Improving Efficiency 

     While the ultimate solutions to the workforce challenge require a lot of long-range planning, construction professionals have to seek out more immediate strategies to offset the bottom-line impact. Greenwell believes at least part of the answer will come from new technologies that are coming online to help designers and builders increase efficiency and manage costs on both the front end and the back end of construction and development projects.

     Building information modeling, or BIM, is a technology-based building design and construction approach that is quickly gaining momentum in the industry, Greenwell says, and is ushering in a new paradigm in the way design and construction professionals plan and implement projects.

     The basic concept of BIM is to bring all aspects of a project, from design to construction, into a comprehensive, real-time management system covering everything from scheduling to material costs.

     “BIM adds a fourth and a fifth dimension to the project management technology by providing an integrated ability to calculate additional costs and estimate schedule changes as the design changes,” Greenwell says. “This will be a major factor in increasing efficiency and managing costs. This model represents a real partnering between the architectural and design community and the construction community in bringing this technology to the front end of the plan room and, ultimately, onto the field.”

     Although, new technologies are certainly welcome, Greenwell is quick to point out that the most meaningful solutions to increased efficiency and improved cost-effectiveness are all about people.

     “When you get right down to it, that’s what this industry is really all about—the people,” he says. “We need better training and education for folks out in the field as well as folks back in the office. That’s a big, big factor in improving the efficiency equation.”

 

Going… Going… Green

     As more and more communities examine and explore initiatives to promote, and increasingly mandate, environment-friendly construction and development, more and more design and construction companies are incorporating “green building” strategies into their arsenals. And while the “green revolution” may not have kicked into high gear in the Kansas City area yet, the experts agree that it is the wave of the future and the design and construction industry had better be prepared for it.

     “There is a definite movement underway toward sustainable architecture,” says Bob Gould of Gould Evans, a Kansas City-based planning and design firm. “We’re really starting to see it take off in some of our other offices, particularly in California and Arizona.”

     Make no mistake, though, Gould points out, green construction is a trend that is gaining momentum and is poised to make its presence felt here in the metro region.

     “It is beginning to take hold in the industry, particularly in the government sector,” Gould says. “You’ll even find some communities that will move you to the top of their permitting list if you’re registered for LEED (see sidebar) certification.”

     Although the economics of green construction are undeniably top-heavy, mostly due to materials and supply costs, the financial savings on the back end are beginning to balance things out for building owners and operators.

     “One of the things that people are starting to discover is the potential for federal tax abatement for environmental design,” says Doug Fogel of Fogel-Anderson Construction. “The economic impact may seem mostly negative now, but in a few years I think we will begin to see the economic advantages of sustainable design and construction.”

     For those who think that green construction is just a passing fad, think again, or get left behind. “Green building and sustainable design is absolutely here to stay,” says Jim Calcara of 360 Architecture. “The venture capitalists are beginning to get into it, and you know when they start to take notice, it’s past the tipping point.”