By Vaughn Prost
info@prostarchive.space
As a leader in the innovative practice of value engineering (VE), Prost Builders Inc. is positioned to discover cost savings throughout the life of a construction contract. A shining example of how VE benefitted the Columbia Public Schools – and thereby local taxpayers – is a building project at Jefferson Middle School in Columbia.
First, for a quick refresher, VE is a deliberate, disciplined methodology to look at all building systems to deliver the best possible value for initial and long-term project management. The most money can be saved, and the schedule controlled early in the design process when VE is most effectively used.
In short, VE saves time and money.
One recent example, among many, of how Prost Builders has proven the concept of VE was a major building project at Jefferson Middle School. As the general contractor, Prost saved the Columbia Public School District over $300,000 when the designed steel bar joists and metal deck system were going to delay the construction due to steel supply issues. In response to that schedule demand, Prost value-engineered a double-tee, pre-stressed concrete roof system for the new gymnasium roof to save the school three months’ time on the construction schedule – and a net construction savings of $365,000.
The school was built in 1910 and needed ADA upgrades, a new gymnasium, locker rooms for boys and girls, connecting corridors between the gym and the existing school, elevators, and stairways. The resultant VE time saving, and cost saving, was extraordinary. The gymnasium is now a tornado shelter that is connected from the top of the roof down to the foundation with 12-inch-thick masonry walls. Prost Builders successful team of construction manager, superintendent, and and trusted highly skilled subcontractors pushed the project to substantial completion on time and under budget.
It’s interesting to note that Vaughn Prost even has a personal connection to that project because he played basketball in the old Jefferson Junior High School gym when he was a student. He can attest to the fact that the brand-new gymnasium is a major improvement.
There are other examples of Prost Builders providing cost-saving ideas that resulted in decreasing the cost of the construction contract and/or shortening the construction schedule for school building projects:
Rock Bridge Elementary School addition and renovations: Prost accelerated the construction schedule through the winter months using concrete blankets, heat and winter weather enclosures, and bulked up manpower forces saving 217 calendar days on the contract schedule.
School of the Osage Middle School, FEMA addition and locker room: Prost Builders Inc. Value Engineered out $142,000 of the project cost without changing the project design intent. Some of the cost savings steps included raising the building pad to reduce rock excavation, more cost-efficient lighting systems and reworking the concrete ramp arrangement.
There are other school project examples of how Prost Builders provided input and ideas during the design phase to result in improved air quality, reduced maintenance, and, even more importantly, reduced construction costs. Some of those steps included:
Connecting school districts with the Federal 178 Program for cash payments to reimburse them for some of the costs of more energy efficient systems.
Incorporating water source heat pumps, which have redundancy and a 30-year lifespan, in addition to a 30 percent federal cash payment for such heat and cooling systems.
Improving air quality by keeping fiberglass out of the HVAC air stream, using HEPA filters that remove dust, pollen, mold, bacteria, and other airborne particles, and providing the UV lights on air handlers to kill bacteria in circulating air to school classrooms.
These successes highlight the ability of Prost Builders Inc. to effectively and efficiently deal with marketplace cost escalations and schedule changes in ways that keep quality performance as the top priority while completing all jobs, no matter how large or small
