Improving Inclusion in the Industry Standing Strong at 70 HURCKMAN MECHANICAL INDUSTRIES Teaching through Technology ABC NEW MEXICO apeiron-construction.com | NOVEMBER 2023We create boundless opportunity With a wealth of experience in reporting, content creation and publishing, Apeiron Media, Inc – publisher of Apeiron Construction – was set up with a clear vision to shine a light on pioneering organizations and professionals throughout the construction industry. We take a nuanced approach to storytelling and our clients benefit from a comprehensive integrated marketing opportunity through our detailed suite of online media. Apeiron Construction delivers stories from across the industry to offer high-end, thought provoking content to our readers. Conducting fascinating in-depth interviews with industry leading Executives, Managers, Presidents and CEOs allows us to gain insight and perspective while having the privilege of telling impactful stories. Our unique approach to content creation allows us to gain expert commentary on an ever-changing industry, from the people that know it best. As a media platform, we believe that our world is boundless. We want to share this world with our clients. W elcome to the November edition of Apeiron Con- struction. November brings with it a slowing down. Consolidation and appraisal of what has come before now is balanced against a tentative look around the corner of the new year. Plans are percolating and the con- struction industry needs to build on its hard-fought victories. At this time of year, workers may be tiring with one eye on the holidays. Rightly so, our industry works harder than most, but there is also a need to keep thing moving, and growing, and building. The industry cannot survive on the efforts of a few. It is the collective push that keeps momentum. In some ways, the calendar is meaningless; the weather doesn’t mat- ter. Projects are being greenlit every day. The construction industry doesn’t stop. Challenges exist, but again, they too are a constant. Our industry has the skill, knowledge, and strength to overcome whatever trials facing it. In this issue, we share some of the groundbreaking and inno- vative projects happening across the industry. We hear from industry leaders on the problems facing individual companies and we shine a light on the companies themselves, bringing innovation and invention to an industry that is always devel- oping. We also look at our industry with a critical eye, asking if enough is really being done to diversify the landscape and make construction accessible for all. We look across the construction world and bring some of the stories you may not have heard about, the wins, small and big, that are taking place on jobsites every day. As always, we are delighted to bring you these stories. Thanks for reading. | 3 APEIRON CONSTRUCTION A note from our Chief Editor APEIRON-CONSTRUCTION.COM APEIRONMEDIAINC.COM CHIEF EDITOR SENIOR CONTENT DEVELOPERS CONTENT DEVELOPERS CONTRIBUTING WRITERS DIRECTOR OF SALES CREATIVE DIRECTOR DIGITAL MARKETING MANAGER DAVID O’NEILL COLIN O’NEILL | PETER SWALE | MARK PETERS DARAGH KIERNAN | MARCO GUANNUE | PRINCE ANTHONY BARBARA GOMES | AARON HORGAN ERIC O’CALLAGHAN | MANUELA ARMINI FIONA SHERIDAN | CHRIS HUGHES | GARRETH OWEN KAYLA BROWN LINDSAY BAILEY ALEX MULVEYIn recent years, much has been done in the construction industry to promote more inclusive practices. Workshops, education, and recruitment drives all feed into a developing picture of an industry that is welcoming to all. If we were to be honest, it couldn’t have come quickly enough. The construction industry is one of the most homogenous on the planet. The most up to date figures show that there is one group of workers in particular who are still marginalized, and seem to remain excluded from the education drives that center around gender and race. Making up 5% of the construction workforce, disabled workers are largely being left behind in the race for diversity. 8 Improving Inclusion in the Industry6 3 Positive News Stories 12 Standing Strong at 70 HURCKMAN MECHANICAL INDUSTRIES 18 Constructing Art COST INC. 22 Collaborating to Craft Joy with Water & Light CRYSTAL FOUNTAINS 28 Depaving 32 Teaching through Technology ABC NEW MEXICO 38 Where Concrete Remains Vital VITAL CONSULTING GROUP 44 A Legacy of Quality and Ethical Behavior KLINGER CONSTRUCTORS 50 SolarEV Cities 54 A Presence as Strong as Steel Wire Mesh NUMESH INC. 60 50 Years of Staying Power VAN HORNE CONSTRUCTION 66 The Power of an Agile Mindset NEUTRAL CONTRACTING GROUP 70 Modular Matters: Unlocking the Potential of Offsite Building CENTRAL PRECAST 74 ACPPA: The Place Where Pressure Thrives AMERICAN CONCRETE PRESSURE PIPE ASSOCIATION 80 Lego City – The Future is Awesome 5 | APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONWith all that is happening around us, it can be easy to miss some of the advancements that are being made in the construction industry. Let’s shine a light on some good news stories that are making our world a little better. Solar Roadways Roads, paths, highways, and parking lots. The interconnecting infrastructure network is an essential part of human life. The benefits it brings are innumerable. However, the cost involved with development, maintenance and repair is enormous and their design and materials haven’t changed in decades. Solar panels offer an accessible opportunity to build sustainable energy grids using technology that has already been invented. The question now is, why these haven’t been considered in relation to our large network of roads? A start-up in Idaho is trying to make that a reality. Solar Roadways has devised a “multi-featured, modern, modular intelligent infrastructure product which also pro- duces clean energy in places.” The path is laid in hexagonal tiles creating a network of energy production. Capable of withstanding the same weight and pressure as concrete or asphalt, this innovative product could be the energy gener- ating roads of the future. Installing photovoltaic roads is a time- and resource-heavy project, but Solar Roadways argues the electricity gains in the long run would offset those initial costs. The company claims its panels have a 23 percent power efficiency rate. Its current forecast suggests covering all of the country’s roads in photovoltaic panels could gener- ate 23.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity. “If a panel is no longer communicating, I could throw one, since it’s only 70 pounds, in the back of my Subaru and drive out there and swap it out in five minutes,” said Solar Roadways co-founder Scott Brushaw. solarroadways.com | 6 NOVEMBER 2023Shipping Container Homes Los Angeles is estimated to have around 75,000 people currently experiencing homelessness. As these figures were released recently, Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum, Chief Execu- tive Officer of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority was cler in her message, this is an epidemic. “The homeless count results tell us what we already know — that we have a crisis on our streets, and it’s getting worse.” However, hope also comes in a coordinated plan to decrease these numbers through innovative strategies. NAC Architecture, in collaboration with Bernards, a Californian construction company, has unveiled The Hilda L Solis Care First Village, an innovative housing project that uses modular building and shipping containers. The village covers 64,000 square feet (5,946 square metres), and was completed in six months. It offers 232 housing units, along with a common building that holds a commercial kitchen, dining area, laundry facilities and administrative spaces. The site also has land- scaped courtyards, a dog park, and parking spots for staff and residents. nacarchitecture.com/portfolio/hildalsoliscarefirst Tech-Built Modular Homes The concept of modular building is not new. It has been used in some form for decades and is a proven way of incorporating speed and efficiency to a project, albeit at the cost of quality or longevity. Until now, the use of modular building for long- term family housing has not been explored in great detail. So, as the industry battles to keep up with an ever-growing demand for homes, what use could ‘flat-packed’ homes be to a market that is experiencing a crisis? There a shortfall of seven million homes in the U.S., with the San Francisco Bay Area —the home of Big Tech— one of the worst affected. Factory_OS is a Google and Facebook backed company that is working towards modernizing, innovating, and revo- lutionizing the modular housing landscape. According to the company, cost, speed and quality can all be improved upon. “This process brings relentless efficiency to a profoundly inef- ficient industry. In Building 680, Factory_OS can build homes year-round, rain or shine, leveraging the proven principles of lean manufacturing and cutting-edge software technologies. Quality control is better. Workers are safer. Precision cutting and indoor material storage reduce construction waste by more than a third, and reduced transportation requirements lower carbon emissions, making this the greenest building method available today. On-site assembly is faster, cleaner and far less disruptive to our neighbors.” factoryos.com | 7 APEIRON CONSTRUCTION| 8 NOVEMBER 2023WRITTEN BY DAVID O’NEILL I n recent years, much has been done in the construc- tion industry to promote more inclusive practices. Workshops, education, and recruitment drives all feed into a developing picture of an industry that is welcoming to all. If we were to be honest, it couldn’t have come quickly enough. The construction industry is one of the most homogenous on the planet. The most up to date figures show that there is one group of workers in particular who are still marginalized, and seem to remain excluded from the education drives that center around gender and race. Making up 5% of the construction workforce, disabled workers are largely being left behind in the race for diversity. This figure is significantly lower than any other group when it comes to inclusion statistics. When this is coupled with the complementary statistics that only 20% of all disabled workers are in trades, and that when this is broken down further by gender, we see that a minis- cule number of disabled females are in the industry, it seems as though construction has a blind spot. | 9 APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONNext >