National Safety Award from Associated Builders & Contractors

I'm really excited to share this news! Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) recognized Centennial with its Excellence in National Safety Awards competition for the NAICS 236 - Category 3 award. The National Safety Excellence Award recognizes achievement at the highest level for safety across the Construction industry. This prestigious award is only presented to those firms that possess an exceptional safety record, demonstrate making safety a top priority as evidenced by rigorous employee training and education programs which produce measurable results.

Corporate Safety Director, Tony Lombardi, and Senior Corporate Safety Managers, Moose Hamid and Brian Salsgiver, accepted the award on behalf of Centennial at the 21st Annual Excellence in Construction Awards dinner and program on February 22 in Orlando.

Centennial Now Supporting Houston Airport System

Here's a new contract update I'm excited to share. Centennial has been awarded a new multi-year Job Order Contract (JOC) with the City of Houston and the Houston Airport System. It is now recognized as a preferred provider for the airports’ Operations & Maintenance JOC projects. Centennial will provide a full range of construction services for facilities repair, renovations, minor and security construction for all three of Houston’s major airports – George Bush Intercontinental Airport, William P. Hobby Airport and Ellington Field Airport.

Centennial also serves Harris County, NASA Johnson Space Center and the Harris County Department of Education under Job Order Contracts and IDIQ contracts. It also works with several airports, including DFW Airport, where it recently helped prepare the facility for Super Bowl traffic.

Centennial as a Mentor

I am very proud of Centennial’s role in the SBA’s Mentor-Protégé program and I want to share our successes with you. We have participated in the program since 2001 with two separate 8(a) businesses, Sentinel Industries and North Island, both Alaskan Native Corporations (ANC). Congress and the SBA created the Mentor Protégé program to allow large businesses to help small disadvantaged businesses prepare for and begin to contract with the federal government on their own.

Our first protégé, Sentinel Industries is owned by the MTNT, Ltd. Today MTNT has created a holding company and is performing work directly for the US government through multiple contracts across the nation. The training and processes they received from Centennial, combined with successful joint venture contracts, have allowed them to invest and build a complete corporate infrastructure necessary to bid, manage and execute construction work themselves. Their greatest asset today is the past performance portfolio built over many years through the Mentor-Protégé program performing complex construction joint venture contracts managing multiple small projects simultaneously.

Our current protégé, North Island is majority owned by a different ANC, the NIMA Corporation. North Island, only a few years into the 8(a) program, has already developed a team of construction professionals and is performing work directly for the US government and pursuing large specialty projects outside of the 8(a) program by themselves. The NIMA Board has graciously invited Centennial to participate in their village corporation strategic planning sessions for the past two years to ensure that we are aware of and assisting them in achieving their long term business objectives. Their growth and development continues as they invest the profits from our joint ventures into their corporate structure.

I have had the honor and privilege to travel to the villages of McGrath, Nikolai and Mekoryuk (population 360, 88 and 210 respectively) over the past several years to personally see and understand the needs of the shareholders of both village corporations. On my first visit I inquired as to what Centennial could do best to assist the village corporation. Very quickly one shareholder told me that what they wanted was the opportunity to remain in the village of their ancestors and continue their subsistence lifestyle – an answer I was not expecting. Today I fully understand – and truly envy their sense of family and community in all aspects of their lives… I believe that some of these villages would not be able to survive in the future without a successful village corporation to support their culture and financial needs. The Chairman of the Board of each village corporation has personally told me that their successes would not have been possible without the ANC program and Centennial’s role as a Mentor. Our Centennial employees can take tremendous pride in being an integral part of preserving the tribal villages in Alaska.

Best regards,
Mark

Super Bowl Fans Fly to Renovated DFW Airport Terminal

Just in time for Super Bowl traffic, Centennial has turned over a new Corporate Aviation facility to DFW (Dallas-Forth Worth) Airport.

(See a video of our work here.)

The timing of renovation of the facility was driven by planning for Super Bowl traffic. DFW is the closest major airport to Cowboy Stadium, but the previous General Aviation facility could only accommodate about 30 private aircraft.

Now, many Pittsburgh Steeler and Green Bay Packer fans will fly into a complete renovation of a commuter terminal on the northeast side of DFW. The new facility features concierge services, a conference room and business center, pilot’s lounge and quiet rooms, and multiple lounge areas for passengers. DFW officials expect up to 1000 private jets to descend on North Texas in February.

This is the most demanding project yet we have completed for DFW, but we are very proud of this showcase facility which represents an expanded business line for our customer.

The project construction schedule had to be compressed by nearly 50% to open on time. DFW utilized its Job Order Contract in part because it’s designed for quick response, to perform the work. Centennial has served DFW under the Job Order Contract since 2005, completing up to 20 time-critical renovation and remodel projects annually in the demanding airport environment. A ribbon-cutting was held December 9th for local dignitaries and aviation executives.

Personally, I was in awe of the amazing dedication of our Centennial team. They pulled an all-nighter before the ribbon-cutting (I arrived at 9 pm and they were in full swing) to make sure everything was perfect! Great work!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

The December issue of the Centennial Connection is now online. In addition to this month's message from Mark Bailey and new customer relationships, read more about Centennial's strategic relationships, learn about its new employee wellness program, and discover the latest news from the field. Plus get safety tips and other fast facts!

JOC and Green

Green is seemingly everywhere today.  For us in the facilities world, much of the focus seems to be on glamorous new LEED buildings.  But the fact is the greenest building is almost always the one you're already in.

That's because of a concept called embodied energy.  Simply put, our existing buildings took alot of energy to build--the manufacturing process for the windows and brick, the transporting of materials to the jobsite, the machinery run on site.  And it takes a great deal more energy to demolish that building down and rebuild a new one, no matter how green.  By some measures, there is a 60+ year payback on replacing the biggest energy hog with a LEED platinum building, when embodied energy is considered. 

This isn't to say that we should stop building new LEED buildings.  We will continue to need new buildings for new purposes, and the move to LEED and other certifications is an important first step in the awareness of how our buildings impact the environment.  But an AIA study reveals that 75% of existing buildings will required major renovation by 2030, and how we go about that work, and the many incremental upgrades that occur in existing buildings, will have a far greater impact on our environment and our pocketbook than the sexy new buildings that make the magazine covers.

Of course most facility managers are more concerned with current budget issues than with embodied energy that was paid for long ago, and shrinking capital budgets are requiring us to reconsider the financial viability of new construction and focus on maintaining our existing buildings and upgrading them for greater energy efficiency and sustainability wherever possible. 

Job Order Contracting has an important role to play in the greening of our existing buiding stock.  As a collaborative, performance-based delivery method focused on remodel, renovation and repair, JOC can help building owners identify and implement green and sustainability strategies.  Studies have proven that collaborative delivery methods that involve the contractor at the outset are more successful in achieving sustainabiltiy goals; the focus of these studies has been CM At-Risk and Deisgn-Build, but Job Order Contracting brings the same approach to the table for retrofits and upgrades.

JOC's focus on cyclical upgrades means that building owners can integrate green materials and systems as they have maintenance funding available, and over time they can achieve increasing sustainability, energy efficiency, and occupancy comfort without a single major capital outlay.  The joint scoping and design-to-budget capabitlies of JOC mean that an owner can determine the level of green investment, after considering a menu of options.  By incorporating energy audits and payback analysis into the JOC proposal process, a contractor can empower the owner to make wise decisions based on a balance of lifecycle costing and more altruistic sustainability goals.

An exciting development in the JOC world is the upcoming release of a Green Building Cost Data book from RS Means, which will allow JOC contractors to accurately price some of the more cutting-edge green building technologies like solar installations and green roofs.  This book is being rolled out at Greenbuild in Chicago later this month, and we can't wait to get our hands on it!

Centennial's Director of Training and Development Helps Oversee Educational Programming for Greenbuild Expo

The U.S. Green Building Council chose David Sturdevant, LEED AP, director of training and development for Centennial, to serve on the 2010 Greenbuild Program Working Group (PWG).  PWG oversees the development and delivery of educational programming for the annual Greenbuild International Conference & Expo, scheduled to take place in November. 

Sturdevant served on PWG with 11 individuals diverse in the green building industry including representatives from Carrier, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CB Richard Ellis, University of Florida, and the City of Cambridge make up the team.  From February to June 2010, including a three day Chicago retreat, the Working Group prepared for the November Conference.

Greenbuild is the world’s largest conference and expo dedicated to green building.  Thousands of green building professionals from all over the world come together for three days of educational sessions, renowned speakers, green building tours, special seminars, and networking events.

The 2010 Greenbuild International Conference & Expo is November 17-19 in Chicago, Illinois where General Colin L. Powell is the opening keynote speaker.  The event expects more than 20,000 attendees, including representatives from Centennial, who are going to get fresh ideas for sustainability.