I attended the Alliance Program by the International Council of Shopping Centers.
The program was divided by a series of panels providing a great 360° view of a why projects are getting shelved. The panelists were bankers, architects, city personnel, developers and retailers. Outlined below is a great knowledge of wealth that I extrapolated from the day.

How deals are financed today: “Cash is King”

First a panel of bankers who amidst their worry of the crashing stock market spoke in fear of the credit crisis and how their lending practices have changed. Earlier the bankers would loan out as much as 75% of the projects cost of construction and in today’s market they have reduced that to 50-55%. Not only does that pose difficulty in borrowing for developers but they also need to have their spaces fully leased in order to secure the loan. The bankers agreed that the underwriting criteria for today’s loans resulted due to the greed that lead the market 2- 3 yrs back.

They spoke of statewide programs that help developers get financing for the impact fees. One of the greatest costs that developers are particularly finding it hard to pay are the impact fees, which amount to 2M to 10 M for a commercial/ retail project that are paid in cash.

The developer cannot avail of this service without first securing a commercial loan.

What are impact fees?

Impact fees have become the most important method in infrastructure financing and an essential part of local governments to fund infrastructure or public services. Impact fees may help to assist in the development of needed parks, schools, roads, sewer, water treatment, utilities, libraries, and public safety buildings to the newly developed area. In most cases impact fees are used in new development
An example of this would be when a new neighborhood or commercial development is constructed the developer may be forced to pay the fee for new infrastructure or a new fire station in the area due to the demand the new development causes. In some cases the developer may pass on the fee to the future property owners through housing costs or charges.

It can be seen as a growth management tool that collects development funding payment as a way to exercise police power. Impact Fees are seen as a regulation tool, but at the same time their revenue raising purpose can be seen as a tax to some. Still most states recognize and allow the use of impact fees as a way to regulate land use.

Avoid deal killers:

Relationships and their benefits!!!

Right from the get go of the project it is advisable to involve the city of the new development deal. This enables the city managers to know the expectations right from the beginning. This gives a chance not only for the city but also the developer to understand what to expect right from the start and makes for a smoother entitlement process.

What is entitlement?

The right to develop land with government approvals for zoning density, utility installations, occupancy permits, use permits, streets.

The city is encouraging that the developers should go ugly early which gives the city a chance to make an informed decision. For high profile projects it is critical to establish a time line and work together with the city and consultants.
Every project is a public sector and the developers should recognize which cities to work with based on relationships.

The city themselves recognize that it is not feasible to have a “Santana Row” in every city and they should blend into the master plan of the city a viable development  with an understanding of demographics. If the city understands their growth the chances of implementing a successful project are higher.

A new development brings 10% of sales tax to the city’s revenue and gives rise to 19% jobs.

Green

The belief is that the next big things in our industry is going green .Going green is not a statement and one should understand their carbon footprint.  The first 2007 green building code has been written in California.  One of the propositions passed requires that commercial properties be off the grid by 2030.

The day ended with a panel of retailers expressing their growth in the current market and the business strategies they are implementing to meet with the current market needs. For e.g. Safeway is experimenting with a mini store concept where it will provide for perishable foods as today’s gen is driven by making healthy choices.  Sherri Shaw of Starbucks expressed that their tolerance for risk has lowered significantly and thus their business strategy of aggressively opening stores i.e. 1000 stores last year has decreased to 200 stores this year. Home depot and Costco see themselves opening 35 stores by next year in pursuit of consistent growth. What was very interesting was that Costco has always been building stores that could comply to a silver rating standards for LEED certification.

To sum it all, to survive in today’s market the mantra should be cash is king, go green and build relationships!!

Technorati Tags: development, economy, entitlement, green cash, icsc, impact fees, retail, seminar

Chicago City Hall

I just read a very interesting article in the October 2008 issue of Professional Roofing magazine (www.professionalroofing.net) by Thomas Hutchinson.  Tom is principal with Hutchinson Design Group Ltd. in Barrington Ill.  and he is very concerned with some directions the roofing industry is taking.  In particular, he is worried about some of the unintended consequences of the drive to green roofing materials and designs.  What appears to be his biggest concern is the impact cool roofs have on condensation inside buildings.  I will try to quickly explain his concern.  The basic problem is that moist internal air can move into the joints in the insulation boards under the roof membrane.  When this air comes into contact with the membrane, condensation forms which results in water in the roof system.  This can lead to mold, drips and a variety of other problems.  BJG has long been a proponent of two layer insulation systems with staggered joints for just this reason.  It is more expensive to install the insulation in two layers, but it is really cheap compared to trying to solve the mold issue after the fact.

Another of Tom’s concerns involves creating reflective roof surfaces.  “Cool Roof” design theory is that by making the roof more reflective, you cut the buildings heat gain and therefore reduce the summer cooling costs.  Tom asks a very interesting question:  “Where are we deflecting the sun’s rays to?”  He reports that there have been instances where the light reflected off of a roof has heated masonry to the point of cracking, sent glare into adjacent buildings and melted insulation in EIFS systems.  I haven’t seen any of these problems, but they certainly need to be considered when selecting a roofing system.

Another interesting topic in the article involves fastening of insulation board to meet FM requirements.  Tom reports instances of condensation within the building deforming the insulation boards and, if the boards are not properly fastened, they can cup and from lots of little ponds on the roof.  The fastening pattern to resist cupping may greatly exceed the fastening necessary to resist uplift.  If the cupping loads are not considered, the roof system will not perform.  I don’t think this is a major problem for those of us who work in the land of wind and un-ballasted roofs.  Tom mentions 4 or 5 fasteners per insulation board.  We generally have 8, 12 or 16 depending on jurisdiction and location on the roof so I don’t expect to encounter that problem but it is still good to be aware of the potential.

Other issues that are discussed that we have observed involve landscaped roofs, installation of solar systems on roofs and life cycle cost assessment utilizing environmental lifetime cost in lieu of economic lifetime cost.  Tom also makes some interesting predictions about the future of the roofing industry which I think have some real merit.  For those of us who are roofing geeks, I recommend reading the article for all the details.

Technorati Tags: green roofs, mold, roof, sustianable design

Reno Toyota

BJG has worked on several car dealerships lately.  We recently finalized a Mazda Dealership and a Kia Dealership, a Toyota Dealership is currently under construction and a combined BMW / Porsche / Volvo Dealership is scheduled to open in the next couple of weeks.  Car dealerships are really interesting projects.  At first glance, they seem like fairly simple buildings.  However, I don’t think anyone who hasn’t done a dealership has any idea just how many constraints, requirements, and other miscellaneous stakeholders are involved in the typical car dealership project.  Of course, everyone assumes that the owner of the dealership is the “Client” and that is the case.  However, the owner of the dealership has to answer to the auto manufacturer.  All of the auto manufacturers have corporate design standards that need to be included in order to be an “approved” dealership and to be eligible for all of the various goodies that come with approval.  The number of constraints is often hard to imagine (and usually a little difficult to determine).  Corporate standards dictate what the exterior cladding will be, what the floor tiles needs to look like, how many square feet are needed for each of the dozens of different spaces within the building, etc, etc etc.

Bill Pearce BMW Porsche Volvo

Of course, you also have the various jurisdictions’ requirements.  Every City has a planning department with requirements that need to be met.  It becomes very interesting when the planning department’s needs are in conflict with the auto manufacturers.  Kind of like being stuck between a rock and a hard place.

If all we had to deal with were The Client, The Auto Manufacture and The City, life would be complicated but not too bad.  However, it is also important to consider the needs of all the other various vendors.  You have the sign guys, the lube guys, the car wash guys, the specialty flooring guys, etc.  In addition, you have the typical General Contractor / Sub-Contractor coordination to get done.  Another issue that needs to be considered is that the auto manufacturers have pre-approved vendors for many of their standard components.  These vendors are often overloaded and therefore, getting installation dates for their respective projects can be tricky.

Reno Mazda

Another complication with many of these vendors is that their work needs to be permitted separately.  For example, the box that the car wash goes into is part of the building.  However, the actual car washing equipment is generally sold as a system directly to the owner.  These vendors generally are not familiar with local jurisdictional requirements and may not have the appropriate licensing to get their work permitted.  This can be especially tricky in seismic country.  If the vendor is from the east coast, they may not have appropriate structural calculations for their system and therefore cannot provide it to the building department when requested.  By default, the resolution of this problem falls on the design team.  Not a big deal if it is only the car wash - a big deal when it is the car wash, the parts storage mezzanine, the auto lift systems, etc.

Reno Kia

Some may find the above to be reasons to not work on auto dealership projects.  At BJG we look at it another way.  We are in the design business because we love solving problems and interacting with people.  Our project managers enjoy orchestrating the high level collaboration needed.  And our architectural and structural designers revel in the attention to detail necessary from construction documents to shop drawings to make the prototype a reality.  The more complicated the job and the more people that are involved, the more fun we have.

Technorati Tags: bmw, car dealership, kia, mazda, porsche, prototype, volvo

Fish Springs Pump Station

Two BJG designed Northern Nevada pump station projects are built and ready to pump water to Reno area residents.  BJG performed architectural and structural design, construction support, and structural observation services for the two projects.  We were contracted by Eco:Logic Engineering to perform the work and they were a pleasure to work with.  Eco:Logic was the lead consultant on the two projects that are intended to help meet future municipal and industrial water demands for the Reno and surrounding areas.

The first constructed of the two developments was the Fish Springs water supply project.  The finished product consists of a 4400 square foot booster pump station and six 620 square foot well houses in the fish springs area 1.5 hours or so north of Reno.  The six well houses pump water to the booster pump station and the booster pump station shoots the water up over a hill and into the Lemmon Valley/Stead area just North of Reno.  Check out the fish springs ranch water project web site here.  There is almost 30 miles of 30 inch transmission main running from the booster station to the Lemmon Valley/Stead area.  Included in this building is a hypochlorite tank room that is recessed 3′-4″ for hypochlorite spill containment.  The photograph below was taken in February, it shows the pump station as it was nearing completion.

TMWA North Virginia Pump Station

The second constructed was the TMWA North Virginia pump station (seen in the photo taken a few weeks ago).  This building is located near the University of Nevada, Reno and was designed to blend in with the surrounding residential zone.  The building floor plan is very similar to the Fish Springs pump station.  Since it does not have a hypochlorite tank room, it is slightly smaller (3800 square feet) than the Fish Springs building.

Both buildings are constructed with CMU walls and open web steel joists under metal deck roof.  Both buildings contain 5 large pumps and 1 large storage tank.  BJG designed the pedestals for the pumps and the storage tanks.  BJG also provided the design for a structural steel catwalk in each building that is suspended from the open web steel joists.  The catwalk will be used for maintenance purposes to access mechanical louvers.

Vidler Pipes

Do you think these are large water projects?  Take a look at the tiny man next to the pipes in the photo below.  This is before the Fish Springs building was placed over the pipes.  These pipes were eventually attached to pumps that BJG designed the footings for.

Technorati Tags: ecologic, fish springs, lemmon valley, pump station, reno, stead, tmwa

Designed to reflect a greater variety of architectural style, the new retail facility utilizes an all brick façade, expansive glass and rounded entryway. Enhanced design will not only improve aesthetic appeal, it will also complete the build out of a successful retail center. We are working closely with the owner/contractor to deliver a building that will meet the LEED requirements for a certified building.  It is not yet decided if the project will pursue certification through the USGBC although sustainable components will be used regardless.  Our efforts have included additional day lighting, increased envelope insulation for energy savings, and reduced water usage evaluating both the landscaping and restroom fixtures.

The City of Tracy is currently developing a website kiosk for green/sustainable references for all in the design industry to reference.  We have offered to share our resources with the City and hope our efforts will encourage others to take a lead in sustainable building design and construction.

The project, delivered via a design build basis, is scheduled to permit and break ground later this year.

Basic rendering directly out of our Building Information Model (Revit)

Technorati Tags: design build, LEED, sustainable, tracy

Project details include the installation of a 2.44-megawatt solar system on 320,000 square feet of existing roof space. The solar installation has the potential to generate enough electricity to power 1,426 households for one year.

“Pursuing a project of this magnitude required a solid, cooperative partnership with the developer – ProLogis, the building department and the utility,” said BJG President Pete Blakely. “We were happy to share our resources and expertise with all parties to complete a project that contributed to a breakthrough solar energy program for Southern California.”

All energy harnessed from the installation flows into the neighboring electrical grid and helps to meet Southern California’s energy needs. The installation was completed in September 2008.

Kaiser 7 is a typical tilt up warehouse.  The roof area is roughly 500,000 square feet and is home to over 33,000 First Solar photovoltaic solar panels.  The power plant is expected to generate 2.4 megawatts of power.

BJG’s contribution to the project consisted of analyzing the roof structure for the new vertical loads, analyzing the diaphragm and braced frames for additional seismic loading due to the added weight of the PV modules, designing screening for conduit and inverters, and designing concrete pads for the inverters.  We also provided a construction staging and transport plan to prevent any damage to the roof while the system was being installed.

There were several challenges to overcome during the design phase.  Some of these challenges were known from the start, such as, how do we justify the additional dead load without modifying the existing roof?  The dead load from the solar panels was 9 psf in zone 1 and 5.5 psf in zone 2.  The different zones reflect the heavier ballast required around the perimeter due to higher wind uplift.  To justify the additional loading we had to reduce the live load capacity of the roof.  Being that there is no snow load at this location, the roof live load required is for construction and maintenance loading.  Because the PV modules are somewhat fragile in nature, no one can walk on the panels nor can anything be placed on them. Therefore, our justification was that once the system is installed access on the roof, and thus live load on the roof, will be limited.

How to handle the large amounts of conduit on the roof was another concern. All the wires from the solar panels are directed to four inverters at the front of the building.  The wires are grouped in conduit runs across the building and down to the inverters on the ground.  The conduit was something that was brought up early in the project but ultimately the conduit routes were left up to the electrical contractor.  When the electrical contractor submitted his conduit plan we were concerned about the location of the conduit runs.  The electrical contractor was very flexible and resubmitted a plan with the conduit runs over girders as requested, even though it required rearranging the layout of the PV modules. Other challenges arose as the project progressed.

One unforeseen problem was the transfer of seismic shear from the system’s mounting feet to the roof structure.  Because there are no penetrations to the roof and the building code doesn’t allow seismic forces to be resisted by friction, the mounting feet were adhered to the roofing.  The shear at the interface between the mounting foot and the top sheet of the roofing was accounted for by the adhesive, but now the question was, can the built up roofing transfer the shear to the sheathing and thus the roof diaphragm?  To answer this question we contacted the roofing company to find out how they staple the bottom sheet to the sheathing.  We then calculated the shear capacity of a staple in felt and estimated how many staples could be engaged by one mounting foot and determined the number of feet per array that needed to be adhered to the roofing.

When we submitted for the building permit the building official was concerned about reducing the live load capacity of the roof.  In order to get the permit we had to make the building official comfortable with our judgment and reasoning.  It took a few long phone conversations and letters to reassure him that additional loading should not occur in the areas where the live load capacity is reduced.

As the push for renewable energy continues, we anticipate the opportunity to work on more roof top solar projects.  Our experience with the Kaiser 7 project taught us several things unique to solar installations.  We’re looking forward to working on our next solar power plant.  See below for photos from Cliff’s site visit.

Technorati Tags: existing roof, prologis, roof, sce, solar panels, solar power, southern california edison

No Respect

I am at the SEAOC Convention in Hawaii.  We are about halfway through and so far, I am pleased with the technical content and social activities.  I will write a full report later, but I wanted to briefly discuss the SEAOC Excellence in Engineering Awards.

First, some background. A common theme (officially and unofficially) in the last couple of Conventions has been the desire to raise the general public’s perception of the structural engineering profession and our impact on society.  We are constantly envying how revered doctors are and how much lawyers get paid.  We complain about not being highly paid for our services and expertise.  In general we complain about not getting the respect we deserve.

The SEAOC Excellence in Engineering Awards Ceremony was one of the most poorly attended events at the Convention thus far.  It was embarrassing.  Not only was the initial attendance poor, but it dwindled by about half towards the end of the ceremony.  Yes, the ceremony went a little long, and yes, we are in Hawaii, and yes there are other things going on; but we need to support our fellow structural engineers.

The submitting companies spend valuable time preparing their entries.  The judging panel (made up of one engineer from each of the five SEAOC sections as well as an architect and contractor) spends days assessing each project and writing opinion statements.

How can we ask society to get excited about our award winning projects when we can not get excited about them?  How can we demand respect from society as a whole, when we are not willing to give respect to our fellow engineers by honoring their achievements through an hour and a half long awards ceremony once a year?

Technorati Tags: awards, ceremony, respect, seaoc, seaoc awards ceremony

Assumptions
Several assumptions were made when calculating the alternative transportation benefits.  For instance, we meet at my house when we carpool, so I only count the miles from my house to work and I don’t include any driving between arriving at work and leaving for the day.  Also, I didn’t include any carpooling that Kara and Boise did without me, so my data may not fully represent their savings.  I assumed that Boise’s car and my car get 15 mpg and Kara’s car gets 25 mpg.  The value I used for pounds of CO2 per gallon of gas (19.4 lbs CO2/gal gas) was taken from the EPA website.

Data
To calculate savings on gasoline I compared the miles that I actually drove to the miles I would have driven had I driven to work everyday.  The roundtrip drive from my house to work is 17.4 miles.  The roundtrip on bicycle is 16.0 miles and the round trip on moped is 20 miles.  The reason for the variation in miles is the different routes I take depending on the mode of transportation.

June
For the month of June the baseline was 226.2 miles.  The miles I actually drove were 104.4 miles for a total savings in gasoline of approximately 8.1 gal, or $33.62.  The result was a 54% reduction in miles driven in my car.  Other modes of transportation included 139.2 miles carpooling, 32 miles on bicycle, and 40 miles on moped.  CO2 not emitted just from carpooling efforts was equal to 193.5 lbs.

July
The month of July had the biggest reduction in miles driven.  The baseline for July was 367.5 miles.  The actual miles driven were 106.6 miles for a savings in gasoline of about 17.4 gal, or $71.34.  The result was a 71% reduction in miles driven in my vehicle.  Total miles for the other modes of transportation were 139.2 miles carpooling, and 90 miles on bicycle.  Carpooling efforts showed a reduction of 274.5 lbs of CO2 emissions.

August
The savings in August were significantly less than the reductions in June and July.  The baseline for August was 365.4 miles.  Actual distance driven in my vehicle was 226.2 miles for a reduction of 38% compared to baseline.  Savings was about 9.3 gal or $35.82.  Carpool miles logged was 69.6 miles and bicycle was 64 miles.  CO2 emissions were reduced by 157.5 lbs due to carpooling reductions only.

Summary
Over the last three months I saw a reduction of 54.4% in miles driven in my car to and from work and a total savings in gasoline of $140.78.  See the spreadsheet for all the data.  While carpooling and bicycling are not as convenient as driving your own car to work, there are tangible benefits to both.

Technorati Tags: alternative transportation, bike to work, carpooling, gas mileage

However, the thing that I really learned from the roundtable was that the best firms really see this slow time as an opportunity.  We all got a little fat and happy over the last decade or so.  Now we need to look at our operations and get more efficient.  We need to focus on identifying and keeping our best employees.  We need to eliminate the unnecessary expenses that have crept into our operations.  We need to train our employees on how to be flexible and adaptable.  Finding commissions is harder and more competitive than ever.  The best firms are continuously looking for different businesses that they can move into.  We all have a cadre of highly trained problem solvers working for us.  What we need to do is find problems for them to solve.  Sure it sounds easy, all you need is to find a problem.  There is actually a lot more to it.  First, you need to find a problem that you can profitably solve.  Lots of problems can be solved if you don’t worry about the cost / benefit ratio of the solution.  The best firms are able to find problems and identify who the solution will benefit.  When the benefit accrues to someone who can afford to pay for it, a job is waiting to be had.

At BJG’s 2007 Strategic Planning Session, we set up our “Create a Project” team.  The whole purpose of this group is to go out and find problems that need to be solved, determine if the cost / benefit ratio works and also make sure there are adequate resources available to pay for the solution. I have to admit that we haven’t been as successful as I would like with this initiative.  What I am bringing back from my roundtable experience is that we need to focus more on these creative ways of improving our communities if we are going to weather the slow times.

Technorati Tags: competition, nevada business journal, opportunity, roundtable, strategic planning