Higher Education Construction Forum Schools CRE On New Realities

At Commercial Observer’s Oct. 16 higher education forum — part of the publication’s ongoing design and construction series — Jerrod Delaine, CEO of The Delaine Companies, noted a recent change in circumstances that has led to a whole new set of considerations for developers of educational properties.

“Before five years ago, if it was a snow day, or if a professor was sick, class was over for that day,” said Delaine, who also teaches at Pratt University. But since the massive engagement of Zoom and other communicative technologies during to the COVID-19 pandemic, schools can now stay in session under almost all circumstances.

“When people are sick, or away, there’s a way of still being connected,” he added. “Or, if you’re out of class, we can record the lecture, so the student that wasn’t able to attend could keep up. That’s the new reality in academic spaces. We can and should use the technology.” 

This quote could have served as the partial mission statement for the forum at the City University of New York Graduate Center at 365 Fifth Avenue, as many participants made clear how new communicative habits and processes have had a powerful influence on how buildings are being designed and repurposed — and how they should be used in helping create nurturing communities for students.

After an introduction by Commercial Observer Editor-in-Chief Max Gross, Mani Farhadi, senior facilities planner at the Stanford University School of Medicine, delivered the opening keynote. She discussed certain spiritual aspects of building, including how planners need to view a project from the inside looking out, and quoting renowned architect and poet Louis Kahn in saying that architects have forgotten their faith in natural light. 

The day’s first panel centered around a recent Columbia University initiative. As part of Columbia’s Plan 2030, a 10-year roadmap that seeks, among other sustainability goals, to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050, the university began construction this year on New York City’s first all-electric biomedical research building.

Jorge Mendoza, senior executive director for the architectural firm KPF, noted that, like any building in New York City, there were numerous obstacles on the road to completion.

“There were a lot of things we had to consider, whether it was in our building systems, in our materials, in sequencing of structure, and in integrating it with the overall,” Mendoza said. “We basically had to create a road map.” 

“There were a lot of constraints we were working with, whether it be slab heights or our limited footprint, and therefore a limit to the equipment we could put on the roof,” said Jason Sylvain, partner at the engineering firm AKF, which also worked on the project. “Those were a couple of the pieces that started to help us determine factors such as how much coolant we could provide, or our limitations on how much ductwork and horizontal piping we can run.”

Other participants on the panel included Patrick Burke, vice president of facilities management, operations and planning for Columbia; Sean Scuderi, vice chair of the construction practice at law firm Tarter Krinsky & Drogin; and Edward McArthur, Columbia’s vice president of planning and capital project management. 

The panel at which Delaine spoke was the day’s second, and focused on repurposing existing buildings for educational purposes.  

Answering a forum attendee’s question about rising project costs, Jenny Freeman, managing director of buildings at construction management firm Group PMX, discussed how this has affected her work toward greater carbon neutrality.

“Many of the projects I’m working on can’t do everything they want because it’s too expensive,” said Freeman. “One way we’ve been addressing that on some campuses is to put in a little bit of a lot of different modalities. Another way is to carve out spaces that we can fit out or modify later, so if they can’t accommodate all the costs now, we can still get through the project.”

In addition to Delaine and Freeman, Justin Dollard, executive director of planning and design for the University of Rochester, also spoke. Nick Grecco, operations director for Consigli Construction, moderated.

Next up was a discussion on vendor procurement focused on the sometimes tricky navigation of pre-qualified vendor lists.

Participants included Charles Esteves, director of preconstruction for Consigli; John Puglisi, associate vice president of facilities management for Fordham University; R.J. Panda, vice president at project management and cost consulting firm Cumming Group; and moderator Megan Chusid, principal at Urban Projects Collaborative.

Discussing the pros and cons of such a list, Panda notes that the vendor rundowns have an important place in their process, but must be given thorough scrutiny.

“These are firms that typically have been successful at an institution,” said Panda. “I want to balance respecting a qualified vendor list from a client with making sure we understand the changes happening in the market. Firms’ capabilities are constantly changing. For me, what’s important is not necessarily the firm, but the team at the firm. That’s what I’ll focus on.”

Puglisi noted that, as an institution which places relatively smaller dollar volumes toward such projects, the issue is often connecting with pre-qualified contractors and general contractors that can work on their financial level.

“It’s always a challenge for us to try to find firms that we can have a successful partnership with from a business model perspective, and that are also geared toward what we need,” said Puglisi. “Having a very rigid list doesn’t work at all, but it is important to have established relationships. That changes over time, so there are always opportunities.”

The next panel focused on the workings of the New York City School Construction Authority (SCA).

Suzanne Veira, the SCA’s vice president and chief diversity officer, discussed its “world-renowned mentor program.” 

“We bring in smaller firms that have an average three-year gross sales income of no more than $2.16 million,” said Veira. “It’s for companies in all areas of construction: electrical, plumbing, HVAC, general contractor, interior contractors, and so on. While they’re in this program, for about three to six years, they learn all of the SCA’s means and methods. We provide guidance and training, and we have a loan program. Most of our projects are under $3 million. Last fiscal year, we did about $126 million in this program. We did more than $42 million in electrical work. 

“After this program, firms move into our capital improvement program and start bidding on the open market,” Veira added. “Last year, they won about $600 million worth of work, which was about 40 percent of our capital improvement projects.”

Gordon Tung, vice president of construction management at SCA, also participated on the panel. James Cardillo, vice president of the interiors division at Hellman Electric, moderated.

The day’s final session focused on placemaking and the student experience, and featured Edward Antonio, vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion for Marist College; Kaveri Singh, principal at the design firm DLR Group, which is working on a new master plan for Marist; and moderator Tom D’Ercole, executive vice president at Plaza Construction.

Less focused on construction itself, the discussion centered on how students are integrated into a college campus community. In doing so, the talk served as a crucial reminder of why conversations about the effects of construction and design are so essential in the first place.

“It’s about bringing people together,” said Antonio. “Long before you engage in the process of designing, you need to engage with people. And, when you do, that will guide you in thinking about the scope of the work. You are building for a community.”