< PreviousThe longevity of Roberts Onsite can be witnessed through not only its years in business, but in the multi-generational families within the group. Often, trades can be passed down through generations, with one family member learning from the previous. Through its focus on its employees and repu- tation, Robert’s Onsite has managed to capture this family quality and keep it in house, with current employees following in both their fathers and grandfathers’ legacy. Today Roberts Onsite offers a variety of services in seven areas of operation: electrical, mechanical, millwrighting and rigging, communications, automation controls and engineer- ing, utilities & traffic controls, and predictive maintenance. With such a variety of skills available, the company is essen- tially a one stop shop for construction, with the ability to lower overall costs for clients. While its catalogue of work is extensive, there are a number of projects that standout to Barnard; one of which is currently ongoing. The company is currently doing the electrical for a base building, which will become a battery assembly plant for General Motors in Ingersoll. “That's a new 327,000 square foot plant that's going to manufacture batteries for the new GM BrightDrop EV600 vehicle. It's going to be the first battery plant that will be operational in Canada so we're pretty excited about that. And there is another standout project we just fin- ished about a year ago. It was called the B2 Project-Phase 3, and basically, we helped build the process equipment for a 430,000 square foot new facility in Brampton, Ontario.” For Barnard, it epitomized the connected thinking and opera- tional skills the company possesses. “It became special to us because all aspects of our group — electrical, mechanical, millwrighting and rigging — were able to come together with a client who came from Europe many years ago. They decided to basically tear down the old part of the plant and build a brand-new state of the art, shingle manufacturing business, which they designed most of the equipment themselves.” Throughout all its projects, Roberts Onsite has a strict adher- ence to safety protocols and the safety of its employees is at the forefront of everything it does. Its multi-trade crews achieved a perfect score in 2020 with a Total Recordable Incident Rate (TRIR) of 0.00. Roberts Onsite has also been IHSA COR™ certified since 2017. The Infrastructure Health and Safety Association (IHSA) is Ontario’s trusted health and safety resource, with a goal of improving the lives of workers and reducing all safety hazards. Although Roberts Onsite cares immensely about the safety of its employees, the company also equally cares about creating a space for its employees to enjoy their work. As part of its 85th year in business celebrations, the company celebrated two-fold this year and decided to create events for the employees to celebrate. The company usually holds | 40 SEPTEMBER 2023its Christmas gathering in February of the following year, due to its busy period during the Christmas shutdown to summer shutdown. However, this year it held an 85th anniversary win- ter gala, which included an eighteen-piece live band. To con- tinue the events, the company also had a barbecue during the summer to help raise money for the local fire department, which was another way for employees to come together out- side of their busy work lives and relish in that family culture. Several times throughout the interview Barnard referenced the employees of Roberts Onsite and their importance to the company. Building relationships and creating friendships is a side of the business that ultimately keeps work flowing, and this goes beyond the skilled trade workers. The talented and experienced trade workers at Roberts Onsite are considered by their employer to be the best in the industry, but there is an equally talented and professional team of project managers, estimators and administrative staff that help keep the gears of the company turning. “At the end of the day, our employees are the face of the company. They’re the ones in front of the clients most times. It’s those relationships and bonds with certain clients that allow us to continue to come back and do other work in the future. A perfect example of that is Loblaws, a local grocer. We've been doing work there ever since they started. And we've got pictures of some of our old trucks back in 1938, changing light bulbs in their parking lot, and we're still there today doing that.” With such an extensive history engrained in Roberts Onsite, it is important to continue this by creating a future for the company to thrive. In order to propel itself into the future, Roberts Onsite plan to keep growing and diversifying across different markets, both existing and new. It does not stop there, however. The company also plans to expand into other areas outside of its everyday business. Currently, Roberts Onsite is largely involved in the Industrial Marketplace, with an emphasis on automotive. However, it would like to venture further into the food and beverage side of the construction industry in order to continue its growth. As the company continues to grow, generations of families will grow alongside it and possibly within it. Whether a person is already part of a multi-generational family that works for Robert Onsite, or is looking to create a family legacy of their own within the company, the family values instilled within the company provide a footing into the future for work that is valued and appreciated. If you missed out on previous generations, it is never too late to become part of the family at Roberts Onsite and create a multi-generational family of your own. "The longevity of Roberts Onsite can be witnessed through not only its years in business, but in the multi-generational families within the group." | 41 APEIRON CONSTRUCTION| 42 SEPTEMBER 2023WRITTEN BY DAVID O’NEILL O ver the last decade, our focus has undoubtedly shifted. While growth, success, and meeting the needs of cli- ents and the wider population remains at the forefront, it is now coupled with a determination to achieve all this while using more sustainable methods. Historically, the construc- tion industry has a bad reputation in this regard. Some of this may be fair criticism –both production methods and building materials can be emissions heavy. However, the picture is not a simple one and many positive steps are taking place behind the scenes. In fact, industry professionals are working tirelessly to produce viable alternatives to the main offenders in this regard. With anything though, we can become overly concerned with the macro and it is important to take a step back and view the situation on a wider scale. When we do this, we see that building materials is one facet of a much larger challenge. Building may be a large contributor, but when we recognize the negative impact of construction-adja- cent sectors, we see that an interlinked response is required. For instance, in haulage, transportation and infrastructure, there is much work to be done. According to the most recent data in 2022, U.S. transportation sector emissions from energy consumption were 1.84 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. In a global context, the U.S. has the unfortunate award of being the single largest contributor to global transport emissions. This is compounded further by the alarming fact that its contributions account for almost a quarter of the global total. Looking at these figures on a purely national level, transportation does not fare any better either. The sector is the largest contributor to U.S. CO2 emis- sions and accounts for over 30 percent. EVs may be helping to stem the tide and there is hope that the sector can get a handle on things. Unfortunately though, cost and access to infrastructure remain barriers to widescale adoption. Until there is a breakthrough that ticks every box, it seems doomed to fail. There is, however, another alternative. | 43 APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONThe prospect of super-highways where hydrogen powered vehicles travel at speeds similar to those of airplanes may seem like the stuff of science fiction. Even more futuristic is the technology that would be involved in the highways themselves. Maglev (derived from magnetic levitation) is a process that has been around for over a century but is rarely used. Maglev trains hover about a track while the pull of electromagnets guides them. With no road or track friction to slow the trains, the vehicles can reach huge speeds. Lau- rence Blow, founder of the MaglevTransport consulting group uses the Shanghai, where a maglev train runs from Pudong International airport to the outskirts of the city to explain the potential benefits of such a system. “There is no train in the world that can match the kind of kind of performance that you see in that 19-mile connection. It can be done in seven and a half minutes and you hit a top speed of 267 miles an hour.” Blow believes that the technology makes it a viable solution for both long and shorter distances. “Maglev is a competitor to automobiles, trains, and airplanes, as well as buses and metro-systems. Unlike high-speed, there are a lot of market opportunities here. With low-to-medium speed maglevs in city centers, you really get the benefit of low noise and low vibration.” So how do we expand on this technology and include the wider transportation networks? As scientists have now cre- ated a new technology which is based on concept of maglev, the answer may already be here. SClev, the name given to this transportation system is a method proposed by Zhifeng Ren –a physicist at the University of Houston, that incorpo- rates the speed and ability of MagLev while also allowing for widespread use. The goal of this research, Ren explains, is that the practical barriers to other renewable energy sources make them simply unworkable. “The goal is to move society towards fossil fuel independence. We want to get rid of fossil fuels and move to clean energy, like solar and wind. With these, however, there are problems. Both solar and wind are intermittent, and storage is a big issue. How do we store the electrical power from solar and wind? A battery is not going to solve this problem. A regular car weighs about 3500 pounds. An EV, without an internal combus- tion engine, exhaust, or cooling system, still weighs more than the regular one. Why? The battery. On the other hand, we have hydro- gen. It is going to be the future. It has a very | 44 SEPTEMBER 2023high density, and at the same time, there are no byproducts such as carbon dioxide. The only byproduct is a pure water.” The technology itself is incredible. Cars buses and trucks containing superconductive materials are suspended over a magnetic guideway and can achieve speeds up to 800 km/h. However, the challenge until now has been the side effects of these systems. While these superconductors can conduct electricity efficiently, they only work at incredibly low tempera- tures which is why hydrogen is used to cool the system. For Ren and his team, it was important to consider solutions to all aspects if the SClev is to be successfully developed. “To overcome the unrealistically high cost of any system that only serves limited functions, we envision a “super” system that combines multi- ple functions. It includes a lossless electrical power transmission and storage; transport and storage of liquefied nitrogen; and high-speed levitated transport of people and goods over long distances. In this super system, vehicles with permanent magnets (or electromagnets) will be levitated above a super- conductor guideway (“SClev”) that is also transmitting and storing electrical power.” Ren believes that with research funding, this could be a break- through of enormous proportions. However, he acknowledges that political will is key to unlocking the potential of Hydrogen on a widescale basis. “I do not see any big questions on the technology unanswered, but more on the financial support,” he says. “I hope to see either government or private invest- ment. This will provide the opportunity to start large-scale projects which can demonstrate the benefits of the concept.” As industries grapple with challenges of cost, materials, and sustainability. It seems like it is only a matter of time before Hydrogen is used on a widespread basis. The science and the technology are both already in place, it seems as though the only remaining challenge centers around cost. For Ren, industry and governmental investment is crucial. When the benefits are so evident, it is a frustrating scenario for scien- tists and climate advocates. However, change takes time and if the SClev project is anything to go by, the evidence for Hydrogen Highways is beginning to stack up. shorturl.at/iqrL8 | 45 APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONWRITTEN BY CHRISTOPHER CARTER A s any professional knows, a successful project is greater than the sum of its parts. This is nowhere truer than in the construction industry, where many complex mov- ing parts must come together in creating a building that meets all the necessary requirements in terms of form, function, and safety. As most project managers will tell you, finding the right people for the job is the most essential, and often the most challeng- ing part of this process. In a booming construction industry, with many options to choose from, on what basis should the right contractors be selected for a given project? | 46 SEPTEMBER 2023| 47 APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONABC Delaware, the state’s chapter of Associated Builders and Contractors, firmly believes there is only one answer to this question: merit. In the words of Ed Capodanno, ABC Delaware’s current President, “Our core value is that we believe in open competition and free enterprise, and we believe that construction contracts in Delaware should be given based upon the lowest responsible bidder regardless of affiliation. That’s what we've always believed in, and that's what we push.” This, in a nutshell, epitomizes the merit shop philosophy on which ABC was founded in 1950 by a group of seven prom- inent contractors in Baltimore, MD. Their dedication to the merit shop as an alternative to the much more prevalent union- based mindset of the time proved to be a powerful force in the national construction industry, changing the way in which con- tracts were awarded and empowering non-union contractors to claim a seat at the table. ABC Delaware followed in 1981. As Capodanno describes it, “It was a group of contractors in Del- aware who got together and decided that there was strength in numbers, and they needed to protect the interests of merit shop contractors in Delaware and to try to begin to make merit shop contractors more formidable in the industry.” Strength in numbers would prove to be the greatest initial challenge for ABC Delaware, but ultimately where it would find its greatest power. Capodanno tells the story of the early difficulties faced by the organization at the start of his tenure: “I think my challenge here when I came on board at ABC was the limited membership and limited financial resources. The only way we were going to grow is if we had somebody work- ing every day to sell memberships and telling the ABC story to merit shop contractors who weren't members, preaching the benefits that that come along with strength in numbers and working together to create the same goal.” It’s a chal- lenge he and his team have navigated successfully, as Capo- danno proudly notes: “Over the years we've progressed into a 500-member company doing 87% of the work in Delaware.” “Strength in numbers would prove to be the greatest initial challenge for ABC Delaware, but ultimately where it would find its greatest power.” | 48 SEPTEMBER 2023Some challenges that ABC Delaware faced in the early years, particularly those of a political nature, continue to present obstacles that the organization has had to navigate, though not unsuccessfully. Being located in what Capodanno refers to as a “union stronghold” and as a conservative-leaning organi- zation in a state that has shifted dramatically from Republican to overwhelmingly Democrat in Capodanno’s 30-year tenure, means that ABC Delaware has had to fight hard to defend its core values as well as its position in the market. As he points out, “What happened in the last election is Republicans lost even more seats. So now that they have a supermajority in the House and Senate, we’re really up against it. They've elected more progressives and liberals to the Del- aware General Assembly, and it's been a difficult run the last couple years. Now it's 2020 and the President of the United States is from our state. He's a 1000% union supporter and has said he's the biggest union supporter president in history. So, what's happening now is his beliefs and his theories around union organization and union work have trickled down into the General Assembly and Delaware because he's the President of the United States and he comes from our state.” Despite the challenging political environment, Capodanno and his team have largely succeeded in sticking to their values and adapting to these challenges. As he puts it, “we're 100% a polit- ical organization, but our philosophy is that the only way we can continue to be successful politically is to try to forge some relationships with business-friendly Democrats. In order for us to be successful politically, we believe we have to reach across the aisle. We don't have any choice. You have to do what you think is in the best interest of your organization.” Edward J. Capodanno, President of ABC Delaware Photo by Eric Crossan | 49 APEIRON CONSTRUCTIONNext >