Nashville has long worn the badge of “Music City, USA,” and more recently has become known as a “boomtown,” with a fast-growing economy and population. DPR’s Special Services Group (SSG) is currently working at the intersection of these two labels, building out a first-generation, 30,000-sq.-ft. tenant improvement project for Capitol Christian Music Group (CCMG) in Nashville’s Hines T3 Wedgewood-Houston Mass Timber Building—one of the most environmentally friendly and sustainable developments in the city.

In 2022, DPR performed about $700 million in SSG work, with an average SSG project size of approximately $3 million, often performing five- and six-figure projects in active environments. DPR’s SSG team members, skilled interior specialists, are being tasked to use their unique skills to build out CCMG’s space that includes recording studios, office space, a live performance area and outdoor rooftop patio designed by Hastings Architecture. Among these SSG experts is drywall foreman Morgan Mead, who leans heavily into his coordination and pre-task planning expertise to lead a crew in building out this unique, first-generation space.

Q: What is your role at DPR and what path did you take to get there?

Mead: I’m a drywall foreman for SPW in Nashville. I came here from a drywall contractor in Southern California, where I went from a stocker to a foreman over a 13-year period. I ran work for seven of those 13 years, but I hit a point where I wanted something different. I had heard good things about DPR from my coworker, I researched the company, and he referred me. During the interview process, we talked about my capabilities and goals, and I was asked, “Where do you want to go?” I decided on Tennessee and started with DPR about a year ago. I have never regretted it.

Q: What types of projects do you see most often as a part of SSG?

Mead: My entire career before joining DPR consisted of tenant improvement (TI) projects. The company I came from had a great reputation and was awarded a lot of high-quality projects, so when I came to DPR, I was asked to work on TIs to draw on my experience. SSG projects typically happen inside existing structures, changing or improving them. I started off doing single floors and then progressed to managing more. Now, I typically do three-to-four-month projects.

Q: In what ways does SSG try to minimize disruption in an occupied environment?

Mead: My projects so far have been a 50/50 split between occupied and unoccupied environments. I’ve worked on a few hospital projects that were occupied, and one challenge was start times. We would typically start earlier, around 4am, to keep the noise to a minimum during the busy times of their workday, and then change tasks at 8am when the tenant was coming in. We would handle the tasks that created the most noise first. We got ahead of framing walls by shooting the top and bottom tracks for the studs to attach to before the tenants came in, then finishing up the less noisy activities later.

Q: Tell me about your work on your current project. What challenges have you overcome?

Mead: CCMG is an example of an unoccupied SSG project in a brand-new building. We’re finishing out a first-generation office space and are the only ones in there right now, so we don’t have the challenges that exist in an occupied environment. My team is tasked with metal framing and drywall, and there is a lot of coordination with other trades. The project includes a lot of high-quality, natural finishes and open areas with exposed ceiling finishes. The decks are doweled 2’x6’ studs instead of concrete decking. It’s a very cool aesthetic—polished concrete instead of tile or carpet. Since we’re using exposed natural finishes, it’s important to make sure every detail lines up perfectly the first time because you can’t hide any minor imperfections later.

Q: What have you learned from your team members?

Mead: The environment at DPR is very supportive. I’ve seen other companies that were very dog eat dog, but here it’s different. If I’m not sure of something, I can lean on someone else for help; I don’t have to worry that I’ll be seen as incompetent. At DPR, you’re not left on your own to try to figure things out. It’s a much more comfortable environment.

The options available are pretty incredible for a company to think about its people and their abilities, offering training and unlocking doors—even down to offering English and Spanish classes to help employees communicate better. It’s tougher having that language barrier, but being able to take classes is really helpful. The more you use that muscle, the stronger it gets.

Q: What is one thing you think everyone can do to make the industry as a whole safer for everyone?

Mead: We work hard to follow best practices. Every morning, we discuss the pre-task planning we have outlined on a board and follow that. We talk about our tasks, the steps in each one, along with the potential hazards and ways to mitigate them. As a group, each of us is aware of what everyone is doing and has open eyes to different perspectives and what can cause an injury. Some companies care mainly about production and quality, putting safety last. At DPR, we think safety works along with those. Our goal is for everyone to go home the same way they came to work, if not better. As a foreman, that should be your goal for your crew.

Q: What’s the most challenging part of your job?

Mead: Making sure we’re coordinating well with all the other trades and that we’re all stacked up the way we’re supposed to be to hit our marks. If we’re framing ceilings, it’s making sure everything is laid out so we only build it once with no rework. It’s coordinating the build itself, but also coordinating the materials to be on site when you need them. On our current project, we’re building out floor three of the seven. The base isn’t complete yet, so we load materials directly into the third floor via a window. If other crews are working in the area, we coordinate our work schedule with theirs so we can both get things done. It can be tough, but with experience you know what to look for. It’s about being able to adapt to your surroundings.

Q: What would your advice be for the next generation of builders entering this field?

Mead: Don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty and come into it with an open mind. If you put in the hard work, you’ll see the rewards. It’s a growing field and there aren’t enough people to do job. It’s a gratifying thing to put your hands to something and create, to be physically and mentally active. There’s so much opportunity for growth in construction.

Nonprofits are the heart of communities. They provide solutions to problems within their communities and improve the lives of those they support. They rely on significant support. For DPR, to drive meaningful philanthropic change, developing and establishing long-term relationships with local nonprofit partners is key, with benefits for each organization.

When a company aligns its core business strengths with the needs of nonprofits, allowing both to do what they do best, the work can make even more of a difference. DPR’s commitment to building possibilities for the under-resourced moves forward by leveraging DPR’s skillsets as builders and industry professionals.

Hear from some of DPR’s nonprofit partners.

Philanthropy is a key pillar of DPR’s Global Social Responsibility effort. It supports community organizations, to maximize their impact through facility construction and renovation projects, career and educational guidance for youth and operational support for nonprofit partners’ staff.

Learn more about DPR’s CI outputs and results by checking out its full 2022 Annual Report and “By the Numbers” fact sheet.

Photos by: Trevor Satterwhite, Clark Grant, Tyler Wilson, Raime Press, Austin Tepper

In construction, innovation is often associated with the digitization of information or devices used in the field. At its core, innovation is about the combination of people, process and tools.

Inflationary pressures. Volatile costs. Labor shortages. Potential economic slowdown. If necessity is the mother of invention, the construction industry is amid a super-charged evolution—one that’s seen a dramatic increase in the last five years.

“It’s really become a different landscape,” said Cheri Hanes, head of construction innovation and sustainability at AXA XL. “Where innovation was a novelty or a nice to have, now it’s become a true opportunity.”

There’s been an explosion of investment. An estimated $50 billion was invested in AEC tech between 2020 and 2022, 85% higher than the previous three years according to McKinsey. With the pandemic exacerbating cracks in the supply chain, leaders in the building products sector have taken note. About 70% said they were planning to increase investment in innovation and R&D, according to another McKinsey report from last year.

Hanes acknowledges not every solution out there meets a need that people will feel in a tangible way, but those, she says, will come and go. It’s the innovations that tie back to indicators of project success—safety, quality, time, cost and performance—that can prove valuable over time.

“Innovation has become table stakes,” Hanes said. “I really think if firms are not actively looking to leverage tech and innovation right now, they’re leaving chips on the table. Innovation has the potential to improve safety, quality, management, documentation and sustainability.”

With all the increased buzz and investment out in the market, discerning between shiny objects and real solutions requires money, expertise, discipline and a genuine connection to the field.

DPR founded its innovation team more than 10 years ago to nurture great ideas in the field and deliberately push the company’s core value of “Ever Forward.” Today, the company’s team of experts works across the business to foster advances in field innovation, robotics, internet-of-things and product incubation.

“From how we identify problems to solve, to our R&D program, to how we pilot new ideas and what we invest in, every part of our approach helps our employees drive toward more efficient construction practices,” said Tim Gaylord, who heads up DPR’s innovation team. “But we know we can’t do it alone. When we pair our people with the right partners who share common values, we have seen we can make amazing things happen.”

Since 2011, DPR has spent more than $15 million on piloting innovations in house, excluding investments in startups or partnerships. Additionally, the company engages dozens of startups a year and if/when they convert into deal flows, DPR’s venture capital arm, WND Ventures, comes into play. Since 2015, WND has invested nearly $9 million separately into 11 startups and two investment funds. Three ideas incubated through WND have spun out entities of their own, one of which was acquired by Autodesk.

“Our investment thesis of WND has always been to partner with industry entrepreneurs through strategic investments in productivity, quality, safety, supply chain and sustainability solutions,” said Kaushal Diwan, who leads WND Ventures strategic partnerships and investment efforts. “We’re establishing these partnerships as a way to promote the ideas and solutions we believe have the potential to change the way our industry builds.”

Beyond forging partnerships with external entities, DPR stays focused on identifying and cultivating innovative ideas in house. Central to that effort is providing two-way communication between innovation teams and the craft workforce.

“To innovate how we construct future projects, we need to first put ourselves in positions to hear the voices in the field,” said Tyler Williams, a former superintendent who now leads DPR’s innovation efforts centered on craft. “This idea may seem simple but to be successful, we need to build teams with individuals who have a myriad of skillsets and passion for what they do.”

DPR emphasizes problem identification as the first step to creating, developing, testing and leveraging solutions for our projects. The company tests and validates ideas at a small scale through pilots and evaluates results through lessons learned.

Over the years, DPR has supported over 2,600 ideas—many of which focus on improving the quality of life for members of DPR’s 5,000-strong self-perform workers (SPW) in the skilled trades, along with its network of trade partners.

Pilots come from a mix of partnerships and home-grown ideas from the field. Those resulting from partnerships include Hilti’s Jaibot, a semi-automated tech that uses digital plans to help alleviate the strenuous task overhead drilling, and Dusty Robotics’ Field Printer, an automated layout robot that cuts down on schedule time and rework costs by leveraging BIM to produce full-floor layouts.

Internally developed solutions include the “Scotty Sleeve,” a temporary concrete sleeve that cuts down on post-pour finishing time, and have even extended to PPE. In 2019, a team of DPR women spearheaded the creation of an adjustable vest to suit different body types—an issue routinely cited by women that impacts both their physical safety as well as confidence—that has since evolved into a larger stable of vests available to all DPR projects.

Innovations are also being tested at all stages of the construction process. On a project in Nashville, TN, DPR is piloting new radar technology designed to help prevent underground utility strikes during excavation. The tech, which is still in early stages of development, has the potential to provide teams better predictability—and avoid a very costly mistake. Currently, there are only two companies in the U.S. working with this tech, and DPR is actively providing feedback based on real project experience to the developing company.

“Underground utility strikes are obviously a huge concern in construction, and it’s been repeatedly brought up by teams and field crews over and over,” said Bryan Adams, who serves as the superintendent on the jobsite where this tech is currently being deployed.

As this technology improves, Adams says, not only will it keep our crews safer while increasing productivity, it also gives clients peace of mind because they’re working with greater levels of certainty during a key step of the build process. “Having the radar on the machine allows the operator to effectively have x-ray vision, which gives everyone more confidence,” he said. “We’re glad to be part of the team piloting this and making recommendations for future training.”

Not too far away, DPR is supporting a Meta-led team in exploring a potentially game-changing concept that uses mushrooms to break down drywall waste. Along with Mycocycle and Rockwood Sustainable Solutions, the team is piloting a process that uses mycelium to produce a new composite material to help address the 660 million tons of construction waste that gets dumped every year in the U.S.

Khanzode points to a classic example: a design is completed to a certain level and then handed to a contractor to fabricate and build, which requires developing their own detailed shop drawings. Collaboration—coupled with detailed modeling information—is key to handoffs in many scenarios, and to identifying opportunities that can improve value and efficiency.

“The availability of BIM and other cloud-based tools makes it easier to streamline handoffs of information, but even if we have the tools the process and behavior must be there to make it happen,” said Khanzode.

Process innovation builds on itself. As they become refined and engrained, processes turn into best practices, and best practices turn into the baseline. “When you know the baseline you can raise the bar,” said DPR’s Rishard Bitbaba, who leads operations as part of DPR’s Leadership Team and drives the development of processes, practices and training to enhance overall project delivery. “Innovation allows us to reduce variability and increase predictability in project outcomes.”

Innovation is about more than testing new tools. It’s about evolving processes that result in smoother handoffs at every stage of the project lifecycle. DPR’s core value of Ever Forward is about continual self-initiated change, improvement, learning and the advancement of standards for their own sake. The company is banking on the idea that applying this to approach to processes can lead to better predictability for project outcomes.

“We work with a lot of customers who are very innovative themselves. We learn from them,” said Atul Khanzode, a member of DPR’s Leadership Team who focuses on technology and innovation. “The values that drive them, whether quality, productivity, safety or cost, it all comes back to predictability. What they want is for us to come up with ideas that can ultimately help achieve their goals.”

Traditional industry scopes, coupled with a risk transfer mentality, often lead to the creation and re-creation of information across various phases of the project lifecycle. “There is often no continuity to how information created in an earlier phase could be used later,” said Khanzode.

The real opportunity to maximize innovative thinking on projects lies in the combination of people, process and tools. One example of in-house innovation augmenting the benefits of an off-the-shelf tool was the application of prefabricated milled drywall in the buildout of Nuro AI’s office space in Tempe, AZ.

For Tim Bergen, head of real estate and workplace at Nuro AI, when it comes to evaluating emerging technology or products, time, scalability and piloting are key. He also considers whether something has been tested under pressure. Central to that, he says, is understanding how the proposed solution ties to the project’s critical path or overall success of the design.

But before he even weighs the merits of bringing in new tech, Bergen looks at the team putting the work in place. “Show me a superintendent who’s innovative and experienced, that holds both the respect of the teams in the field as well as the confidence of the local departments of buildings,” he said, adding that having a diverse team is helpful in decision-making. “A project is only going to be as successful as the team that’s involved in it. We all have to allow ourselves that space to debate the merits of what we’re doing.”

In Tempe, DPR’s Special Services Group and self-perform crews leveraged a patent-pending software developed by DPR’s Jerrud Davis in conjunction with drywall milling machines, which produces cut sheets for drywall shapes that can be fabricated offsite and then delivered and installed. Altogether, this combination of computational design and field know how can speed up drywall installation two to three times faster than the typical process of taping, beading and cutting.

The Nuro AI Tempe project was DPR’s first in the state to use prefabricated milled sheetrock, and it’s use along with Davis’ software has scaled to more than 20 projects across the U.S. On this project, the combined effort saved nearly 30 hours of installation time.

Although it starts with the data housed in the virtual model, “the innovation is in how we’re able to generate high-quality shapes that are ready for field review in a matter of minutes, no matter the scale of the job,” said Davis. What used to take weeks for foremen to physically walk about the jobsite identifying individually milled drywall shapes can now happen in the span of hours or days. For Davis, the expertise of the craft is what makes this combination powerful.

“I get excited to teach SPW teams how to run this application because their knowledge and skillset are invaluable to making this process work,” he said. “Not just because of their ability to hang and tape, but really for their ability to look at the models. To see where the shapes would best suit a job, and then mill.”

Drywall, when done well, is something that rarely gets a second glance by building occupants. But drywallers themselves know that producing a consistent, high-quality finish across an entire building takes tremendous skill and physical endurance. With new methods, the quality of the product and installation remains consistent—and worker safety and comfort are increased.

“We have the ability to create a safer jobsite by taking knives out of hands and time off of lifts, while also reducing waste and delivering a quality product,” said DPR’s Jake Dubenetzky, who leads prefabrication efforts in the Southwest and partners with Davis on supporting teams that are rolling out this approach. Moreover, he says, the opportunities for computational design only expand when combined with field expertise:

“We can build awesome projects. But we can be better builders when we combine the benefits of manufacturing with our tool bags, and software that utilizes computational design methodology helps us do that. There’s a chance for us to create a process that incorporates thousands of years of knowledge when we include our craft.”

Hospital Expansion & MOB
Confidential Client
Pflugerville, TX
Page Southerland Page (Hospital), Haddon and Cown (MOB)

Project Showcase
Confidential Client
San Diego, CA
Gensler

Corporate Campus Modernization Phase 1 Project
Confidential Client
Smithfield, RI
Gensler

Nashville Track 1 Adaptive Reuse
Division Street Development
Nashville, TN
STG Design, Inc.

Behavioral Health Build Out
Eating Recovery Center
Orlando, FL
Boulder Associates, PC

Water Street Tampa Phase 2 Block 1
Strategic Property Partners
Tampa, FL
KPF

50 S. San Mateo Tenant Improvement
Sutter Health
San Mateo, CA
SmithGroup

College of Nursing
University of Central Florida
Orlando, FL
Hunton Brady Architects

UT Health SPH – Austin Campus Consolidation
University of Texas Health

Fontaine Central Plant and Utilities
University of Virginia
Charlottesville, VA
Affiliated Engineers, Inc.

Is itdull or dynamic?Isit something you wish for in your day–to–day or how about onyour projects?For us and theclientswe buildfor,predictabilityis energizing andameans to delivering outcomes that transform our industry. Whether it’s a 300–bed hospital wing or a smaller–scale tenant improvement, predictableoutcomes arethe key to building great things.

Predictable outcomes are about teamwork, planning and handoffs. Think of it like a game of football. Individual players may be fast, strong or athletic, but to achieve the desired outcome, each player must literally and figuratively hand off something to other teammates. They need to be able to count on those players to be there (predictability) and be ready for the next step. Whether it is handing off a blocking responsibility of a defender, or (literally) the ball, in either case the process of the handoff is critical. A football team won’t win if all the players aren’t handing off responsibilities in the right way.

Like any team, each construction project has many interconnected players. Each project team member must move in sync, getting and giving the right information to drive the most value. When we focus on information flow, critical data is no longer siloed within one phase of the project or within one company, or one trade. It’s available to everyone throughout the process. That process then becomes more predictable. And that’s a win for all.

As an example, too often in our industry Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) is not used early enough in the design phases of a project, and the builder’s details are not brought into the design early enough. Building Information Modeling at more finite levels of detail already excels in correcting many conflicts before breaking ground. What if the builder’s detailed information was brought in earlier in the design process, then used throughout the project lifecycle? The level of predictability would dramatically increase as the builder’s details could be incorporated much earlier. Detailed modeling information can be key to handoffs, and to identifying opportunities that can improve value and speed-to-market. It could equally transform building operations.

This is just one scenario among many. Think of the possibilities if we could innovate and incorporate the handoff process into everything we do throughout the project lifecycle. DPR’s ability to build process innovations allows us to consistently achieve more predictable outcomes for our clients.

The world continues to be a challenging place, but we can use those pressures as the impetus to make a true difference; to transform our industry and become better than ever—to be consistently predictable.

We appreciate all our employees, families, partners, customers and friends and all that we’ve been able to accomplish together. We hope the stories in this issue inspire you and remind you of the key role you play in making your team and our industry a better place.

Please keep the conversations going, and the innovations flowing.

Ever Forward.

– The DPR Leadership Team

Joined by developer Gemdale USA and end user Neurocrine Biosciences, DPR topped out Aperture Del Mar in San Diego, June 21. More than 80 local workers from a variety of trades worked 60,700 hours without a recordable incident to bring the project to this point.

“This milestone is alwaysa testament to the hard work of everyone in the skilled trades, but it is extremely notable how our steel structural partnerswere able to phase work to pick up three weeks in the schedule that could have been lost due to the incredibly rainy winter we had,” said Tim Book,a DPR project executive leading the job.

Indeed, San Diego received more rainin Q1 2023 than it did for allof 2022. Planning and coordination among all team members helped mitigate weather–related delays.

For what will be Neurocrine’s future headquarters, the project includes two four–story 140,000–sq.–ft. building shells over 35,000–sq.–ft. basements. The scope also includes a new loading dock, sitework and a 13,000–sq.–ft. fitness center.

Every construction project comes with its unique set of challenges, and special projects are no exception. However, there can be misconceptions around what is truly needed for these projects to be successful. DPR’s SSG experts dive into some of the myths of SSG work and compare them to reality.

Large projects, which can sometimes take place over years, have noticeable elements that people can see—tower cranes, large machinery, jobsite fences and large crews. But the “special projects” handled by DPR’s Special Services Group (SSG) often have none of those. SSG projects typically involve the work “hidden” inside existing buildings at odd hours or in active environments, which for most facility owners is the bulk of their construction projects. Even so, misconceptions about special projects can result in issues with cost, schedule and quality in construction. Exploring those myths can unlock value.

“When a global organization is known for building huge projects with big teams, the fact that we have dedicated individuals who only do SSG work and are highly specialized can get overlooked,” said Andy Silagyi, a DPR SSG leader in Charlotte, NC. “Many of our end-users and customers are unaware that ‘big’ contractors can serve them at a much smaller level. SSG teams are held to the same accountability as our larger project teams and have the same level of expertise on every job, just on a smaller scale.”

It’s not just about the schedule, dollar amount, or size of the project; it’s also about the specialized expertise the job requires and having the right team in place to do it. These agile and nimble in-house teams are dedicated to specific types of work, versus trying to align a large-scale project team with a smaller, specialty project.

And while a ‘big’ team isn’t needed for smaller SSG projects, a team of skilled and trained professionals is—especially in occupied spaces where tenants and businesses are active while construction is happening. “Special projects require experienced, specialized teams who know how to protect their customer’s most valuable assets, both company and human”, said Adonia Akers, a DPR SSG leader in San Diego “Being backed by the support of a large and established self-performing contractor who makes that kind of training and experience possible is invaluable for our customers.”

“And nothing is too small,” added Ryan McCracken, a DPR SSG expert in Sacramento, CA. “We are fully focused on the needs of our customers, regardless of project size. The idea of, ‘this is too small for us’ just doesn’t really exist.” In fact, in some areas, DPR’s crews have served as 24-hour on-call contractors for existing customers and even do simple replacements of door hardware for others.

Pairing knowledge of an existing customer’s facility and business with the resources and know-how of a national contractor can help drive value on smaller-scale projects.

“The worker availability, the subject matter experts, the technology we have access to and the superior safety standards are directly tied to being part of DPR, no matter the project’s size,” said Nick Garzini, a DPR SSG leader in Nashville, TN. “Delivering a high-quality product to our customers is absolutely connected to those factors.”

“On any project, we’re able to call in our SPW (Self-Perform Work), VDC (Virtual Design and Construction), and Prefabrication
teams,” added Silagyi. “Having these resources at the ready helps keep projects on schedule and limits the number of subcontractors and contracts an owner needs to worry about, helping achieve more value and quality.” Collaborating with these teams allows SSG groups to control the critical path and the schedule predictably of their smaller projects, even potentially providing earlier occupancy.

“Whether it’s a heavy MEP scope requiring special infrastructure, or a renovation of highly secure and sensitive mission-critical data center, contractors need to know how to navigate these spaces with limited disruptions to ongoing operations,” said Silagyi. “Our markets are complex, and so is most of our work.”

From small cGMP facilities with aggressive schedules, to building out a rapidly changing office floorplan within a core and shell building to renovating an active hospital unit or emergency department, DPR’s SSG professionals say they focus on finding and implementing out-of-box solutions to urgent project types and delicate sites or environments.

“Smaller projects are not necessarily less complex, less difficult or less risky,” added McCracken. “But they do have a specialized set of priorities, requirements and challenges that go along with them. They’re different than large ground-up projects, but often we’re still doing almost the same scope of work in office buildings, hospitals, pharmaceutical or lab facilities, higher education campuses, hotels or data centers. We just do the work in a different way, on a different scale.”

Customers can also take advantage of efficiencies that have been piloted on larger jobs. “Much of what we’re doing right now are high-end, complex buildouts,” said Garzini. “We’re using things like model coordination and Dusty Robotics’ layout robot on a 60,000-sq.-ft. project.”

“The front end is absolutely about getting the building out of ground and moving forward. But it’s also strategic planning with the end goal in mind,” said Silagyi. “When SSG teams are sitting in very early meetings and looking through a design, they’re looking for conflicts down the road and being thoughtful about best practices. When the teams have the chance to work with designers and internal base building teams early,” he continued, “it can have a major effect on change orders, lead times, procurement and other distinct TI deliverables that can be planned and managed from very early on.”

Generally, interior work and smaller TI projects don’t have padding in the schedule to accommodate long lead items that require early planning.

“We’re often dealing with undocumented existing conditions and are dependent upon the quality of information we’re given,” said Akers. “Being involved on the front-end to pre-plan, scan and identify conflicts ahead of time enables us to mobilize when the time is right, execute as quickly and efficiently as possible and get out with minimal impacts to the customer.”

“It has been proven time and time again that the more collaboration, planning and effort our SSG teams put in up front, the more precise we can be with end dates and budgets, and customers receive a higher quality product,” said McCracken. “By being at the table early, we have a much better chance at spotting possible challenges down the road and course-correcting from the start. We’re able to think ahead based on the design of the core and shell and adjust or offer insight from the unique SSG perspective.”

On a typical construction project, rework accounts for 12-15% of the cost of construction. ​​​​​​​“Getting into the conversation earlier leads to a much higher likelihood that the project isn’t delayed by rework or TI change orders, meaning customers don’t incur those additional costs,” added McCracken.

Safety is a value at DPR. It’s rooted in the belief that safety, quality and schedule are not mutually exclusive and that having zero incidents is an achievable goal. Being safe is much more than the absence of injury. It’s about learning, noticing, appreciating, encouraging and engaging. Truly great Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) is about people who build great things safely every day. Great Things asked safety professionals across the company to describe what world-class EHS means to them.

A jobsite never just has one electrical room—there could be as many as 50 on one project. Highly complex, they have grown to be incredibly sophisticated as building designs and functionality become more intricate.

EIG, along with other DPR strategic partners who share a builder skillset and mindset, is spearheading an approach to prefabrication, software and logistics not as tools or methods, but simply as best practices for building.

Constructed in about 6 to 10 weeks, EIG’s modular electrical
rooms put highly technical and complex infrastructure needed in every single
building in a controlled internal setting, making delivery and installation
more seamless.

But what makes this technology solution unique is not only the
patent-pending and UL-listed components incorporated into the rooms, or in the
concept of taking a room usually installed piece-by-piece onsite off the
critical path, but the streamlined workflow that further enhances quality,
schedule and cost certainty.

Just like other prefabricated items, the modular electrical room is built in a controlled environment to promote better cost certainty and timely delivery. It also has the potential to help position projects ahead of supply chains impacts, especially for materials and equipment that have long lead times.

The greatest opportunity and ability to innovate comes in either large electrical rooms that have multi-switchboard setups, transformers and interconnects, or buildings that have repeat electrical rooms.

It takes a big team to create modular electrical rooms.

The assembly process involves the expertise of EIG and our partners Digital Building Components, which is located in the same facility. The teams rely on DPR’s self-perform work teams to install the rooms onsite, meaning that equipment, procedures, delivery and installation is a turn-key process.

EIG works with GPLA to create the engineer design model. Once approved, EIG will begin laying out the electrical room equipment within the footprint that’s allotted from the architect. Digital Building supports welding, framing and finishing, and all the studs and tracks are created on the Digital Building rollformer, drastically reducing time and material waste in the process. The teams’ labor forces coordinate together, further saving time and money.

Prefabricated modular electrical rooms are available in a number of configurations and can be tailored based on specific needs, from smaller commercial office spaces to large data centers. EIG’s design is also unique in the industry because the walls are incorporated into the architecture, making it easier for field teams to incorporate on project sites.

The patent-pending bracket can support prefabricated electrical device layout, meaning that multiple, specific electrical devices and their components can be placed and installed easily and simultaneously. The “top hat” ensures that a branch termination panel comes pre-wired into the electrical panel below. This means the building no longer needs to be shut down and operations do not need to be disrupted when any maintenance is done in the separate panel. This has significant implications for customers whose operations are dependent on keeping electricity running constantly, like hospitals or datacenters. Additionally, the patented coupler/hanger eliminates individual conduit supports, combining branch conduit into one and resulting in a quick efficient install.

Electrical rooms that need to be constructed in the field are at the mercy of external forces, like supply chain issues, labor shortages, costs and scheduling. Prefabrication lessens those barriers, and for electrical rooms, this way of building is the way of the future. By developing and introducing new technologies into our prefabricated solutions, we are able to instill a manufacturing mindset while producing mass-repeatable components.

Written by Rudy Trujillo, Stephen Kelleher and Brandon Hanlon with Evergreen Innovation Group (EIG).

As in many parts of their daily lives, consumers now expect virtual collaboration and technology to access convenient, efficient and seamless healthcare regardless of whether it is in-person or virtually. To accommodate this growing consumer shift, provider organizations have begun introducing new leadership roles focusing on experience, digital, transformation and innovation. While these roles have not traditionally been engaged as key stakeholders in capital facility projects, each is responsible for components necessary to enable healthcare consumers to experience unified, organization-wide touchpoints, both for in-person and virtual care.

In Episode 7 of Constructing with Care, hear from healthcare industry advisor, consultant and former Chief Information Officer, Senior Executive at Northwestern Medicine Tim Zoph, and healthcare strategist for DPR Construction Carl Fleming, as they discuss delivering an elevated patient experience through an omnichannel approach to care, an approach that has only recently gained ground in the industry.

Host Leslie Tulio talks with the experts about training the next generation of healthcare CIOs, how the omnichannel approach leads to more personalized and empathic care, how planning and leadership work in tandem to bring the physical and virtual care spaces together, and the role patients and providers play to create an integrated care experience.

Listen to Episode 7 on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify

Tim Zoph
Healthcare Advisor & Consultant
Former Chief Information Officer, Senior Executive

Carl Fleming
DPR Construction
Healthcare Strategist

Read the related article Creating a True Omnichannel Care Experience. You can read all articles in the Healthcare Insight series and listen to past episodes of Constructing with Care available here.

In our next episode, Zoph and Fleming continue their conversation about omnichannel healthcare and the use of new and innovative technologies for ever-changing patient care.

Subscribe for future episodes to hear conversations with inspiring guests from across the healthcare and construction industry about how considerations in healthcare design and construction can create better clinical workflow, enhance patient experience, improve efficiency, and more.

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