At the 2018 FIRST Robotics World Championships in Detroit, there were 601 teams from Michigan. To say that robotics is growing quickly is an understatement. Through grants, bond programs, and sponsorships, Michigan School Districts are making room on their campuses to support those teams. The makerspace, as these rooms are more broadly called, can include a robotics lab. These areas are “dependent on the size of the robotics involved”, according to Douglas Rich of spaces4learning.com in his article, Designing Robotics Labs. “There is no difference between learning to program a demonstration robot or full-size robotics arm; so many schools choose the smaller robots to save space and money”.
Cory Sursely
Expert Says Take Advantage of Large Rebates to Convert to LED Lighting
Light-Emitting Diode (LED) bulbs are the most efficient light option on the market, and energy companies are making them more affordable for residential and commercial clients. The market cost can seem prohibitive for business owners with hundreds of bulbs to convert, despite the fact that LED lights last much longer and use significantly less energy. In 2019, 10.4% of electricity costs in the U.S. came from lighting our businesses.1 This figure has been trending downward from 38% in 2003 for commercial buildings2.
New Ways to Add Infection Control to Your Healthcare Office
Medical and Dental practice owners you’ve taken a big hit same as most other industries due to the Covid-19 shut down. You’re still fresh to reopening and making the extended measures to provide infection control and start treating patients safely again. Your building facility can be made more effective in protecting staff and patients better, including tools for surface cleaning, aerosol infection control and social distancing.
Key Elements that Help Our CM Division Achieve Team Cohesion
Construction Management is the ideal delivery method for large, complex construction projects, such as those for School Districts. School Boards and Superintendents rely on their Architect and Construction Manager (CM) to form dynamic teams to fulfill a project’s goals and seamlessly deliver their buildings on time and within budget. Team cohesion is the goal on each of our projects. Taking into consideration that we are possibly working with new and diverse players with each new School District, this takes effort and coordination to achieve. An experienced CM typically will have vast resources and relationships with a wide variety of Prime Contractors, but when bidding projects, an unfamiliar contractor may be more suitable in achieving the schedule, budget, or meet proximity requirements of local contractor, therefore, we have tools that we use to initiate them onto the team as a cohesive member.
Construction Training Program Available for Rewarding Careers
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) and their Greater Michigan Construction Academy (GMCA) further supports Michigan contractors with an additional training program for interested high school students. First a little history, Wolgast was one of the founding contractors to bring the local ABC Chapter to the Saginaw Valley Area in 1977. Six years later ABC started the Merit Shop Training Program, now known as the GMCA, to train construction workers on skilled trades. They started by provided training for a variety of construction workers. Until recently, their traditional student has been the adult learner taking evening classes. In 2011, ABC expanded from the Saginaw Valley Chapter to the Greater Michigan Chapter, and included a total of 23 Michigan counties.
The Right Mix for Pre-Bond School Election Services
Preparing for a Bond Election is critical to school construction projects because if the election isn’t successful, there is nothing to construct. Therefore, Wolgast has developed Pre-Bond Election Services to set up School Districts for building success. While we haven’t won them all on the first try, we have maintained a 92% success rate for schools we’ve helped over the past 5 years.
How the Condition of Your Facility Could Attract the Best Successor
Most of us want to retire as soon as we’re ready and able, but business owners have a unique situation of preparing for a successor to take over their operation. Ideally, they’d have started planning for successorship early so the transition can happen during high times when business and the economy are strong. This way the owner was able to choose the best candidate and get the anticipated value of the company. The best successor is one that will take care of employees and clients as well or better than the predecessor did. And the best way to find them is to remove all obstacles to entice a successor who’ll continue the business legacy.
What to Know before Hiring a Commercial Architect or Contractor
The Jack Miller Group was a former industry network for General Contractors across the United States. In 1988, Mr. Miller had published a paper called, “Rules You Should Know before You Build Your Important Project”. He started by stating that there are a few basic questions that business owners should ask themselves as they start to plan a construction project1:
Preparing for Michigan Schools’ Safety in 2020
Over the last year, a lot of action has happened to make K-12 schools safer for students in Michigan. While still in office, Gov. Snyder implemented legislation for a School Safety Task Force. The Task Force has been meeting to oversee School Districts and their Safety Plans for each of their buildings. Schools are required to have their plans in place by January 2020. Also, as part of the Legislation, starting in 2020, new construction and renovation plans for schools have to be shared and consulted with their local law enforcement agency for their evaluation from a safety standpoint.
Set Your School to “Snow Day” with the Push of a Button
School Districts waste energy when building systems run while school isn’t in session, and face additional security threats, too. The good news is that schools are estimated to be able to save considerable energy costs by adding building system controls and sensors for real-time control. By automating school buildings with sensors and smart controls, the EPA says “schools and school districts can lower their operating costs by up to 30%. Existing schools can save 25% of operating costs by implementing some basic efficiency measures, occupant education, and engagement programs.”1 Additionally, installing integrating security systems to ensure all doors are locked and surveillance or movement sensors are operating after hours provides peace of mind when no one is in the building.