ABC Awards Recognize Excellence in Construction, Safety, Innovation

Haskell’s accomplishments were repeatedly on display at Thursday evening’s Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) National Excellence in Construction (EIC) Awards Gala, as company representatives took the stage to receive five distinct awards.

On a more fundamental level, though, Haskell’s core values of Team, Excellence, Service and Trust were front and center, said John-Paul Saenz, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

The annual gala celebrates the best in merit shop construction, honoring the most outstanding construction projects and contractors of the year for achievements in leadership, safety, innovation and inclusion, diversity and equity.

Haskell, which this year was ranked No. 22 on ABC’s Top 250 Performers list, received the following 2022 honors:

• National Safety Excellence Pinnacle Award
• National EIC Eagle Award (Federal Government/Military: $10 to 100 million): P-918 Special Operations Forces Close Quarters Combat
• National EIC Eagle Award (Public Works/Environmental Category up to $100 million): Residuals Renovations and Improvements to Building D2 UOSA
• National EIC Pyramid Award (Special Projects, $0 to $100 million): JCLDS Temple Quito
• National EIC Innovation Award: P-918 Special Operations Forces Close Quarters Combat

The Pinnacle Award, reserved for the industry’s highest achievers and one of only 10 given to General Contractors, was Haskell’s second in as many years and third in the past five years. (Story: Second Straight Pinnacle Award Marks Consistent Safety Leadership.) It recognizes not just the company’s statistical performance, which is many times better than industry peers, but also its holistic approach to keeping people safe.

“The Pinnacle Award speaks to our excellent safety culture,” Saenz said. “When people ask how we’ve achieved this level of performance, the answer is pretty simple. It's our safety culture. Our safety culture stems from our broader general culture, which emphasizes teamwork, excellence, service and trust. All of that plays out in safety, which is looking out for each other, looking out for our clients and looking out for our contract partners. You see that behavior translate into jobsite safety. We don't make it bureaucratic. It's not about policies. It's not about procedures. We certainly have those. But it's really about the individual interest to look out for each other. There's no way to describe it other than we have a culture of taking care of people.”

Haskell received an ABC National EIC Innovation Award, given for the first time this year, for the cutting-edge methods and solutions associated with the P-918 Special Operations Forces Close Quarters Combat facility project designed and built for the U.S. Navy in Coronado, California. This recognition goes to select Eagle Award winners for projects that are successfully using technology and innovation to maximize safety, efficiency and profitability.

Significant and intentional commitment to innovation, spearheaded by its venture-capital arm, Dysruptek, has established Haskell as a leader in the modernization of the architectural, engineering and construction (AEC) industry.

“Again, innovation is an important part of our culture. Haskell was founded on the premise of innovation,” Saenz said. “I think a lot of us day to day probably take for granted the level of innovation that we deliver on projects. Clients certainly do not take that expertise for granted, and they value having us deliver innovative engineering and construction solutions. Those innovations set us apart from any other contractor that could probably design the project, build it and possibly even make the schedule. But they can’t do all that while making a project safe and delivering industry-leading innovation as part of the solution. Those outcomes are real differentiators.”

ABC’s Excellence in Construction Awards program raises construction standards by showcasing the year’s best projects. Entries are judged on execution of design, quality of craftsmanship, attention to detail, proper installation, outstanding planning and coordination efforts, challenges successfully overcome, project complexity, custom materials, safety programs and owner satisfaction. A total of 48 first-place Eagle Awards may be presented, as well as up to two Pyramid Awards in each category.

Haskell’s three national project awards, and five national awards overall, marked another of its best showing ever.

“As great as this is to receive three project awards and to have them represented broadly from across our markets, all of our projects are truly award-worthy,” Saenz said. “It's nice to be recognized, but these three awards are truly representative of the whole, of all the 100 active construction projects we’re executing at any given time. So, we celebrate those projects, we celebrate those teams, and we celebrate that level of performance on all of our projects.”

Following is a description of the winning projects:

P-918 Special Operations Forces Close Quarters Combat Facility

Haskell provided design, engineering, and construction for the 25,204-square-foot (SF) P-918 Special Operations Forces Close Quarters Combat (CQC) facility and campus site improvements at Naval Base Coronado Coastal Campus in Coronado, California.

The CQC facility is a one-story structure organized with a training support and service area at the front of the building in a lower-height structure. The training rooms are in a higher-volume structure to accommodate various configurations and a mezzanine catwalk space for supervision. They feature a ballistic wall panel system with vulcanized rubber on both sides of the ballistic steel plate panels. Included are non-ballistic sliding doors and door frames, non-ballistic sacrificial doors and door frames.

Haskell engaged a specialty subcontract partner to help ensure that ventilation in the training space could clear heavy smoke from the training space within the government’s three-minute time limit. The innovative solution that resulted uses large fans to push the smoke down, which causes it to curl toward the outside walls and go back up and then out of the room. When tested, the system cleared the room in two minutes and 43 seconds. The approach and accomplishment were instrumental in earning the EIC Innovation Award.

At the front of the building, the lobby provides access to a communications room, control room, restrooms and briefing rooms that lead into two separate training rooms. An exterior training area is provided for exothermic exercises. Entrances to the mezzanine are from exterior stairs. Roof access is provided with enclosed stairs for maintenance and rooftop mechanical access.

Vertical construction consists of shallow spread foundations, concrete mat foundations, concrete tilt-up, structural steel columns, steel joists, metal roof decking and low-slope roofs. Highlighted features included direct digital controls (DDC) per area-wide energy management system (AWEMS), cable TV premises distribution, radio and public systems, electronic safety and security and furniture, fixtures and equipment (FFE).

Residuals Renovations and Improvements to Building D2, Upper Occoquan Service Authority (UOSA)

As construction manager at-risk, Haskell renovated three anaerobic digesters along with the associated structural, mechanical and electrical systems and controls in the Support Building, replaced heat exchangers and other biosolids systems and installed two new dewatering centrifuges at the wastewater facility in Centreville, Virginia.

The facility treats approximately 54 million gallons per day (mgd) of wastewater for 1.7 million residents in the northern part of the state. Haskell’s main objectives were to increase digester lifespan and efficiency and improve the sludge-thickening process that utilized thickening centrifuges.

Digester improvements included repairing the interior/exterior of each tank, replacing piping and modifying the gas cannons to improve the tanks’ overall lifespan, as well as improve the digesters’ efficiency. Associated heat loops used to recirculate and heat the digesters were replaced with new and improved equipment. This included four new centrifugal pumps, three new heat exchangers and associated piping.

To mitigate inefficiencies in the plant’s thickening process, which used Dissolved Air Flotation Thickeners (DAFT), two new centrifuges were installed to supplement, and eventually replace, the current thickening process. Necessary equipment associated with the centrifuge was also installed, including a new polymer feed system, feed pumps for the centrifuges and a new transfer pump to move the thickened sludge to the next step in the process.

Process equipment improvements in both areas were complemented by a major retrofit of the main electrical room and motor control center (MCC). A total of four new MCCs and switchgears were installed and commissioned to power the new process equipment.

Temple Quito

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints partnered with Haskell to design and construct the new Temple in Quito City, the capital of Ecuador. Local historical buildings and native vegetation inspired the design, which created a structure that blends with the rich history of Quito and its people.

The project comprised four buildings: the Temple (36,780 SF), ancillary (23,463 SF), mechanical (3,791 SF), and guardhouse (161 SF). The landscaping is 1.21 hectares, divided into 0.70 hectares of hardscape area and 0.5 hectares of landscaping design consisting of trees and native species.

Employing design-build delivery reduced construction costs by $1.6 million and expedited the project. Cost-saving and value-driven options were presented during weekly meetings and tracked in a log until they were accepted or rejected. When necessary, Haskell provided calculations, estimates and lifecycle cost analyses to help the Church in decision-making.

Haskell engaged regional contractors with experience building temples to ensure the highest quality outcome. The contractors were trained to meet unique specifications and quality standards on millwork, stone, windows and decorative metal. Using local contractors for specialized trades such as art glass, drywall and metals reduced costs, while instruction and supervision by Haskell team members ensured superior-quality work. Also, combining local designers and experienced U.S. temple architects allowed for savings in design fees while maintaining the quality and completeness of construction documents.

Haskell designers made mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems that would be monitored and controlled from the same central building management system (BMS), reducing the number of operating personnel needed, and maximized bathroom space by separating the lavatories and showers to allow up to six people to use the room simultaneously. Sensor-equipped faucets provide water savings.

The project included a treatment plant for the internal use of water within the buildings while using untreated drainage to irrigate the greenery for additional water savings. An LED lighting system provides ongoing energy savings. An overflow drain was installed on the building’s roof to avoid the water grids’ potential clogging.

Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Virtual Design and Construction (VDC) technologies were indispensable in ensuring accuracy and quality, eliminating expense, expediting the project and reducing risk by identifying clashes before installation.

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