Breaking Ground Summer 2020 by Edmonton Construction Association

a look into edmonton, alberta, and canadaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s economy during covid-19

the eca to partner with fmi for emerging leaders institute

Official Publication of the Edmonton Construction Association

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Paving the way

PUBLICATIONS MAIL AGREEMENT #40934510

Celebrating women in construction and leadership

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Crisis mode How companies can continue to thrive in the COVID-19 era

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PCL CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT INC. IS EXCITED TO INTRODUCE AND WELCOME OUR NEW MANAGER, SPECIAL PROJECTS, MAT BARANOWKSI TO OUR TEAM. “Special Projects has been a part of PCL for nearly 100 years and we focus on tenant improvements, commercial retail, healthcare, and building revitalization. I am excited to join the team and committed to strengthening our relationship with clients and industry partners. Our industry is resilient and I look forward to being part of the growth and development of this great city.”

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 12 Message from the Executive Director, John McNicoll

Summer 2020

ON THE COVER

Paving the way Celebrating women in construction and leadership

16 Your ECA team

Julie Williams, Sales and Pre-Construction Manager, Scott Builders; Caroline Bowen, Director of Membership, ECA; Lindsay Munn, Manager Capital Projects, University of Alberta; Carolyn Osadczuk, Project Manager, PCL Construction Management; and Jen Hancock, VP Collaborative Construction, Chandos.

18 Alberta Construction Association update

28 Forum 2.0: New website broadens reach of Owners Forum

32 In pursuit of the silver lining: Update on the civil construction industry

36 Moving forward: A look into Edmonton, Alberta, and the nation’s economics since COVID-19

The ECA to partner with FMI for the Emerging Leader Institute

Crisis mode: How companies can continue to thrive through the COVID-19 pandemic

52 Creating a better Edmonton: Beljan Development revitalizing the Edmonton community

56 The evolution of… women in construction

60 Living in a collaborative world: Construction teams changing

64 Building services: ACI Architects Inc. known as leaders in design

Edmonton Construction Association

Building up young leaders:

The centre of it all: New life ahead for 98-year-old Dentistry/Pharmacy Centre at the U of A Working smarter with BuildWorks Canada

Breaking the ice: A look at four construction professionals’ experiences in YBG

Returning to normal: Risk management in the new economy Connecting with community: Al-Terra Engineering Ltd. reveals new branding and CEO

Index to advertisers

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ECA Breaking Ground Published by: DEL Communications Inc. Suite 300, 6 Roslyn Road Winnipeg, Manitoba R3L 0G5 www.delcommunications.com

President David Langstaff Managing Editor Shayna Wiwierski shayna@delcommunications.com

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Advertising Sales Manager Dayna Oulion Toll Free: 1.866.424.6398

Phone: 780-483-1130

Advertising Sales Gary Barrington Brian Gerow Jennifer Hebert Dan Roberts Anthony Romeo

Production Services Provided by S.G. Bennett Marketing Services www.sgbennett.com Creative Director / Layout & Design Kathy Cable Advertising Art Dave Bamburak Contributing Writers Roger Buksa Melanie Franner Ken Gibson Curtis Griffith Tammy Schuster

Email: contact@edmca.com Website: www.edmca.com

2020 ECA BOARD Board Chair Trevor Doucette Vice-Chair Andrew Sharman Treasurer-Secretary Rob McGrath Directors Derek Ciezki Jamey Singh Doug Hansen Greg Burghardt

While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein and the reliability of the source, the publisher in no way guarantees nor warrants the information and is not responsible for errors, omissions or statements made by advertisers. Opinions and recommendations made by contributors or advertisers are not necessarily those of the publisher, its directors, officers or employees.

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Bert DeBruin Chris Dirks

Canadian addresses to: DEL Communications Inc. Suite 300, 6 Roslyn Road Winnipeg, MB R3L 0G5 Email: david@delcommunications.com PRINTED IN CANADA 05/2020

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Message from the Executive Director

Greetings members and industry stakeholders Our industry has experienced discouragement over the past three years with a decrease in total project opportunities in Alberta. Since March 15, significant stress due to COVID-19, stock market declines, project volume decreases, and lower margins with corresponding competition has created additional stress for the entire ECA membership. Although deeply challenged, our members have been strong, innovative, and resilient, and I am impressed by their courageous responses to this pandemic. Facing these challenges, your ECA staff and board of directors have adjusted our approach. We have worked to amplify our support to membership and deliver value in our four pillars – Collaboration, Education, Networking, and Procurement. We also continue to pursue three strategic priorities to advance our industry by: 1. Fulfilling our role as the Hub of Construction Excellence; 2. Broadening membership, maximizing member experiences, and driving member value; and 3. Building strength in our YBG, enabling succession, and a strong future of long-term member engagement. COVID-19 has forced us to pivot focus as our team have moved to online networking events and education courses. This so far has been successful. Although rotating between office and remote work, we have had high levels of productivity. My thanks to staff and board members who have been patient and supportive in this time. The ECA’s core service is a construction information service (CIS). BuildWorks is our brand which delivers four pillars of service: 1. Pre-Bid - Information and leads; 2. Active Bid Opportunities – Documents, bidders lists, results and awards; 3. Invitation to Bid (ITB) – Private and secure project invitation; 4. Directory – Database of our entire industry with key qualification and business development information. Shortly after the pandemic hit, we were unexpectedly challenged in losing our BuildWorks software provider, which was forced to shut down for financial reasons. Dave Robertson and his Infinite Source team gave their heart and soul to us for over 20 years, and I wish to thank them all for their generous service over that time. On Tuesday, March 31, we had to find an immediate solution. Miraculously, we were up and running by 12

Edmonton Construction Association

Thursday and uploaded all our data by Sunday. This was done with most of our staff working 18 hours a day, led by Curtis Griffith as our commander-in-chief. A big thanks as well to Alisson Cardin and her e-solutions team who dropped everything to rescue us, and our good friends from B.C. and Ontario (local construction associations and their staff) who supported our efforts. This edition of Breaking Ground’s cover highlights five industry women leaders, including Jen Hancock (Chandos), Carolyn Osadczuk (PCL), Julie Williams (Scott Builders), Lindsay Munn (U of A) and our own Caroline Bowen (ECA). The edition also showcases the launch of WomenBuild, a new initiative designed to help women in industry connect, learn, and inspire. In Alberta, women make up 45 per cent of the workforce. However, in the Alberta construction industry, women make up just 14 per cent of the workforce (Alberta Labour Force Survey). In addition, women are only five per cent of the labour force in the trades. Women are underrepresented in our industry and underrepresented in leadership positions and operations (project managers, estimators, etc.). Finally, we still do not have a strong pipeline of women being trained in construction-related disciplines like engineering and trades/technical school. Research shows that cognitive diversity is a benefit. Not only is it the right thing to do – to have our organization reflect, at all levels, the diversity, businesses, and the people we serve – it is the strategic thing to do. The most sustainable, innovative operations are born from having diverse thought and perspective at the table in order to avoid the echo chambers that happen when we are surrounded by too many similar voices. Diversity strengthens the ECA. We see this in our varied membership; we are builders, trades people, businesspeople, project managers, engineers, manufacturers, estimators, designers, owners, suppliers, and support services. We are made up of diverse age groups, cultures, genders, orientations, educational, and experiential backgrounds. It is this diversity that helps us create tremendous value for our communities as we design, construct, and maintain buildings. Please support WomenBuild and those who wish to take part. Thank you for allowing us to continue to contribute to your success. In your service, John McNicoll

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YOUR ECA TEAM YOUR ECA TEAM

JOHN McNICOLL Executive Director

LISA KEHOE

Membership Coordinator

LISA KEHOE

Membership Coordinator

MATT SCHELLENBERGER Director of Corporate Development

DANIEL BENNETT

Procurement Specialist

DANIEL BENNETT

Procurement Specialist

CAROLINE BOWEN

Director of Membership

CAROLINE BOWEN

Director of Membership

FAIZAL JESSANI

Director of Finance & Corporate Services

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Receptionist

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ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 17

Alberta Construction

Association Update By Ken Gibson, Executive Director, ACA In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the ACA/ECA advocacy on behalf of our members has become even more critical. In the initial weeks our focus was urging the premier to keep construction operating. The ACA thanks Bill Black of the Calgary Construction Association who coordinated industry input in the development of the Pandemic Planning Document. Now in Version 3.0, the ACA shared this document with the Government of Alberta and municipal authorities. Praise for the planner has been received from contractors across Canada and overseas. As construction was confirmed as an essential service, the ACA’s focus was to identify gaps in industry supports and emerging issues. The ACA advocacy included:

• Finance Minister Toews, March 27, “Financing of Construction Supplies That Cannot Be Invoiced“ • Service Alberta Minister Glubish, March 30, “Release of Holdback Must Continue“ • Municipal Affairs Minister Madu, April 1, “Permitting and Inspection Issues“ As the industry continues to adapt and master new safety requirements, the challenge now becomes recognizing appropriate contractual allocation of risk with uncertainty about the severity, length, and recurrence of the pandemic. The ACA/ECA and others have written the provincial and federal governments documenting these risks. • Infrastructure Minister Panda, April 3, “New Procurements During COVID-19 Pandemic“

• Infrastructure Minister Panda, April 13, “Ensuring Construction and Design are the Engine for Alberta’s Economic Recovery“ • Prime Minister Trudeau, April 16, “Accelerating Economic Recovery through Shovel Ready Construction Projects“ Your construction associations meet weekly with Alberta Infrastructure to develop solutions in overcoming identified challenges in workforce and supply chain disruptions. We are confident that in harnessing your expertise, our construction industry truly can be the engine of Alberta’s economic recovery. u

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Paving the way Celebrating women in construction and leadership By Melanie Franner

Lindsay Munn, manager of capital projects, University of Alberta, knew that she wanted to work in the construction industry from the time she was a teenager and had an opportunity to work during the summer driving a 60-ton dump truck at a quarry in Cadomin.

Ever since she walked by an Ontario construction site while in high school, Julie Williams, sales and pre-construction manager, Edmonton branch, Scott Builders, knew that was where she wanted to be.

The construction industry employed approximately 3.5 per cent of Alberta women in 2018, according to numbers from a BuildForce Canada report entitled Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward, Highlights 2019-2028. According to the report, women represent approximately 15 per cent of the province’s construction labour force. Of this amount, some 30 per cent work directly on construction projects. The remaining 70 per cent work primarily in administration and management-related occupations. Engineering accounts for 29 per cent – or approximately 3,300 women – of female construction employment. The province’s non-residential sector employs 6,500 women, or 57 per cent of all tradeswomen, while the residential sector employs 4,900 women or 42 per cent. Leading by example The industry has seen an influx of women in all areas of construction over the past few years. Some say that the numbers need to rise even higher.

Edmonton Construction Association

n compared to the combustibles are brought onto the ding after it has been construction site d. This is becauseNATIONAL the risks CODE REQUIREMENTS  FIRE In EMT buildings only, at least two separate construction site differ both COURSEstairways OF CONSTRUCTION with a minimum of 30 minute fire mpact from those in a stairwell enclosure to provide d these risks are occurring at TALLresistance WOODrated BUILDINGS emergency responders with means of access to evention elements that are he completed building are all storeys during construction BACKGROUND se reasons,Theconstruction site  regardless In EMT buildings only, operable temporary fire  Requirement for fire protection water supply vulnerability of any building, of the e unique challenges. (and access to hydrants) to be available once material used, in a fire situation is higher during thestandpipe hose and system with fire construction phase when compared to the combustibles are brought onto the nding of these hazards and susceptibility of the building after it has been department pumper connection, installed as construction site e first stepcompleted towards andfire occupied. This is because the risks  progresses In EMT buildings only, at least two separate construction and hazards found differ both on during the course of on a construction site stairways with a minimum of 30 minute fire in nature and potential impactfrom those in a buildings only, installation of protective In EMT resistance rated stairwell enclosure to provide completed building; and these risks are occurring at emergency responders(such with means of access to layer material as firea time when the fire prevention elements thatof areencapsulation designed to be part of the completed building are all storeys during construction rated gypsum board) on exposed mass timber E REQUIREMENTS not yet in place. For these reasons, construction site  In EMT buildings only, operable temporary fire fire safety includes some unique challenges. for Tall Wood Buildings elements (ceilings, and inside stairways) hosewalls and standpipe system with fire Developing an understanding of these hazards and pumper connection, installed4as progressively asdepartment the building height exceeds potential risks is the first step towards fire al CoC fire their safety provisions construction progresses prevention and mitigation during the course of storeys such that no more 4 storeysof are  In EMT buildingsthan only, installation protective entional non-combustible construction (CoC). layer of encapsulation left exposed. It should be notedmaterial that (such as firee 2015 National Fire Code rated gypsum board) on exposed mass timber NATIONAL FIRE CODE REQUIREMENTS encapsulation during construction may vary Course of Construction for Tall Wood Buildings elements (ceilings, walls and inside stairways) d the upcoming 2020 edition as theestablished building height in exceeds 4 based on the fireprogressively safety plan Compared to the general CoC fire safety provisions 4) outline additional special such that no more than 4 storeys are for all low-rise and conventional non-combustible conjunction withstoreys the builder and Authorities t are required forofall left exposed. It should be noted that buildings any size, the 2015 National Fire Code Having Jurisdiction. encapsulation during construction may vary (NFC) (Section 5.6.3) and and the upcoming 2020 edition ing taller mid-rise wood based on the fire safety plan established in of the NFC (Section 5.6.4) outline additional special ber (EMT) fire buildings: conjunction with the builder and Authorities safety measures that are required for all To learn more about the above mentioned safety Having Jurisdiction. construction sites involving taller mid-rise wood and moking control rules provisions Encapsulated Mass Timber (EMT) buildings: in the National Fire Code for tall wood To learn more about the above mentioned safety : e identification details contact your regional Wood WORKS!  More stringent smokingconstruction, control rules provisions in the National Fire Code for tall wood ollecting and managing : www.wood-works.ca  Openly posted site identification details construction, contact Wood WORKS! program oryour theregional Canadian Wood  Explicit rules for collecting and managing program www.wood-works.ca or the Canadian Wood e disposal Council www.cwc.ca. combustible refuge disposal FACT SHEET FIRE SAFETY

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“It hasn’t changed enough,” states Jen Hancock, V.P. collaborative construction, Chandos. “I know that there are more women working at Chandos now compared to when I started. I also know that there are many times, whether at meetings or industry events, I’m still very much in the minority as a woman. There were women having this conversation 15, 20, or 30 years ago. So, the numbers haven’t increased as much as they should have.” That opinion is shared by Lindsay Munn, manager of capital projects, University of Alberta. “During my time in this industry, I have seen changes in inclusion and diversity, especially as it relates to women in construction,” she says. “There is still room for improvement, but it is encouraging to me to see so many organizations willing to start to consider and make the changes that will make a difference.” Julie Williams, sales and preconstruction manager, Edmonton

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branch, Scott Builders, has been involved in the construction industry for over 12 years now. Although she feels that there is an increasing number of women in the industry, she admits that more needs to be done. “I feel that there is still a way to go,” she explains. “I think we need to start educating women about the opportunities available in the industry much earlier, like in high school or even elementary school.” Today, Hancock, Munn and Williams have long, established careers in the construction industry, and all have become leaders in their own right – as well as role models for other women. Striving for more Hancock has 12 years of industry experience under her belt. She earned her bachelor of education degree and actively taught for a few years before she decided to pursue an alternate career path. “I made the decision to not teach

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anymore, so I got a job in administration at an engineering firm,” she explains. “After a few years, I reached a plateau there when I saw an opportunity as a project assistant for Chandos. I applied for the job and got it. I had no idea at that time how life-changing that job would be for me.” Today, Hancock continues to work for Chandos, albeit in a much more senior role. She credits part of her success to her own thirst for knowledge. “I worked at Chandos as a project assistant for a year and then went on maternity leave,” she says. “But while I was on leave, I studied for – and passed – the LEED exam.” The new accreditation enabled Hancock to get out into the field more often, something she found she loved doing. It also helped her after the recession hit in 2009 when her position evolved into director of business development proposal writing. From there, it was a short hop to sustainability and integrated project delivery.

project management in the design and construction industry. She currently

“ Since joining Chandos, I have had a ton of support. I adapted my role within the company but Chandos also made things very possible for me. The company helped me to grow as a person and to fill the spots that we needed to in order to grow the organization.”

is working in a leadership role within the Project Management Office at the University of Alberta. “In my role at the university, I lead a team of project managers delivering a wide range of design and construction projects while still maintaining a strong work-life balance and a connection to my two young boys,” explains Munn. “The

“I grew into new roles as the roles evolved within the company,” says Hancock, who attributes a lot of her success to the company’s own approach to its employees. “Since joining Chandos, I have had a ton of support. I adapted my role within the company but Chandos also made things very possible for me. The company helped me to grow as a person and to fill the spots that we needed to in order to grow the organization.”

Carving out her own path Munn knew that she wanted to work in the construction industry from the time she was a teenager and had an opportunity to work during the summer driving a 60-ton dump truck at a quarry in Cadomin. During that time, she was fortunate enough to be exposed to elements of engineering and chose to pursue a degree in civil engineering at the University of Alberta. Subsequent to obtaining her degree, Munn pursued a career in

university has allowed me the flexibility to balance my desire to raise and be home with my boys, as well as pursue a fulfilling and rewarding career.” Today, Munn continues to be satisfied with her career choice. She identifies one of the highlights of her career as being able to find her own voice. “Through experience, role models, and mentorship, I have gained confidence and the necessary skills to fulfill my current leadership role,” she says.

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Edmonton Construction Association

One direction Ever since she walked by an Ontario construction site while in high school,

Williams also teaches an estimating course part-time at NAIT. “I would guess that, on average, about

Williams knew that was where she

25 per cent of the students that are in

wanted to be. She went to college

my class are female,” she says. “And they

for construction engineering, worked

have all shown that they are 100 per cent

for a bit and then moved to Alberta.

committed to the course.”

Williams started her western career as a co-ordinator for an oil refinery before finding her place in the construction industry as an estimator. “While in college, I found estimating to be the most interesting by far,” she says. “After my short stint at the refinery, I moved into estimating and have been there ever since. I still love it.” Williams has been with Scott Builders for the last four years. “There are a lot of females at the

Those to follow Having forged their way into the construction industry, these three leading women have helped pave the way for other women to follow. And each hopes that the road forward for the next generation will be a little bit smoother as a result. “Long after I made the decision to get involved in the construction industry, I found out that my grandmother actually worked as an estimator in

company,” she says. “It’s not a 50/50

the industry back in the 1960s,” says

balance, but it’s a lot. Over the years,

Williams. “She once had her tires slashed

I have met quite a few female project

on a construction site as a way to let

managers, co-ordinators, and others in

her know she wasn’t welcome. Things

senior positions.”

haven’t been that hard for me. I think I

have been fortunate to work with some of the bigger, more forward-thinking companies over the years.” More openness has led to more acceptance across all areas of the industry. “Ten years ago, there was no conversation about women at Chandos,” says Hancock. “Today, we’re having that conversation. I have seen interest in our company to create more opportunity for better gender balance, but I think it is still a struggle for a lot of companies.” One of the solutions, adds Hancock, may be in spreading the word. “I would love to see women go out as a group to talk to young people about the opportunities available to them within the construction industry, to have women in work boots standing beside women in heels to show the breadth of diversity available within the construction industry,” she says. “I also think that industry needs to be more creative. We can look at the young

ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 25

Despite experiencing some “bumps” in their career paths, women in the construction industry are continuing to push forward and attain senior positions.

people coming out of university with a bachelor of science or bachelor of arts degree and ask ourselves how we can fit these people into spaces within our companies?” Munn believes further change will necessitate a multi-pronged approach. “I was exposed to a number of diverse opportunities through my family as I grew up,” she says. “I understood there were choices and I believe it was due to this understanding that I became aware

of the many opportunities that existed in the construction industry. I believe it is through awareness and education that opportunities for women in the workplace will continue to develop and flourish.” Opportunities abound Despite experiencing some “bumps” in their career paths, women in the construction industry are continuing to push forward and attain senior positions. “I think there is absolutely no reason why women shouldn’t pursue a career in construction,” says Williams. “There are a lot of qualities that females can bring to a company. Companies need to realize that it’s good to have a balance of people at the table, especially in leadership roles.” Remaining committed and passionate about their roles is another quality that women seem to bring to the table. “Since I started, I don’t think there

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back and questioned my decision,” says I continue to be challenged and I am so grateful for that. I am so passionate about my job and I want to convey that passion throughout the industry and beyond.” Munn echoes the same sentiment. “I wouldn’t hesitate to make the same decision today,” says Munn. “I have loved, and continue to love what I do and would encourage women to seek out opportunity in this profession.” Although there may still be some work needed to help encourage others to follow in these women’s successful footsteps, the fact that all of them continue to genuinely love what they’re

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doing can’t help but further the cause. “The construction industry has so much depth to it,” concludes Hancock. “I think a lot of women, and people in general, don’t realize that there are so

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Edmonton Construction Association

many facets to it. It’s like one big hidden secret.” u

As one of the larger public owners in the province, the University of Alberta has developed some leading practices over the years. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA.

Forum 2.0

New website broadens reach of Owners Forum

By Melanie Franner

The goal of the Owners Forum has always been to bring together public and private owners in a collaborative setting with other industry stakeholders. The initiative has been ongoing for the past few years. Already, three priority initiatives have been identified: vendor performance management principles; delivery method assessment; and BIM. This year marks a new evolution in the Owners Forum with the launch of a dedicated website, www.edmca.com/ procurement/owners-forum/. “We reached the point where members now understand the value of getting together and sharing their 28

Edmonton Construction Association

expertise to gain real-time feedback,” explains Matt Schellenberger, director of corporate development, Edmonton Construction Association. “The launch of the Owners Forum website means that those interested stakeholders who are not able to physically attend meetings now have an opportunity to access and learn from the information being made available.” Sharing of expertise The Owners Forum heralds in a new way of doing business in the construction industry. “Forums like this definitely help

communication from both the owners’ and construction industry’s perspective,” explains Lynda Cuppens, executive director, housing capital programs, Government of Alberta. “For example, some industry partners may not understand exactly how public tendering works. In this case, the forum provides a place to help educate the industry on public sector requirements under the Public Works Act. It also provides a place to inform the sector on major projects that may be coming so that they can be better prepared.” Greg Topinka, director, capital projects, facilities management & development,

transformational mindset,” he states. “We have to improve outcomes for the entire industry. The website is an important tool in that process in that it enables more people to become involved.” John Reid, manager of development engineering, City of St. Albert, cites two other important areas in the industry that are gaining significance with owners. “I think that owners need to be more Greg Topinka, director, capital projects, facilities management & development, NAIT, suggests that the new Owners Forum and website reflects the industry’s ongoing evolution.

John Reid, manager of development engineering, City of St. Albert, says that owners need to be more invested and knowledgeable about what’s going on during the construction process.

invested and knowledgeable about

Andrew Sharman, vicepresident, facilities and operations, University of Alberta, was one of the founding partners of the Owners Forum. Photo courtesy of the University of Alberta.

what’s going on during the construction process,” he says. “For example, owners need to know about environmental stewardship and safety, not just about how to get the job done.” Reid likens the current situation to “changing times”.

NAIT, suggests that the new forum and

asset at the end of the process,” says

website reflects the industry’s ongoing

Topinka. “I think the entire industry has to

he says. “Owners need to be more

evolution.

work together to achieve new gains.”

cognizant of other issues. It’s moving

“Over time, owners have become more engaged in the broader construction industry rather than being just the body procuring the service and owning the

“It’s sort of a changing of the guard,”

Topinka cites increased productivity as an example of one of these new gains.

from a ‘get-it-done’ attitude to a ‘how can we do it better’ mindset.”

“The forum is important as a method

To that end, Reid applauds the launch

to bring all the groups together within a

of the new website.

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“A dedicated website is the best medium available today to provide information collaboratively across all sectors: owners, general contractors, and consultants,” he says, referring to the City of St. Albert’s own situation. “We are a small municipality that doesn’t have a lot of large projects, except for roads and infrastructure. The forum and website is a way for us to get on the same playing field as larger owners and to gain from their experience, rather than have to learn from the ground up on our own. Plus, if everyone can start thinking along the same lines, then we can have more consistency across all regions.”

A case in point is the delivery process itself. The City of St. Albert has traditionally used a lump-sum approach. “We realize that this approach doesn’t work in every situation and that it doesn’t necessarily compare apples to apples,” says Reid. “As a result of our work with the forum, we have now started to branch out and use different types of contracts to achieve our goals.” Changing times The work being done through the Owners Forum is already paying dividends across the industry. Cuppens refers to how the

Government’s Housing Capital Programs took advantage of the forum before launching a new delivery method. “We have moved from a design/ build approach to a method that is qualification-based and collaborative, similar to Integrated Project Delivery,” Cuppens explains. “We took the idea to the sector to make sure it made sense. We made a few tweaks as a result of feedback and we were able to successfully roll out the new approach. To have that type of interaction outside of formal contracts proved very beneficial.” Andrew Sharman, vice-president, facilities and operations, University of

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Edmonton Construction Association

Alberta, was one of the founding partners of the Owners Forum. “We’ve got to the point over the last three years where we have made significant progress,” he says of the launch of the new website. “We now want to give access to everybody so that the entire industry can benefit from our work. The industry needs to change and adapt. There have been too many adversarial relationships in the past.” As one of the larger public owners in the province, the University of Alberta has developed some leading practices over the years. “We wanted to share some of our expertise and to gain from the work of others,” says Sharman of his initiative to spur development of the Owners Forum. “We’re now much more open and transparent with some of our procurement processes so that we can improve from feedback. Our collaboration with industry has increased significantly

as a result of our involvement in the forum.” NAIT has also seen success via the Owners Forum. “We’ve been looking at ways to enhance vendor performance management within our organization for quite a while now,” explains Topinka. “This initiative is one of the priorities of the forum, so it’s been quite beneficial for us to be involved. We’re now in the process of considering how we will apply some of these processes in-house as a result of our involvement.” For one and all Having achieved a lot of success with its first two priority initiatives – vendor performance management principles and delivery method assessment – members of the Owners Forum are now focused on mitigating risk through Business Information Modeling (BIM). “I think we’ve just begun scratching the surface of the BIM priority,” states

Topinka. “A lot of good work has been done, but there is still a long way to go. It will require the investment and engagement of everyone in the industry.” The launch of the new website is a milestone achievement in the work being done by the Owners Forum in that it provides a method of access to the entire industry. “We’ve definitely had successes,” says Sharman. “We’ve come further and faster than we had hoped. Now it’s a matter of how and where we take it from here.” The Owners Forum website is one more tool that the industry can use to better its performance. “We want the website to act as a real-time engagement tool for those industry members not able to attend the meetings all of the time,” concludes the ECA’s Schellenberger. “It is a repository of valuable information that can be used to improve and develop better construction delivery processes throughout the entire industry.” u

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In pursuit of the

silver lining Update on the civil construction industry By Tammy Schuster

As the largest heavy construction association in Canada, the ARHCA’s members represent contractors and suppliers working on highways, municipal roads, bridges, sewer, and water projects.

Edmonton Construction Association

In early April, the Province of Alberta announced a $410 million investment into road maintenance and renewal projects that will help create thousands of jobs and provide immediate benefits to communities across the province. “Investing in road construction and maintenance represents excellent value for taxpayers,” says Ronald Glen, CEO, Alberta Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association (ARHCA). “Our province’s highway and roadway network is a critical piece of infrastructure that needs to be maintained and preserved.” The ARHCA represents approximately 800 member companies in the civil construction industry. As the largest heavy construction association in Canada, the ARHCA’s members represent contractors and suppliers working on highways, municipal roads, bridges, sewer, and water projects. The funding will be delegated to a number of civil projects, including highway surface improvement, bridge work, reconstruction, and repair in every part of the province with the goal of increasing the flow of capital back into all parts of the industry. The timing of the investment comes at a time when the province is already experiencing an economic downturn, and budget cuts were set to take approximately $800 million out of the public sector work on provincial highway projects over the next four years. “That was the scene going into the pandemic,” says Glen. “Now, like everyone else, we are trying to navigate this unknown territory and determine

Ronald Glen is the CEO of the Alberta Roadbuilders and Heavy Construction Association (ARHCA).

time, costs, or both. It is also having to reexamine the dynamics of organizing projects and then recalibrating when situations change. For example, Glen says that maintaining social distancing on the job

what is essential, what can proceed, and how to do so while properly mitigating all of the current and developing circumstances.” Prior to the pandemic, the association was ramping up its advocacy and awareness campaign, but now much of their focus has turned to working with the government to develop a plan for mitigating risk. “We could now have situations where a new public health order is issued and scheduling of crews could be impacted,” says Glen. “Or an entire crew could be delayed, so we need to have a relief provision in our contracts along the lines of a force majeure clause that would apply to this situation.” Due to the current health crisis, the ARHCA has been communicating regularly with its membership as information is received. “There’s a tremendous amount of anxiety in the industry,” says Glen. “We have been working with Transportation Minister Ric McIver on a proposal to have a panel of seasoned industry experts review requests for relief related to COVID-19-related extraordinary costs and delays, and make recommendations to Alberta Transportation for change orders during construction.” The association is currently pursuing assurances from government that when the unexpected happens — as it has — businesses can seek relief either in

site is manageable, but the costs involved with transporting and accommodating crews have increased significantly. Crew members would typically be accommodated in hotel rooms at double occupancy, but now they must allocate

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Due to the current health crisis, the ARHCA has been communicating regularly with its membership as information is received.

one person per room. The same goes for transporting crew members to the job site. Add to this the uncertainty of whether those hotels or dining facilities will actually be operating and able to meet the requirements when the project starts. “Planning includes looking at everything at a granular level from business continuity, public health and

safety, and supply chain issues that include such things as maintaining the availability of rest stops.” But Glen remains hopeful, determined, and confident in the industry partners. “This new situation has really brought to light how important it is for the industry to cooperate in order to find solutions that work for everyone,” he says. “We have great relationships

with associations across the province, and if there’s a silver lining, it’s that this has forced us to come together, communicate, collaborate, and rethink the business and the things that are the most important in life.” For more information about the ARHCA, visit www.arhca.ab.ca. u

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Moving forward A look into Edmonton, Alberta, and the nation’s economics since COVID-19

Mark Anielski is the president, author, and chief wellbeing officer of Anielski Management Inc., an Alberta-based economic consultancy and strategic planning firm specializing in the economics of well-being.

After the COVID crisis ends, we will see a massive contraction in our gross domestic product, the GDP, which is really just a measure of how much cash is changing hands in the economy. 36

There is so much more to economics than just the study of production, distribution, and the consumption of goods and services. Mark Anielski, president, author, and chief wellbeing officer of Anielski Management Inc., an Alberta-based economic consultancy and strategic planning firm specializing in the economics of well-being, works with individuals, businesses, governments, and communities to help them discover and optimize their genuine wellbeing and wealth. We sat down with Anielski to talk about the Edmonton economy, the effects of COVID-19 on the construction and oil industry, and what the province and country has to look forward to in the years to come. ECA: First off, tell us about yourself. Mark Anielski: I’m an economist with a background in accounting and forestry, and I work as a consultant primarily now to First Nations but also the governments like Canada, Singapore, Bhutan, and

Edmonton Construction Association

China to develop a well-being economy and a well-being accounting system. My genuine wealth accounting and measurement model is based on the original Old English meaning of the word ‘wealth’, which literally means ‘the conditions of well-being’. So we are going to measure what matters to well-being, accounting for how assets contribute to well-being. My book, the Economics of Happiness in 2007 and my latest book, the Economics of Wellbeing basically provide a roadmap of how to develop this new economic system and operate from a basis of well-being as the ultimate bottom line. Tell me about the general economic trends in Edmonton, Alberta, and Canada. Right now, terrible, of course. However, I think this is a good time to reflect on the purpose of our economy, taking a serious look at how we optimize assets, whether it’s land, resources, oil and gas, ideas, technology, or built capital assets.

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ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 37

After the COVID crisis ends, we will see a massive contraction in our gross domestic product, the GDP, which is really just a measure of how much cash is changing hands in the economy. GDP is not a measure of how we feel about our economic lives, nor is it a measure of well-being. So Alberta is suffering because of the price of the oil downturn, but at the same time there are some amazing things happening as well. I think we are starting to examine why

the economy needs to keep growing at the rate it was. Is there such a thing as sustainability and the notion of ‘enough’ material prosperity and money, which might mean less GDP, but perhaps happier lives. I know from my studies of the relationship between happiness and income, that happiness tends to be optimized (or peaks) at a household salary of roughly $75,000 per year (which equates to about $20 per hour in full-time wages per working adult).

Beyond $75,000, happiness levels actually begin to taper off and even begin to decline with the more money we make. So what does that say about Alberta, where the average working couple made around $100,000 a year in 2018? It begs the question as we are sitting at home self-isolating: how much money do we need now to meet our basic needs? Our basic needs now include groceries, toilet paper, utilities, and paying the mortgage or the rent. Another question that we can all ask – especially as a business person – are we

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paying our employees $20 per hour? What kind of economy can we now reimagine in the next six months? It might not be the oil-based economy that we have become accustomed to. We have to think seriously, again from an asset perspective, as to whether Alberta is optimizing the return on the total assets (people, relationships, trust, and natural resources). It might mean that we produce less oil from the oil sands, which has enough remaining reserves to last over 170 years, while at the same time increasing our renewable energy capacity in solar and wind energy. Alberta has more solar potential than Germany, who has invested billions in solar energy. These are big questions that we will have to ask ourselves and think seriously too. And that goes for the whole country. Most nations are in the same boat. We see massive market

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corrections, we see massive losses of GDP, we see massive government putting money straight right into our bank accounts, like magic. How come governments suddenly have all this ‘helicopter’ money to throw straight into your bank account? Does that mean that money is no longer scarce or has become a kind of public utility? This larger question about money and how it is created is a fundamental question

EDMONTON • CALGARY • GRANDE PRAIRIE • LANGLEY

that I have been posing for years. Now is the time to consider democratizing money itself.

Edmonton Construction Association

Tell us about monetary policy and its effect on our overall economy and the Alberta economy. March and April revealed just how easy it was for the federal government to create instant money to help individuals and businesses get through the sudden money crunch. But the question is how was this new so-called ‘helicopter money’ created? Typically, governments will finance their deficit budgets by issuing or selling bonds to the private markets; bonds are debt instruments that have interest charges that becomes part of our annual tax bill. However, as such, it is the sovereign central bank of any nation which could create enough money for the people to help finance government programs at no cost (that is, no interest) to citizens. For example, the Bank of Canada could buy the federal government debt bonds and simply recycle or write-off the debt since it has the powers of a public bank. We actually don’t fundamentally need to sell our government debt bonds to the private markets. On a simple economic basis it makes no sense that we would not use the power of free money creation of our Bank of Canada and instead give this power over to the private banks and markets. In fact, before 1974 the Bank of Canada helped the Government of Canada finance deficits by buying government debt. But in 1974, Canada literally handed over our money-creation powers to private banks or ‘the market’, as did other countries. So we find ourselves at a critical moment in Canada’s history when the power of money creation could be returned to the Bank of Canada, as a public, saving Canadians millions in avoided interest costs on government debts now held by the private financial markets. We could in essence create just enough money for all Canadians to enjoy a happy or living wage, expire the national and provincial government debts, pay for real climate change actions, all created in precise amounts in relationship to the common wealth or assets of the nation. This is something that has never really been tested before.

cent of our household income now going to pay for hidden interest charges in everything we purchase (including taxes) on the debt that’s being accumulating since the end of the Second World War. This is a remarkable truth. It is like saying 50 per cent or more of your average work week is going to pay for interest charges on everything you purchase, though you never see this charge on your invoice or receipt. So we have to fundamentally ask

Right now, around 98 per cent of our money supply is created as debt money when banks issue loans, whether it’s a mortgage (which means ‘death pledge’ in French) or student loan or car loan. Even government debt is sold as debt, a debt instrument, which is a big problem because over time the amount of interest payments on the compounding mountain of outstanding debt just keeps growing, similar to cancer. So we are stuck in a way prior to this pandemic, with over 50 per

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ourselves, is this really a good and fair economic system when half of our life energy (that is our time) will be spent on paying interest charges on money created by corporations (banks), when in fact, the centre bank could create enough money for us to have a living wage? I am not suggesting we simply pay every Canadian a universal basic income without being attached to meaningful work and our contribution to the wellbeing of society. Simply putting free money in people’s bank accounts might make us lazy and unwilling to work. However, the point is we would have considerable discretionary time available to contribute to the well-being of our families, neighbours, and the planet if we only had to work 20 hours a week rather than 40 or 50 for a living wage. One of the things I point out is Alberta is in a unique position because we are the only province which has its public bank which we call the Alberta Treasury Branch (ATB Financial), founded in 1938. Only the state of North Dakota in the U.S. has a similar public bank. Having

a public bank essentially means that Alberta could, like the Bank of Canada, lend money to the Alberta Government (as it now does to Albertans) at no cost or no interest cost. Instead of the Alberta Government deficit financing by selling bonds to the private markets, that debt could be held by ATB or the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), which is our public investment fund. The interest cost savings would be huge. Alberta now is faced with a looming deficit of an estimated $20 billion. Can we pause for a moment and consider another option of having ATB work in harmony with the Bank of Canada to create emergency money for free to get us through this crisis rather than imposing significant interest charges from bonds sold to the private markets? We are all going to be paying more in interest charges on Alberta’s growing mountain of debt than ever before as oil and gas royalties plummet. ATB, as a provincial public bank, could in principle issue credit or money at-cost (no interest charges necessary) backed 100 per

cent by the total wealth or assets of the province. Other provinces could develop their own public banks in harmony with the Bank of Canada. Money creation would then be returned to a public good, created by the people and for the people. This is a fundamental piece of the economy of well-being I envision. Tell us about the combination of COVID-19 and record-low oil prices and its effect on the general economy and construction. Before COVID, I had done some analysis of the correlation, or relationship, between the price of oil and construction, say capital investment in Alberta and also in Calgary and Edmonton. My historical analysis (see graph) of Edmonton construction building permits and the price of oil between 2007 and 2014 shows that Edmonton’s construction industry was very resilient in spite of oil price shocks. Whether Edmonton’s construction sector will remain resilient as oil now trades below US$20 remains to be seen.

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In contrast, Alberta’s overall construction sector activity (measured in terms of permit values) has tended to follow the price of oil, with an apparent lag effect, perhaps by 15 months (see graph below). The graph shows a strong relationship between the price of oil and total construction permits, though I have not separated commercial, industrial, and residential construction. But with that said, Alberta’s economy remains highly dependent on oil and gas markets, with

Alberta’s GDP being highly correlated with the price of oil. So we are going to obviously see a big shock to Alberta’s economy with the collapse in oil prices and the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alberta’s dependency on oil and gas began in 1973 with the OPEC oil crisis, which resulted in a bonanza of oil and gas activity and revenues. This brings up another important issue which I’ve spent my career studying; that is, Alberta’s

Edmonton Construction Association

poor record of collecting and investing royalties from the petroleum industry. I’ve shown that had Alberta continued to collect oil and gas royalties at a rate of roughly 28 per cent of the total value of oil and gas product sales from the industry, as Peter Lougheed was able to do on average between 1974 and 1985, then Alberta’s Heritage Savings and Trust Fund could have been as large as $800 billion or more today, not the mere $19 billion that remains in that fund today. I’ve often compared Alberta with Norway as Norway in 1990 borrowed Peter Lougheed’s model of royalty savings and investment. Today, Norway enjoys one of the world’s largest sovereign wealth funds exceeding US$1.1 trillion. That’s enough money to pay a living wage to every Norwegian (with 5.4 million people) on an annual basis for a long time. The fact that Alberta (along with Canada) did not persist in collecting Lougheed’s average of 28 per cent of the value of oil and gas sales following the last oil price shock of 1986, just shows how much money we have squandered. You can well imagine what it would be like if Alberta/Canada had $800 billion in our collective petroleum savings account today in this time of the COVID emergency. Sadly, the most recent Alberta 2020/21 budget forecasts royalty revenues that would amount to a mere $0.075 (7.5 per cent) of every one dollar in oil and gas production value projected, a far cry from what Lougheed was collecting from the industry. Some people say you can’t compare Alberta with Norway, as Alberta is a not a nation, but this is then my critique which would apply to both Canada and Alberta. So, what can we expect? Well, if the last 30, 40 years of the relationship of the price of oil construction is any indicator, then we can expect a lower rate of construction permits and work. This pause, in what has been rather hype-normal rate of construction activity especially in Edmonton, might be a time to think about the need to invest in needed and often deferred

maintenance and upgrading existing infrastructure and buildings, making them more energy efficient and reducing our carbon footprint from buildings. How many buildings in Alberta, for example, have undergone a full cost engineering study for upgrades and replacement of degraded aspects of the building? What is the maintenance and repair budget for our built infrastructure? Can we complete these lifecycle analysis assessments for Alberta and then orient our municipal and provincial budgets to that, which would ensure the long-term sustainable life of the buildings, roads, bridges, and other infrastructure? Perhaps if we did establish a proper asset maintenance and replacement budget then we might be better able to weather the economic storm that we will experience over the next two or three years, especially if the oil continues to remain at the $20/bbl level. We might then determine what a sustainable level of construction and maintenance schedule might be which would then guide prudent budgeting and planning by the construction sector and each company that participates in the sector. This would help determine what kinds of skill labour will be needed in the next two to five years. These are the questions I would be pondering. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I would say we will probably be okay and will weather this storm, if our past experience is a guide. Also on a personal level, I said earlier, if people actually step back and say “well how much do I actually need to earn to have a reasonably good life?”, and if that number is say, $50,000 (which is $40 a hour roughly) for an individual, or $75,000 for a household, then the question is, can we do it? Can the construction industry operate at this level of wages? Can the whole economy? Especially if every person has a sense that $40 an hour is in fact sufficient to meet our basic needs for a good living. Is it not then the shared responsibility of both the CEO of companies with their employees to negotiate a fair living wage pay scale, without needing the government to impose minimum wage standards?

How is it possible to maintain

maintain the long-term benefits or

sustainable construction in any

services of the electrical and plumbing

economy?

systems, or the integrity of building

I think you have to – from an

envelope and structure? Let’s say that

accounting perspective – look at the

the maintenance allowance should be

qualitative and maintenance state of

five per cent of the replacement value

existing built infrastructure, whether it’s

of the building. That then gives me a

residential housing stock, commercial,

number to think about and budget

and industrial buildings. The question

for. As such, we don’t pay attention to

then is what is a sustainable maintenance

the depreciation cost estimates on our

schedule on all forms of infrastructure?

balance sheet nor do we tend to set aside

By maintenance, I mean how do you

that five per cent of the replacement cost

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ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 43

Forecasting is a bit like going to the casino. At best, economists are all guessing about the future. for future maintenance and restoration work. Maybe it’s time for a new approach to built asset budgeting at all levels from the national, to provincial, municipal, and enterprise. Take for example, the historical cost value (not replacement cost) of the Alberta Government’s building stock which was estimated at over $42.5 billion in 2019; if the annual maintenance schedule was five per cent, then Alberta should be spending $2.2 billion per annum on building maintenance. We can apply this budgeting logic to determining how much skilled labour we will need to maintain that infrastructure. Also, if the population grows at two per cent a year, which is roughly what it has been, then we are also going to be building things to match the growth in

the population. All these attributes of infrastructure planning can be mapped out and modeled in a spreadsheet. We can then figure out what kind of demand we will have for various skills in the labour pool. Bottom line is the importance of having a proper life-cycle and full cost accounting of our building stock and infrastructure that then informs prudent maintenance budgeting that we can then use to estimate what the construction sector should be and not wait until things start to fall apart and be faced with emergency financing. Tell me about forecasting economic cycles Forecasting is a bit like going to the casino. At best, economists are all guessing about the future. I often joke

Edmonton Construction Association

that “no economist has ever been fired or demoted for not forecasting the future correctly”. So, to forecast is very difficult, but as I just said earlier, if we look back over the past 30 to 40 years, we see patterns and relationships between these economic variables that can give us some clues as to how the construction sector might do in the near future. We can provide reasonable estimates of construction investment and permits if oil trades at US$20 per barrel oil price. Interestingly, the last time Alberta experienced US$20 per barrel oil was in 1997, with oil averaging below US$15 per barrel in 1998. Unfortunately, we became very comfortable and complacent when oil was $80 to $90 per barrel. Our economy and our businesses quickly became accustomed to high oil prices which led to higher wages and prices throughout our economy. So we can look back in time and say, we lived through $20/barrel oil before and survived. That said, we have some tough-love days

ahead as we try to navigate through the economic storms of low oil prices and the post COVID-19 pandemic. We will have to ask ourselves some tough questions about what kind of economy Alberta could like to look like, even an economy less dependent on oil. Construction as a percentage of GDP, what is sustainable? Alberta’s construction sector (residential, non-residential, and engineering construction) was about 9.1 per cent of the Alberta’s GDP in 2016 ($293 billion), which is quite large and second only to the mining and oil and gas industries, which has ranged from between 13 per cent (in 2016) to 34 per cent of Alberta’s GDP. Construction repair or maintenance expenditures represented only 0.97 per cent of Alberta’s GDP in 2016. GDP is just a measure of the cash flow every year through an economy. The share of Alberta’s GDP by the construction sector has remained relatively unchanged, averaging about 7.9 per cent of Alberta’s GDP over the last 20 years. That figure was as low as 5.8 per cent in 2004 (when oil averaged US$41 per barrel) to 10.6 per cent in 2015 (when oil averaged US$45 per barrel). So I would say Alberta’s construction sector should remain relatively strong, resilient, and continue to be the second largest contributor to Alberta’s economy. Tell me about Edmonton’s resiliency (short history and expectations for the near future). From my analysis that I did three years ago and the graph I showed previously, I expect Edmonton to remain very resilient as it has, compared to Calgary, since every oil and gas price shock since the early 1970s. Edmonton’s economy, as a whole, is quite resilient because it is more diversified than Calgary. That is because we have lots of post-secondary institutions here, which of course entails significant built infrastructure and future maintenance. So that’s all good for the construction sector. While we can see

from my graph the impact of the massive building blitz in Edmonton from the ICE District development, these are going to be outlier years or anomalies. I do feel we can return to a more normalized and less hyper level of construction and maintenance in line with more normal population growth. I also think we are going to see less residential building construction, especially condo towers. I feel we already have an oversupply of condo towers as we try to increase

densification in some areas of Edmonton. And so that begs the question, what is a more sustainable level of residential and commercial build? Edmonton’s construction sector will have to look at these issues through calm and sobering eyes. Bottom line is that I’m confident Edmonton (and Alberta) will get through this latest economic crisis as we have always done and construction will remain a mainstay of our economy. u

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ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 45

Crisis mode How companies can continue to thrive during the COVID-19 pandemic By Shayna Wiwierski

On March 17, 2020, the Government of Alberta declared a public health emergency in the province, and on March 20, 2020, the City of Edmonton declared a state of emergency in order to stop the spread of the Coronavirus.

It was supposed to be the next roaring ‘20s, but little did anyone know when the clock struck midnight on January 1, 2020 what would happen in just a few short months. Of course we all know that the Coronavirus, or COVID-19, didn’t start in 2020. In our Canadian bubble, hearing about a virus that allegedly originated in a market in Wuhan, China, never did anything think that in March of this year our country would be shut down. That countries would close their borders, businesses would be shutting their doors, that toilet paper and hand sanitizers would be more coveted than a reservation at Corso 32, and that the simple act of going to the grocery store now consisted of wearing a mask, going down one-way aisles, and maintaining a distance of two metres from someone else. That schools and religious facilities would close. That we wouldn’t be able to hold gatherings of more than 10 people. 46

It sounds hard to believe that this sort of thing could happen in 2020. But, as we know now, it did. On March 17, 2020, the Government of Alberta declared a public health emergency in the province, and on March 20, 2020, the City of Edmonton declared a state of emergency in order to stop the spread of the Coronavirus. In the days that followed, the City, Province, and Country all announced various funding packages that would help ease the burden of the shutdown. New social distancing rules were put in place, including gatherings of more than 15 people being prohibited in Alberta and all non-essential businesses closed. Thankfully, the provincial government has deemed construction an essential service, however, it was reported in the Edmonton Journal on April 15, 2020 that Mayor Don Iveson was asking the province to support $2.1 billion worth of construction projects that Edmonton

Edmonton Construction Association

may not be able to fund on its own thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic. Many projects are also at risk of being delayed. For Chris Ambrozic, president of Scorpio Masonry, those first two weeks in March after the shutdown were the hardest. “[Learning to adapt] to the changing macro environment because there were new events happening every day, whether it be a new government program, which affected our employees since some individuals were forced to stay home because of child care, or figuring out if our business would continue to be an essential business as defined by the provincial government,” says Ambrozic, whose company has been in business for the past 40 years and does masonry contracting work in Western Canada. “Putting in new job procedures and safe work practices related to social distancing, the lack of personal protective equipment… those first two weeks were the biggest challenge, for sure.” After the shutdown started, Scorpio Masonry made sure to increase their communication with their team to respect social distancing. They put out safety bulletins once a week and adapted each individual site differently depending on how COVID had impacted projects. Ambrozic adds that they have been very fluid in dealing with the variabilities with different sites, and even though the first two weeks felt like two months, once

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they had those measures in place, they were able to adapt to the change a little better. Although Scorpio Masonry are still working on projects, some of which had to be shut down due to exposure to COVID-19, they have had to make the difficult decision to lay off some of their workers due to various factors, including the need for child care and employees feeling sick and having to self-isolate. Ambrozic adds that once the pandemic ends, their company will be a lot more adaptable to change and he thinks that they will be able to react better to a quickly-changing environment. “I’m hoping that’s where it will take us, to get a positive spin in it. I think the economy is going to be – in Alberta especially – a lot different,” says Ambrozic. “We will be focused on certain things moving forward for sure and the work will be different. There will less of it and it will be more competitive.” Mike Millard, vice-president of sales at Milltech Millwork Ltd., a cabinet-making manufacturing shop, says that they have not shut down their business and have been maintaining contracts that have carried over from last year, along with some new projects. “We are kind of on the larger side of the cabinet-manufacturing industry, so we have had contracts going since last September,” says Millard, who adds that they manufacture architectural woodwork and store fixtures. One of their largest clients nationwide is Sport Chek. “What we have been doing now, because we have been hit hard by the slowdown, we have been negotiating to get off-site storage agreements for manufactured product for the jobsites that have been shut down. We have had about three major projects shut down, so we are stockpiling for when they do reopen these sites.” Millard says that of their 70 staff, they have not had to lay off any workers as of yet, but he does foresee it coming. They have had to cut down on overtime with their work hours being reduced to 40 hours per week. They also have a number

Since there has been a slowdown in business, Millard says that companies in construction should best adapt to this new normal by not lowering their prices and remain competitive.

of workers with children who have had to stay at home when daycares and schools shut down. Since Milltech is a fairly large shop, their workers can safely maintain physical distancing measures. Millard adds that they have a number of staff also cleaning and disinfecting equipment and surfaces constantly to maintain a sanitary work environment. Since there has been a slowdown in business, Millard says that companies in construction should best adapt to this new normal by not lowering their prices and remain competitive. “My opinion is not to be scared into lowering your prices. Keep everything clean and priced competitively, however,

do not sell the farm, per se,” he says. “We have to do our due diligence because overheads do not change, and the government subsidies will run out if/ when you need them.” Millard adds that the company will try to thrive, pending tenders. However, he has seen some projects be delayed and fears that some companies will be making the difficult decision to close their doors because of this pandemic. Ryan Hutton, business development for Highline Electrical, says that companies need to be diverse right now and look into projects that may be outside their normal scope of work. He mentions that a lot of bigger projects have slowed down or been cancelled, but

Although Scorpio Masonry are still working on projects, some of which had to be shut down due to exposure to COVID-19, they have had to make the difficult decision to lay off some of their workers due to various factors, including the need for child care and employees feeling sick and having to self-isolate.

there is a lot of smaller, private-type work available, so contractors should look into bidding on those smaller projects. Highline Electrical has been around for 42 years and they specialize in street lights and traffic signals in Alberta and Saskatchewan. They also have a commercial division that works with schools and hospitals. Since the COVID-19 pandemic started, Hutton says that their

ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 49

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team has been running quite lean and the workers that haven’t been laid off are wearing multiple hats and doing various jobs within the organization. One of their biggest clients is the City of Edmonton, of which they have a maintenance contract with them for the city’s streetlights. “We have seen our call volume decrease a bit and I think that’s partly due to the fact that the maintenance program works off of people reporting outages to the city. So citizens use the 311 app and now that there is a lot less volume of people out commuting, it’s a lot lighter now. People probably don’t notice some of the deficiencies that might be arising,” says Hutton, adding that they have also had to adapt their policies for safe work practices around COVID-19 and making sure that their staff and clients remain healthy and safe at work. “That’s kind of changed how we operate a little bit, trying to adapt our policies, reduce the number of people on crews and on crew trucks, and trying to maintain social distancing.” Changing safety policies and regulations around COVID-19 seems to be a reoccurring trend that Hutton has been seeing lately. He says that he has seen countless emails from general contractors and other subtrades about their policies and what they want to do. In terms of projects, he adds that the private sector has been doing quite well since their projects aren’t tied to government funding. Since Highline Electrical works with the City, Hutton says that although their work has slowed down a little bit, he doesn’t foresee the company going out of business and that businesses need to find ways to think outside the box to continue to thrive. “Honestly, I think we will come out of this fairly strong,” says Hutton. “Because we have been around for so long and we have never seen anything like COVID, but have seen quite a few downturns and other factors affecting the economy, our senior leaders have always had to find ways to be creative and maintain a strong company. We are bidding on lots of work and will be fairly busy for the remainder of the year.” u

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ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 51

Creating a better

Edmonton Beljan Development revitalizing the Edmonton community By Tammy Schuster

@81 will be a four-storey building consisting of 36 apartments and a main floor retail space totaling 11,000 square feet.

The Strathcona Hotel — a well-known heritage building well past its heyday— is getting a considerable revamp.

Edmonton Construction Association

Good work for a great city. This is the motto for an innovative development company, Beljan Development. A small boutique firm with an eye for potential, Beljan’s focus is on infill developments that help build on a community often passed over by other developers. “We look for underutilized assets in existing, more stabilized neighbourhoods,” says Blaine Sherman of Beljan Developments. “Neighbourhoods with established high-traffic areas, heavy pedestrian activity, and cycling and transit routes, such as downtown, Whyte Avenue, 124th Street, or near the University of Alberta.” When the Beljan team finds a potential project, they examine the entire neighbourhood and try to get a feel for the community’s character in an effort to help push an up-and-coming area or revitalize an old haunt. One such project in @81, located one block south from the past-infamous Whyte Avenue on 101 Street in Strathcona. What was once a singlelevel commercial building with a partial parkade, will soon be a four-storey building consisting of 36 apartments and a main floor retail space totaling 11,000 square feet. “We purchased this building about two years ago, and it was already preengineered to sustain additional floors, so we saw an opportunity to turn this into a new mixed-use building,” says Sherman. “We are in the process of adding on three residential floors and modernizing the main floor for multiple commercial tenants.”

The Infrastructure Owners Forum was launched in 2017 to help those in the Owner community to better collaborate, build understanding and connect, with the purpose of improved integration across the construction continuum, and quality outcomes for the entire construction sector. The group meets bi-annually and now includes over 20 public owners and several developers meeting with industry to tackle common challenges. Learn More at OwnersForum.ca

ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 53

The Oliver Exchange Building was repurposed from the original West End Telephone Exchange into a collaborative mixed-use office and retail hub in Oliver.

Just a few blocks away, the Strathcona Hotel — a well-known heritage building well past its heyday— is getting a considerable revamp. Built in 1891, it was one of those particular projects that not many developers would go near. “Designated as a heritage building, we had to work with both the city and the province to maintain certain aspects of the structure, all while bringing it up to code including fire rating, energy modeling, exits, sprinklers, and new services,” says Sherman. Leopold’s Tavern has leased the 3,500-square-foot main floor, the two upper floors will be retail office space, and an enclosed atrium off the rear of the

building will provide a year-round gathering space. Sherman says they received a lot of support from the public, as well as from the city and the province on this project. “We have built a pretty good reputation repurposing these historic buildings and there was a positive vibe when people found out that Beljan took possession of the Strathcona.” With the philosophy of bringing community together, the Beljan team is influenced by the European way of life with neighbourhood streets lined with cafés, shops, galleries, and gathering spaces that help promote community and culture. Another recent project that followed

this philosophy is the Oliver Exchange Building, which was repurposed from the original West End Telephone Exchange into a collaborative mixed-use office and retail hub in Oliver. Using a mixture of modern touches and highlighting historical elements of the 1913 building, the result is a great example of the company’s vision. Tenants include a coffee roaster, craft brewery, culinary kitchen, and bakery providing a great hub to meet, socialize, and shop. With their vision of building vibrant, people-focused communities, Beljan Development is helping to increase the charm and character of a new and improved Edmonton. u

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ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 55

The Evolution ofâ&#x20AC;Ś Women in construction According to Statistics Canada, out of the current 1.1 million construction industry jobs in Canada, only about 48,500 of those jobs belong to women.

By Roger Buksa

I am a male who has worked in the construction industry for the last four decades. Over that period, I have held every position from first-year apprentice to general manager. When I was a second-year apprentice, my manager at the time told a group of us the story of how he laughed a young woman out of his office because she was looking for a job and thought she could be a good plumber. This was the beginning of my career and this attitude was prevalent throughout the construction industry at the time. It was almost a decade before things started to change. I was there when the first women started showing up on job sites as safety officers. Almost two decades later I witnessed the first female apprentice on one of our job sites. Five years ago, on the last mega project I was involved with, almost 10 per cent of our field force were women and currently there are three women on the board of directors at the Edmonton Construction Association. The 56

trend in the industry appears positive and moving in the right direction, but that may be deceiving. Over my career I have had the privilege of working with women in every construction role. From working in the field, to estimating, to project coordination and management, they have proven to be very capable and hardworking, and have earned my respect. Many women are now choosing to take up a trade as the foundation for their careers. Most, like their male counterparts, enjoy the freedom and variety of directions they can go. One of the biggest reasons is that women are looking for an opportunity to a successful future that may not be available elsewhere. Two women that I have worked with both started their careers as plumbers. Najjla Freemantle and Michelle Sicard both started on the same path, but have progressed in different directions within this diverse industry. They have been

Edmonton Construction Association

Najjla Freemantle has worked in the construction industry for years and enjoys the instant gratitude of being able to say â&#x20AC;&#x153;I helped build thatâ&#x20AC;?.

Michelle Sicard has been in the construction industry for 24 years. Currently, she is a partner at Points West Marketing.

kind enough to share a short outline of how they got into the industry, why they did it, and where they are going. Najjla Freemantle I have worked in the industry for 12 years. I got into construction when I was living in B.C. because the waitlist to go to nursing school when I applied was two years long, so I thought I should do something productive in the meantime. I am a journeyman plumber and currently have an open apprenticeship for my Class A gas ticket. I have also completed several different training certificates. Prior to trades school I completed an emergency service technology diploma through SAIT, Lakeland College, and Fire Etc. I also have a nursing attendant certificate I completed through NAIT. Up until now I have only really been a worker in the industry, and at times, a lead hand or running a testing crew. I am usually always a safety liaison in one way or another and I often sit on site safety committees.

What I like most about my career in the industry is that every day is different. I enjoy the instant gratitude of being able to say â&#x20AC;&#x153;I helped build thatâ&#x20AC;?. I enjoy the trade banter and engaging with my coworkers. I have made good friends along the way and have a great network of people who support and encourage me. What I like least is working myself out of a job. Sometimes I have the fear of not knowing what the next project is going to be and if I will be brought along. It sucks not knowing where your next paycheque will come from. I also struggle with trying to make it to the top or being recognized in a sea of journeymen. There is lots of competition for leadership roles and I feel that often I am overlooked. My biggest success to date is where I am at now in a QA/QC role. It is my first real opportunity. I am embracing this role with a positive attitude and eager to learn and hopefully advance along the way.

Michelle Sicard I have been in the industry for 24 years. After high school I started working at a retail plumbing store/showroom in Calgary. Homeowners would come in with plumbing issues and we would help them solve their problems and sell them the parts they needed. I quickly picked up the business and became the manager at 19 years old. I then decided that I would pursue a career in the plumbing trade but I was struggling to get hired as a young female. I came up with a plan to work at the wholesale, this way I would have a better opportunity to get to know the plumbing companies. I worked at the wholesale for two years and then applied with a new construction plumbing company and was hired as an apprentice. Completing my apprenticeship, working in both Calgary and Edmonton, I achieved my journeyman ticket. After becoming a mom, my career path changed into sales. My first opportunity was with Wolseley

ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 57

on their outside sales team, but when my husbandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s plumbing business took off, I left to manage it. After a couple of years, an opportunity for a position in outside sales came up at Points West Marketing. After eight years in commercial sales I was promoted to sales manager and I am now a partner in the company. What do I like most about my career in the industry? The people are the best part! The thing I liked the least was in my younger years, working in the trade always having to prove myself way harder than any of the guys. I feel my biggest achievements so far are achieving my journeyman ticket and becoming a partner at Points West Marketing. I am also the chair for the Canadian Institute for Plumbing and Heating. Looking ahead In the first decade of this century many women took the opportunity to join the ranks in the construction industry. Women started showing up in many positions in the industry that they had rarely or never held before. Although their numbers are up and there are many examples of women who have succeeded in the construction

industry, it is a bit surprising that according to Statistics Canada, out of the current 1.1 million construction industry jobs in Canada, only about 48,500 of those jobs belong to women. The even more astonishing part of their study is that of a projected increase of around 22,000 industry construction jobs in the country by 2027, the number of women in the industry is expected to decrease by six per cent. This is troubling if true, as we are obviously not tapping into a valuable resource that our industry, especially in Alberta, desperately needs. For the past decade there has been a lack of young people choosing a trade as a choice for a career and the industry is always looking for new blood. So why are so few women choosing to enter the construction field? Primarily, a lack of knowledge of construction career options hinders the recruitment of both young women and men from selecting a career in construction. For an industry that is starving for new blood, we do not make enough effort to inform young people of the job prospects available in construction. Few people coming out of high school have any idea what trades are available or even how to go about getting a job in the industry. A program

needs to be developed that would inform all students of what is out there. They should be educated, even as early as junior high school, about the options for different career paths in our industry. One of the biggest problems they are facing is sexism. Yes, it still exists. It may not be as prevalent as it was 20 years ago, but it is still a problem. From my experience, the acceptance of women in the industry has improved greatly; more so in the office environment than the field, but there has been positive progress in both areas. However, there is still a long way to go. Every woman has had to deal with issues trying to break into this industry, but I never hear them complain. They take the cards they are dealt with and keep on trying to move forward. Women have shown that they can perform every job expected of them on a construction site. They bring new ideas and a fresh perspective to an ever-changing and advancing industry, and a lot of these women are technically savvy. As an industry, I feel we need to ensure that we are encouraging women to seek careers in construction and make sure they get the opportunity to show what they can do. u

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ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 59

Living in a collaborative world Construction teams changing By Melanie Franner

Today, the industry is seeing a lot more innovative delivery approaches, like P3 and Integrated Project Delivery – both of which strongly emphasize collaboration.

The ongoing decline of the “lump sum” delivery approach has modified more than just the way construction projects are being tendered these days. It’s changed the very nature of the construction team itself. Together we mitigate “I think industry is making a conscious effort to be more diverse and more inclusive,” says Carolyn Osadczuk, project manager, PCL. “We’re trying to get a good variety of people with different experiences together to collaborate. And I think that people are finding we’re much more innovative and efficient as a result.” Osadczuk cites changes within her own firm. 60

“I think industry is making a conscious effort to be more diverse and more inclusive,” says Carolyn Osadczuk, project manager, PCL.

“We’re starting to utilize people from different backgrounds,” she explains. “Departments such as business technology and virtual construction are

while mitigating the risks for our clients.” At the same time, Doran is quick to give credit to the owners themselves. “Owners today are far more

playing an integral part of our project

sophisticated than they have been,”

teams. These people aren’t construction

she says. “They want to be involved

people per se, but they bring a lot of

and to have a say. They see the benefit

value to the team.”

in having the entire team work more

Tanya Doran, buildings sector lead, Stantec Consulting, has also been witness

collaboratively.” Gone are the days (for the most part)

to how construction teams have evolved,

when confrontation was the name of the

particularly in her company’s own

game. Today, the industry is seeing a lot

approach to new projects.

more innovative delivery approaches,

“We’re building more collaborative

like P3 and Integrated Project Delivery

relationships with our own contractors

– both of which strongly emphasize

and owners,” she explains. “Doing so

collaboration.

enables us to deliver quality projects

Edmonton Construction Association

“I hope these new approaches go

Moving the Industry Forward “Suppliers and subcontractors now have greater assurance of competing on a level playing field. General contractors are assured of completed bids that cover the entire scope of the project. Owners benefit because they can compare ‘apples-to-apples’ compliant bids on clear definitions. In the end, everyone wins.” —Ken Gibson, Alberta Construction Association

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Edmonton’s Stantec Tower, at 69-storeys, is the tallest building in Western Canada. Tanya Doran, buildings sector lead, Stantec Consulting, has been witness to how construction teams have evolved, particularly in her company’s own approach to new projects.

“Alberta will continue to pursue P3 projects when they provide value for taxpayer dollars,” says Minister Prasad Panda, Alberta Minister of Infrastructure.

a long way to building trust within the industry,” says Osadczuk. “In the lump-sum world, everyone is out for themselves. In P3 and IPD, everyone has a stake in the game.” More collaboration, especially in the form of P3 projects, is a sign of the times for the province of Alberta. Alberta Premier Jason Kenney has publicly embraced P3 as a potential delivery approach for the province’s government projects. Alberta Infrastructure is currently investigating the use of P3 for five new schools (more than 40 have been built using P3 since 2008). “Additional opportunities for P3 projects will be assessed as planning and design proceeds,” states the agency’s website. Alberta Infrastructure has also reestablished a P3 office – a sign of what the future may bring. 62

Owner driven Although there will continue to be projects where the lump-sum approach makes the most sense, owners are quickly realizing that other options are increasingly available. “I think that clients today recognize that the race to the bottom doesn’t really provide the best value,” says Doran, who credits some owners with continuing to push the evolution forward. Doran cites the Alberta Government’s recently introduced Vendor Performance Management (VPM) program as an example of this. The VPM tracks and rates the performance of vendors to encourage high-quality performance and establish accountability. “Alberta Infrastructure is working closely with the CEA and CAA to provide information to industry partners to facilitate the launch of the VPM as part of their procurement process,” adds Doran. “I think this is another example of how much things have changed and how sophisticated owners have become.” Another element of change in the building process is the deliverables themselves. “It’s not just about the bricks and mortar anymore,” explains Doran. “We’re now talking about things like innovative work spaces and the well-being of the people working in those facilities. We’re starting to see clients ask for things over and above the normal, like NetZero buildings. My belief is that we don’t achieve these outcomes by accident, but by starting the collaboration process early on.”

Edmonton Construction Association

United we circumvent This increased collaboration comes with many rewards. “I feel, as general contractors, that getting engaged earlier in the collaborative approach allows us to identify issues before they arise,” says Osadczuk. “The increased use of technology allows us to share more information among the different stakeholders, which is a good thing. Technology is allowing us to build a project in a virtual model before we build it in real life.” Building a project collaboratively also changes things for the construction team in other ways, namely cost analysis. “I think you end up paying more upfront in a collaborative approach, or at least that is how it is perceived, but you should see fewer changes and therefore overall less costs at the backend as a result,” says Osadczuk. “For example, we recently decided to do a 3D scan of an entire building to help our client and consultant to better coordinate the interior renovations. It was a bigger upfront cost, but before we had even reached the end of the job, we had identified enough discrepancies between the design and the actual site conditions before they materialized in cost and schedule impacts to justify the expense.” The collaborative approach has also changed the atmosphere and attitudes of the construction teams themselves. “I think people work better in a respectful work environment,” says Doran. “Today, the designer is no longer responsible for just ‘X’ and the contractor for just ‘Y’. We’re all working together, from a place where we really respect each team member. When problems occur, which they inevitably do, we have the conversation in a much better

largest GDP contributor in the province.

As the construction industry continues to move forward, the construction teams themselves will continue to evolve to meet changing demands.

With COVID-19, we’re going to be faced with some serious challenges. There is little doubt that we will see the industry get smaller, but I hope we will be able to retain a lot of the brain trust. The

environment. Often, the solution may be more innovative as a result.” A brave new world As the construction industry continues to move forward, the construction teams themselves will continue to evolve to meet changing demands. One element that hasn’t been part of the equation until a few months ago is COVID-19. “I think market conditions do have an impact on the project delivery methods,” says Osadczuk. “For example,

the construction market is slower right now, especially in Edmonton. In this environment, we may see an increase in lump sum projects. But I don’t think it will last. Technology will continue to drive collaboration no matter the delivery method.” There is no doubt that the effects of COVID-19 will reverberate for a while yet. “I think that right now, we have some very special challenges in this industry,” says Doran. “The Alberta construction industry is the second

question of how we continue to push the industry forward through this and remain innovative at the same time is a tough one. I’m not sure how this will play out.” Despite this unknown factor, Doran remains optimistic about the future. “I think continued collaboration, commitment, and partnership are really important in the delivery of new, iconic buildings, buildings that we can be proud of to have been involved,” she concludes. “It’s all about respect, trust, and commitment to quality.” u

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Highlands School Modernization & Addition ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 63

Building services ACI Architects Inc. known as leaders in design When it comes to designing schools in Alberta, ACI Architects Inc. is known as experts and specialists in the field. The Edmonton-based prime consultant is known for their design and technical experience in educational facilities, health services, protective services, sports and recreation, assisted living, civic and cultural work, as well as industrial and commercial properties. The company was founded in 1991 by Tony Brammar and Mike Todoruk, both of whom are principal emeritus in the company. Currently, the company is led by principals Ron Nemeth, Darryl Rewniak, and Eddo Cancian. They also have a practice in Ontario as well, Stephens Kozak Architects Inc.

ACI Architects Inc. is known for their work for K to 12 schools in many different districts and divisions. Seen here is Soraya Hafez, a K to 6 school in Edmonton Public Schools.

In addition to the three principals, they have over 30 individuals, including architects, intern architects, technologists, interior designers, and contract administrators. Their projects range between $200,000 to over $100 million in construction value. ACI Architects Inc. is known for their work for K to 12 schools in many different districts and divisions. Right now, they are working on a number of high-profile education facilities, including Soraya Hafez, a K to 6 school, and Thelma Chalifoux, a Grades 7 to 9 school, both for Edmonton Public Schools. Those schools were completed earlier this year in February and are scheduled to open in September 2020. The facilities were both done using Integrated Project Delivery (IPD), and ACI Architects Inc., along with Number TEN Architectural Group from Winnipeg, were one of the first firms to execute a successful IPD for Edmonton Public Schools in 21st Century Learning Environments. They are currently working on two more schools for the district, Aleda Patterson, a K to 3, and Alex Janvier, a Grades 4 to 9 school, delivered as an IPD with build partners Delnor Construction. When it comes to designing schools, Eddo Cancian says that each school is designed in their own unique way. “About five years ago, there was this prototypical design. We took it and made adaptive changes to it, so it served the delivery of the grade structure it was intended for,” says Cancian. “Even though they were K to 9s, there were subtleties within the grade structure based on the delivery of the program for the districts. Each district and each area within that district might have a program delivery specific for them, so you would make subtle changes for it.”

Edmonton Construction Association

By Shayna Wiwierski

ACI Architects Inc. recently worked on Thelma Chalifoux, a Grades 7 to 9 school, which was completed in February of this year and is planned to open this September. Both this school and Soraya Hafez were done using IPD.

In addition to schools, the ACI Architects Inc. is also known as experts in protective services, and in particular, RCMP design and delivery. Cancian says that they are doing numerous key RCMP buildings right now in the area. Other notable projects they have worked on/are currently working on include the Blackfalds Multi-Plex expansion in Blackfalds, Alta., the Edmonton Police Southwest Division Station, and a number of hospitals and acute care facilities for Alberta Health Services. In addition to Alberta and Ontario, they have also successfully completed work in British Columbia, the

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Another notable project that ACI Architects is working on is the Blackfalds Multi-Plex expansion in Blackfalds, Alta.

Northwest Territories, and Saskatchewan. When it comes to the actual design of these buildings, Jason McConaghie, associate/intern architect at ACI Architects Inc., says that they have evolved based on how people interact and collaborate. “We have a more collaborative digital ear, including the use of more advanced technology. For example, when we design schools, they are focused on collaboration

and integration of technology, either portable or hardwired. This technology incorporated into the design allows for more flexibility, more collaboration, and more exploring,” says McConaghie, adding that they use that same concept with recreation facilities as well. “The designs for recreation facilities used to be utilitarian, such as boxes. We now feel that recreation facilities become hubs for the communities, the neighbourhood, and the town. It’s a gathering space and most often becomes an identity/focal point to its surroundings.” Cancian adds that the City of Edmonton, as a municipality, has expressed and driven design, largely in part to the vision of city architect Carol Belanger and his team at Integrated Infrastructure Services Planning and Design. “He’s certainly into the understanding of design and the design process, and allows and affords people, architects, and designers the time to execute on that,” says Cancian. Over the last five to 10 years, Cancian says that things have changed as there is more thought into the design of the facility and how it can be viewed from the public realm. With the creation of the Edmonton Design Committee and the Urban Planning Committee, they provide guidance and oversight

from a Edmonton-centric community perspective that is used as a sounding board for the design team and the possible direction of the project work that is presented to these committees. Further, sustainability has shed some key factors for consideration in design with the implementation of the National Energy Code and the use of active energy producers such as photo voltaic (PV) panels in both the roof-mounted and the building-integrated PVs. ACI Architects Inc. have been members of the Edmonton Construction Association (ECA) for a number of years now and they find that the ability to provide input within the construction process is now a critical component of the ECA’s leadership forum. Cancian also mentions that the networking provided by the association has been an enormous opportunity for them. “[It’s beneficial] to share that information as the design professionals to the other key professionals that we usually don’t interact with,” says Cancian. “We interact with clients, we interact with contractors, but rarely do we interact with subs of subs or the insurance providers on the construction side or the legal group on the construction side. That’s an interesting dynamic that we can certainly provide a lot of feedback on and learn from as well.” u

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ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 67

The centre of it all New life ahead for 98-year-old Dentistry/ Pharmacy Centre at the University of Alberta

The U of A’s Dentistry/Pharmacy Centre is going through a $249 million adaptive reuse development to create more usable and sustainable space for various stakeholder groups across the university campus. All photos courtesy of GEC Architecture.

By Shayna Wiwierski

A building at the centre of the historic fabric of the University of Alberta (U of A) North Campus is currently undergoing a rejuvenation. The U of A’s Dentistry/Pharmacy Centre is going through a $249 million adaptive reuse development to create more usable and sustainable space for various stakeholder groups across the university campus. The building was originally built in a number of phases. The first phase opened in 1922 and then additional wings were added in 1947 and 1948, with the northern most part of the building constructed in 1958. The project consists of a large demolition of the 1947 and ’48 wings, as well as the 1958 wing. It will also feature an adaptive reuse renovation/ reconstruction of the existing and remaining four-storey 1922 building and a new addition, which will be 2,700 square metres and seven storeys, plus a penthouse in the place of the demolished original wings. 68

“Focusing on a renew, re-purpose, and renovation strategy, this project will allow the university to reposition the Dentistry/Pharmacy building for the future while at the same time address the functional renewal and accumulated deferred maintenance on the old structure,” says Todd Werre, director of the project management office in facilities and operations within the University of Alberta. “Supported by a capital funding grant, we are developing cost-effective opportunities to leverage the architectural value of the building and consolidate and repurpose space at the heart of the North Campus in the Dentistry/Pharmacy building that was previously underutilized and inefficient.” Once the 1922 building is completed in 2022, its centennial year, it, along with the new addition completed later will be developed as general office space predominately, punctuated by student success spaces and university public spaces. Select areas of the 1922 building have been designated as special

Edmonton Construction Association

character spaces and will be renewed to their near original charm with a focus on updated services within. Construction started in 2019 with the initial phase of design and construction being core and shell only. Subsequent to the completion of the core and shell portion, the interior fit out of the building will take construction completion into 2024. Clark Builders are the construction managers for the core and shell, with GEC Architecture doing the design. Since the building dates back almost 100 years, keeping the architecture intact was important to the designers. As a result, they have worked to retain basically all of the 1922 building, and since the building isn’t historically designated, that allowed GEC Architecture with a certain amount of flexibility when adding onto it. Peter Osborne, partner with GEC Architecture, says that they have gone through the 1922 building and identified areas that they have determined as characterdefining elements. He mentions the

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Since the building dates back almost 100 years, keeping the architecture intact was important to the designers. As a result, they have worked to retain basically all of the 1922 building.

This project had been on the university’s radar for a long time and by injecting a new life into this building, it will help restore it to the grandeur it once held.

entrance to the lobby, re-purposed

and adding a new addition to the back

lecture theatre gathering spaces, and a

of the original 1922 building. They are

reading room which features a plaster

also including a number of sustainable

ceiling that had been damaged over time

features and are targeting for LEED

through multiple renovations.

Silver, but looking to achieve LEED Gold

“The university understands the

certification. Osborne says that, from a

historic significance and tradition of

sustainability standpoint, they are going

the Dentistry/Pharmacy building; it’s

through the 1922 side and adding in high-

one of the first buildings that was built

performing features. “It is a load-bearing, masonry building

on campus and they are interested in maintaining the building’s existing

with exterior walls that are currently

character,” says Osborne. “We are

uninsulated and have quite poor

bringing back a lot of the historical

performing windows and roof, so we are

character and restoring the plastered

going through an extensive exercise of

ceiling.”

upgrading the exterior walls of the 1922

In addition to reconstructing the

building,” says Osborne, who adds that

character elements of the building, they

they are putting in all new windows,

are also modernizing a lot of the space

as well as reroofing the 1922 portion.

Edmonton Construction Association

“For GEC, that’s always job one, to get the building envelope to be as high performing as possible, so you minimize the amount of energy you need to input into the building.” The building itself is being gutted except for areas where there is historical fabric. Since the building is being brought back down to structure, there is no existing mechanical systems, meaning no heating or air conditioning. As a result, the new addition will feature new mechanical and electrical systems that were developed through an extensive energy modelling process. The majority of the façade is a curtain wall system, it will have a prescriptive glazed to insulated spandrel panel ratio in order to achieve energy targets from a building envelope standpoint while balancing access to daylight and views. They will also have PV panels on the roof of the new addition, which will help offset some of the energy demands for the building. The facility is mostly steel and concrete, however, there is some wood throughout, including the whole roof structure. Paul Rasmussen, project manager for Clark Builders, says that when working with an existing woodframe roof structure, there is usually some challenges that arise. As a result, they have put in a temperature fire alarm system to monitor the building in case of fires. This past winter they put in a temporary heating system to maintain the heat throughout the building and also some temporary walls where the additions were demolished so they had the humidity in control. “With it being wood, we used a glycolic heat system, so we didn’t have to worry about any open-flame heaters or anything like that, it’s all dry heat,” says Rasmussen. “We were able to use the U of A’s district energy. They have steam running all throughout campus, so we took some of the existing heat exchanges that were used in the original buildings for the steam heat and then repurposed them for our heat.” Another challenge that contractors ran into was taking extra precautions

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while demolishing the building since they had saved one of the portions that was from the original structure. Since they are keeping a third of the building and then adding on a new addition right next to it, Rasmussen says that there have been some challenges building a new structure so close. He says they were piling what would have been a metre and a half beside the existing building and foundation, so they had to take special precautions to not damage the original structure.

Other ECA members who have been working on Phase 1 of the project so far include McColman & Sons Demolition Ltd. for the structural demolition, Scorpio Masonry (Northern) Inc., and Midwest Caissons (2014) Inc. for the cast-in-place concrete piles. Rasmussen adds that soon they will be looking for a trade contractor who has experience in using 100-year-old building materials. “I think there will be challenges that will be coming up with the new finishes in the building,” says Rasmussen. “We don’t

build with plaster anymore, not nearly in the same way, so we have to find people that have that experience and I think that will be a challenge coming up that we really haven’t reached yet.” So far, the U of A’s Werre says that construction has been going extremely well and that the collaboration of the entire design and construction team has been outstanding. This project had been on the university’s radar for a long time and he says that by injecting a new life into this building, it will help restore it to the grandeur it once held. “It is an iconic building from the University of Alberta’s perspective. It’s something I call ‘centre ice’ for us. It’s in the middle of campus and is one of our flagship buildings and will continue to be so,” says Werre. “We are preserving the 1922 building and it’s an important piece of our strategic initiative to optimize space across the campus and to enhance accessibility of all our buildings. We will be able to move stakeholder groups, units across the campus into this building and then repurpose or reduce space in other buildings, which

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ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 73

Building up young leaders The ECA to partner with FMI for the Emerging Leaders Institute The Edmonton Construction Association (ECA) will soon offer a platform for emerging leaders to get high-level training. The ECA is partnering with FMI, a consulting and banking firm who works only with the built environment, to put on the Emerging Leaders Institute this October. The program is something that FMI has put on for a number of years in the United States and is focused on helping emerging leaders in the first half of their leadership journey. It is geared towards helping developing construction professionals transition from being an individual contributor to a manager and leader of a small team, and finally to becoming an enterprise leader. The ECA has been working with FMI for a number of years to put on the Canadian Leadership Institute (CLI) and have a long-standing relationship with FMI on delivering content at

the institute to C-suite leaders in the region. Matt Schellenberger, director of corporate development at the Edmonton Construction Association, says that the feedback they have received over the last five years from putting on the CLI has been excellent from all those involved. He adds that since not all businesses are able to find the time for their leaders, and knowing the price point for that program given it is a C-suite leadership course, they wanted to create a new education platform for emerging leaders to get high-level training from FMI. “When we were talking about this type of program for emerging leaders, [FMI] were the first people we investigated and then learned very quickly that they do an Emerging Managers Institute in the U.S.,” says Schellenberger. “In speaking with some of the leadership at FMI, we were able to tweak that program

for our needs here in Edmonton and changed it to be called the Emerging Leaders Institute just to dovetail with the Canadian Leadership Institute and how we envisioned that program going.” The Emerging Leaders Institute is targeted towards developing leaders, those within a company who are moving into leadership positions or who are newly placed in leadership positions where they are managing specific people or leading specific programs in the construction industry, whether in the office or in the field. The high-quality training is for professionals who are looking to better understand leadership principals and how to lead people in their teams. The program will be split up into three parts, or “buckets”, as Ed Palpant, senior consultant for the leadership and organizational design team at FMI, refers to them as. The first bucket is about

Left: The ECA is partnering with FMI, a consulting and banking firm who works only with the built environment, to put on the Emerging Leaders Institute this October. The program is something that FMI has put on for a number of years in the United States (seen here) and is focused on helping emerging leaders in the first half of their leadership journey. Right: FMI puts on the Emerging Managers Institute in the U.S.

Edmonton Construction Association

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The Emerging Leaders Institute will take place at the ECA offices from October 6 to 8, 2020 and the three-day program will be led by two people and will be interactive.

This particular program, although itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been done in the U.S. for a number of years, is brand-new to Canada and the Edmonton area.

managing yourself first and taking care

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We really focus in on those three

of yourself. It will look at understanding

buckets; manage yourself first, manage

how you lead and how you take care of

the people around you second, and then

your own continuous development and

manage the work third,â&#x20AC;? says Palpant.

your own time management. The second

â&#x20AC;&#x153;We prioritize them like that because

bucket will be on managing other

thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s one of the shifts you make from

people. How do you build a team? How

an individual contributor to a leader,

do you communicate with that team?

you arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t doing work anymore, you are

How do you delegate to that team and

leading people to do that work. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

how do you manage the clients around

the third priority for you.â&#x20AC;?

you with that team? The third bucket is

The Emerging Leaders Institute will

on managing the work. It will focus on

take place at the ECA offices from

solving problems and how to take care

October 6 to 8, 2020 and the three-day

of financial issues.

program will be led by two people and

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Edmonton Construction Association

will be interactive. In addition to lectures, there will be times when the class works in small groups and presents information from their backgrounds. Palpant says there will also be activity-based or kinesthetic-type learning to build something or solve a problem together to apply the things that they learned in the lecture portion. This particular program, although itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been done in the U.S. for a number of years, is brand-new to Canada and the Edmonton area. Schellenberger says that they are hoping to have 30 to 40 professionals sign up, and with the expectation that it will be successful, the ECA hopes to offer this course annually, just like how they have done with the CLI. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are just excited to be jumping into this type of course. I think we have had a great deal of success with our YBG and YP Merge,â&#x20AC;? says Schellenberger, who adds that they currently have over 1,300 YBGs engaged in their programs. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Our YP Merge also continues to grow, which brings together over a dozen young professional groups from across the design, owner, real estate, and construction industries. So I think this fits very naturally as a course offering to that demographic, and we see a bit of an opportunity to provide value in that space with a three-day educational piece that is central to that demographic.â&#x20AC;? u

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Working smarter with

BuildWorks Canada By Curtis Griffith, Director of Business Development, BuildWorks

Where the work is. This is our brand promise. I’d like to dig a bit deeper into that promise and how we deliver it to you in three simple ways. The first is Pre-Bid or Design & Planning stage information, the second is our traditional Active Bid or Open Opportunities, and the third is our Directory and Invitational work. Through the Pre-Bid information, we want to connect you to information relevant in your business before it’s too late. We know that often once a project is ready to tender, the opportunity for your organization to get involved and win the work is already gone. The

earlier BuildWorks Canada can connect you to information about upcoming construction, the better equipped you are to engage, collaborate, plan, and win the business. We act as reporters and journalists in this space to be the singular source of upcoming construction news and information across Western Canada. Our Active or Open Opportunity information is the bread and butter of BuildWorks Canada. As important as pre-bid or design & planning stage information is, we absolutely understand that money gets made and projects are won on bid closing day. We work to aggregate and input as much

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Edmonton Construction Association

information as possible on active bidding opportunities to connect you and your business to them. We also gather valuable details such as the estimated project value, bid results, proponent lists, and award information that help you make educated decisions on who to call and when to call them. Open bidding will always have a place in construction procurement, and we will always work to inform you of these opportunities. Our directory is now one year old. We’re starting to see the engagement from industry that we anticipated when we launched in August 2018. Over 60 general contractors interact with the directory and our private Invitation to Bid (ITB) On Demand system to select new subtrade and supplier partners. We know invitational private work is a key to growing your business. Our directory is the largest database of quality partners with real qualifying information such as COR®, WCB, Scope of Work, service regions, and past project experience. Being included in our directory connects your company to new opportunities—and gets you on the list to be invited and win the job. We are “Where the Work is,” and we will continue to be as this our promise to you, our members, and customers. Thanks for supporting your local construction association and we look forward to helping you win more work in 2020 and beyond. u

Where the Work is. BuildWorks Projects Over 8,000 construction opportunities reported on across AB, SK, and MB annually. BuildWorks Canada is your Locally connected source for construction opportunities. BuildWorks Directory The most comprehensive listing of qualified contractors and service providers in the industry. Find better partners, and list your company to be seen, get invited, and win more work!

BuildWorks On Demand A growing number of companies are using BuildWorks On Demand for private, secure, invitations to bid. This zero-cost service streamlines communication and document distribution, saving you time and money. For more information, contact your Local Construction Association or visit buildworkscanada.com

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Breaking the ice A look at four construction professionals’ experiences in YBG

Kerri Hagen, manager, projects for A&H Steel Ltd., joined the YBG in its inaugural year. As an ambassador for the YBG, she says that every time someone new is hired at A&H Steel and they are in the first half of their career, part of the onboarding process is to introduce and recommend joining the YBG as a great way to get them involved in the industry.

Richard Haas received the YBG Leadership Award at this past ECA Builders Connect. Not only has his involvement in YBG given him career opportunities, but it’s also opened the door to more networking opportunities.

Jamie Fleese, business development and project development in commercial construction, has also been a member of the YBG since the beginning and was part of the leadership committee for three years. As part of her duties, she would personally call and welcome each new member, something that she still does to this day.

Ben Aitchison is on the leadership committee for YBG and manages the social media strategy for YBG and YP Merge.

Edmonton Construction Association

By Shayna Wiwierski

For those in the first half of their construction career, becoming a member of the YBG holds value beyond just attending events. First launched in 2014 by the Edmonton Construction Association, YBG is a program that is geared towards those working in construction during the first half of their careers. The YBG supports and develops construction leaders by creating events that cultivate personal relationships across the ownerdesigner-consultant-builder project chain, delivers learning and mentorship opportunities, and works together to serve the Edmonton and area industry and the broader community. Kerri Hagen, manager, projects for A&H Steel Ltd., joined the YBG in its inaugural year. She was invited by ECA past president Marvin Olansky and executive director John McNicoll and quickly became part of the YBG leadership team. She says that she has gotten so much value from the YBG, especially with the connections she has made. “[In 2013], I had been with A&H Steel for 11 years and had worked on some amazing projects all across Alberta with amazing teams of people on some of my projects which had lasted three or four years. Lots of time you never really had the forum to meet with these people. We would email or talk on the phone, but obviously Zoom meetings were not a thing back then,” says Hagen, who celebrated 18 years with A&H Steel this past May. “I can remember the first event the YBG held, I was working the registration booth when people came in and a gentlemen had come in from Ledcor who I had worked with for 11 years but had never met him face to face. So when he came up and I was getting his name tag, I was like ‘hey, I’m Kerri Hagen from A&H’ and he was like ‘What!?’. We hugged and it was really awesome to put a face to people you had been working with for a decade and never had the opportunity to meet.” Although she is no longer on the YBG leadership team, Hagen says that she is still well connected with the program and attends meetings and events. As an ambassador for the YBG, she says that every time someone new is hired at A&H Steel and they are in the first half of their career, part of the onboarding process is to introduce and recommend joining the YBG as a great way to get them involved in the industry. Jamie Fleese, business development and project development in commercial construction, has also been a member of the YBG since the beginning. She became a member of the YBG leadership committee in 2015 and was a part of that for three years. As part of her duties, she would

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personally call and welcome each new member, something that she still does to this day. She says that it helps break the ice for new members since they may not know other people, but at least they will know her when they attend events. “I’m really keen to make sure that everyone is engaged and informed,” says Fleese. “Maybe a 23 year old is too intimidated to go to events, but now they know me at least, and they know people in their company. I’m that sort of wing

woman or friend, and you can look for a friendly face at the next event.” Fleese also mentions the value of connections that she has gotten through being a member of YBG, whether that is friendship, jobs, mentorship, support, or better working relationships. She adds that through the program she has created many relationships that have transpired into friendships. With the current COVID-19 pandemic, these friendships have been valuable to stay connected and share successes for the day.

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“Through the ECA and YBG you create amazing relationships and truly [ones] that I can call friendships,” says Fleese. “Right now, on a weekly basis, sort of a spin-off of YBG, some of my YBG friends, we have a helping each other out more networking group that we built, and we usually get together monthly [online]. Right now in COVID, we are getting together weekly just to check in and make sure we are all feeling great and make sure we are sharing successes for the day, as well as sharing any true facts that are happening in our city and with the COVID media.” Richard Haas, project manager and business development for PCL Construction, also mentions the value of friendships he has gotten from being a part of YBG. Haas started his career working in the Alberta oil sands after graduating from NAIT in 2012. He’s worked for a variety of different companies and made the jump from industrial to commercial construction around seven years ago. He’s been with PCL for the past two-and-a-half years and credits YBG with opening up doors in his career. “Me coming over to PCL, I think that opportunity was directly related to my experience in YBG and the relationships I have built there,” says Haas who first joined YBG in 2015 and was on the YBG Leadership team for four years. “So it’s provided me with personal growth opportunities and professional growth opportunities. I recommend it to as many people as I can.” Haas adds that not only has his involvement in YBG given him career opportunities, but it’s also opened the door to more networking opportunities. He says that it has definitely broadened his reach within the industry from trade partners to suppliers and designers, and it has grown his network of contacts tremendously. For Ben Aitchison, senior project manager at One Properties, having come from England to Edmonton, attending YBG events helped him break the ice and meet others in the industry. He says that his primary reason for joining YBG was to

ECA AS THE HUB OF CONSTRUCTION EXCELLENCE ENGINEERS ARCHITECTS

GENERAL CONTRACTORS

MANUFACTURERS

DEVELOPERS

PARTNER ASSOCIATIONS

OWNERS

CONSTRUCTION SERVICES

TRADES

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A strategic goal of the ECA is to broaden our ring of inclusivity, bringing more diversity and engagement to the stakeholder table, and welcoming all members of the industry to take part in the future of construction in Edmonton. The ECA aspires to serve and enable our community to constantly innovate and improve. Our vision is to see the ECA as a Hub of Construction Excellence in the Edmonton Region.

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attend industry training, social events, and build his network. This quickly expanded once he realized how engaged and proactive both the ECA and YBG groups were in supporting members and trying to change and improve industry. “Coming from England, this was a crucial piece for me as I didn’t have an established network and Canada has some very unique construction challenges that don’t occur in the wider world,” says Aitchison, who is on the leadership committee for YBG and manages the

social media strategy for YBG and YP Merge. “My early experiences were focused on key events, such as the annual SHIFT conference and this really opened my eyes to how young the industry members were in Alberta and particularly in Edmonton, which benefits from a young demographic. Getting to know these individuals early in their career has helped me build more effective teams and be more aware of the industry as a whole.” He adds that through the YBG he

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has met hundreds of industry peers, shared ideas, challenges, and lessons learned. Since the Alberta market remains relatively compact in terms of the number of active general contractors and subcontractors, he says that the ECA and YBG events offer a great opportunity to engage with owners, designers, builders, and suppliers regularly and in a social setting. At its core, Aitchison says that the main aim of YBG is to promote communication between people and key disciplines, as well as create better projects and project teams in the future. He has recommended the group to anyone who will listen and has found being a member has been beneficial to both his career and social life. “We are thankful the YBG group has always been well supported in Edmonton and the events have always been fresh and thought provoking,” he says. “Continuing to push the needle is at the heart of everything we do, and for anyone who is interested in developing their career and being at the centre of future strategy, the YBG offers a great way to build your network, engage with your peers, and will expose you to industry leaders who will form the future of construction both in Alberta and the wider world.” u

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Returning to normal Risk management in the new economy

Now is a time to be very diligent and approach everything with more caution. It’s important to know who you are going into business with, who the trades are, and to review contracts.

By Tammy Schuster

With the economy opening back up and everyone keen to resume a normal daily life, insurers are advising caution when heading back to the job site. While many contractors are concerned about managing their business now in an effort to get back to normal, their approach is just as important. “Contractors who felt a big hit during the pandemic may be inclined to bid on every job and try to get as many people as possible back to work, which is understandable. But that can overextend contractors and that is when we start to see defaults,” says Mitchell Taylor, vicepresident, client executive of the National Construction & Surety Practice at Marsh JLT Specialty. “A lot of contractors fail on the way up, not only on the way down.” Consulting with a broker, who has an unbiased perspective on the situation, can not only provide guidance on an acceptable capacity for a contractor, but can determine what bonding companies and financial institutions can support them and ensure they stay within their parametres and avoid overextending themselves. 86

Taylor says that now is a time to be very diligent and approach everything with more caution. It’s important to know who you are going into business with, who the trades are, and to review contracts. “In an effort to protect their own interests, we’re going to find parties adding certain clauses that could be dangerous for a contractor,” he says. Along with reviewing their existing contracts, he recommends clients consider provisions very closely going forward when tendering new projects. “We’re also encouraging clients to review their business continuity plan and update it with the lessons learned during COVID, while ensuring it is concise and easily communicated,” he says. “It’s something that all companies would have gone to during the COVID-19 pandemic, and they could have begun implementing that plan when we first began hearing about the virus.” Prior to the pandemic, the insurance industry was already going through a period of transition with years of losses, insufficient premiums, and low

Edmonton Construction Association

investment returns. With the economy already in a downturn prior to the pandemic, there is some worry that the government may force insurance companies to pay COVID-19 claims. This could mean another significant hit to an insurance market that’s already trying to recover. This ultimately would result in rate increases being pushed down to the consumer. “Contractors are being pinched from all sides creating cash flow concerns, and insurance and bonding costs are a large component of that, so working closely with an experienced brokerage and providing information on risk management can have some pretty significant impacts on what the premiums look like.” Typically, when the economy takes a plunge, the insurance industry sees an increase in claims stemming from theft, vandalism, and arson. So it’s recommended that companies review their job site security, job site inspection, and emergency response plans as an increase in claims effectively results in an increase in premiums.

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Companies should also engage all of their advisers, not just their insurance brokers, to help address any potential strategy changes that will help manage risk and be more prepared in the future. But the all too familiar motto of “in this together” is actually ringing true.

“People are definitely looking for ways

liability issues that may arise.

says Waye. “It’s definitely a decision companies should engage in.”

to manage the economic challenges, and

“Utilizing any information shared

one of the things that certainly has come

through the Edmonton Construction

up is how to modify their insurance

Association and the Alberta

their advisers, not just their insurance

policies to potentially save money,” says

Construction Association will help

brokers, to help address any potential

Chris Waye, senior advisor at Lloyd Sadd

people develop and implement their

strategy changes that will help manage

Insurance Brokers Ltd. “We are trying to

plans and get back to some version of

risk and be more prepared in the future.

balance the needs of our clients and their

normal,” says Waye. “In any disruption

But the all too familiar motto of “in this

risk exposure by developing different

in industry, business, or society there is

together” is actually ringing true.

strategies to save on premiums.”

Companies should also engage all of

always opportunity for success. I think

“Strong relationships — with trades,

The Province of Alberta has posted

this pandemic has shown the resiliency

contractors, owners, and suppliers – are

their relaunch guidelines for business

of the construction industry as a whole

getting our industry through this right

owners, and all workplaces are expected

to adapt to changing conditions and

now,” says Taylor, who also believes the

to develop and implement policies and

continue delivering their services while

personal connection is key to endurance.

procedures that address the COVID-19

keeping employees safe.”

“A business’ workforce is their greatest

situation prior to reopening their

With restrictions loosening and

asset and people returning to job sites

operations. Businesses should document

people slowly returning to their places

may still be fearful about the virus or

the measures that they are taking, and

of business, the possibility of a second

their job security. So I think contractors

continually monitor and update their

wave of an outbreak is real.

who focus on the safety and wellbeing

practices as new information becomes available to help avoid any potential

“Creating or updating a business continuity plan is recommended,”

of their staff, now and going forward, are going to be the most successful.” u

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Edmonton Construction Association

YBG is where careers and connections are made! A healthy and connected YBG means a healthy, connected future for construction in Alberta. Formed in 2014, the YBG has become the gathering place for emerging leaders in every construction sector not only contractors and trades, but designers, engineers, owners, and other stakeholders. If you’re an ambitious, creative leader in the first half of your construction career, the YBG is for you!

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Connecting with community Al-Terra Engineering Ltd. reveals new branding and CEO

Throughout its 44 years in business, Al-Terra has worked on a number of high-profile projects, including the Highway 21 and 13 roundabout.

Earlier this year, Al-Terra Engineering Ltd. announced a new president and CEO, Sheldon Hudson, who was formerly vice-president and a member of the board of directors.

An Edmonton-based engineering firm

renewal, and landscape architecture.

recently underwent a new branding

project engineer at Al-Terra. “With Leo

Al-Terra was founded by Leo Broks,

and Corry at the helm of the company,

who is still involved in the company to

they were able to maintain a high level

this day. His brother, Corry Broks, joined

of service. Over the years, Al-Terra has

engineering firm located at 5307-47

the company shortly after inception

grown, weathered various economic

Street N.W. in Edmonton. The company

and further expanded their engineering

climates that have impacted Alberta,

was founded in 1976 and mainly services

services. Another brother, Martin, also

and changed and evolved the services

the Alberta region. They focus on

joined the company and opened a

offered to keep in business.”

transportation planning and engineering,

Red Deer office, which now operates

municipal engineering, land and site

independently.

campaign and a change in management. Al-Terra Engineering Ltd. is a civil

development, water resources, urban land use planning, neighbourhood 90

The company currently has over 40 employees, many of which are employee

“That family feeling has definitely

owners. Ziegler says that over time,

carried through,” says Thomas Ziegler,

by adding people and owners, they

Edmonton Construction Association

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Al-Terra has a high staff retention rate, and close to half the employees have been with the company for over 10 years.

Al-Terra Engineering was proud to work on the Strathcona County Snowmelt Facility.

The company has been involved with the construction of over 70 of Alberta’s schools.

Edmonton Construction Association

have maintained a pretty organic and consistent connection through the values of delivering high value and really focusing on their clients’ needs and the concerns they may have. In addition, they have a high staff retention rate and close to half the staff have been with AlTerra for over 10 years. Earlier this year, the company announced a new president and CEO, Sheldon Hudson, who was formerly vicepresident and a member of the Al-Terra board of directors. Former president Corry Broks still remains with the company as the chairman of the board of directors and will continue to support several of the company’s high-profile projects. Hudson originally started with the company in 1993 as a civil engineering co-op student from the University of Alberta. Once he graduated in 1996, he was hired on full-time and has played a key role in the company’s growth over the years, including adding landscape architecture to Al-Terra’s growing list of services in 2017 with EDA Planning + Urban Design. Hudson is also involved in the broader industry and with community organizations, including several roles with the Consulting Engineers of Alberta, including his role as president there. He also has sat on a number of boards, such as Edmonton Global, the Association of Consulting Engineering Companies – Canada, the Consulting Engineers of Alberta, and many more. In 2016, Hudson completed his MBA and has helped Al-Terra evolve to the changing industry and continue to grow. In addition to a new CEO and president, the company has also undergone a brand change. Ziegler says the brand change isn’t so much about changing anything, but is about preserving what they have done and to articulate who they are and their story. The change includes a new website, as well as a new brand statement, “We Create Confidence”.

Professional Estimating Group

JOIN THE PEG! Formed in late 2017, the Professional Estimating Group (PEG) is focused on bringing together and supporting the estimators, spec writers, quantity surveyors, and PMs who work hard to keep the project pipeline full! Through networking, mentoring, and professional-development events, the PEG will cultivate the business relationships and friendships that every professional needs to excel in their work. Remember: the PEG is open to all employees of ECA member firms. For more information or to join, please email Daniel Bennett at daniel. bennett@edmca.com.

“Really the messaging results to a statement that ‘we create confidence’ and it was quite unanimous about how Al-Terra hasn’t always focused on simply delivering on technical realities, as certainly that’s the deliverable that we give people, but what all of our partners and what the people that we interact with deem and value for being involved with Al-Terra on the technical side,” says Ziegler. Throughout its 44 years in business, Al-Terra has worked on a number of high-profile projects, including the Yellowhead Trail, the Terwillegar Drive expansion, Goodridge Corners, Nottingham Estates, the Strathcona County Snowmelt Facility, the Highway 2 and 11A interchange, the Highway 21 and 13 roundabout, and over 70 of Alberta’s schools.

The company has been a member of the ECA for the past three years and Ziegler says they have recognized the association’s evolution from more of a constructor-centric organization to one that has a more inclusive and pluralist environment with a broader focus on benefitting the industry. “Al-Terra is involved in almost all the associations that impact the design, development, and the construction industry in and around Edmonton and Alberta, and certainly the ECA was one we made sure to be involved in,” he says. “To be involved in shaping the future, but also to be involved in knowing what’s coming ahead and to gain the valuable services that the ECA is focused on delivering.”

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Ziegler adds that the Edmonton building community in general has been growing an awareness of more connection to community. That connection will be a differentiating factor for organizations in the future and it’s even something that has driven the brand change with Al-Terra. “Al-Terra is a place that focuses on getting people where they need to go and creating places where they want to be,” says Ziegler. “That to us reflects the stronger, relational connection that really needs to exist between engineers and the people we are really connecting with. That connects back to how we think the industry and community will continue to evolve.” u

More Than Just A Paving Company

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780-438-2540

Constructing a better future

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www.kerrinterior.com 94

Edmonton Construction Association

ECA PRINTING SERVICES

IN-HOUSE PRINTING READY WHEN YOU NEED IT

BANNERS & POSTERS

DIGITAL MEDIA

LARGE FORMAT PRINTING

SPEC PLANS

Need a set of plans or specs printed? How about a poster or banner? On a deadline and can’t wait days for prints? ECA is here for you.

780-483-1130 david.ross@edmca.com

MEMBER PRICES GOLF/LAWN SIGNS

$20.00 per sign

VERTICAL BANNER W/ STAND

$179.00 plus GST

POSTERS Regular Paper

$7.00 per sq ft

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BLACK & WHITE 22 cents per sq ft

COLOUR 50 cents per sq ft

36” x 72” 36” x 48” 30” x 42” 24” x 36” 18” x 24” 11” x 17” 8.5” x 14” 8.5” x 11”

$5.40 $3.60 $2.63 $1.80 $0.90 $0.39 $0.25 $0.10

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*THE MINIMUM INVOICE AMOUNT IS $8.50 ON PRINT SERVICES

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96 Edmonton Construction Association

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Loadrite

Sherwood Park Dodge

Madsenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Custom Cabinets (1983) Ltd.

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St. Albert Parking Lot Maintenance Ltd.

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Super Save Group

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ECA Breaking Ground | Summer 2020 97

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