FEATURE ARTICLES in this edition include:

Preconstruction in Today’s Collaborative Environment
by Paul Kinsley, McCarthy Vice President, Estimating

Today, a new era of collaboration among owners, designers and builders is creating higher quality structures within budget and schedule constraints. Learn about how new advancements in technology have evolved preconstruction planning and are making a real impact on today’s projects.

Safety First: Are you overlooking the most important part of the builder selection process?
by Gary Amsinger, McCarthy Vice President, Safety

When you begin looking for a construction company for your next project, there’s a crucial qualification that can be overlooked: the company’s safety record. Here’s how it affects nearly every other aspect of a construction job and why you can’t afford to take safety for granted.

Does Your Facility Have a Boiler? Then the EPA’s New Industrial Boiler MACT Rule May Impact You
by Ryan G. Miner, Director of Business Development, MC Industrial and Don Wolf, PE, Principal, Burns & McDonnell

Owners of institutional or industrial boilers will soon be required to comply with new, stricter U.S. Environmental Protection Agency air emissions requirements. To determine if these requirements apply to your facility and what steps you need to take to ensure compliance, read on.

See the Summer 2011 Edition  now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

To make sure your project is smooth sailing, check out the latest edition of McCarthy’s Insights That Build^sm newsletter. You’ll find specific tips about what to look out for if you are planning a project but have been out of the market for a while.

Feature articles in this edition include:

Speed-to-Market: How to move from concept to delivery in record time
by John Buescher, P.E., LEED AP BD+C, McCarthy Vice President, Operations

In the building industry, the old saw ‘time is money’ has never been more accurate. Here’s how owners can take best advantage of all that speed-to-market has to offer.

(Re)Building Healthcare: The cure for an ailing market is already here, if you know where to look
by Steve Mynsberge, LEED AP BD+C, McCarthy Executive Vice President

Attentive healthcare owners are starting to build again. Learn more about what to look for if you’ve been out of the market for a while as well as some pitfalls to avoid.

BIM in Action: St. Jude Medical Center Northwest Tower
by Marc Howell, McCarthy Design Manager

See how a truly integrated and collaborative team is using BIM to achieve success.

Mandated Air Quality Controls and New Generation: Is EPC the path?
by Ryan G. Miner, Director of Business Development, MC Industrial

This deep recession combined with regulatory uncertainty has much of the industrial construction market paralyzed. In light of all this uncertainty, owners considering construction must carefully review options for timing, determine the best method of execution, and evaluate the mechanics of cost recovery before moving forward.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

Feature articles include:

Design-Build: The Owner’s Role in Successful Project Outcomes
by Jim Mynott, LEED AP, McCarthy Director of Design Management
Design-build project delivery results in improved project outcomes for most owners. The design-build delivery approach, however, requires owners to re-think traditional practices of design-bid-build. Read more about specific steps to set up your design-build project for success.

The Pre-Fab Advantage
by Jeffery Boyer, McCarthy Project Director
Is the old adage true? “Good, fast or cheap? Pick any two.” It doesn’t have to be. Read more about how prefabrication can bring added efficiencies to your next project.

New Crane Regulations – What Should You Know?
A Question and Answer Session with Steve Miller, MC Industrial Safety Director

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

Eliminating Waste in Construction Using Pre-Emptive Planning
By Chad Dorgan, P.E., Ph.D., LEED AP BD+C, McCarthy Vice President — Quality and Sustainability
While the majority of green projects focus on the recycling of the waste created due to the construction process, this actually misses a huge sustainability opportunity — eliminating the production of the waste itself.

Successful BIM Without the Wash
By Adam Lega, McCarthy BIM Program Manager
Misalignment of expectations relating to the usage and benefits of BIM can set the stage for failure. So, how do you cut through the hype and get to BIM without the wash? Utilize the key tips in this article.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

Summer edition articles include:

Building Better Teams: CM at Risk is the right model for today’s economy
by Bo Calbert, President, McCarthy Southwest Region
Today, public and private sectors alike are embracing alternative project delivery methods to achieve the quality they want at the best final cost. One of these methods is particularly well suited for today: Construction Manager at Risk (or CM at Risk). Private owners have used this model for years, and the public sector is now seeing the advantages, as well.

The Value of Training in an Unstable Economy
by Robin Renschen, Corporate Training Director, McCarthy
Companies today are being asked to do more with less. Just be sure your builder isn’t cutting costs by eliminating training that’s critical to making your project top-notch.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

In this Spring edition, articles include:

Time to Build: Today, owners are getting the best value in a generation.
by Mike Bolen, Chairman & CEO, McCarthy
Many owners are beginning to take advantage of a welcome side-effect of the current recession: an unprecedented drop in the cost of building materials and labor.

Why Building the Community is Just as Important as Building the Project.
by Angeles Garcia, McCarthy Project Manager, Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center
When a construction project is in full swing in a neighborhood, next door to a business, or along a heavily traveled highway, it can be a nuisance. Find out how to turn this project challenge into a win-win for everyone.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

How True Builders Make a Difference
by Derek Glanvill, President and COO
A true builder has an end-to-end view of the entire construction process, from preconstruction through delivery and beyond. That adds value for owners, but there’s one central issue at the heart of the construction industry itself: forgetting how to build.

Is There a Perfect World in Project Delivery?
by Sue Stewart, Senior Vice President
The answer may be that creating the perfect project delivery method starts by implementing no defined project delivery method at all. Find out why.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial.

CCIP vs. OCIP: Which Comprehensive Insurance Program is Right for You?
by Bill Sharp, Vice President, Risk Management
With the size and scope of projects becoming larger every day, program sponsors (owners and contractors) are seeking alternative ways to address insurance needs, both from a coverage standpoint and a cost standpoint.

When the Hospital Board Says, “Build it Green!”
by John Kreidich AIA, LEED AP, Manager, Healthcare Services
Building green in the healthcare environment is here to stay. Well-chosen green building investments will yield benefits with either no additional cost or with a return on investment well within a hospital’s internal rate of return over the life of the improvements.

5 Questions to Ask Your Contractor About SAFETY
An Interview with Gary Amsinger, CSP, Corporate Vice President, Safety
In addition to simply keeping workers healthy and productive, strong safety execution reduces exposure for owners. Amsinger suggests that owners should ask, at the very least, these basic five questions of their prospective contractor.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled View Other Editions. These include Central, Nevada/Utah, Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Southeast, Texas and MC Industrial editions.

McCarthy Building Companies, Inc. has introduced its new ‘green’ client newsletter, Insights That Build^SM.  It’s all part of the company’s goal of Leaving Green Footprints^®, a 10-year old program aimed at reducing McCarthy’s carbon footprint.  The first electronic edition includes valuable thought-leading content including:

How to get the best final cost on your next project
by Mike Bolen, Chairman and CEO
‘Conventional wisdom’ says that owners can’t have it all. In fact-by taking the right approach-you can turn an old saying into a smarter strategy: ‘Good, fast and cheap: pick all three.’

Design management – why owners get a better result
by Jim Mynott, Director of Design Management
In this economic climate, execution time from proposal to start of construction can be a deciding factor for project funding. A design management approach can help—and it maximizes other owner advantages.

Five things you should ask your contractor about quality
by Chad Dorgan, Vice President, Quality
There are few words in construction that are more used – or more misused – than the word “quality.”  To understand what it means to YOUR construction project, you and your contractor need to talk.

See the National Edition now.

Readers can also view region-specific content by selecting from the drop down menu titled ‘Other Regional Editions’.  These include Southern California, Northern Pacific, Southwest, Nevada/Utah, Texas, Central, and Southeast editions.

SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

“A lot of companies promise you the moon when they are trying to get your job…all I can say is the moon is shining bright over our new Science Center…McCarthy has delivered!”
—Robin Morris, Ph.D., vice president for research and Regents, Professor of Psychology, Georgia State University

In its quest to become one of the nation’s premier urban research universities, Georgia State is building a new University Science Center on its campus in downtown Atlanta.

Named for benefactor Parker H. Petit, this 350,000-square-foot landmark facility will augment laboratory and classroom space with state-of-the-art dry and wet laboratories, BSL-2 and BSL-3 labs and a BSL-4 suite, accommodating the expanding and changing curriculum of this urban campus. For McCarthy and its subcontractors, the project began with a schedule-threatening surprise. During site work, existing subterranean structures and unsuitable soil were discovered beneath most of the building footprint. The team undercut the entire area and replaced the soil with new material enabling foundations and underground utilities to be installed without impacting the schedule. The project has just topped out and is scheduled to complete in April 2010.  Architect: CUH2A, Inc., Atlanta.