Mass Construction Show

In this episode of the Mass Construction Show I speak with Mark Schow of Elevated Design. We discuss why he started the firm, and he explains his take on nuclear energy to indulge my own interest. Then we cover some really interesting topics related to renewable energy such as electrification, heat pumps, battery storage, and cogen. Mark makes a really good point about why legislation is probably necessary to encourage energy efficiency and sustainable solutions.  Remember please, rate, review, share, and enjoy the show! Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution

In this episode of the Mass Construction Show I speak with Ricky McLain, Senior Technical Director at Woodworks, a national nonprofit organization that works primarily with architects, structural engineers, and developers as a resource to provide education and 1-1 project-specific design support. We go beyond aesthetics and biophilia to discuss some practical benefits of mass timber for construction managers, the implications of adopting a hybrid model to combine mass timber with steel and/or concrete, and what the current supply chain issues look like for mass timber.  Ricky provides an overview of massive timber, not as a product, rather as an umbrella term used to describe several products. He shares details about the panel construction and discusses how various products differ in how they are manufactured and used in construction. He gives great insight into the fire resistance capabilities and how mass timber can be used to accommodate the potential for fire. He covers code changes that catalyzed the growing conversation about mass timber over the last five years.  Ricky points out that there are local programs that offer funding to support the use of timber as a means for reducing embodied carbon of projects, and he also explains how working with mass timber can help companies overcome the barriers to their projects from zoning issues and constraints. Remember please, rate, review, share, and enjoy the show! Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution

You'll have to listen to find out what's next but for those that listened follow: Michael Yanovitch on LI @MassCon Mike on IG mike@massconstruction.org Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution

In this episode of the Mass Construction Show I speak with Mike Fish, President and CEO of Dellbrook|JKS and Josh Olsen, Director of Accounting at Dellbrook|JKS about the recently completed company-wide wellness challenge with Healthy Steps Nutrition. Josh explains how employees participated by tracking sleep, stress management, exercise, and nutrition as well as coming together as a community for share recipes and offer support and motivation.  Mike describes why now was the perfect time to do something like this. We address the corporate culture that contributes to an unhealthy lifestyle and share our personal stories about how and why we began to focus on wellness as well as the expected and unexpected benefits of getting healthy. Remember please, rate, review, share, and enjoy the show! Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution

In this episode of the Mass Construction Show I speak with Liz McEnaney, founder of the Hudson Valley Collaborative. What Liz does can most easily be described as urban design with a very heavy emphasis on architectural history and historic preservation. She works on projects engaging the public to discover how they imagine components of their own communities and neighborhoods so that those ideas can be incorporated into plans for the space. Liz explains how making a documentary got her into this field of work and describes the goal of the Hudson Valley Collaborative, which serves communities in New York that are analogous to the old mills towns we have in Massachusetts. Regular listeners will draw parallels to the conversations about resiliency that we've had with Greg Garvin. A current an ongoing project for Liz is her work with building shells in the town of Newburgh, NY. Liz talks specifically about being proactive in thinking about the promise of these communities, helping the people who live there learn how to identify when a building is at risk of becoming a shell, why it's necessary to care about that, what can be done to address it, and how to go about that work. You can find more information at https://www.thefullerton.org/projects/buildingshells Remember please, rate, review, share, and enjoy the show! Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution

In this episode of the Mass Construction Show Peter and I discuss Cannabis Construction. He explains what falls under the umbrella of cannabis, specifically explaining grow facilities, extraction spaces, and dispensaries, which are all analogous to other sectors that we serve in construction like manufacturing, commercial kitchens, lab space and retail. Peter describes the importance of pre-construction involvement, giving details of what to look for at the site assessment phase. When he says that a cannabis site is heavy on MEP, you might be shocked to find out just how heavy he means. He also lends some expertise in terms of what’s critical for a successful project, offering up some cool industry-specific details from how and why a grow facility is designed to respect the circadian rhythm of the plants to mitigating the threat we dare not speak of in agriculture-- mold. We close with some ideas about what the industry future looks like, and some of those ideas that may have sounded a little far fetched before the episode will probably sound a more likely than not by the end. I’d love it if you could give the podcast a rating or write a review.  These things really matter when it comes to growing the podcast and getting the kinds of guest we want to hear from. So every little bit helps! Enjoy the show! Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution

In this episode of the Mass Construction Show I speak with Rene Morkos, Founder and CEO of ALICE Technologies about how construction management firms can move from a traditional fixed CPM scheduling method to a place where we can input tasks and parameters. Then ALICE can run simulations of your project to determine the shortest duration for your job and export them to a P6 schedule for you. On another note, we're stuck on 85 ratings, and we've been there for months. I'd love to get to 100. If you listen on Apple then it would be great if you could hit one of those rating stars and help us get to 100. Remember please, rate, review, share, and enjoy the show! Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution

In this episode of the Mass Construction Show I cover a range of topics including office space, Amazon's new Astro robot, cold-call style emails, core values, and the Mass Construction community on Discord. I do a little ranting; hopefully it's food for thought. I'm still eyeing an office building. Are you looking for some space because I would love to purchase a building and will need to lease some space to make it work financially. Message me on any social platform if you're interested in more info. Astro, Amazon's new robot with a camera on a telescoping head is a little bit Alexa, a little bit FaceTime, a lot of home security, and all controlled remotely. What this could mean for job sites excites me. I see parallels with Boston Dynamics. Indulge me in a few moments of complaining about these cold emails I've been getting. Marketing needs to bring value. If you engage in this cold call style of email, please stop. It's bad business. Be better for your brand. In that same vain, I rant on about core values and companies that develop them. They generally annoy me, and I'll get into that plenty in this show. However, I recently saw the Procopio Companies released its core values, and they pretty much get it right. If you run a business that publishes its core values then pay attention to what Procopio has done and take notes. The MassConn community on Discord is really picking up now that summer is fully in the rearview mirror. I do a quick roundup of some of the topics being discussed there. If you're interested, message me through social media and I will get you an invitation to join. Finally, local listeners - there will be a MassConn cigar meetup around the end of October/beginning of November. DM me through any social platform for details. We have to keep it small to follow Covid guidelines, so if interest exceeds capacity then we'll get a waitlist going. Remember please, rate, review, share, and enjoy the show! Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution

In this brief episode of the Mass Construction Show I speak with Sharon Jozokos, Vice President of Healthcare at Columbia Construction, and John Cribbs, Associate Dean and Assistant Professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology. We discuss the Wentworth Construction Management Industry Advisory Board, including what it is, why someone might want to be part of it, and upcoming events.  If you have interest in joining the Construction Management Industry Advisory Board, be in touch with John at cribbsj@wit.edu. Remember please, rate, review, share, and enjoy the show! Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution

In this episode of the Mass Construction Show I talk with Tim Irving, Deputy Director Directorate of Construction at US Department of Labor Occupational Health and Safety Administration.  Tim and I begin with how he started his career as an electrician, including the unexpected and devastating event that led him towards an interest in and eventually a career in construction safety at OSHA. Before getting into what exactly OSHA does, he gives us some insight into how safety has changed over the last two decades and specifically explains the code’s intent on consumer protection rather than protection or education of the electricians completing the work. In terms of OSHA, Tim breaks down the three main ways the organization works to ensure safe and healthful workplaces: fair and effective enforcement, clear guidance and standards, and compliance assistance. He clarifies appropriate engagement with OSHA for construction professionals, then breaks down how OSHA is organized at the national and regional levels to support its mission on site, including specific activity that the OSHA Directorate is working on now. We finish by discussing some “practical things” for smaller companies who don’t have safety professionals on staff, specifically different types of inspections on job sites and what that looks like.  Remember please, rate, review, share, and enjoy the show! Follow the Mass Construction Show here: Linkedin Instagram Twitter Facebook TikTok Intro music by Sound Revolution