
tial, therefore, that incentives and
Electric has successfully delivered
regulation are introduced to drive
smart city project applications to more
organisations and individuals to
than 250 cities worldwide.
incorporate efficiency as a core pillar
One such example is our recent w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
SMART CITIES
partnership with Tottenham Hotspur to help build and manage the energy distribution and consumption at the club’s new state-of-the-art stadium – a landmark in sports venue efficiency and connectivity. As the stadium’s official Energy Management Supplier, Schneider Electric performs 60,000 automated checks every five minutes to ensure that every aspect of energy usage is monitored and optimised, ensuring such aspects and optimal temperature and lighting conditions. Designed for visitor enjoyment and 44
comfort, the stadium is also helping to regenerate the surrounding area of Tottenham, bringing the smart city reality one step closer. The ripples of projects such as these, ambitious in scale and innovative in nature, not only improve energy efficiency, but also set a new standard of living and urban regeneration, whilst also starting to change perceptions of energy use. Take for example the Edge building, Deloitte’s headquarters, in the Netherlands. This building not only delivers a cutting-edge digital workspace and meets the highest environmental standards, but it was created with the goal of being a ‘net neutral’ JUNE 2019
Tottenham Hotspur’s new state-of-the-art stadium
“ Projects such as these, ambitious in scale and innovative in nature, not only improve energy efficiency, but also set a new standard of living and urban regeneration” — Mike Hughes, Zone President UK & Ireland, Schneider Electric
building and the potential to be ‘net positive’. The Edge is a building that is self-sufficient in terms of the energy it requires to function, and at times (such as at night or weekends) returns excess energy produced to the grid. Forward-thinking projects such as these start to enable us to imagine a future where perhaps the majority of homes, businesses, schools and hospitals could be at worst net neutral and ideally net positive. Imagine receiving an income from your home or place of work, instead of paying bills. It would completely change the way we think about energy generation, distribution, and consumption. Digitisation paves the way for more and more net neutral or net positive buildings, generating their own energy on-site with smart systems that give excess energy back to the grid. Whilst net neutral and net positive buildings are currently just a dream for all but a few, the road to achieving this starts with tackling waste. Something that every government, business or individual can do. With demand for energy rising, unlocking untapped energy efficiency potential has never been more urgent, or easily achieved. w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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SMART CITIES
Investing in smart systems that monitor energy use and efficiency across every aspect of your energy infrastructure is something that can be realised today. By understanding how, where and when energy is used, opportunities for efficiencies can be identified and actioned. Our Global Digital Transformation Benefits Report 2019 identified 12 ways that the digital transformation of energy management and automation drives benefits in CapEx, OpEx, based on interviews with 230 businesses. These companies have realised 46
savings in energy consumption of up to 85% and up to 80% on energy costs. Energy efficiency projects are becoming a C-suite priority, as board members recognise the competitive edge that projects can deliver, at the same time as delivering on sustainability commitments which employees, customers and governments are driving for. Projects like these demonstrate that rethinking energy is not only a major enabler of innovation. It powers progress and life. As the global population grows and our world and lives become increasingly electrified, creating sustainable cities means creating smart cities, JUNE 2019
S TAT I S T I C S
• Cities make up 2% of the world’s surface but house more than half of the world’s population and consume 75% of energy resources • By 2030, urban areas are projected to host 60% of people globally
Crossrail Place Roof Garden in Canary Wharf, London Photo Š Jason Williams
powered by clean energy that is responsibly consumed and saved. The fact is it is far easier to save a unit of energy than it is to create one. The only way we will tackle climate change and create cities fit for the future is by rethinking our relationship with energy as individuals, businesses and nations.
Deloitte’s headquarters, The Edge Building in Amsterdam
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GREEN BUILDING
50
Can a building become its own ecosystem?
JUNE 2019
SPIE UK’s George Adams discusses the major impact commercial buildings can have by changing the way they use energy – not just on climate change, but on health and wellbeing too WRITTEN BY
OLIVIA MINNOCK
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GREEN BUILDING
F
52
rom optimising concept
constantly respond to changes,
and design right through
and equally create change
to implementation and
through design, engineering,
operation, SPIE UK provides
maintenance, operations and
smart engineering and technolo-
energy efficiency.”
gy-driven solutions for the built
Adams has been concerned
environment. Employing more
with climate change throughout
than 3,000 people, the business
his career, and has long been fas-
is comprised of experts on design,
cinated by the way buildings and
electrical, mechanical and HVAC
the built environment can impact
engineering, energy and commu-
factors like carbon emissions.
nications and more.
The full potential, he argues, has
Now, among its wider opera-
not yet been recognised. “I was
tions, a particular mission for
embracing design for energy all
SPIE UK is to help make commer-
the way back into the late 1980s
cial buildings – and by extension
– my eyes were opened up to the
whole cities – function in a more
fact buildings need to focus on
sustainable, autonomous way in
efficiency and sustainability,
order to combat climate change
though back then we used to
and positively influence the health
talk more about buildings being
and wellbeing of employees.
‘autonomous’,” he recalls.
“Design thinking is about
Central to SPIE UK’s corpo-
a holistic view of what we need
rate strategy is the smart city:
to do as engineers to improve
a concept bringing together
the built environment,” comments
technology, energy, health and
Energy and Engineering Director
wellbeing to create better, more
George Adams. “SPIE UK
connected environments for
recognises that we have to
people to live, work and learn in.
JUNE 2019
“ GLOBALLY, ABOUT 7MN PEOPLE DIE PER YEAR BECAUSE OF POOR AIR QUALITY AND A LOT OF THAT COMES FROM CITIES. IN ADDITION, FROM A FINANCIAL POINT OF VIEW, OVER $4BN IS LOST IN PRODUCTIVITY BECAUSE OF AIR POLLUTION” — George Adams, Director of Energy & Engineering, SPIE UK 53
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“ IF LIGHTING IS POOR, IT CAN AFFECT PEOPLE’S EMOTIONS AND ATTENTION TO DETAIL, CAUSING THEM TO MAKE MISTAKES” 54
— George Adams, Director of Energy & Engineering, SPIE UK
JUNE 2019
Simply reducing carbon emissions, while vital, seems increasingly simplistic nowadays as wellness and a positive work environment take centre stage among the benefits of a more sustainable city. Among several climate action and engineering groups, Adams leads the UK’s Resilient Cities Group, heads up the Construction Industry Council’s Green Construction Panel and is a member of the Trees and Design Action Group. “In London, we like to think we’re a green city,” he says, “but there’s actually only one tree per person in the whole city. We need to bring together the hardware of engineering, the functionality of making buildings more sustainable through energy conservation, and green infrastructure to help create a better environment. “Globally, about 7mn people die per year because of poor air quality and a lot of that comes from cities. In addition, from a financial point of view, over $4bn is lost in productivity because of air pollution.” While ‘sustainability’ reflects cutting down energy usage and waste, Adams’ overarching term of ‘autonomous’ also encapsulates health and wellbeing within a building that essentially becomes its own ecosystem. “Autonomous buildings can create the right air quality in order that people working in cities can get really good air quality, while outside the building we need to clean our act up,” he says. In this way, Adams argues, buildings have the potential to be ‘mediators of climate’. “Buildings have a great opportunity to create an environment people can work in.” SPIE UK leverages technologies like IoT and data analytics, w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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GREEN BUILDING
56
as well as smart FM platforms, to find out
efficiently as they can,” says Adams.
just how much more efficient a building
SPIE UK can look at everything
can be made and to ensure a bespoke
from the overall engineering infrastruc-
solution is found for each space.
ture to individual pieces of equipment
“We get the data from a building,
to pinpoint what isn’t working and
analyse it, and can see not only that
what needs to be updated. “We can
the building can perform better in
give a solution which doesn’t involve
terms of energy efficiency, but also the
throwing the plant away – this recy-
levels and type of lighting, ventilation,
cling is important for us,” Adams
air quality etc… we can also explain to
adds. “We can show clients how to
the client how and why the environment
enhance existing equipment, make
isn’t conducive to people working as
it work more efficiently, and save
JUNE 2019
57
money over time in terms of life cycle
A key change most commercial
cost, whereas eventually replacing
buildings can benefit from pertains
the building would cost four or five
to lighting. “From a global point of view,
times as much as an upgrade.”
lighting contributes to about 20% of
Recycling and retrofitting are
global energy consumption created by
a keen focus. “We look at how the
human beings. If we can reduce lighting
existing building can be improved in
energy by 60-70% across the globe,
terms of fit-out, fabric and engineer-
we’ve made a significant contribution
ing content – how modifications can
to reducing carbon emissions.
be made to not only reduce energy
“LED light requires so much less
use, but improve quality of environ-
energy than traditional fluorescent
ment. We’ve done this for several clients.”
lighting and equally gives a brighter, w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
GREEN BUILDING
cleaner and clearer light. Lighting
driven, Adams says this is becoming easier.
is a very dynamic area that has
“A lot of research has been carried out over
massive potential to help
the years in the industry to demonstrate that
us reduce carbon emissions.
poor temperature control, humidity, air
“We are now also recognising the impact types of lighting
way people work.”
can have on people – for example,
Wider economic impact must also be
lighting with a blue tinge can make
considered, with Adams citing that £1 of
staff more energetic. If lighting
investment in the UK construction industry
is poor, it can affect people’s
can contribute £2.60 of GDP. “Clearly the
emotions and attention to detail,
more efficient we make buildings, then
causing them to make mistakes.”
that RoI for the whole construction industry
It’s all very well to explain to 58
quality or lighting does directly affect the
a company their building needs
becomes greater.” For SPIE UK, this also involves working with
an upgrade to have a more positive
schools to educate young people. “I prefer to
impact on people and planet, but
talk about the built environment as a whole
at the end of the day the financial
– this brings on board a range of skillsets
angle will always be top of mind.
such as ecologists, economists, architects,
How can a CFO be persuaded
engineers… we give students a broader view;
to drive sustainability? “Some-
it’s not just about building a building.”
thing we’re driving at SPIE UK
This education aspect is something SPIE
is return on investment – when
UK believes should be at the forefront in
they will cover capital costs, and
developing the autonomous buildings and
then the life cycle savings, as
smart cities of tomorrow. “It’s all about transpar-
well as added benefits of health,
ency and knowledge sharing,” says Adams.
wellbeing and productivity,”
“The fact is that the world, technology and
Adams explains.
challenges for society are all moving so fast
While many would balk at the
that more and more people are realising
prospect of bringing up these
if you have a piece of knowledge, keeping it to
‘softer’ benefits to the financially
yourself is probably not the best thing to do.”
JUNE 2019
“ LIGHTING IS A VERY DYNAMIC AREA THAT HAS MASSIVE POTENTIAL TO HELP US REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS” — George Adams, Director of Energy & Engineering, SPIE UK
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LEADERSHIP
60
Construction in the cloud with Oracle We spoke with a talented trio at Oracle who are at the forefront of the digital transformation of the construction industry — meet Mike Sicilia, Leigh Jasper and Mike Antis… WRITTEN BY
JUNE 2019
DAN BRIGHTMORE
61
Oracle is involved in the ongoing restoration of London’s iconic Battersea Power Station w w w.c o nst ruc t i o ngl o b a l. com
LEADERSHIP
T
he genesis of Oracle’s expansion into the construction industry started ten years ago
and ramped significantly when Mike
Sicilia, Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Oracle Construction & Engineering Global Business Unit, joined Oracle as part of the acquisition of Primavera in 2011. “Over the past decade we’ve grown the business organically,” explains Sicilia. “And through further acquisitions (including Aconex and Textura) 62
continued to expand the footprint of our construction solutions from project scheduling to payment, document management, collaboration tools and general business process automation as part of a global business unit for
The acquisition of Aconex has further
construction and engineering.” The
beefed up Oracle’s Construction offering.
Global Business Unit focuses on
“As part of a common set of solutions
enterprise project portfolio manage-
on a shared platform, Aconex brings
ment solutions for project-intensive
the ability to have a wide set of tools to
industries utilising Primavera’s
manage your project or asset all the way
cloud-based SaaS solution P6EPPM
through its different phases,” affirms
– touted as the world’s most powerful,
Leigh Jasper, co-founder of Aconex,
flexible and easy to use solution for
and its Vice President of Strategy and
prioritising, managing and executing
Operations at Oracle. “These comple-
projects, programs and portfolios and
mentary solutions lead the market in
used in $250bn of projects annually.
terms of what they’re able to deliver as
JUNE 2019
“ Through further acquisitions (including Aconex and Textura) we continued to expand the footprint of our construction solutions from project scheduling to payment, document management, collaboration tools and general business process automation” — Mike Sicilia Senior Vice President & General Manager, Oracle Construction & Engineering Global Business Unit
a unified package for our customers who are excited to be able to combine the functions of products from Oracle, Aconex and Textura in one suite. We offer a cloud first approach and I believe you can’t get a better set of products under one roof anywhere else in the market.” More than 16,000 project leaders trust Aconex for visibility, control, reduced risk, and connecting teams for design and construction coordination, project controls, w w w.c o nst ruc t i o ngl o b a l. com
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LEADERSHIP
and field management delivering a speedy ROI with software that can be deployed in days. Jasper believes reacting to continual feedback from customers has been the key to success. “When we started nearly 20 years ago digitising was a completely new way of managing the information load so we educated customers as to how they could use the technology and also learned from them to drive the evolution of these solutions. With the advent of the internet, rather than having informa64
tion sitting within individual enterprises, we were able to create a common data environment (CDE) where everybody can access the information they need and rely on a single source of truth which drives efficiency gains and reduces risk on any size of project.” Aconex has the capability to control projects with thousands of participants as well as millions of documents, 3D models, BIM coordination, processes and decisions while maintaining insight and control each step of the way. “No matter where you are – in the office, field or trailer – your project is always at your fingertips,” adds Jasper. “We’ve connected more construction and engineering teams than any platform to deliver over a trillion dollars in project value.” These projects include the ongoing restoration of JUNE 2019
$40bn Total GAAP revenue in FY 2018
25,000 partners 139,000 Approximate number of employees
65
London’s iconic Battersea Power Station, a huge rail infrastructure development in Qatar and New Zealand’s Nga Awa Purua geothermal power station. Making it a triple threat for Oracle’s Construction & Engineering division, Textura were brought into the fold to transform the financial mind set as there were very few solutions on the market able to solve the structural financing issues that have plagued construction projects in the supply chain. “We offer a billing claims mana gement solution that also covers payments to meet the w w w.c o nst ruc t i o ngl o b a l. com
LEADERSHIP
growing concern in the industry around
very high touch from a service perspec-
late payments to contractors,” explains
tive. We try to offer value to all parties
Mike Antis, Executive Vice President of
in the supply chain, not just those who
Textura, Client Services at Oracle
purchase the solution. Our goal is to
Construction & Engineering and Vice
deliver value to everybody in the
President of Client Services at Oracle
ecosystem so the purchaser gets the
Construction & Engineering.
most value possible through their supply
“We enhance visibility in the process
66
chain.” Antis believes the mobile
and speed it along. We also offer
capability of Oracle’s suite of solutions
a financing capability which gets money
– including Textura’s Construction
in the hands of the subcontractors
Payment Management (CPM) – is putting
much earlier in the process with the
real time data for informed business
goal of improving the working capital
decisions in the hands of users. “It’s
position and strengthening business.
a game changer,” he enthuses. “And it’s
We’re cloud native, collaborative and
where the industry has really arrived.”
JUNE 2019
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘MAKING THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE WITH ORACLE CONSTRUCTION AND ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS’
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LEADERSHIP
With the expansion and transformation of companies like Oracle what will this mean to the development of the construction industry? “What we’re seeing is the acceleration of digital transformation,” maintains Jasper. “Many firms started this journey with their customers back in the nineties and it’s come about by bringing these solutions together into common platforms. It’s hard for our customers buying from different vendors to cobble something together... It’s really important to digitise and bring tools together 68
in one place – we’re connecting those dots and reducing a five-year journey into a matter of months or weeks to achieve implementation.” Oracle’s range of solutions are available on a modular basis so compa-
tion customers solve not just discrete
nies can start addressing document,
business problems during the planning,
payment or scheduling business
building or operating phase, but also
problems individually and gradually
addressing issues like IoT registration,”
add more options over time as their
asserts Sicilia. “Visit any job site and
needs change. Supported by syner-
you’ll encounter drones, sensors,
gies across the business at Oracle,
wearables… All of these become
the Construction & Engineering division
end users of the software so the
draws on these in-house alliances to
challenge is to be able to marshall,
set its offering apart. “The most compel-
secure, identify and track them.
ling thing is being able to leverage the
By bolting on our IoT registration
Oracle technology to help our construc-
cloud to your applications we
JUNE 2019
69
“ Now that we’re one collaborative platform there’s a tremendous opportunity to leverage our strengths around the world with the goal of digitising clients, collecting data and harnessing that to make informed business decisions” — Mike Antis Executive Vice President of Textura, Client Services at Oracle Construction & Engineering w w w.c o nst ruc t i o ngl o b a l. com
LEADERSHIP
“ What we’re seeing is the acceleration of digital transformation. Many firms started this journey with their customers back in the nineties and it’s come about by bringing these solutions together into common platforms”
70
— Leigh Jasper Co-founder of Aconex and Vice President, Aconex Strategy and Operations at Oracle Construction & Engineering
can do this. Another example of why companies should choose us is our data analytics capability, because construction generates a lot of unstructured data. Being able to dive in and get analytics, from other vendors as well as Oracle solutions with our expandable platform helps customers solve their IoT ecosystem problems.” Oracle is keen to keep innovating and discover new ways to build relationships with customers eager to further their digital journey. We spend a lot of JUNE 2019
71
time meeting with clients in conference
enables visitors to interact with leading-
rooms but it’s really not where the folks
edge solutions, including connected
using our solutions will actually be
devices, autonomous vehicles, drones,
working,” notes Sicilia. “So, we’ve built
augmented reality, visualisation, and
a destination where customers can
artificial intelligence tools presented in
experience a simulation of a real job site
collaboration with Oracle partners
to see the value of our solutions and
including Assemble Systems (BIM data
give us real time feedback. We’ve also
wranglers), Bosch tools and Recon-
expanded the lab to include our technol-
struct (3D timeline tracking). Addition-
ogy partners who offer something that
ally, the lab demonstrates Oracle
make both of our systems stronger. It’s
Live Experience Cloud, showcasing
been met with great enthusiasm.” The
modern engagement for cross-work-
Innovation Lab in Deerfield, Illinois
site experiences. w w w.c o nst ruc t i o ngl o b a l. com
LEADERSHIP
Sicilia reckons the biggest challenges facing the industry are data protection, security, GDPR compliance and, in the US, being prepared for federal projects with FedRAMP certification (Federal Risk and Authorisation Management Program): “The world is getting its head around internet-based applications and security while facing up to the challenges of events like Brexit. Another benefit of this technology being part of Oracle is that we have the horsepower to take on these 72
initiatives and guarantee our customer’s data is hosted in specific data centre locations remaining secure. That’s the single biggest challenge: How do you add value quickly, get customers up and running, be credible and be compliant? Because the rules are changing on a daily basis.” Projects benefitting from Oracle solutions (with Aconex, Textura and Oracle working side by side) across the Global Business Unit include forty different airports around the world, most recently in Denver. Elsewhere, multi-billion-dollar developments like the F1 track in the Middle East fly the flag for what can be JUNE 2019
achieved. “We worked on the Singapore Marina,” remembers Jasper. “To this day it’s still the largest project, from a data point of view, on our platform with 40 million documents. Vast quantities of information are being managed on projects like these. We’re working with the largest contractors in the world so customers can be confident in how we scale up alongside the digital transformations they are going through.” Jasper believes those that learn from their data and digitise their businesses to a level where they can gain insights for a competitive advantage will be those that win over the next five to ten years. Sicilia predicts a rise in the number of joint ventures which will be require to meet targets for rebuilding global infrastructures over the next 15-20 years increasing Oracle’s adoption: “The cloud is the perfect solution for JVs, because you don’t need to worry about who owns the IT infrastructure, where the data sits… Technology will be a great enabler when it comes to increasing productivity and delivering critical infrastructure in an industry which, quite frankly, has struggled w w w.c o nst ruc t i o ngl o b a l. com
73
LEADERSHIP
“ We’ve seen a major labour shortage in the space and one of the ways to attract talent is through technology and appealing to those leaving university looking for sexy, forward-thinking industries” — Mike Antis Vice President of Textura, Client Services at Oracle Construction & Engineering
74
JUNE 2019
with this over a number of years.”
We’ve seen a major labour shortage
Antis agrees: “These generational
in the space and one of the ways to
leaps, moving from manual paper-
attract talent is through technology
laden processes to state of the art
and appealing to those leaving
tech solutions is not only necessary
university looking for sexy, forward-
to push the industry forward to keep
thinking industries.”
up with demand but it’s also going to help with recruiting new talent. Attracting skilled labour is one of the industry’s biggest problems…
75
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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
sustainability on a massive scale 76
We speak to Shannon Thomas Carroll, Director of Global Environmental Sustainability at AT&T, to see how the telco giant is harnessing sustainability across its massive operations‌ WRITTEN BY
JUNE 2019
ANDRE W WOODS
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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
A
ligning the notion and practice of sustainability within the biggest companies on the planet is no small
undertaking and AT&T – founded by Alexander Graham Bell – is no exception. The world’s largest telecommunications company and ranked number nine on the Fortune 500, this
giant multinational conglomerate has just over 270,000 employees and posted a 2017 revenue of $190.5bn. This is a holding company whose operations spread out over numerous sectors and territories and to seek a sustainable road map at such a business 78
is as complex as it is integral. Shannon Thomas Carroll is Director of Global Environmental Sustainability at AT&T and possesses a rich knowledge of both the company’s operations and its sustainable practices as he works to reduce the environmental impact of the telco’s operations. His key accomplishments include “being the internal driver for large scale renewable energy, zero-waste, and supply chain human rights audits”. Carroll has been with the company for almost 20 years, having served in several different capacities across the 133-year-old conglomerate. “I’ve worked on a consumer side, the business side of the house and on the network side,” he explains. “So I’ve had lots of different JUNE 2019
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“ AT&T has an energy intensity goal, relative to its network, to be 60% more efficient” — Shannon Thomas Carroll, Director of Global Environmental Sustainability at AT&T
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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
roles. I spent a lot of time in project
mental sustainability while I was still
management, as well as with a couple
in supply chain and was lucky enough
different business units. I did project
to transition that into a full-time role
management and compliance for our
over on the corporate side. I took that
supply chain; that’s one of the things
supply chain focus and expanded it
that transitioned me into my current
to a corporate view. Now my respons
role. On the compliance side, you have
bilities are specific to environmental
things like environmental health and
sustainability within our operations.
safety and that was one of the transi-
So, anything that has an environmen-
tional topics that really got me interest-
tal impact within our four walls is,
ed in this work. Then I just started
generally speaking, something I
asking for more work around environ-
would look at.�
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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘AT&T HELPS RESTORE COMMUNICATIONS AFTER HURRICANE MATTHEW’ 81 AT&T has had a long history of corporate social responsibility, even if it wasn’t always labelled as CSR. “We
also seeing how we can have the most sustainable business practices possible.” One of the first things Carroll explored
have an extensive history of strong
when he stepped into his current role
energy management and corporate
was AT&T’s greenhouse gas footprint.
real estate management,” Carrol
Carroll monitored all the different
explains. “We looked at things like
aspects of scope 1, scope 2 and scope
waste water, and obviously there
3 through an inventory to gather the
are natural financial incentives to use
required information. “Once we had
those resources, but you also want to
that information, we had it verified by
look at being a good corporate citizen.
an independent third party,” he explains.
What are the positive environmental
“That was a great introduction to the
impacts of doing that? I see my role,
job because I got to touch all parts of
first and foremost, as looking into what’s
the business when undertaking a cor-
going to be best for the company, while
porate greenhouse gas footprint. From w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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82
there you then start looking at some of
important. You’re looking internally, but
the larger responsibilities, such as waste
you’re also looking externally. You’re
and how you dematerialise. What
trying to think strategically while you
projects have been done? What was
still have the practical responsibilities
successful? What wasn’t successful?
to get the job done.”
What maybe didn’t happen in terms of
As the scale of operations at AT&T
timing and can you pick up the ball again
is so vast, Carroll liaises with Chief Sust-
and start trying to work with what hasn’t
ainability Officer, Charlene Lake. They
been done? You have to be strategic in
operate at what Carroll describes as
your thinking. You’ve got to read the tea
the ‘inc. level’ or the corporate side of
leaves and see how the wind’s blowing
operations. “The advantage that gives
externally as well. There’s obviously an
us is we can go into all parts of the
importance to the business and what
business, essentially representing the
our stakeholders are asking of us is
company. What’s really important
JUNE 2019
though is that we don’t just walk into
With support from AT&T’s corporate
the different business units and say,
level, Carroll and his team launched
‘This is what you’re gonna do!’ We have
10X Goals. AT&T’s renewable energy
to be good business partners, whether
investments are a part of this carbon
it’s internal or external. We’re very lucky
reduction goal, helping to enable
that sustainability really is at the core
carbon savings 10 times the footprint
of a lot of our work. So, as we go in to
of AT&T’s operations by 2025. “We
talk to our network folks or our corpo-
have somebody who works full-time
rate real-estate folks, or our supply
on that making sure the methodology
chain folks, they’re already doing a lot
is sound,” says Carroll. “We have some-
of this work. What we try to do is help
body who’s working on the numerator
frame that work and see what we can
part of that, making sure that our pro-
amplify; see what we can do better. We
ducts and services can deliver that.
just try to partner with them.”
You have me, I’m on more the denomi-
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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
nator side. I’m trying to shrink our own operational footprint so it makes it easier to achieve it. We’re very lucky. We are a large company, but we have the right amount of resources addressing sustainability here.” One of the challenges Carrol cites as specific to large-scale renewable energy is that first time you put the practice into action. Thus, off-site research is essential in getting these methods right. “We’ve obviously been looking at renewable energy options 84
for years and years and years. We did have some onsite solar and we just knew, because of our scale, that if we’re going to have a significant impact we needed to look offsite at the largescale renewable energies. We look at what others are doing and then try to
FACTS
• AT&T’s renewable energy website, provides an overview of the deals the company announced this year and their impact: Click here for website • AT&T’s 10x website, which outlines the 10x goal and includes case studies of the company working with customers to reduce their environmental footprint: Click here for website • AT&T’s sustainability reporting website, which includes the information from the company’s annual CSR report: Click here for website • The Energy Management issue brief: Click here for website
figure out if that’s something that could potentially work for us. You do a lot of
go from a relatively small renewable
research and then bring that research
energy concern to one of the largest
and those findings home. We would
corporate buyers in the United States?
then start stakeholdering those. I’d say
A lot of education has to be done,
the biggest challenge is because you’ve
in getting people familiar with new
never done it before, you have to edu-
terminology. I’d say that’s the biggest
cate a lot of folks on what it is and how
challenge; the newness of it all.”
it works and how the mechanics of it
In reference to large scale renew-
work. What does it mean for AT&T to
able energy, AT&T is one of the top five
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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
corporate renewable energy buyers in
even if people don’t know it by name,
the US. “The fact that we were able to
they’re doing the work. These are folks
scale up so quickly is a credit to the
who do sustainability for a living. We
professionalism we have on our energy
already have folks who are trying to
management team. I would say the
save as much water as they can. They’re
thing I’m most proud of is just the scale
already trying to remove as many kilo-
’cause what you’re really looking for is
watts as they can from the business.
impact. We’re proud of the 820 mega-
They’re already trying to be as efficient
watts we’ve done so far. We’re the
as they can.”
evangelists. We’re going around talking
AT&T has an energy intensity goal,
about all the benefits. The interesting
relative to its network, to be 60% more
thing is when you go into the different
efficient. Carroll wants to push more
business units, my experience is that
data through the network using the same,
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JUNE 2019
or less energy. “We have a public goal around that. We have a public goal to
“A few years ago, we worked with EDF on our water footprint. We’re always looking at every aspect of our operations” — Shannon Thomas Carroll, Director of Global Environmental Sustainability at AT&T
reduce our fleet emissions by 30%. We have lots of public goals that are already tagged at this work and within the business units. They just have their heads down and are doing the really hard work to achieve this. When we come into departments and explain it’s really about the work that they’re already doing, the light bulbs go off and they become really good business partners. We’re constantly looking at the landscape in terms of the environment. A few years ago, we worked with EDF on our water footprint for example. We’re always looking at every aspect of our operations.” Technology is driving sustainability and AT&T is largely a technology company thus possessing a read edge when it comes to finding solutions. “I would say just about everything we do has a technology component,” Carroll explains. “For example, we’ve got a project called Icon. It’s basically our internal IoT solution, where we’ve put sensors on all types of internal equipment, including network equipment, w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y
“ We’re proud of the 820 megawatts we’ve done so far. We’re the evangelists. We’re going around talking about all the benefits” — Shannon Thomas Carroll, Director of Global Environmental Sustainability at AT&T
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JUNE 2019
HVACS, water towers, everything you can think of. We then actively monitor that through our Icon dashboard and are able to look at predictive and preventative maintenance. Are things running as efficiently as they should? If they aren’t, how can we maximise their effici-ency? There’s a lot of data out there, so the key is not just having accessibility to data, but being able to do something smart and good with it. We need to make good, smart decisions around that data.” “I think it’s important when you’re a company our size that you’re comprehensive. You need to have a short-term plan, a mid-term plan and a longterm plan. You have to think strategically, you have to look far down the line. You just can’t say you’re going to do this and that. You have to be transparent in the way that you do it. And you have actually have to do it.”
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CONSTRUCTION 4.0
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ERP AND THE POTENTIAL TO POWER CONSTRUCTION PRODUCTIVITY We talk to some industry leading lights about the impact of enterprise resource planning (ERP) in construction WRITTEN BY
JUNE 2019
M ARK SPENCE
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CONSTRUCTION 4.0
T
he evolution of enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, particularly cloud ERP, has played a pivotal role in
the technology strategy of construction businesses in recent years. ERP allows everything from inventory to HR, accounting and more, to be integrated and streamlined. Combining these essential functions on one easily accessed and shared database enables different aspects of each business to elevate performance, save time and make projects easier to manage. The implementation of this software has already
92
produced some intriguing results.
ERP IN ACTION Shane Tate, Director of Tate Consulting, believes that construction software has changed how the industry works as a whole. Tate Consulting is currently working on a multi-million-pound development in Royal Wharf Docks, which aims to build a new town within London and includes 3,385 residential units. “Coordinating architects, structural engineers and building services engineers is a challenge and without regular coordination, there are inevitable delays in detecting any issues which can result in considerable costs and labour further down the line,” Tate tells us. JUNE 2019
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“(Using) Revit software has allowed us to overcome many problems, especially in the case of the Royal Wharf project that includes a full-sized swimming pool and gym, which created several issues with ducts that needed to be built in to the original design. This would inevitably have caused major problems on the ground if these hadn’t been resolved within this phase.” w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
CONSTRUCTION 4.0
“ COORDINATING ARCHITECTS, STRUCTURAL ENGINEERS AND BUILDING SERVICES ENGINEERS IS A CHALLENGE AND WITHOUT REGULAR COORDINATION, THERE ARE INEVITABLE DELAYS IN DETECTING ANY ISSUES WHICH CAN RESULT IN CONSIDERABLE COSTS AND LABOUR FURTHER DOWN THE LINE” 94
— Shane Tate, Director, Tate Consulting
WHAT CAN ERP DO FOR YOU? To gather a deeper understanding of the benefits ERP can deliver, we spoke to James Lloyd-Townshend, CEO of Washington Frank International, global leaders in ERP recruitment. Here’s his top pointers on why construction firms need to invest in the ground-breaking software…
REGULATORY COMPLIANCE The construction business is awash with rules and regulations, which must be followed. Implementing a compatible and robust ERP software provides your business with visibility, transparency and data security, allowing you to meet the regulatory compliance standards with ease.
PLANNING AND ANALYSIS In construction, it’s crucial that you know which raw materials are required and exactly how much manpower is needed. Using a good ERP solution will make it significantly easier to utilise your resources in the most efficient way. Construction ERP software allows you to simply figure out how much of your budget you will need for collateral expenditure, and helps you stay clear JUNE 2019
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘REVIT FOR ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN’ 95
of any contractual complications
estimation to a client, safe in the
for the duration of your project.
knowledge the actual cost won’t deviate too much from what was
COST CONTROL
offered, avoiding any unwanted and
Any construction project, no matter
unanticipated expenditure.
what size, will require a host of costs to be considered, with large projects
INCREASED PRODUCTIVITY
becoming very complex. Every time
With all the data in the same location,
a construction company bids on a
productivity levels can soar thanks to
project, they need to provide cost
ERP. Improved analytics can help you
estimations, which can often be wide
create automatic order forms to
of the mark.
manage stock control as well as
Having the correct ERP software helps to provide an accurate
reports to analyse your results and efficiency. The analytical side of the w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
CONSTRUCTION 4.0
96
service provides you with the ability
EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION
to create automatic order forms which
Projects can span several years and
will aid you in stock control.
a breakdown in communication can
With the correct ERP software in
be extremely costly, meaning
operation, your construction business
communication is key. An ERP solution
can become more efficient in
with in-built chat and video forums
communication which, in turn, could
provides those involved with the perfect
reduce data duplication. It would also
platform to communicate internally
equip contractors with the most
and make sure projects stay on track.
powerful tools for their job, offering a host of features that are specifically
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
designed for construction management,
If you have a strong ERP in place, it’s
such as bid management, accounting,
easier to keep all your projects and
profitability tracking and payroll tools.
data under one umbrella. ERP software
JUNE 2019
products were developed to aid the manufacturing world in order to help track and coordinate projects wherever you are. A modern ERP software system offers a flexible and robust system which can be tailored to each business’s own needs.
TIME EFFECTIVE Having a platform where all information is in one place could be the greatest time-saving decision you make for your business. It’s thought that a business will waste approximately one man
“ IMPLEMENTING A COMPATIBLE AND ROBUST ERP SOFTWARE PROVIDES YOUR BUSINESS WITH VISIBILITY, TRANSPARENCY AND DATA SECURITY ALLOWING YOU TO MEET THE REGULATORY COMPLIANCE STANDARDS WITH EASE” — James Lloyd-Townshend, CEO, Washington Frank International
month each year searching for data
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and documents that have gone astray. ERP will remove the risk of human error and misplaced files, helping keep core data organised.
REMOTE ACCESS It’s not always possible for those in the construction industry to be officebased every day. However, many ERP solutions now operate from the cloud, meaning you are able to have a real time view of all your business processes wherever you may be. This allows you to keep an eye on your essential business needs even when you’re on the go. w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
CONSTRUCTION 4.0
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“ CLEARLY, THERE ARE TOOLS THAT THE MANUFACTURING SECTOR HAS SUCCESSFULLY DEPLOYED THAT HAVE YET TO PENETRATE THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR” — Scott Hall, Enterprise Sales Manager, Sage
JUNE 2019
The final word goes to Stuart Hall, Enterprise Sales Manager at Sage. “Since the mid-90s productivity per hour for manufacturing labour has almost doubled. In the same timeframe, construction labour productivity has remained flat or declined depending upon the sector. Clearly, there are tools that the manufacturing sector has successfully deployed that have yet to penetrate the construction sector,” he says. “This productivity gap must be addressed by new generation construction software. The tools need to migrate from being effort tracking and reporting applications to decision support systems enabling process optimisation in response to real world situations and customer demand.
THE FUTURE OF ERP
This will give greater insight to help
With a recent survey of over 300 global
make better and more timely decisions.
organisations by Sana Commerce
“We also expect to see tools that
highlighting that construction
will allow deeper cross-project and
companies will be more likely (84%) to
program analysis and forecasting.
sell 100% of their inventory online in
It’s this insight from business software
the future, more than in any other
that will allow executives to model
sector (72% average), how else could
the impact of projects on their bottom
ERP further influence the industry in
line based upon historical data and
the future?
proven models.” w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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LOGO HERE
100
The rise of the adaptive data center WRIT TEN BY
SE AN GA LE A-PACE PRODUCED BY
TOM VENTURO
JUNE 2019
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ALIGNED ENERGY
Chief Executive Officer of Aligned Energy, Andrew Schaap, discusses the importance of remaining adaptable, scalable and sustainable in the industry amid technological change
W
ith companies worldwide understanding the importance of embracing technology in order to stay ahead
of their competitors, it has become increasingly significant for firms to undergo a digital 102
transformation in order to achieve and sustain success. For leading data center provider, Aligned Energy, the mission of innovation and the launch of new facilities has become vital to the company’s progression.
ESTABLISHING CORE PRINCIPLES After 20 years of complex transactional experience and multi-disciplinary senior leadership, Chief Executive Officer of Aligned Energy, Andrew Schaap, understands how key it was to form and maintain core principles when he first joined the company in 2017. “One of the first things I did when I came on board was to try and focus the organization on what our core mission and vision actually were. I felt there had been some great JUNE 2019
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Aligned Salt Lake City w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
innovation before I arrived, providing a
and focus that we were going to pursue
solid foundation for growth and further
moving forward. As a result of this, we’ve
performance improvements,” explains
enjoyed some significant success in the
Schaap. “As a rule of thumb, I believe
last two years, growing the company
that if you have more than three tasks
by more than 1000%.”
per day, then you usually fail at them. The
Such success has been achieved with
human brain works just like a computer
the company paying close attention to
because you’re always switching to
how it conducts its business on the
different tasks. I made sure that when
infrastructure side, as well as choosing
I joined that I really focused the entire
to operate in an alternative way to its
organization on a key vision, mission,
competitors in a bid to stay ahead. “We
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
105
Andrew Schaap A data center, IT, private equity and real estate executive with over 20 years of complex transactional experience and multidisciplinary senior leadership, Chief Executive Officer Andrew Schaap, is dedicated to accelerating the development of Aligned Energy’s business objectives as demand for its adaptive data center approach continues to exceed expectations. Andrew is responsible for business growth and promoting the availability of Aligned Energy’s data center and build-to-scale solutions to cloud, telecom, enterprise and managed service providers. With a thorough understanding of the evolving data center market, Andrew is responsible for cultivating an ecosystem of innovation that advances Aligned Energy’s commitment to reducing the social, economic and environmental impact of the digital era.
w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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Aligned Ashburn Site Render Entrance
107
really looked at what we were doing on
very important to us in delivering against
the infrastructure side, and fine-tuned
the exacting expectations of our clients.”
our supply chain to enable us to work with our partners,” says Schaap. “We’ve
LAUNCHING NEW FACILITIES
adapted some of the best practices
Through the unveiling of a new 180-meg-
that some of the giants use, such as GE,
awatt data center campus in Ashburn,
to ensure that our partners can help us
Virginia in September 2018, Aligned
to stay nimble and ahead of the curve.
Energy has demonstrated a determina-
We’re doing something in our supply
tion to expand its data campuses in order
chain that’s completely different. We’ve
to address the needs of cloud providers
spent a lot of time and energy choos-
and hyperscalers that demand a highly
ing the right partners and honing our
dynamic, scalable and future-proof data
logistics model. Timely and fiscally
center solution. The 26-acre master-
responsible inventory management is
planned data center campus offers w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
CRITICAL POWER WHEN POWER IS CRITICAL, ALIGNED ENERGY TURNED TO THE MOST TRUSTED NAME IN POWER GENERATION HOLT CAT® is ready for all your most critical power generation demands . . . permanent or temporary, large or small, urban or rural, simple to complex. When Aligned Energy needed critical power from a dependable partner, they turned to HOLT CAT. From diesel and gas generator sets to uninterruptible power supplies, automatic transfer switches and electrical switchgear, HOLT CAT can deliver the critical power you need. Any size or shape, in any regulatory environment. When you need critical power, HOLT CAT is equal to the challenge. Visit us online today at HoltCat.com
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approximately 880,000 square feet of expandable space, drawing power from two on-site substations, as well as access to over 50 carriers in the immediate area. Schaap believes the new facility has allowed his company to be different. “We have the ability to connect with multiple carriers and diverse routes, as well as a power silo connecting to multiple hub stations upstream of us into Dominion Energy,” says Schaap. “What makes us different is our innovative cooling technology, which allows us to sense when we should use water or when we should switch to lower or zero water utilization based on what’s actually happening with the weather in real time. I believe we’re the only ones that have that unique technology.” With Aligned Energy’s clients firmly
“ On the innovation side, our focus is on removing any potential concerns that our customers may have in five or 10 years from now. No one else can really do that apart from Aligned” — Andrew Schaap, Chief Executive Officer, Aligned Energy
in mind, Schaap’s the decision to choose Virginia was primarily based on its location central to the biggest networks. “We decided on our particular location in Virginia because it’s in proximity to one of the highest networked pathways in the nation. We’re in the middle of all the biggest networks,” says Schaap. “It’s been fantastic for us because our w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘ALIGNED ENERGY — DELTA CUBE’ 111 existing clients can’t wait for us to get
dictable usage and growth models
there and we’re already active with lots
that are becoming table stakes in
of discussions that are quite advanced
today’s deployments.
on our first chunk of capacity. We expect
Technologies such as cloud, IoT,
the site to be live, with active customers
AI/ML, blockchain, and more are
at the end of this summer.”
generating exponentially more heat in the same cubic area. This is why
SUSTAINABILITY IN THE DATA CENTER SPACE
to accommodate exponential platform
With the importance of remaining
growth are becoming increasingly
sustainable a key priority for Aligned
important. Schaap believes that
Energy, the company’s data center
implementing technology that is
platform and dynamic infrastructure
adaptable, efficient and dynamic
have been designed with the future in
allows the company to give its clients
mind in order to address the unpre-
peace of mind about the future ahead.
access to green energy and the ability
w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
ALIGNED ENERGY
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113
Aligned Dallas Entrance “If you’re in a climate like Virginia,
about what lies around the corner in
water shouldn’t really be a problem.
two years, five years, 10 years, even
However, these assets are long-term,
15 years from now. Clients want
and no one has any idea if in 10 years’
stability, predictability and a partner
time Virginia may go into a drought
that provides them with a path to the
season. We actually have the ability
future as well as peace of mind. Our
to turn off our water usage and still
continued growth and solid capital
run a dry solution. There are no other
foundation have enabled us to be that
companies that we know of that have
stable partner for our customers.
anything like that,” he affirms. “I believe
On the innovation side, our focus is
it’s very innovative and clients love it
on removing any potential concerns
because they don’t ever want to move
that our customers may have in five
out of a data center. They can literally
or 10 years from now. No one else can
come in today and not have to worry
really do that apart from Aligned.” w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
ALIGNED ENERGY
WE BRING DATA CENTERS TO LIFE QA/QC, Commissioning and Operations Consulting Our mission is to provide our clients with a global solution to ensure a consistent, quality data center anywhere in the world. Visit Our Site
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FUTURE PLANS With the future in mind, Schaap affirms Aligned Energy remains on the lookout for potential expansion opportunities outside of its existing U.S. locations in Dallas, TX, Phoenix, AZ, and Salt Lake City, UT, as well as abroad. “We’re actively looking for the next opportunity all the time and we’re really interested in what our clients are doing so we ensure we spend a lot of time talking to them directly,” says Schaap. “We will also use our great capital and infrastructure to go a little bit further and be more
“ The team here is so important. We’re attracting and retaining great talent and the culture is focused on innovation, inclusion and customercentric support” — Andrew Schaap, Chief Executive Officer, Aligned Energy
responsive to our core elements. I believe you’ll see us continue to grow and continue to land into new markets.
that they did right by the clients,” explains
As we move forward, expanding
Schaap. “We empower teams to execute
internationally is absolutely on our radar
and perform on behalf of the clients.
and we’re ensuring that we pay close
You don’t have to ask for permission
attention to the latest trends worldwide.”
or forgiveness as long as you’re taking
Schaap believes that the company’s
care of the customer. Through our
success is largely due to the great
empowerment program, we’ve embold-
teamwork and drive within Aligned
ened a lot of our operations and site
Energy, which have enabled customers’
teams to make sure that they’re serving
needs to be met. “The team here is
the clients’ needs immediately.”
so important. We’re attracting and retaining great talent and the culture is focused on innovation, inclusion and customer-centric support. Everybody wants to go to sleep at night knowing w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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Undergoing a digital transformation in cancer therapy at Proton International —
WRIT TEN BY
SE AN GA LE A-PACE PRODUCED BY
TOM VENTURO
JUNE 2019
117
w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
P R O T O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L
Vice President of Design and Construction at Proton International, Jay Beranek, discusses how the proton industry has transformed over the last few years
D
igital transformation is affecting all industries as companies adapt to the latest trends in order to
achieve success with their offerings. In the 118
case of cancer treatments, it has also allowed for proton therapy to have a more significant impact in the sector. Proton therapy, which is a type of radiation therapy used to treat cancer, utilises protons instead of x-rays in order to battle the disease. As a positively charged particle, protons can destroy cancer cells and are often combined with chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy and immunotherapy. Vice President of Design and Construction at Proton International, Jay Beranek, has overseen a significant transformation in the construction of cancer treatment centers since arriving at the company in 2011. In the years since, Beranek believes that technology has become increasingly important to Proton International. JUNE 2019
“Technology in the proton industry is changing very rapidly. Less than 10 years ago, our industry thinking was to build multi-room facilities which would see us develop four or five rooms with larger equipment,” explains Beranek. “It meant there are four completely different gantries but there is still only one cyclotron that can deliver the protons to each of these rooms. Although cost is a major issue, technology has helped to reduce the size of this significantly. I believe the proton industry is going towards single room facilities, which will also substantially reduce the overall cost of the project itself. Technology decreases the size of the scope, equipment, physical facility and size of the space and it remains absolutely vital to us.”
REMAINING SUSTAINABLE Proton therapy centers began less than three decades ago with just a handful of centers in the US and Europe. However, in recent years the treatment method has become increasingly prominent in the industry and now holds just under 30 operating centers in the US as well as several in 28 other countries around the world. Beranek points out that protons have become more widely-used as a method of cancer treatment due to the influx of patients that have a greater understanding to w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
119
BR+A CONSULTING ENGINEERS is the Global Engineering Leader in Proton
and Carbon Center design. Our success stems from the talented Core Team of Engineers who have been collaborating for many years. We understand the intricacies of these highly complex facilities and possess in-depth knowledge of the technical requirements of the proton equipment operating systems. Overall, our portfolio consists of involvement in over 60 particle therapy facilities worldwide, of which, 14 proton centers are currently treating patients and approximately 12 will be brought ‘online’ and start treating patients by the end of 2018 through early 2020.
PARTICLE THERAPY LOCATIONS Abu Dhabi, UAE Adelaide, AU Al Sayh, Bahrain Atlanta, GA Baltimore, MD Bangkok, Thailand Birmingham, AL Boca Raton, FL Boston, MA Cairo, Egypt Cincinnati, OH Cleveland, OH
Dallas, TX Dayton, OH Delray Beach, FL Doha, Qatar Dublin, OH Falls Church, VA Flint, MI Freiberg, Germany Halle, Germany Hefei, China Hong Kong, China Houston, TX
Irving, TX Jacksonville, FL London, England Madrid, Spain Miami, FL Muscat, Oman New York, NY Newport, Wales Northumberland, UK Oklahoma City, OK Oxford, England Philadelphia, PA
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Rochester, MN Royal Oak, MI San Francisco, CA Seattle, WA Singapore Somerset, NJ Stanford, CA Taipei, Taiwan Voorhees, NJ Warrenville, IL Washington, DC
CONTACT
Michael Fahey, Managing Principal m 347.752.2364 | d 646.205.7289 | e mfahey@brplusa.com
RESPONSIVE BUILDINGS. RESPONSIVE PEOPLE. brplusa.com
“ One of the best things about protons is it can focus on solid tumors in the brain or around the spinal cord, particularly in young children with little to no collateral damage to surrounding healthy tissue. From a quality of life point of view, it’s huge” — Jay Beranek Vice President of Design and Construction, Proton International,
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the benefits of the treatment. “I believe
Having treated its first patients at the
protons have found their place in the
University Medical Centre Groningen
clinical treatment for cancer and one of
(UMCG) in January 2018, the UMCG
the main reasons is because protons are
became the first site to provide proton
particles, in comparison to a light wave
therapy in the Netherlands and is built
which are x-rays,” he says. “One of the
with a 220-tonne particle accelerator
best things about protons is it can focus
and the most modern irradiation
on solid tumors in the brain or around the
equipment. By launching facilities such
spinal cord, particularly in young children
as the UMCG, it has allowed Proton to
with little to no collateral damage to
remain sustainable and provide a vast
surrounding healthy tissue. From a quality
number of proton facilities to the world.
of life point of view; it’s huge.”
“The design process at UMCG was w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
P R O T O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L
very successful. UMCG had a strong physics presence on campus; however, not with the clinical aspect of using protons to treat people,” says Beranek. “As integral to our culture, we meld our operations experience with the culture and experiences of the Dutch or any other clinical partner. It is not just about working with our clinical partners, we actually develop strong friendships which instill trust and allow transparent conversations leading to very quick decisions. This bonded relationship also significantly reduces the quantity of changes during the construction process.” 122
JUNE 2019
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘THE CONCRETE POURING FOR THE PROTON THERAPY CENTER IN GRONINGEN’ 123
ESTABLISHING KEY PARTNERSHIPS Beranek believes that through unveiling its facilities, it has enabled Proton to set itself apart from its rivals while offering a diverse range of people the help they require. “We differentiated ourselves from anyone else. Proton International is the only company worldwide that has the track record of successfully bringing multiple proton facilities to the world. University of Alabama in Birmingham will be our eighth building and no one else has even come close,” explains Beranek. “Our Proton vendors provide equipment but it’s a lot different than just selling equipment because you have to put the whole package together. It’s important w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
P R O T O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L
C OMPA N Y INF OR M AT ION — BR + A
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BR+A is a global engineering firm that embraces challenging projects for organizations whose work makes a difference in people’s lives and the world. We engineer responsive, high-performing buildings where people and ideas thrive. Founded in 1975, BR+A creates state-of-the-art facilities by providing tightly integrated and coordinated engineering design services that touch every aspect of the built environment. These include MEP/FP systems design, sustainability consulting, building commissioning, infrastructure design, master planning, and more. Whether it is a small, quick-turn assignment or complex, large-scale project, BR+A is hands-on from inception to construction completion. BR+A has more than 350 team members, working together across eight US-based offices, bring unsurpassed technical expertise and wide-ranging creativity to everything they do. We assemble
JUNE 2019
highly proficient, multidisciplinary teams, each led by a firm principal, to serve as trusted advisors throughout the project. Using the most advanced tools and technologies, BR+A provides lifecycle cost analysis, energy modeling, and proactive value engineering that helps architects and owners weigh the pros, cons, and holistic benefits of proposed designs. We have been successful in providing engineering services to our particle clients worldwide for over 15 years, currently encompassing 15 countries with that success stemming from our talented, and experienced, core group of engineering professionals. Above all, our diverse team is dedicated to serving as a true partner to clients and we strive to be seen a vital part of their organization. In the office, on the job site, or out in the field, BR+A fosters a culture where creativity and hard work are celebrated—and collaboration fuels mutual success.
to think about location, financing, hospital and doctor partnerships before you can actually put a completed project together. We bring all those parties together.” In order to establish its success, Proton International formed professional partnerships with design professionals such as Stantec – Architecture Bard, Rao-& Anthanas Engineers and Goldstein-Milano which have collaborated with the company since its inception. The long-lasting relationships have seen all entities work together in order to deliver the best experience for its patients. “We also believe it’s critical to have regionally focused construction managers such as Brasfield & Gorrie, Gilbane, Linbeck and Hoffman to execute the building process. We conduct Lessons Learned sessions with these partners knowing that our next proton project will ultimately provide the best possible patient experience,” says Beranek. “We are a family and grow accordingly in that we can not only anticipate mutual needs but also respect each other’s responsibilities to act as advocates for Proton International while keeping the needs of the patients first and foremost.” w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
125
P R O T O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L brasfieldgorrie.com
We’re honored to partner with Proton International and the University of Alabama at Birmingham to deliver Alabama’s first proton therapy facility.
www.stantec.com
JANUARY 2019
Particle Therapy Architects
“ It’s not just about bringing the project to fruition, it’s about operating and having that expertise of understanding how patient delivery systems should be incorporated.This means we fully understand what the patient experience is and we have to ensure we maximize that experience”
127
— Jay Beranek Vice President of Design and Construction, Proton International,
As a pioneer for implementing proton
of understanding how patient delivery
therapy treatment, Proton understands
systems should be incorporated. This
how vital it is that patients remain the
means we fully understand what the
top priority in the company’s plans.
patient experience is and we have to
Beranek is adamant that Proton can
ensure we maximise that experience,”
provide the best service due to its
affirms Beranek. “We know that you
determination to get projects complet-
have to deal with insurance and the
ed. “It’s not just about bringing the
actual treatment and clinical aspect.
project to fruition, it’s about clinical
However, we’re also the only ones who
operations and having that expertise
can find the financing to get all these w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
P R O T O N I N T E R N AT I O N A L
projects completed and considering the way our sustainability is right now, I believe we’re the only ones who can deliver this from soup to nuts.”
FUTURE PLANS With an eye on the future, Proton International are looking to expand their operations further with facilities in Delray Beach, Florida, and Birmingham, Alabama, expected to open next year. Beranek maintains that he never reflects on completed projects for too long following the completion of a facility. 128
“Once the building gets up and
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘PLACEMENT OF THE PARTICLE ACCELERATOR (CYCLOTRON) IN THE UMCG PROTON THERAPY CENTER’
JUNE 2019
“ We differentiated ourselves from anybody else. Proton International is the only company worldwide that has the track record of successfully bringing multiple proton facilities to the world”
— Jay Beranek Vice President of Design and Construction, Proton International,
operational, I’m pretty much onto the
continue to bring protons and maintain
next project. Our Delray Beach facility
our position as a major directive force
is only a few weeks from opening to
in bringing a greater number of protons
see patients for Linac treatments while
to the world. We’ve completed more
our proton building will begin to treat
projects than anyone else and that’s
patients in the Fall of 2019. We’re also
what we pride ourselves on. It’s what
building one in Birmingham, Alabama
we do.”
and we anticipate to be receiving proton equipment for that facility in February,” explains Beranek. “We’re a small privately-owned company and we make our own decisions. We will w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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130
A sustainable pioneer in the wind energy market WRIT TEN BY
L AUR A MULL AN PRODUCED BY
TOM VENTURO
JUNE 2019
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THE NORDEX GROUP
Following a pivotal merger between Nordex and Acciona Windpower in 2016, the Nordex Group is disrupting the sustainable energy market with its customer-centric approach
W
ind power has proven to be big business. According to the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA), US wind power produc-
tion has tripled over the past decade and there are now more than 54,000 wind turbines operating in 41 states 132
as well as Guam and Puerto Rico. Following a pivotal merger, Nordex Group has profited from this tailwind and today, it stands as the fourth largest wind turbine provider in the marketplace. By bringing together the expertise of both Nordex and Acciona Windpower, Head of Project Management, John McComas, says that this union has been critical to positioning itself as a wind energy front runner. The advantages have been tenfold. “One of the immediate benefits is size,” McComas explains. “Acciona Windpower and Nordex on their own were smaller organizations and were not reaching all markets. By merging, we’ve created the fourth largest wind turbine supplier in the marketplace. Since the marketplace itself is competitive and volume driven, this merger really helped us increase our offering to large-scale clients.” By blending two JUNE 2019
133
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THE NORDEX GROUP
134 digitally-savvy companies, the merger has also helped to foster innovation. The Nordex Group has launched and installed one of its highest yielding and quietest onshore turbines. “This year, we’re in the process of installing our first commercial 4.5 MW wind turbines in international markets that will incorporate the best elements from the Acciona Wind-power turbine with the original Nordex turbine,” notes McComas. The Nordex Group not only competes with the wind sector but also has to go head to head with the solar, nuclear, hydropower among other sectors. JUNE 2019
“ We’re a very flexible and customer-oriented organization. We adapt according to feedback in order to provide the best solution from a project to project basis” — John McComas, Head of Project Management
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘WIND TURBINE 3D ANIMATION – NORDEX’ 135 What distinguishes the firm from the rest,
Keeping a vigilant eye on market
argues McComas, is how it collaborates
dynamics, the Nordex Group under-
closely with its clients from start to finish.
stands that the cost of energy is one
“These are projects that are incredibly
of the most important key performance
complex with millions of dollars of invest-
indicators (KPIs) facing the sector
ment, so collaboration is absolutely key,”
today. “The cost of energy reduction
he explains. “No one benefits if people
initiative has become culturally ingrained
are pointing fingers at each other and
in the organization. We actively ask
making excuses. Ultimately, it’s much
ourselves if we can do our tasks more
more positive for the project and every-
efficiently without sacrificing safety
one involved that we work hand in hand
and quality. I think it’s been a success.”
and keep our eye on what the goal really
One way that the wind turbine provider
is: to safely get turbines in the ground
reduces costs is by working closely
and to have them producing clean and
with clients to streamline their opera-
cost-effective power.”
tions. “As soon as the agreements are w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
THE NORDEX GROUP
inked we have meetings about cost whereby we talk with clients and their selected contractors to see if there’s anything that can be done to cut unnecessary costs out, while still maintaining the positive elements of each party’s relationship,” McComas says. “We have meetings to teach them about how best to install the turbine, what best practices are, what they need to be watchful of, some of the lessons learned that others have encountered. We invite them to our facility to take a look at the manufacturing process. We invite them to audit that process.” 136
Offering powerful wind turbines across the globe, the joint company has more than 30 years’ experience harnessing wind energy. Through its trailblazing turbines the company has delivered more than 23 GW of sustainable energy, but despite its impressive reach it has always ensured that its projects are tailored to the specific client in mind. “We specialise and focus on specific constraints that each developer may have,” explains McComas. “There may be a sound requirement; there may be some greater electrical requirements.” “We’re a very flexible organization” he adds. “We’re not mechanical in what we offer from one project to the next. We listen to our clients, we listen to our partner contractors, JUNE 2019
“ These are projects that are incredibly complex and could be worth millions, so collaboration is absolutely key” — John McComas, Head of Project Management
137
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THE NORDEX GROUP
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C OMPA N Y FA C T S
and we adapt according to feedback in order to provide the best solution from a project-to-project basis.” To meet the ever-changing demands of its clients, the Nordex Group has kept its finger on the pulse of the latest innovations in the sector and it has significantly invested in R&D. “There’s a lot of generation technologies in the marketplace and we need to be able to demonstrate that we can offer the best, most sustainable, most cost-effective technology there is,” observes McComas.
• According to the American Wind Energy Association, US wind power has tripled over the past decade and now, there are now more than 54,000 wind turbines operating in 41 states, Guam and Puerto Rico • The joint company has more than 30 years’ experience harnessing wind energy and has delivered more than 23GW of sustainable energy
“Additionally, regulations are becoming stricter, testing requirements for the equipment are becoming more robust, w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
139
Gemini Energy Services is an Independent Service Provider for Wind and Solar Projects across North America, built on a foundation of military backgrounds.
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and I would say it’s important for all wind turbine and renewables manufacturers to understand what these requirements are, incorporate them into existing technologies – and to do so quickly.” At the Nordex Group, this has involved forging strong partnerships with industry leaders. “We can’t do these projects on our own,” McComas adds. “Over the years, we’ve developed strong partnerships with companies, even though we may not have contractual relationships with them. The names that stand out the most are RES America and IEA, JUNE 2019
in terms of construction. When it comes
employees – people that have truly
to transportation, we’ve worked closely
gone up the ranks and are now in lead-
with DSV, Coli, Oldendorff, Totrans,
ership positions.” With offices and
BNSFL and ATS and we’ve also had
subsidiaries in more than 20 countries,
a very good manpower partnership with
the wind turbine provider has a truly
One Wind, Run Energy, and Gemini.”
global reach and this expansion is only
With around 5,000 employees under
set to continue. This has proven to be
its wing, the workforce undoubtedly
a key tool for retaining top expertise
has an important role to play in fostering
and talent.
continuous improvement. “The people
“Retention is a key issue for every
who work on these projects every day
manager in the marketplace,” McCo-
are the most important asset we have,”
mas says. “I think we stand out because
notes McComas. “One of the competi-
we provide opportunities to our employ-
tive advantages we have as an organi-
ees. If they work hard and are open to
zation is that we have a lot of seasoned
it, then the company will find them an
Merger occurred in
2016
5,000
Approximate number of employees
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THE NORDEX GROUP
142
opportunity around the globe. We also
and center of everything it does. From
have a very personal relationship with
hazardous weather to working at heights
our employees. The people on site
or near high voltages, workers face
know that they can contact the leader-
a series of risks and therefore a strong
ship team directly and the fact that they
safety culture has been embedded into
have a voice and can project that voice
the organization. “In project manage-
to leadership is important.�
ment, for instance, we demonstrate
Recognizing the importance of its
that safety is important to us by being
employees, the company has also
involved in safety walks and safety
worked hard to ensure safety is front
audits when we go and visit sites. This
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“ Listening to the people that are actually conducting the work is key and trying to reflect that in actual change is very important to the overall culture of the firm” — John McComas, Head of Project Management
143
ensures that our safety culture is well
that in actual change is very important
observed,” McComas explains. “We
to the overall culture of the firm.”
also have weekly discussions with site
Today, the Nordex Group has several
managers and safety personnel to hear
projects underway and is nearing
what they’re seeing, what is being
completion on a 95 turbine project in
changed and what they think would be
Kansas, a 101 turbine project in Nebras-
good to incorporate from a safety
ka, and a 16 turbine project in North
standpoint moving forward. Listening
Dakota. Elsewhere, the firm is set to
to the people that are actually conduct-
build its ninth wind farm in Texas.
ing the work is key and trying to reflect
Looking forward, McComas is optimistic w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
THE NORDEX GROUP
“ The people who work on these projects every day are the most important asset we have” — John McComas, Head of Project Management
144
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that this upward trajectory will continue in the years to come. “I think most of the globe is starting to flip the switch on what is necessary for the future of energy production,” he reflects. “More regions, particularly industrial countries, are starting to realise the need for greater levels of social and environmental responsibility. I think that the renewable market is going to stay strong and I see a lot of positive things for the Nordex Group moving forward. We have just released our new Delta 4000 wind turbine with a 4.0-4.5 MW generator with a 149m rotor. The first turbines have been installed in Germany and further ones will be installed internationally this year and we expect to see the first installations in the US in 2020, which is very exciting. Ultimately, we don’t just supply a product that is competitive; we also provide a service that suits everyone’s specific needs. I think that’s what will propel us forward and make us successful.”
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Innovation, sustainability and a people first approach: Hansen Yuncken’s recipe for construction success WRITTEN BY
LAURA MULLAN PRODUCED BY
TOM VENTURO
JUNE 2019
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The Sydney Coliseum Theatre w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
HANSEN YUNCKEN
As one of Australia’s leading privately owned construction companies, Hansen Yuncken is at the forefront of change and innovation in the building industry
C
onstruction company Hansen Yuncken has continued to define the Australian skyline for decades, creating some of the nation’s
most notable landmarks and buildings including Melbourne’s Port Authority Building and the Museum of Old and New Art (MONA). Yet, although the Australian firm has a rich history spanning over a century, it certainly isn’t stuck in the past. Keeping 148
up with the blistering pace of change in the construction sector, the business is tackling each and every project with aplomb and an innovative stance. It’s for this reason that Project Manager Vanja Krumpacnik believes that Hansen Yuncken remains a heavyweight in the industry, even after all these years. “As the years have gone by, we’ve grown to take on bigger and more complex projects,” he explains. “We’re trying to be a leader in the construction sector by using new technologies which allows us to provide transparency to our stakeholders, clients and consultants regarding quality and safety processes on site. We also have a rich history; we’ve been around for 100 years and whilst we’re changing with the times in terms of techniques and technologies, our core principles and values have stayed the same.” Michael Gibson, Senior JUNE 2019
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HANSEN YUNCKEN
“ With HYway, we can quickly and clearly identify what’s happening on projects from safety to cost”
150
— Michael Gibson, Senior Contract Administrator, Hansen Yuncken
Contract Administrator, also proposes that the firm’s landmark builds have helped to establish Hansen Yuncken as a reputable brand. “It makes clients want to be associated with us and helps to attract talent. We’ve always been an employer of choice,” he notes. Whether it’s in the commercial or community fields, health, entertainment or somewhere in between, Hansen Yuncken has created landmarks for sectors across the country. Take the theatre world, for instance: not only is Hansen Yuncken in the midst of redeveloping Her Majesty’s Theatre in Adelaide and ‘The Hedberg’ Creative Industries and Performing Arts Development in Tasmania, it’s also in charge of creating the Sydney Coliseum Theatre, West HQ, set to open in December 2019. With a sleek undulating design allowing for up to 2,200 guests, the Sydney Coliseum Theatre is set to be the first of its kind outside of Sydney’s central business district (CBD). West HQ CEO Richard Errington says: “With its spectacular architecture and design, Sydney Coliseum Theatre, West HQ will set a benchmark for the
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CLICK TO WATCH : ‘SYDNEY COLISEUM PROJECT’ 151 arts industry globally and is something Greater Western Sydney residents will be immensely proud of.” Executive Director of Sydney
(NSW) and Eastern Sydney” The right mix of common sense, intelligent thinking and cutting-edge digital technologies helps Hansen
Coliseum Theatre, West HQ, Craig
Yuncken manage and govern its
McMaster added: “The theatre is
projects. It keeps people safe, allows
a stunning multi-mode venue that will
them to focus on what they need to
host world famous musical theatre
do and ensures their clients get what
and live music, family entertainment,
they want when they need it.
comedy, ballet and symphony orches-
Backing this human-touch is their
tras. Servicing the 2.2million people of
award-winning Information Manage-
Greater Western Sydney, the Sydney
ment System, HYway. This superfast
Coliseum Theatre is also expected to
virtual brain brings together shared
draw audiences from the Blue Moun-
knowledge, digital applications,
tains, regional New South Wales
software and processes as well as w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
We Challenge You
TO IMAGINE
“For every great piece of art which comes to life, there is a team of highly skilled artists behind the scenes� www.modernpaintinggroup .com Queen Victoria Building, Sydney, Australia
Frank Forouzandeh Founder & Executive Director at Modern Group
NEVER COMPROMISE... In a city that’s consistently being ranked at the top of the list of places to live in, and boasting of being one of the best in the world, there is no doubt that the construction industry is booming with upcoming projects that make their mark along Sydney’s iconic skyline. For every great piece of art which comes to life, there is a team of highly skilled artists behind the scenes, contributing in the making of such astonishing artistic edifices. Challenging traditional views of the trade industry, our vision is to raise the bar on quality and professionalism within the painting trade to a new level. Disrupting the market with a team of young forward
thinking individuals, Modern endeavours to introduce technology and innovation to a traditional trade industry. This separates Modern’s services from other industry competitors. This is where Modern Painting Group shines and delivers their outstanding work showcasing talent in what they do best. We Live by the fierce motto, “Never Compromise”, Modern Painting Group embodies the ease of project management and frameworks by utilising their cutting edge technology , knowledge, expertise and resources to offer practical solutions. Modern Painting Group only uses the highest quality workmanship and promises quality, which is
why our eyes are cast on the next big up and coming project with Hansen Yuncken towards refurbishing “Western Sydney Performing Arts Centre”, rejuvenating the life of Sydney West’s iconic landmark. Both Modern Painting and Hansen Yunken share an unparalleled vision of innovation and forward thinking that makes this project such a seamless integration of in-house management platforms by relying on new technologies, as well as adopting a futuristic way of thinking to ensure they are continually on top of the latest trends, systems, processes and commercial expertise.
HANSEN YUNCKEN
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The Sydney Coliseum Theatre is designed to accommodate live concerts, banquets, theatre and more with fully retractable stalls seating best-practice procedures honed and
can’t live without it. With HYway, we
shaped across a myriad of projects
can quickly and clearly identify what’s
into a centralised hub that is accessible
happening on projects from safety to
to all 24/7. For over 8 years, HYway has
cost,” observes Gibson. “It’s all about
been the digital backbone to Hansen
collaboration; it makes it easier for
Yuncken’s project delivery. Intelligent
project managers to the CEO to see
and intuitive, it drives processes and
where a project is at through live data.
supports precise reporting and
It is even used to compile corporate
informed decision-making: it lives,
reporting.”
breathes and delivers certainty. “We JUNE 2019
On top of this, Hansen Yuncken is
also adeptly using Building Information
“Since NRAH, Hansen Yuncken has
Modelling (BIM) and Virtual Design
come a long way in its use of BIM and
Construction (VDC) which perhaps
VDC, We have adopted a range of
can be seen most clearly at the
field technologies on our projects
New Royal Adelaide Hospital (NRAH),
such as drones, point cloud scanning
completed two years ago. The $2bn
and supporting Autodesk products
hospital was the largest hospital
that are all accessible via iPads,”
project ever undertaken in Australia
adds Krumpacnik. “We utilise these
and the single biggest infrastructure
to monitor safety and quality and we
project in South Australia’s history.
believe it’s made our teams more
With such complexity and scale, BIM
efficient in delivering trade because
and supporting construction technolo-
we have the latest information at our
gies proved to be useful tools to collate
fingertips. Additionally, we’ve used
and manage the build in a virtual world.
4D programming whereby we’re
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Vanja Krumpacnik, Project Manager Working for Hansen Yuncken for over a decade, Krumpacnik is an experienced construction professional, having completed a range of hospitality, hotels and entertainment, defence, commercial and industrial projects. He has been responsible for the delivery of numerous technically complex Managing Contractor projects including the HMAS Creswell School of Survivability & Ship’s Safety, introducing new capability without precedent in Australia. He was also responsible for delivery of the Sikorsky Maintenance & Operations Facility, constructed to meet Sikorsky and the Department of Defence’s requirements.
w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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Axis Metal Roofing is a family owned business of 40 years. Axis is one of Australia’s leading Metal Roofing & Specialist Cladding Contractors who operate under a certified safety & quality management system. Proudly involved in the construction of the WSPAC project.MRCAA (Metal Roofing and Cladding Association of Australia) Multi Award winning company.
www.axismetalroofing.com.au info@axisbg.com
essentially adding a fourth dimension
Just as innovation has shaped
to a previous 3D model: time. This
Hansen Yuncken’s operations, the firm
means you can visualise the building
is also keen to promote a more environ-
being constructed in 3D over a time
mentally sensitive way of working. Today,
sequence which provides clarity on
the firm is part of the Green Building
the process and safety of the build.
Council of Australia and therefore, every
Essentially getting an insight into what
decision the construction firm makes
the site conditions and constraints
– from the choice of materials and
might be at a future point in time.
processes to construction waste
We’re modelling structures right down
management and ongoing maintenance
to every single element of steel or
– takes sustainability into account.
precast, and that’s quite unique in
“Hansen Yuncken are not just early
the industry.”
adopters of sustainable design, we 157 E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
Michael Gibson, Senior Contract Administrator Gibson joined Hansen Yuncken at the start of 2016, bringing with him over 13 years’ construction experience. He has completed a variety of education projects including government education, private education and universities. Gibson is responsible for all head contract management and administration, to ensure project activities are delivered in accordance with the head contract. He has administered a variety of head contracts including PPP, Joint Ventures, Managing Contract, Design & Construct, Guaranteed Maximum Price and traditional Lump Sum Contracts. He is also responsible for management of all subcontracts and consultants, procurement, Building Code compliance and reporting. w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
HANSEN YUNCKEN
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JUNE 2019
CO MPAN Y FACT S
• Founded in Victoria in 1918 by Lauritz Hansen and Otto Yuncken, the company has been in continual operation for 100 years • Today, Hansen Yuncken has an annual turnover exceeding $1bn.
159
w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
HANSEN YUNCKEN
WITH OVER 40 YEARS’ EXPERIENCE IN PROJECT MANAGEMENT We are proud to be supporting West HQ as their project manager in delivering their 10-year $150 million majorworks masterplan. This includes their most recent projects; the 2000-seat Sydney Coliseum Theatre and 550 space multideck carpark.
Find out more
Follow us @maddisonproperty www.maddisonproperty.com.au PO BOX H109 AUSTRALIA SQUARE NSW 1215
Delivering high-quality fit-out and general contracting services across all major property sectors to Greater Sydney & Regional NSW. Contact us today : info@atlanticid.com.au
JUNE 2019
$1.bn+ Annual turnover
1918
Year founded
600
Approximate number of employees
Monash University Caulfield Library
actually helped to write the Green
out a rewarding career in the sector,
Star standard, a set of sustainability
Hansen Yuncken is the place to be.
standards for design and construction,”
Krumpacnik speaks highly about the
notes Gibson. “We also created
firm’s lean national structure that
a Council House 2 project in 2006
promotes an inclusive culture, noting
which was awarded the first ever
how everyone feels “important and
6-Star Green Star rating – the highest
highly valued”. “Everyone’s got their
rating you can get. It’s much more than
own responsibilities and no-one is
a tick in a box for us, it is a vital part
seen as above anyone else,” he adds.
of our business.”
“The Executive Management Team are
Today, the Australian construction
really approachable and there’s a mix
market is regaining momentum and it
of experience whereby we have
seems that for anyone looking to carve
long-term employees as well as new w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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HANSEN YUNCKEN
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“ Sustainability is much more than a tick in a box for us, it is a vital part of our business” — Vanja Krumpacnik, Project Manager, Hansen Yuncken
JUNE 2019
cadets.” There’s also a yearly leadership course for employees looking to get the next steps in their careers. “Future leaders are identified and nourished through programmes and mentoring,” Krumpacnik explains. “That might be why we’ve retained so much of our staff: there’s opportunities to learn and be rewarded.” With a variety of projects in the pipeline, Hansen Yuncken is shaking up the Australian construction industry with a people first, innovative and sustainable way of doing business. “Looking forward, I hope Hansen Yuncken continues to increase turnover and chase these challenging landmark projects,” reflects Krumpacnik. “We want to grow and be at the forefront of technology drives. It’s what we currently do and I hope that continues.”
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164
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CSO
Back to the future: The Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project WRIT TEN BY
NIKI WA LDEGR AVE PRODUCED BY
GLEN WHITE
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LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY
The Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project has changed the face of Victorian suburbs. Its project director, Brett Summers, tells Niki Waldegrave how blending the old with the new has made city living and commuting easier for future generations
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T
he train line from Melbourne CBD to Cranbourne and Pakenham is Melbourne’s busiest rail corridor, crossed by some of
Australia’s most congested roads, where boom gates were down for up to 82 minutes during the morning peak. With a number of fatalities recorded at level crossings on both that corridor and others, in 2015 the Victorian Government tasked the Victoriabased Level Crossings Removal Project with removing 50 dangerous level crossings by 2022 in addition to other infrastructure upgrades across a section of Melbourne’s rail network. One of its showpieces was the $1.6 billion Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project, an intensive logistical exercise led by project director Brett Summers. One of Australian’s biggest construction plans, the Level Crossing Removal Project delivered the JUNE 2019
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project with an alliance in conjunction
government, the Level Crossing
with the likes of Lendlease, CPB
Removal Project has already seen 29
Contractors, WSP, Aurecon and Metro
level crossings removed out of the
Trains Melbourne.
original 50 and following the result of
They removed nine level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong in
level crossings were prioritised for
Melbourne’s southeast by elevating the
removal,” says Summers.
Cranbourne/Pakenham line over the road in three distinct sections.
168
the recent election, an additional 25
The Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project saw the build
Due to the programme’s success,
of five new stations and 321 piers, each
the government has expanded on the
up to nine metres high. Its 40,000 ton-
removal of 50 crossings to now
nes of steel and 588 concrete beams
eradicating 75 by 2022.
weighed more than 85,000 tonnes,
“A flagship programme for the
“ This was always seen as a relatively controversial project because we put the train line up in the air.” — Brett Summers Project Director, Caulfield to Dandenong at Level Crossing Removal Authority
JUNE 2019
and opened up 22.5 hectares of space
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘CAULFIELD TO DANDENONG: CONSTRUCTION AT MURRUMBEENA’ 169 – the open space is 11 times bigger than
metres in some areas such as between
the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG)
Caulfield and Hughesdale. Many of the
thanks to building six kilometres of new
locations had residential properties that
elevated bridges.
backed right up against the corridor –
But the stakes were high. “It is the
of the 113 houses that were eligible
busiest rail corridor in Melbourne,”
for purchase by the government under
explains Summers, “so it has the most
a Voluntary Purchase Scheme, 74 have
amount of people moving backwards
settled to date, meaning the construction
and forwards, and we had to keep them
was very often right next to people’s
moving pretty much the whole time
homes and back fences. As a result, they
getting them from point A to B, while
pulled in the big guns by deploying a blue
we built this job in and around a live
straddle carrier, which allowed the 2000-
train environment.”
strong workforce to build above the exist-
The biggest challenge was that it’s a very tight rail corridor – less than 20
ing train line, while the trains continued to run underneath. w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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JUNE 2019
CSO
C OMPA N Y FA C T S
• In 2015 the Victorian Government tasked the Victoria-based Level Crossings Removal Project with removing 50 dangerous level crossings by 2022 in addition to other infrastructure upgrades across sections of Melbourne’s rail network. • One of its showpieces was the $1.6 billion Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Projects. • The last of the major works were completed around about October 2018 and the 17-kilometre-long shared user path and the linear park is now open to the public.
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2015
Year founded
360+
Approximate number of employess
172
Instead of lifting beams in a tradition-
is used throughout Asia, usually to launch
al method using cranes, needing lots of
big road structures, and it’s something
open space to truck the beams in, they
the team saw and thought they would
were instead lifted and transported long-
adopt to the rail environment. The project
itudinally down the corridor for installation
also used a track-laying machine. An
between Caulfield and Hughesdale.
Australian first, these machines move
“It’s the first time that has been done
up and down the new elevated rail line
in Melbourne but it meant that we didn’t
to place pieces of track, using hydr-
need to use adjacent land,” he explains.
aulic technology built for efficiency
“It was obviously a huge logistical and
and precision.
safety challenge – but safety is at the
While the main benefits of the track-
forefront of everything we do, and lots
laying machine are speed and safety, it
of planning went into it.”
also played a key part in installing noise-
The technology for the straddle carrier JUNE 2019
reducing features of the design, including
concrete ‘plinths’ – a quieter, smoother
open to the public for a few months
alternative to the traditional sleepers
and it’s well-used by the community.
laid over stony ballast.
We have people using the basketball
The last of the major works were
courts, the table tennis tables, the
completed around October 2018 and
playground equipment, joggers and
all the space underneath the train line
cyclists, families riding their pushbikes
– the 17-kilometre long shared user path
along the entire length of the park.
and the linear park – is now open to the public.
“I’ve been out there myself for a jog and a run along the linear park. What has
“This was always seen as a relatively
really been probably one of the proudest
controversial project because we put
moments for the project team and myself
the train line up in the air,” he reveals.
is that it has really changed the face of
“So, in the early days, there was a bit of
these suburbs and the way that these
trepidation in the community about what
people interact around the train line.
it would look like at the end. But it’s been
“It’s opened up the entire suburb and
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
Brett Summers With more than 20 years’ experience as an engineer, Summers took up the role of Project Director at the Level Crossing Removal Project in April 2015, overseeing an unprecedented overhaul of the Cranbourne/Pakenham line with the Caulfield to Dandenong Level Crossing Removal Project. Summers is no stranger to working on major rail projects across Melbourne, having held previous managerial roles for a number of years withthe Regional Rail Link Authority and Department of Transport.
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LEVEL CROSSINGS AUTHORITY
made their lives easier to get from point A to point B.” Social inclusion is a very strong policy at the Level Crossing Removal Project, and something the
“We’re very conscious that, whilst we were building new infrastructure, we wanted to recognise and look back and reflect on the past that’d come 175 before us” — Brett Summers Project Director, Caulfield to Dandenong at Level Crossing Removal Authority
programme is extremely proud of. Whether it’s consulting train drivers and the end operators on the line about
tice is also something that was at the
signal designs, helping veterans out
forefront of everything the project did.
with a job in the construction industry,
From installing solar panels and using
or helping local underprivileged families,
the wood from original stations to make
Summers says: “With every dollar that
seats and playgrounds scattering the
we spent on this project, we tried to
corridor, to restoring station buildings
always find a way that we could return
– it worked with the Chisholm Institute
some benefit to the community.”
of TAFE to restore the original heritage-
Sustainability and world’s best-prac-
listed Clayton station building – Summers w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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JUNE 2019
CSO
“With every dollar spent on this project, we tried to always find a way that we could return some benefit to the community” — Brett Summers Project Director, Caulfield to Dandenong at Level Crossing Removal Authority
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22.5
Hectares of open space created
6km
Of new elevated bridge
Memorial plaques and monuments honouring soldiers who served in armed conflict along the corridor (including at Clayton and St Albans) are also a nice touch, and the project works with Veterans in Construction, which helps secure veterans a pathway in to the construction industry. There used to be an Avenue of Honour where trees had been planted
30,000 178
New trees and shrubs planted
explains it was important to retain the history. “It’s marrying the new with the old,” he says. “In the seating backs we’ve installed at all these stations, we recognise the history of each of the individual places. So, whilst it looks like a brand new station you can catch the train from, there’s actually old historical images and photos so you get a sense of what that area used to look like. “Again, we’re very conscious that, whilst we were building new infrastructure, we wanted to recognise and look back and reflect on the past that’d come before us.” JUNE 2019
for veterans. The project took the seeds from those original trees and planted them early on to grow saplings, “and we
recreated that original Avenue of Honour
project planted more than 30,000
in this remembrance space,” he adds.
trees and shrubs.
“The feedback was hugely positive
On the rail lines, both the train
and we had our first Remembrance Day
passengers and the drivers have been
ceremony there on the 11th of November.”
complimentary about the new tracks,
The team also needed to remove some very old river red gums during the project
replacing ones that were up to 100 years old.
and again, they took the seeds from
“You don’t get the clickety-clack and
those and planted them back the rail
bouncing backwards and forwards of
corridor. “It was something we were very
an old train,” he explains. “And when
conscious of and hold as a badge of
they hit these new sections, there is
honour – the fact that we have repopu-
a significant change in the look, the feel,
lated with some of the original species
the sound of how the train behaves. It’s
of plants,” he smiles, revealing the
very, very smooth.” 179 C OMPA N Y FA C T S
• The Level Crossings Removal Project have removed nine level crossings between Caulfield and Dandenong in Melbourne’s southeast by elevating the Cranbourne/Pakenham line over the road in three distinct sections • Due to the program’s success, the government has expanded on the removal of 50 crossings to now eradicating 75 by 2022 w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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“ The proudest moments for the project team and myself is that it has really changed the face of these suburbs and the way that these people interact around the train line”
180
— Brett Summers Project Director, Caulfield to Dandenong at Level Crossing Removal Authority
JUNE 2019
Although the level crossings have been removed between Caulfield and Dandenong, the same alliance is also undertaking work to upgrade signalling and power infrastructure along the entire Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, in preparation for the introduction of High Capacity Metro Trains. Victoria is investing $2.3 billion in 65 next-generation High Capacity Metro Trains, which are a fleet of electric multiple unit trains on order for use by Metro Trains Melbourne on the Melbourne rail network. They will eventually become the primary rollingstock used in the Metro Tunnel when it opens in 2025 and are due to enter service in mid-2019.
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Digital Realty: Spearheading Sydney’s data centre market with digital disruption WRIT TEN BY
NIKI WA LDEGR AVE PRODUCED BY
GLEN WHITE
JUNE 2019
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D I G I TA L R E A LT Y
Digital Realty has just opened its third Sydney facility. Its Director of Construction, Daniel Howard, tells Niki Waldegrave why it’s so important to the APAC footprint
D
igital Realty prides itself on delivering a portfolio of data centre solutions with a record of 99.999% uptime
for the past 11 consecutive years, equating 184
to more than 1.7bn operating minutes, unmatched by any other data centre provider in the world. It has more than 195 centres globally across over 30 markets throughout Europe, North America, Asia and Australia, servicing top-tier clients including Facebook, IBM, AT&T, LinkedIn and Equinix. Its Sydney data centres are hugely important to its Asia-Pacific business and SYD 11 – its new Digital Erskine Park 2 Data Centre – is the new kid on the block, following the adjacent SYD 10 facility. The SYD11 facility on 13-23 Templar Road is the largest facility the business has built in Australia and is located adjacent to its existing data centre in Erskine Park, which opened in November 2012. JUNE 2019
It opened to much fanfare on the 15th November and is a 16.8MW two-storey, six-data hall facility data centre with office space. MV Power Generation (11kV) is installed within the SYD11 facility, capable of efficient and fast demand response and to date, the capital investment for the facility is around $100 million, with another $50-100 million to go. “We’re just finishing at the moment, putting the final polish on,” says Daniel Howard, Digital Realty’s Director of Construction APAC. “It’s a two-story data centre and we are using the lightest technology in lithium battery UPSs, which has given us a much more streamlined footprint, so we can fit more power into a small space in comparison to our previous generation data centres, such as the SYD10 Erskine Park I facility. “We’ve got MV Power Generation so we’ve got the ability to come off grid quite simply now and can support the whole site with generation. This allows us to match the generation capacity to the load experienced at the time, whereas, with the traditional or low-voltage generation system you can’t really w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
185
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align your generators that well with the
Interest in the building is off the scale
load, so you can quite often end up run-
due to Sydney being a global hotspot
ning more generators than you require.
for innovation. It boasts the biggest
“But with the MV generation, we can
tech start-up ecosystem in Australia
select which generators are required
and ranks 16th among 20 cities on the
and match it to the load that’s experi-
Start-up Ecosystem Index, with 64%
enced on that day. We’ve completely
of Australian tech startups in Sydney.
fitted-out the first level – half the building
“The demand that’s in the market in
– with IT power ready to go so you can
Sydney at the moment is unprecedented
power-on generators.”
with regards to data centre capacity,”
The next phase to be fitted-out with
adds Howard, who is an expert in the
UPSs, generators and capacity is
delivery of complex data centre projects,
the ground floor, and that should be
with experience in project management,
completed by the middle of next year.
design management, construction
E R S K INE PA R K , S Y DNE Y
Digital Erskine Park 2 is a new facility located adjacent to Digital Realty’s existing data centre in Erskine Park. It is a 19MW facility to be built in phase with 9MW ready in Q4, 2018. Digital Erskine Park 2 has the ability to reach out to PIPE-IX , the 2nd largest IX in Australia in Digital Erskine Park 1.
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D I G I TA L R E A LT Y
management and property development. He built the SYD10 Erskine Park I facility in his previous role at FDC Construction before moving client side. “This building may be completely filled up within a year of its opening, which is exciting in itself. We have existing customers that are energising or going live very soon after we hand it over to them, so we’ve fitted-out two of the six data halls and we’re in discussions about the remaining four data halls to be leased. “We’ve built-in the SCEC requirements within the fabric of the building so that any 188
customer coming in can upgrade their data suites to SCEC which allows for the government work. It’s exciting to see so much interest in the building, and in contrast to our previous buildings, that has probably been a steady fill over a four-year period.” When it comes to construction, the business’ partners include key contractors, including A.W Edwards, Barnwell Cambridge for electrics, D&W Plumbing, Cummins, Schneider and Parratech. “Construction is always challenging,” he explains, “but we’ve got well-established relationships – and when you’re working with people that have worked with you before, it makes it a lot easier.
JUNE 2019
“ The demand that’s in the market in Sydney at the moment is unprecedented with regards to data centre capacity” — Daniel Howard, Director of Construction, Digital Realty
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘DIGITAL ERSKINE PARK 2 — CONSTRUCTION UPDATE IN SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA’ 189 “We grab our knowledge from across the globe. We’ve got our design construction centre in Boston and we use our experience across all the facilities globally in both building construction techniques and technology.” The cooling system in SYD11 is a Vertiv DSE CRAC unit with rooftop condensers which provide indirect free cooling via pumped refrigerant technology achieving an industry leading PUE. “It’s what they call an ‘indirect free cooling system’,” he adds. “It has a roof-top economiser and pump refrigerant that uses the outside air to cool the facility without having
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D I G I TA L R E A LT Y
to bring the outside area into the facility.
sort of Virginia-Dallas DSE units,
“We’re the only company in Australia
whereas in Europe we use an indirect
that I’m aware of that’s using the BSE
adiabatic solution because it’s got
system and we pioneered that with
a cooler climate.”
Vertiv in the United States for our US
Indirect adiabatic is essentially
systems. We’ve applied it in Australia
a cooling system that relies more on
because it’s a very good climate for
water than it does power. In European
us so we’re getting low PUEs across
regions such as Dublin, for example,
construction, high reliability with the BSE
where you’ve got the maximum temp-
system and just overall energy efficiency.
eratures of 30 degrees, you’re able
“The major variable with technology
to use that with much less energy.
is generally cooling equipment based
“In Australia, we need to have provi-
on different climates around the world.
sions for the 45-46 degree days that
In Sydney, we’ve gone with the US-style
we have every now and again,” he adds.
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JUNE 2019
“ In Sydney, we’ve gone with the US-style sort of Virginia-Dallas DSE units, whereas in Europe we use an indirect adiabatic solution because it’s got a cooler climate” — Daniel Howard, Director of Construction, Digital Realty
“We need equipment that will accommodate for that but also when it’s not 45 degrees it’s still very efficient, and that’s where the BSE system has come into play.” Digital Realty has also just secured land for the construction of another two-story building nearby (Sydney) of around 16,000 square metres which will go through the planning approval process in tandem with fitting-out the remainder of SYD11 so there is another facility ready to go as soon as that capacity is leased-out. 191
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
Daniel Howard
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
Howard from a construction background, which is unusual in the data Name isHere centre as many mechanical-electrical come from Approxworld 100 words quam aut aut eaturi sequiengineers quiasit, qui adolupta consulting background. He acienimi, built the SYD10 the builder before cusdand enistium offici facility conemfor quo moving into the client role. ratur? Sundant as rempe de blaudi occumqui coneside laborep “I’m sure I’m sequo not theomnisitem first one from construction background voluptu ribus, laut aa dolut occulparum to do that,” he says, “but comingende fromderes a concrete and steel backhillant quibus mi, voloreprovit aliandit harit, ground to temperro electrical con equipment, factors,quati kilowatt net, offic experat.power Cum faccum officiet cooling BSE has faccum been a bit ofela transformation.” peresti and ncitia in units restrum quo illuptam dolupta Howardalitaquo is an expert in thevellant. delivery complex data erempor tem secae Ta of quid qui veliqui centre projects to meet the demanding requirements nobitius diti atibusa consediossit evel ius des qui con of ped modern data totatust centres, dis with experience in Project Managequam, sedit, nonsequ aepernam fugiti conestoment, Design Construction Management tas everes id Management, ut autem et moluptius. Igenis soloribus accate and Property Development. sendit, que nos et que ebit et omnih.
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D I G I TA L R E A LT Y
“It’s good to be in a position where as soon as we’re finishing one building, we’re thinking and acquiring land for the next,” adds Howard. “The key
$2.475bn Approximate revenue
thing about Erskine Park is that there are probably three hubs in Sydney at the moment. “You’ve got one hub in and around the airport where a lot of the sub-sea cables are landing, which have the connections to the rest of the globe up to Singapore and Guam and over to the US and New Zealand. “The next hub is probably the Macquar192
2004
Year founded
1,436
Approximate number of employees
ie Park area, and then, the last hub is out in the Erskine Park Eastern Creek area. The major attraction to that area is the ability to do large scale because of the power availability in that area.” There are multiple data centres within the area, so it’s carrier-rich, with lots of
“We’re looking for sites that are around
communications cabling around the
two to four times the size of our existing
area, and the Western Sydney Bulk
sites,” he adds. “We’re now looking at
Supply Point Substation – a 1500 MVA
six to 10-hectare sites; that’s just an
transmission station – is connected
indication of which way we’re going.”
directly to the power station. Next on the construction agenda for
“In Osaka, we’re working on developing the next 70 megawatts of IT load
Digital Realty is doubling the APAC
for our clients and the market. We’re
footprint, with the new space in Sydney,
also undergoing a process of procuring
land in Melbourne and acquiring more
renewable energy and that’s where the
space in Singapore, Osaka and Tokyo.
data centres have the biggest impact
JUNE 2019
193
with regards to energy consumption.” Howard, who was the project manager
“It’s very important that the contractor relationship ensures that the people
for the general contractor client side
who are doing the work are aligned
and organised all the steel and trades
with what you’re trying to achieve.”
for the first three Sydney facilities, will be overseeing all the builds. He’s worked with all the vendors at a direct level, as well as being the one step away from it, and says “It’s a good thing because we’ve got a very good relationship with the contractors. w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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Emaar, The Economic City: building a city of the future WRIT TEN BY
CATHERINE S TURM AN PRODUCED BY
HE Y K EL OUNI
Juman Park , Baylasun District w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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EMAAR, THE ECONOMIC CITY
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In order to build the largest privately-owned city in the world, Emaar, The Economic City has undergone a significant procurement transformation
JUNE 2019
A
Tadawul-listed real estate development and management company, EEC’s primary focus
is the planning and development of KAEC. When it launched its successful IPO in July 2006, EEC made history: more than half of the Saudi population subscribed. EEC is headed by Emaar Properties PJSC and a number of high-profile investors from Saudi Arabia. KAEC focuses on five essential sectors, including logistics, non-oil industries, leisure and tourism, quality
of life “real estate development� and,
consultants and suppliers to the new
finally, youth support.
city to facilitate its ongoing growth.
Building more than 10K residential
Situated on the coast of the Red Sea,
properties, the company has devel-
the new city, named King Abdullah
oped six residential neighbourhoods
Economic City (KAEC), has become
outfitted with the highest standards of
the largest privately funded new city
facilities designed to suit all types of
worldwide. Spanning an impressive
residents. EEC is passionate about
181mn square meters the area is the
building a city for the future. Working
home to 30 tourism projects, 10 of
with partners, such as Creet Contract-
which are already operational, such as:
ing who are currently undergoing the
The Royal Greens Golf and Country
second phase of building the local
Club and Bay X Conference and
village, EEC has moved contractors,
Entertainment center, with 20 other 197
Baylasun beach, Baylasun District w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
YOU START... WE DELIVER EMAAR, THE ECONOMIC CITY
DESIGN & BUILD TURNKEY TURNKEY CONSTRUCTION MEP CONSTRUCTION
Mission Maximising our long term benefits by satisfying customers’ needs through value added design, construction and project management services.
Vision To become the quality leader in KSA, and the preferred choice by our current and future clients, in all the business sectors we are specialised in,
VISIT OUR SITE CONTACT US DECEMBER 2018
The World Academy school, Murooj district
199
projects set to launch later this year.
international brands such as Mars,
EEC also aims to provide high-standard
Ikea and pharmaceutical giant Pfizer.
educational and healthcare services.
Additionally, the city has King Abdullah
It currently has two medical institutions
Port, the first port in the Middle East to
and has launched The World Academy
be fully owned, developed and operated
in collaboration with Global GEMS,
by the private sector, and is one of the
a well-known educational establish-
fastest growing ports in the world.
ment. Additionally, Prince Mohammad
However, to facilitate this process,
Bin Salman Collage for Management
Emaar, the economic city has sought
and Entrepreneurship has already
to transform its procurement capabilities.
welcomed its first batch of students.
Working for a multitude of multinational,
KAEC’s Industrial Valley attracted more than 100 companies, including
regional, local and private companies, Senior Director Hesham Elabd w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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Waha district JUNE 2019
“We are moving into the partner phase where a lot of CEOs have procurement officers to help them get better economy of scale, leverage business and find new technologies” — Hesham Elabd, Senior Director, Emaar, The Economic City 201 E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
Hesham Elabd Graduating as an Electronics Engineer from Alexandria University, Hesham has worked in a number of senior management roles for companies such as Procter & Gamble Company, Alfozan Building Materials/Madar Holding, Savola Group, Rezayat Group and Emaar, the economic city. Working across various business areas, such as: General Management, Business Development Planning, Purchasing Sourcing and Procurement, Total Supply Chain & Initiative Management including Operations logistics, Administration, Systems Re-engineering, Projects Management and Manufacturing, Hesham has successfully led operations, built strong organisations and delivered significant results.
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has witnessed how the procurement industry has evolved and looked at ways to remain ahead of the curve, leading the organization to move procurement from a reactive participant to a proactive, trusted partner. “We’re the developers of a new city. Procurement for such types of a mega scale project is very challenging. Procurement is no longer about handling documents and being just processors and raising purchase orders. Our procurement model is way beyond that,” he says. “Now, we are moving into the partner 202
phase where a lot of CEOs have procurement officers to help them get a better economy of scale, leverage business and
Prince Mohamed bin Salman Collages for business and Entrepreneurship
JUNE 2019
find new technologies. We’ve moved over the years from followers to leaders taking part in setting the company’s strategies and execution programme.” As companies continue to face increased challenges such as a global economic downturn, focus on cost reduction and global supply issues, the term ‘innovation’ has repeatedly been thrown around. Yet many businesses remain unaware of what this ultimately entails. “Most of these challenges are linked to the market dynamics, so procurement is a key enabler to overcome such challenges. Management are regularly pushing for
EEC offices, Baylasun District
value-add and how to get more for the money spent,” explains Elabd. “The best ways to do this is to go to a business, ask them for their requirements, share their plans, align with them on their needs and give them a procurement strategy of how to move forward. Through this, procurement can start developing plans to ensure sourcing the best value, share with business leaders the risks associated with what is being sourced, the available technologies and the expected outcome. For this to succeed, it is vital to have the right technical capability, what I would call the right buyer. The systems and processes supporting the w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
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EMAAR, THE ECONOMIC CITY
“KAEC’s vision is to become a great enabler of socioeconomic development in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It provides investors from all over the world with unique business opportunities while working towards securing the future of Saudi Arabia’s youth by creating new skilled job opportunities and total housing solutions” — Hesham Elabd, Senior Director, Emaar, The Economic City
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Baylasun and Marina Hotel
JUNE 2019
day to day operations have to be simply designed to allow smooth work flow.” Strong leadership and committing to deliver on objectives are something which Elabd stresses as essential. This should be coupled by having a good internal networking, alignment and strong communications. “To tackle our challenges, we undertook a six-strategy plan. First, we needed to understand our customer needs, develop our KPIs, set the goals, design the structure, re-defining our culture as procurement and finding the right people, skills and systems,” he explains. “For our KPIs, we asked different departments, companies and business units on their expectations from procurement. We had 12 questionnaires sent out and based on the findings, came up with the goal of “10 in 10 through Smart Buying,” which means 10% savings in 10 years.” Through the strategy, the organisation has overhauled its structure mix between centralisation and decentralisation. Adopting the approach of appointing the Right Business Partner, who takes the lead in sourcing strategies, tending and contracting for the Business Unit (BU), the move has ensured a single point of contact across the organisation. “The Business Partner also works alongside the Business Units’ CEOs and Head of Pro-
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EMAAR, THE ECONOMIC CITY
curement, enabling all parties to gain a complete understanding of what procurement is expected to achieve, an important element which has filtered into its cultural shift,” adds Elabd. “We now provide the needed procurement services based on the needs of the business – this is a huge cultural change. Introducing the customers’ experience was a very big thing. We also engaged with a consultant who looked at our employee capabilities in order to provide essential training.” 208
Shorooq District
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Pfizer factory at Industrial Valley
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘A SPIRIT OF TRANSFORMATION’ 209 By developing the skills of its employees, Emaar, the Economic City has sought to address its digital infrastructure. Investing in Advanced Procurement Systems has enabled the business to implement the iSupplier portal which covers its entire procurement capabilities. Fully eliminating all paper-led processes has simplified the process by more than 90%, and also boosted customer satisfaction figures. Additionally, to ensure complete transparency across its procurement activities, EEC has placed all upcoming developments on its web site to enable contractors to look at each project with all basic essential informaw w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
EMAAR, THE ECONOMIC CITY
210
“In 2015,our organisational engagement survey rated procurement at 44%. Last year it jumped to 86%. Customer satisfaction has reached 70%” — Hesham Elabd, Senior Director, Emaar, The Economic City
tion supplied. Companies which are awarded the business are also revealed, with project awarded values.
reached 70%,” Elabd says with pride. “Looking at the way forward, we have already launched the trusted supplier
“In 2015, our organisational engage-
programme. We have signed long-term
ment survey rated procurement at 44%.
deals with partners and fixed prices for
Last year it jumped to 86%. Our procure-
three years for our requirements such
ment team won four customer experi-
as building materials. In KAEC, a lot of
ence awards from the CEOs of the BU’s.
companies work in the Industrial Valley.
Overall Customer satisfaction has also
We recently launched a programme
JUNE 2019
211
Royal Greens, Golf and country club, Murooj District
offering them free procurement services
“Future Construction Initiative.” We as
through our “A Friend to Call” service.
EEC will be working with designers,
If they want any procurement advice,
suppliers and contractors to define the
they can call us and we can help. We’re
ideal new innovative construction
also extending this support service to
method for our upcoming developments.
SMEs operating in the city and introduc-
The aim is to make KAEC the hub for
ing them to potential partners.
advanced construction solutions and
“Our latest initiative that will soon be launched in a worldwide RfP is our
technologies enabling fast track, high quality, sustainable and cost-efficient w w w. c o n s t r u c t i o n g l o b a l . c o m
EMAAR, THE ECONOMIC CITY
“I am positive about the recognition we have received in such a small space of time” — Hesham Elabd, Senior Director, Emaar, The Economic City
212
Business park and Marina , Baylasun district JUNE 2019
developments in KAEC and possibly other Saudi cities.” Throughout its procurement transformation, Emaar, the economic city will continue to look for new opportunities to deliver savings, boost transparency and, at the end of the day, guarantee customer
satisfaction. Such commitment has
“Although we were unsuccessful,
even seen EEC Procurement become
I am positive about the recognition we
recognised by global institutions.
have received in such a short space of
The Chartered Institute of Procure-
time,” he says. “In November, we were
ment & Supply (CIPS) shortlisted
also nominated for two further awards,
EEC procurement for two global
by the Procurement Leaders, so we
awards, something which Elabd is
are being recognised internationally,
keen to highlight.
highlighting our upward trajectory.”
213
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Founded in 1996, we are a construction services company based in Malaysia with over 20 years of operating history and are principally engaged in provision of a wide range of construction services. The group was founded with a mission to pursue sustainable engineering models in a competitive resource-heavy sector. BGMC stand today as a builder of good repute positioned to make our mark beyond Malaysian shores. On the back of a solid trajectory of growth, the Group listed on The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (HKEX) on 9 August, 2017. Our successful listing in Asia’s financial centre places us at an advantage to leverage the Belt and Road Initiative, paving the way into key Southeast Asian markets for accelerated growth. Concession & Maintenance will be a priority in coming years to sustain long-term cash inflow. Meanwhile, we will be increasing our assets through acquisition of more advanced machinery and technology. We will also be strengthening our portfolio through collaboration, partnership agreements, or merger and acquisition. Ultimately, BGMC stands for a sustainable future where our people, clients, and surrounding communities can thrive for generations to come.
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