During the 2009 Structural Engineers Buildings Conference & Expo held in Chicago, I facilitated a roundtable to discuss the expanding leadership opportunities for structural engineers. Considering the challenges that practitioners face each day, but especially in this down economy, I wanted to discuss the obstacles that have opened new doors for forward-thinking structural engineering firm leaders. I posed the following questions to the group:
- Has your firm embraced the collaborative process of BIM and IPD?
- Is your firm a leader in sustainable design?
- Does your firm succeed with additional services such as shop drawings or construction management?
- How have you benefited from this?
- What else is your firm doing to open new business possibilities?
SUGRUE: Jennifer, you asked us what we are doing to survive, and earlier during the conference a speaker mentioned “economic Darwinism.” I thought that was an interesting comment — doing what you can to survive now, and then being able to prosper from that later. In fact, because we have embraced BIM, our structural department has a big leg up. We found now that our clients are really realizing the benefits. There are opportunities for structural engineers to get integrated horizontally, beyond just the design, into the construction. Because we’re first out of the box, so to speak, we can really impact the schedule of our projects.
BURNS: Yes, since we’re first out of the box, if there are things that we can save on the front end of the project schedule, [for example] if we can save three weeks by [leveraging BIM and] doing all of the shop drawing delivery and coordination in house, then contractors love us. Understanding the whole building process is key. The things we can save on the front end can add so much value to the overall project.
Going back to the shop drawing example, there’s a value within the industry that is placed on steel detailing. If we can do it, we can get paid for it; because if we don’t somebody else will and they’re going to get paid for it. That’s the problem with the debate about whether you get paid for doing BIM. If it’s something that’s akin to drafting, owners are going to ask why they should pay you extra for doing your job more efficiently.
SAAB: Sometimes they ask why you didn’t do it in the first place.
BURNS: Exactly. So it’s very hard to get paid extra for doing BIM service as part of our normal engineering practices. But when you provide an added value or service as a result of doing BIM, such as doing shop drawings, that’s something you can charge for.
WATSON: We have gotten into BIM quite a bit in the past couple of years and with good success. There’s a learning curve, but we can certainly see the big advantage of it. In fact, we’re seeing a lot more savvy owners becoming a lot more involved with the building process, especially structural. They want to see our progress and they want to understand everything that’s going on [with their facility], in all disciplines. BIM has enabled us to communicate our design intent with our clients. So it’s a lot different than it was even four or five years ago, in that respect.
MAINGOT: [Speaking of clients], there have been a couple times where we’ve shared our BIM model with contractors and it really blows their mind, for lack of a better term. As to what the power is of BIM, once clients see what the actual benefits of the model, that really gets their hearts racing. With that in mind, we have been using this slower time to re-establish connections with past clients by giving presentations on what our capabilities are with BIM. Additionally, we ask what their capabilities are just to see what kind of partnering opportunities could exist.
GOUPIL: That’s an interesting point. BIM gives you a new story to tell with existing and potential clients.
|
Sustainable design
WATSON: Sustainable design is becoming a major selling point for us. A lot of our owners want [USGBC] LEED certification [for their facilities]. And they know that we’ve been able to deliver it. Like many of you have said, we have about 30 percent of our AE construction staff certified as LEED AP.
GOUPIL: That seems to be the magic number. I was going to ask Joe the same thing. You said Thornton Tomasetti has 30 percent of staff LEED AP certified, what impact or response has that had from your clients? How are they responding? Or, are they asking for that?
BURNS: Well, they are. Many of our clients have very strong environmental statements and commitments; the AIA2030 plan for example is committed to reducing carbon and energy use in buildings by 2030. This, quite frankly, requires a commitment on the part of their consultants, particularly those of us that consult separately to architects. Obviously firms that have everybody in-house, that’s an easier commitment to make. But if you are in the business of, as many architecture firms are, hiring engineering consultants, then you’re looking for partners that have an equal commitment to sustainability. So that’s one aspect for sure.
As someone else has mentioned, [sustainable design] doesn’t have to be just picking concrete and recycled steel. [LEED certification for projects] is clearly one of the obvious [need] that pops up, but clearly notions of efficient design and less material is part of what we have all tried to do for a long time. The bigger notion though is that as definitions of what is sustainable, and even the LEED accreditation rules, evolve towards a lifecycle view of the project, not necessarily an instantaneous one. When you start thinking about zero carbon, zero energy buildings, then you worry about the long picture: what is the cradle-to-grave view of materials we specify? And once you look at it from that angle, you will see that most of the mass of a building is structure.
The bigger question is, what else are we doing besides just doing structural engineering to stay in business?
GOUPIL: Right.
BURNS: We employ architects, as some of you have said too, and some of those architects are creating a new sustainability consulting group, which we don't think is competing with our architect clients. There are architects that want sustainability consultants — experts that could help them get LEED accreditation for their buildings, and we can do that.
MAINGOT: In regards to the parking structures, our clients, especially public entities, are requesting that we provide them an estimate of the service liability of the parking structure — which we can do with within certain limitations. But because with a parking structure, that’s all we have is a structure, [the answer to] how long is it going to last is very much dependent on the quality of the concrete, basically. So, provided they follow the requirements that we give them, we can actually estimate what the service life of that particular structure is going to be with or without the maintenance program.
Our clients want to ensure that their parking structure is going to stand the test of time. Even though pure, stand-alone parking structures don’t currently qualify for LEED certification, our clients are still interested in [sustainability].
BURNS: This [long-term] aspect of sustainability is well suited, believe it or not, to BIM modeling. That’s the other thing I want to tie in here, because BIM modeling is all about keeping track of things. And when you start thinking about long-term accounting for things like carbon, you have to keep track of it. And building information models are good for that.
So, you see, all of these things are all knitted together. The fact is they all add up to more services than just doing pure structural engineering.
Additional services
SUGRUE: One other thing to consider is to focus on what you do best and then explore how you can expand on that. One thing that we’ve always done with our safety division, where our team does a lot of fall protection audits as well as designs for fall protection systems, is to broaden that expertise and offer services for training. So we train firms in OSHA requirements. And in our facilities group, we include training in the construction process of tilt-up concrete systems, based on our expertise in designing tilt-up concrete. Now, that all comes from a structural engineering base. So, take what you know and broaden it.
BURNS: Within the last decade have added steel shop drawing services and now pre-cast services; particularly in our Kansas City office where a lot of sports projects are happening. We have a group of people that came out of the steel industry that actually, in a sense, perform like other steel detailers. We often do it collaboratively though with our clients when we're designing a project. And again, not surprisingly, sports projects are the ones that pop up as the ones that have very tight schedules that are demanding in terms of getting steel ordered and detailed. And we find that if we do that in-house, there are a lot of efficiencies to that in terms of translating BIM models from the design side to the detailing side. And yes, it is an extra service. We get paid extra for that.
SAAB: In some instances for us, we’re not necessarily just inventing new services; we’re trying to enhance what we’re offering. A prime example is we’re giving away a lot more information early on in the project to help cost control and planning. Our DDs are starting to look more like CDs. And I’m sure that is typical a lot for you as well. Coming up with pricing or selecting a scheme early on, is one service that our clients appreciate. Make sure you let your client understand how much he is getting back from you. We’re spending more time with clients, trying to educate them — it’s a big step.
MAINGOT: Right! We try to go the extra mile, not just to take the information that is given. We try to look at what else can be done to improve the project for the client. For instance, really look at a soils report. Work directly with the person or the firm that produced that document or somebody else to [evaluate options]. Do we really need drill peters, do we really need caissons? Can we do some sort of improvement and use footing as a shallow foundation? Just to economize on this structure, and not have all this other site disruption? Look for ways to spend less money. Because time is money, and bottom dollar is what all owners are looking for, especially right now. So the minute you can offer those kind of services, or look beyond the information that you’re given, to find savings then that definitely speaks to your advantage. There are many ways for [structural engineers] to do this.
GOUPIL: At one point last year, somebody asked me, if we would need structural engineers, in the future? And the thought to me was just so obscene. Of course we're going to need structural engineers in the future. However, what I'm learning from you all and realizing that more firms are getting into more market sectors and providing more services — engineering firms are hiring architects and steel detailers; firms are working with contractors to solve buildability aspects of a project; BIM has become commonplace, even expected; and everyone's on board with sustainability. As I listen to you explain what your firms are doing, I realize that maybe the traditionally-thought-of role of structural engineer — an expert who only designs beams, columns, footings — maybe that role doesn't necessarily exist anymore. The structural engineering industry is providing so much more than basic structural design services.
That sounds so exciting. But at the same time, it's a little daunting, because how can you possibly know all of it — everything from LEED to BIM to contractor issues and how to build a moment frame per the new code. But because we are doing so much, I believe that there are also so many opportunities for leadership and many ways in which to provide value to your clients.
The problem seems to be in letting your clients know about it. Not only that, but letting owners and people in general know what structural engineers do and how well the profession can do it is also necessary. That seems to be where we fall short. Educating ourselves on how to toot our own horn a little bit more might be a good direction for some of us to take.
Conclusion
ZHAO: Communication is very important. This is a downtime for everyone, but it’s a great time to build relationships with clients and potential clients. A couple of years ago, they didn’t have time, they were too busy. But this is the time to build relationships and understand each other. And then, when things begin to pick up, [you will have] good relationships and [know what] to do.
SAAB: And, it is going to come back. It’s just [a question of] how fast it will happen. [The economy] is not going to stay down forever.
SUGRUE: When the economy recovers, things will have changed and business will not be conducted the same.
SAAB: [Even more reason why] you’ve got to be ready when it comes back.
|
Who’s who Joseph Burns, P.E., S.E., F.AIA, LEED AP, is the managing principal in the Chicago office of Thornton Tomasetti. Martin Maingot, P.E., S.E., is an associate at Cary Kopczynski & Company in Bellevue, Wash. Halim M. Saab, P.E., is a vice president and principal in the Cleveland office of Barber & Hoffman Consulting Engineers. Michael F. Sugrue, P.E., LEED AP, is a principal with LJB Inc. in Dayton, Ohio. Joseph P. Watson, III, P.E., is the group lead structural engineer in the Jacksonville, Fla., office of Haskell Architects and Engineers. Yantong Zhao, Ph.D., P.E., is Hampton, Lenzini, and Renwick, Inc.’s director of structural engineering for the Chicago region in the firm’s Elgin, Ill., office. |
