Three simple words鈥斺�淚 need help鈥濃�攃an be some of the most challenging to say when we鈥檙e struggling, whether it鈥檚 on the job, with our families, or our own health. When we add in the stigma and shame surrounding mental health, things can feel even tougher. The silent nature of this struggle means we often can鈥檛 access our usual support system or coping methods. In most cases, when dealing with mental health related issues, the first time we truly pay attention is when something goes terribly wrong.

What National and Industry Trends Say

In the United States, approximately one out of five people deals with a mental health issue daily. This can range from people who have are having acute issues to others who experience ongoing challenges. If this 20% statistic holds true for 蜜芽传媒 as a company, that would mean roughly 800 people are struggling with some aspect of their mental health on any given day.

The unfortunate reality is that the construction industry has some of the highest mental health issues for employees and the second highest suicide rate鈥攖he ultimate expression of someone struggling in silence. There are many reasons for this, some being that our industry traditionally has valued toughness and strength, and where seeking help may be seen as a weakness. We have high stress and hard deadlines, and we work long hours, often away from our families and friends.

These conditions can make us especially vulnerable to mental health challenges and increase our need to be vigilant about how we and our coworkers are coping on and off the job.

What Are Some Signs of Struggle?

Prior to my career in Talent in the construction industry, I was a social worker. I worked with people in a variety of settings from child protective services to clinical services at therapeutic sites. While the places I worked were different, the needs of the people were always the same: we need to feel cared for, connected, and safe.

Even though I don鈥檛 practice as a social worker anymore, I still find the people I work with in construction settings have the same issues and needs. We often hide our struggles, yet struggles still find ways to show up. In the working world, these signs of struggling might range from extreme irritability and anger to withdrawing and isolating ourselves. Problems with alcohol and substances are also frequently used to hide the pain we鈥檙e feeling inside. Other common signs are frequently forgetting information, being obsessed with the same thoughts, or nonstop worrying.

What Can We Do?

It鈥檚 key to know that when we need help, there are ways to seek support. At 蜜芽传媒, we encourage our people to be on the lookout for signs of struggle in coworkers. This doesn鈥檛 require anyone to have a background in mental health or psychology; it also doesn鈥檛 mean diagnosing someone with a problem or asking about their mental health.

Instead, we encourage our people on the jobsite and in the office to listen and remain attentive to how fellow employees are doing. Have there been changes in behavior, or has something concerning happened? Has someone admitted that they are struggling with something? If so, reach out and offer your support.

Offering support as a friend or someone who cares is the first step in breaking the stigma of mental health issues鈥攑articularly in the construction industry鈥攁nd increases the chances of someone getting help. At 蜜芽传媒, all employees have access to free, confidential services through our Employee Assistance Program (EAP) called CONCERN.

Finding methods for better self care such as exercise, getting more sleep, and eating better can also improve well-being. In trying times, it鈥檚 important that we be there for each other and offer support. You never know when you might need the same help someday.

Signs of Struggling

Everyone needs help sometimes. Changes to your thoughts, moods, or body that make it hard to manage work, school, home, or relationships for more than two weeks may indicate a need for help. Everyone鈥檚 situation is different, but here are some common signs to look out for. Don鈥檛 be afraid to ask for help if you鈥檝e experienced the following for more than two weeks:

Resources

To speak with a trained crisis counselor any time of day or night, call or text the free crisis hotline at 988 or chat .

If you are feeling thoughts of immediate self-harm or suicide, please call emergency services at 911.

As a Strategic Talent Partner, David Bolt supports the growth and development of 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 leadership, teams, and individuals on the East Coast in alignment with 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 national goals. He brings a strong background in mental health research and advocacy to his work, and is passionate about cultivating a positive employee experience.

What is Industrial Hygiene?

The American Industrial Hygiene Association (AIHA) defines industrial hygiene as 鈥渁 science and art devoted to the anticipation, recognition, evaluation, and control of those environmental factors or stresses arising in or from the workplace, which may cause sickness, impaired health and well-being, or significant discomfort among workers or among the citizens of the community.鈥� Simply put, industrial hygiene puts the 鈥淓鈥� and 鈥淗鈥� in Environmental, Health, and Safety Programs.

Industrial hygienists use various tools to quantify worker exposure to hazards from solvents, airborne particulates such as dust, noise, extreme heat or cold, ergonomics, and others. Certified Industrial Hygienists (CIHs) are a rarer breed. As of March 2024, there are only 6,659 CIHs globally, and about 40% of those professionals practice in the United States in industries and sectors ranging from manufacturing to research laboratories, hospitals, mining operations, government, and academia.

The CIH credential serves as a benchmark standard for measuring the skills and knowledge of industrial hygienists. For me, the CIH credential not only proves my commitment to the profession, but also provides evidence of upholding industry standards. It also lends credibility to 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 commitment to be the premier builder in every market we serve.

蜜芽传媒 doesn鈥檛 keep me on staff for bragging rights, though. My efforts and expertise directly contribute to worker safety and driving project quality and cost savings. In 2023 alone, direct cost savings using in-house CIH services surpassed seven figures.

For example, on a high-rise project in Downtown San Francisco, the freak combination of a trade partner鈥檚 schedule delay with historic rainstorms in January 2023 led to large-scale water intrusion and damage to interior drywall. While some damage was visible, water also seeped into the wall cavities, breeding mold. There was a significant possibility our self-perform Drywall group would have to tear out and replace all the drywall, causing a cascade of further schedule delays to the project.

I worked with the project team to do indoor air quality sampling to test for mold spores, as well as cutting out sections of drywall for moisture testing, ultimately determining which areas remained sound, and which areas needed replacing. Due to these efforts, we were able to remove and replace damaged drywall, but also retain that which was undamaged鈥攁ll while keeping to the schedule.

In addition to testing for hazards on projects and training 蜜芽传媒 teams in best practices for industrial hygiene, I review Environmental Reports and Building Inspection Reports to ensure projects are in compliance before they begin. These documents are crucial for ensuring projects meet the Environmental Protection Agency鈥檚 requirements for assessing environmental risks such as asbestos and determining whether remediation may be required. My review can save clients schedule delays and avoid unexpected fines by reading and understanding the fine print.

Looking to the future, I鈥檓 currently training teams across the 蜜芽传媒 nation in our industrial hygiene services鈥擨鈥檝e already conducted six trainings so far this year鈥攊ncluding focused discussions on Hazardous Materials and Environmental Site Assessment reports. As regulations and requirements evolve and change, it is crucial that teams stay informed to bid, plan, and perform all their work safely and effectively.

The Journey to Becoming an Industrial Hygienist

Like most children, I did not dream of being a Safety Professional, much less an Industrial Hygienist. While I knew that safety is very important, the fact it could be a rewarding technical career track wasn鈥檛 on my radar growing up in rural Iowa.

Initially, I thought I would go to college to be an architect, but I quickly realized it wasn鈥檛 for me. However, one of the required courses for architecture students at Iowa State University was in occupational safety, and that class changed the course of my career. Studying occupational safety meant defining and measuring optimum safety effectiveness for people, materials, equipment, methods, and environments. Basically, it was the science of safe workplaces, and I was hooked.

Since then, my career has shifted between consulting for a small industrial hygiene firm, adapting to the fast and furious pace as a Division Safety Manager for an electrical contractor in San Diego, and then to 蜜芽传媒, where my scope and responsibilities increased as Safety Manager on a joint venture high rise in Downtown Los Angeles, and then as the Division Safety Manager for Orange County.

Throughout these roles, staying up-to-date on industrial hygiene practices related to jobsite safety has been one of my passions, and it鈥檚 made a big difference at 蜜芽传媒. In 2017, I received my professional Certified Industrial Hygienist designation, and I began developing 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 silica mitigation program to reduce the hazards and lung damage related to airborne particles and debris.

In 2019, 蜜芽传媒 recognized my role as Industrial Hygienist with a dedicated position, meaning I can work with our business units nationwide to train them and provide specialized project support. Around the same time in 2019, I am proud to say I earned my master鈥檚 degree with high honors in industrial hygiene from Montana Technological University. These achievements help bring together my passion for construction workplace safety with the latest research and techniques to ensure that safety.

Jason Stoberl supports project teams as 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 in-house Certified Industrial Hygienist certified by the Board for Global Enrivonmental Health Services Credentialing. He also holds the Certified Safety Professional (CSP) designation from the Board of Certified Safety Professionals.

The Lindley in Downtown San Diego is the latest of three 蜜芽传媒 projects that have reshaped the city skyline. The project stands as a testament to how our people are our greatest asset when it comes to maintaining safe, productive, and efficient jobsites. The 37-story high-rise project is characterized by strong teamwork, a shared sense of responsibility over jobsite safety, and a positive trajectory of growth and professional development for 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 self-perform teams. These qualities have taken time to build up over the course of the project, and rest on a foundation of lessons from similar projects that came before.

Sharing the Responsibility for Safety

The Lindley is the third in a sequence of high-rise projects in Downtown San Diego, following closely behind Radian, a 22-story mixed-used residential building, and Simone Little Italy, a 36-story luxury residential high-rise located just a few blocks away.

Almost all of the team at The Lindley鈥攊ncluding Safety Engineer Bryan Gray, Concrete Superintendent Junior Arteaga, and 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 self-perform Concrete, Drywall, and Cleanup groups鈥攁re fresh off of the success of Simone Little Italy. Several members鈥攊ncluding Bryan, Senior Superintendent Shawn Shafer, and the Drywall team鈥攁lso played integral roles in the construction of Radian. With these past experiences in projects of similar size and complexity in Downtown San Diego, the team at The Lindley understands the importance of fostering open and honest communication, particularly when it comes to maintaining a clean and safe jobsite.

Jobsite housekeeping may sound like an incidental task, but it is critical to worker safety. Slipping and tripping hazards comprise a large part of fall-related injuries on construction jobsites and are often caused by poorly maintained paths of travel.

However, with a number of different trades often working in the same area, keeping a jobsite free of debris is no small feat. It requires everyone working in the vicinity to share in the responsibility for removing construction waste from walkways and stairways, calling out potential hazards and unsafe conditions, and keeping work areas organized and uncluttered.

鈥淢aintaining a clean work area is essential to morale,鈥� says Bryan, Safety Engineer. 鈥淎t The Lindley, everyone takes pride in making our jobsite a nice place to work.鈥�

Jobsite housekeeping is a frequent topic in The Lindley鈥檚 Monday morning Weekly Safety All-hands meeting, which the team leverages to reinforce, emphasize, and encourage behaviors that supplement the safety culture they have built. It is a time for open communication between trade partners and 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 general contracting and self-perform teams to not only talk about who is doing what on the jobsite, but to reinforce how everyone plans to work together to create a safe and healthy environment.

Each week, the team covers the schedule, weather forecast, and key activities that can impact the work environment. Equally important are discussions on worker morale, mental health, hydration, diet, rest, and making sure one鈥檚 body and mind are fit for the workday ahead.

In the team鈥檚 commitment to fostering safety鈥攂oth physical and psychological鈥攖hese meetings are also an open forum for trade partners to bring up any issues or concerns, for the awareness of other trade partners or to be swiftly addressed by the 蜜芽传媒 team. Ensuring everyone feels secure in their safety and invested in their place of work is a largely intangible component of safety, but it is nonetheless critical to reinforcing worker confidence, thereby boosting productivity and efficiency.

Creating Momentum from Consistency

Productivity flourishes when self-perform teams and tradespeople can show up to the jobsite feeling secure in its safety measures, knowing that their peers are looking out for them. 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 focus on the fundamentals is what builds the foundation for teams to effectively pre-plan and implement mitigation strategies for high-hazard activities, or seek safer and more effective strategies for how to perform work.

Bryan Gray explains, 鈥淪afety and productivity don鈥檛 have to be at odds. When you leverage both properly, one can really empower the other.鈥�

The Safety Carpenter role is one such efficiency identified during the Lindley project, held by Jorge Sierra, a Journeyman Carpenter. Hand-picked by 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 self-perform Concrete leadership鈥攊ncluding Concrete Superintendent Junior Arteaga and now-Assistant Concrete Superintendent Travis Kazemier鈥擩orge is primarily responsible for establishing and maintaining The Lindley鈥檚 protective systems, which include a guard wire cable system deployed on all floors above ground, toe-board protection chipboards that line the entire perimeter and prevent rolling materials from dropping off the sides of the building, stairway handrails, deck penetration covers, and ladder access where stairs have not yet been poured. When a new deck pour is in progress, he is already preparing the safety systems that will go on it. If a protective system breaks, he is there to quickly remedy it.

Since he began in the role, Jorge has undergone extensive training, obtaining several certifications and competencies that have made him an invaluable asset to the project team and his peers. His commitment to calling out hazards and unsafe conditions has also emboldened other trade partners on the jobsite to speak up.

Whereas having many different trades can naturally result in lapses in communication due to timidness or unfamiliarity, Jorge鈥檚 example paired with the project team鈥檚 active efforts to solicit trade partner feedback during the Weekly Safety All-hands meetings have created a culture where the entire team shares in the responsibility for general jobsite housekeeping and feels empowered to speak their thoughts. When everyone shares in the responsibility of maintaining overall jobsite safety, they allow specialists like Jorge to focus on efficiencies that create greater synergy between the project鈥檚 overall safety and productivity.

鈥淐amaraderie and communication are the 鈥榮pecial sauce鈥� that makes a project come together,鈥� adds Senior Superintendent Shawn Shafer.

Consistency also creates a positive momentum on the jobsite that propels growth and professional development. When safety standards are continually met and exceeded鈥攁s at The Lindley鈥斆垩看� has seen its self-perform teams thrive and embrace opportunities to grow their careers.

Jorge Sierra鈥檚 development as Safety Carpenter represents a powerful joint effort between 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 general contracting team, Safety department, and self-perform Concrete group to identify, train, and empower a new safety leader. Additionally, through their experience on past high rises, other members of 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 self-perform teams have built up their confidence and accelerated personal and professional development鈥攆rom their time on the Radian and Simone Little Italy, and now continuing through The Lindley.

Driving Value with Our Culture

The Lindley is a microcosm of 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 nationwide efforts to build firm safety foundations based in industry-recognized strategies, and exemplifies our continued focus on developing a strong network of highly trained safety professionals. When we consistently meet the fundamentals on every project, we cultivate great jobsite cultures where our trade partners are empowered to perform high-quality work and our people exceed industry expectations as well as achieve greater safety performances, training and development, and continuous improvement at the project and company level.

The efforts of The Lindley project team, as well as all of our teams across the nation, are steeped in our core values of ownership and leadership. Rather than just complying with safety regulations, our teams embrace and hold themselves accountable for reason behind them: sending everyone home safely, every day.

By taking personal responsibility for the safety and productivity of our jobsites, and everyone who works in them, we create environments where our people feel empowered to perform their best work, grow professionally鈥攁nd deliver seamless, quality buildings.

How Establishing the Fundamentals of Safety Elevates the Finer Details of Productivity

Given its proximity to other buildings, The Lindley requires special attention to prevent construction debris from affecting neighbors and pedestrians below. To create an efficiency for the entire 37-story project, the team custom-designed an outrigger safety netting system along The Lindley鈥檚 eastern fa莽ade. Comprised of six separate nets stretching out from the building, this system mitigates the potential for damage to the hotel directly flanking the jobsite.

Outrigger netting systems are common among high-rise projects, particularly in dense cities such as San Francisco and New York. Safety netting systems are most effective when they are deployed within a few floors of the top deck. Moving them up as the building is constructed often entails manually pulling them in, breaking them apart, wiring them, bringing them up the building鈥檚 interior stairwell, and reinstalling them鈥攁 process that can take several days of manpower. Such a system would be highly inefficient at The Lindley, where a new concrete floor was poured every week.

After deliberating on the effectiveness of nets currently available on the market, The Lindley project team opted to custom-design their own system. Their design includes loose- and fine-mesh nets strung between two posts that stick out horizontally from the deck (see photo below). These are supported by 45-degree angle bars connected to the deck below, and four points of connection at the upper and top decks.

As the building grew taller, the 蜜芽传媒 team identified the next 鈥渏ump points鈥� for the netting system and preinstalled extra sets of mounting clamps on the slab edge. Rather than being pulled inside the building and manually dismantled, the entirety of each net was lifted by crane to the next jump point a few floors up. There, another team would be waiting to receive and refasten the net system. This method required eight people working on four different levels simultaneously. As opposed to days of manpower, each jump took just 90 minutes.

蜜芽传媒, California鈥檚 premier general contractor and construction manager, proudly announces that Lisa Podesto, P.E., has joined the firm as Regional Director of Preconstruction 鈥� Mass Timber and Sustainable Construction Innovation. With over two decades of experience in the construction industry, Podesto brings unparalleled expertise in mass timber and industrialized construction to the team.

鈥淲e are thrilled to have Lisa join our team,鈥� said Terry McKellips, Senior Vice President and Region Manager of 蜜芽传媒 in Northern California. 鈥淗er wealth of experience and passion for mass timber and sustainable construction make her the ideal leader to spearhead our efforts in Northern California. With Lisa on board, we are confident in our ability to deliver pioneering projects, streamlining construction schedules, and ensuring cost-effective project delivery that meets the evolving needs of our clients and evolving state legislation. Her hire is another step in a string of major investments the company is making in mass timber.鈥�

In her new role, Podesto will continue championing low carbon structural solutions like mass timber and guiding clients through the early stages of project development. Her leadership and expertise will drive innovation and excellence in mass timber construction, solidifying 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 position as a leader in the industry and advancing mass timber and off-site construction technologies nationally.

Podesto is a leading authority in mass timber construction in the U.S., contributing significantly to industry advancement through advisory roles in organizations like Tallwood Design Institute, the Council of Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat, the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection, the National Institute of Building Sciences, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. She has co-authored key publications and led groundbreaking research in 2018 on blast resistance design methodology for Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT), expanding opportunities for timber structures.

厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 Northern California region is transforming the built environment with over $344 million in education, civic, life sciences, and residential projects utilizing mass timber. Notable projects include the California Mass Timber Building Competition grant recipient, Sunnydale Community Center with Mercy Housing in San Francisco, Chico State’s new University Services Building – the first mass timber building for the California State University system.

With a passion for advancing mass timber knowledge, 蜜芽传媒 hosts Timber Talks, which brings together developers, commercial real estate professionals, architects, and engineers to discuss industry trends and local advancements in mass timber construction. 蜜芽传媒 is investing in a new Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) facility operated by subsidiary Timberlab in Oregon, bringing a new supplier to support mass timber construction.

Effective planning and creative thinking allowed 蜜芽传媒 to overcome unforeseen conditions and site constraints during the construction of Boulder, CO鈥檚 newest life science space.

The transformation of included retrofitting the existing one-story brewpub into a two-story spec lab facility. The new building is nearly identical in appearance to its predecessor, apart from an extra 12 feet of height that was added to accommodate a brand-new second level with seven spec lab suites. The first level features a lobby and three core and shell spaces鈥攐ne of which 蜜芽传媒 performed a cost-effective fit out for a life sciences tenant under a separate contract鈥攚hile an elevator, main MEP room, tenant storage, conference room, and freezer farm were added to the basement.

The base building was originally constructed in the 1980s and was occupied for decades by Boulder Beer Company, Colorado鈥檚 first microbrew and the 43rd licensed brewery in the United States. Due to the structure鈥檚 age and years of operation as a brewery, nearly the entire basement required mold remediation.

To maintain the safety of everyone onsite, no one was allowed access to the area during sandblasting. The team shifted the schedule weekly to enable other project scopes to move forward during this time, thus effectively mitigating negative impacts to the schedule due to the remediation.

Once the basement was safe to work in, 蜜芽传媒 encountered another problem. The new elevator required a seven-foot-deep pit in the basement, but just two feet of digging, the team hit water and boulders. A wastewater and water remediation company was able to install a dewatering well and continue digging the pit with hydro-vac equipment that addressed the rocks. However, the original design had called for sheet water-proofing, which was no longer viable due to the lack of flat substrate and overwhelming presence of boulders. Instead, the team sought out and integrated an admixture into concrete that could prevent the penetrate of water and other liquids and would be easier to apply given the overwhelming presents of boulders and rocks.

While the team鈥檚 creative thinking mitigating the worst of the schedule impacts in the basement, the team鈥檚 effective planning was critical to performing one of the most complex and unique aspects of the retrofit: adding 12-feet to the outer concrete masonry unit (CMU) walls, while reusing the existing roof and avoiding damage to the surrounding finished landscaping.

Typically, adding height to the building would involve taking off the roof, bracing and shoring the existing CMU walls, adding the height, and replacing the roof. However, the team did not want to incur any costly damages to the finished landscaping with exterior shoring, so they opted to keep the roof on as long as possible. This not only kept the CMU walls stable, but also weather-tight while the team erected the first-floor steel. After structurally attaching the steel to the second floor, the team could remove the roof, build scaffolding, add height to the exterior CMU, and carefully replace the roof with the existing steel and joists.

The retrofit and refresh of the brewpub for its new life as a state-of-the-art laboratory space demonstrates 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 commitment to finding innovative solutions that help our clients meet their

厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 Portland office has signed on to the , a framework developed by contractors and for contractors that will help to evaluate our standing as sustainable builders and elevate our performance. The Contractor’s Commitment focuses on carbon reduction, jobsite wellness, waste management, water management, and material selection.

The Contractor鈥檚 Commitment has five categories of concern 鈥� carbon, jobsite wellness, waste management, water management, and material selection 鈥� with action items graded on a good, better, or best scale. As members of the Building Green Sustainable Construction Leaders peer network, 蜜芽传媒 has been directly involved in the development of the program, and we鈥檙e excited to take on the challenge of developing it as a signatory.

Carbon reduction:聽Outlines practices to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from our construction activities and our corporate operations and to advocate for greenhouse gas reductions by our partners and suppliers. The BMPs outlined in this category focus on planning, tracking, reductions, and disclosure.

Jobsite wellness:聽Includes actions for providing a work environment that promotes and supports health and wellness for 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 employees, which includes craft in the field and those in jobsite offices.

Waste management:聽Outline steps to minimize construction and demolition waste and maximize waste diversion, even on projects that are not pursuing green building certifications. Each project is unique, and project-specific waste management plans are required to ensure success on a project-by-project basis.

Water management:聽Promotes the responsible use of water by providing tools to assess risks and prevent water pollution on jobsites.

Material selection:聽Encourages assessment and selection of healthy and sustainable materials. Healthy and sustainable materials are those that minimize adverse impacts on human health and ecological systems while promoting social equity and transparency regarding their ingredients and impacts. Healthy Materials are, as much as possible, harmless during their manufacture, installation, application, operation, maintenance, and end-of-life processes.

蜜芽传媒, an industry-leading commercial general contractor with offices nationwide, readies to begin construction this month on , Charlotte鈥檚 newest 鈥渆atertainment鈥� venue headed to Camp North End. The 76-acre, mixed-use development will bring nearly 40,000 square feet of dining, pickleball, and other hospitality amenities to its campus in the fall. As an adaptive reuse build, the space has undergone several life cycles, including housing weapons for the US Army and manufacturing Model T and Model A cars for Ford Motor Company. 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 Charlotte Division serves as the preconstruction manager and general contractor for the construction project.

Designed by Southwick Architecture + Interiors, Tipsy Pickle features nearly 26,000 square feet of interior amenities complemented by 10,000 square feet of outdoor space. An 80鈥檚 video game aesthetic infuses the multi-level facility with a playful energy. A full-size commercial kitchen supports the restaurant that offers Tex-Mex fare, and three bars offer refreshments throughout the space. Sports enthusiasts can choose from four indoor and two outdoor courts with patio seating. An indoor gaming area includes two golf simulators, ping pong, arcade games, pool tables, tic tac toe, darts, and shuffleboard. The venue also boasts a retail space where guests can browse pickleball gear and themed merchandise.

鈥淧ickleball has seen explosive growth as both a sporting and social activity, and our construction professionals are poised to build a space that responds to the sport鈥檚 growing popularity,鈥� explains Jason Hlewicki, Director of Special Projects, 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 Charlotte Division. 鈥淲e are intimately familiar with the challenges and considerations surrounding adaptive reuse projects, which is essential to address this site鈥檚 structural constraints and the regulations surrounding the Brownfields Program.鈥�

According to the Sports & Fitness Industry Association, pickleball is the fastest-growing sport in America over the last three years.

Due to Camp North End鈥檚 Brownfields Program, 蜜芽传媒 will install a vapor intrusion mitigation system and report any soil disturbances to the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, as required. Preserving the existing warehouse structure while installing kitchen equipment and ventilation systems requires detailed oversite and tailored engineering. Plans also call for the conversion of a portion of the existing parking lot to pickleball courts and an outdoor plaza for dining and entertainment.

Tipsy Pickle is a joint venture between Charlotte entrepreneurs Mike Salzarulo and Tanner Brooks. Located at 201 Camp Road, it is the latest addition to Camp North End, a development by ATCO that now features offices, retail and restaurants, and multifamily housing.

Since expanding to the Southeast in 2018, 厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 Carolinas Division has constructed nearly $400 million of commercial environments. The dedicated team of 90 construction leaders specializes in corporate interiors and buildings, healthcare, education, restaurants and hospitality, multifamily, and mass timber construction.

By Andrew Pearl

For years, innovators have applied cutting-edge technologies to enhance wood鈥檚 key qualities. Products such as glued laminated timber (glulam) have been manufactured for over a century to make durable timber in complex shapes, while rigid and dimensionally stable products such as cross-laminated timber (CLT) are relatively new to the North American market. These products offer builders tremendous potential for innovative design, structural stability, cost efficiency, schedule efficiency and sustainable building.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT

The 2023 International Mass Timber Report illustrates how mass timber can propel the North American construction industry toward its sustainability goal of carbon neutrality by 2034. With its low carbon footprint and ability to sequester carbon dioxide (CO2), mass timber has the potential to significantly reduce global CO2 emissions associated with construction activities.

Mass timber mitigates climate change in three ways:

1. Carbon sequestration: trees, through photosynthesis, capture CO2 from the atmosphere, reducing the overall CO2 in the atmosphere.
2. Carbon storage: wood and other bio- based materials retain CO2 in long-term applications instead of being released into the environment through decomposition or combustion. When amassed sufficiently, the cumulative carbon sequestered can potentially surpass that of an unmanaged forest.
3. Carbon substitution: mass timber, with 30% to 50% fewer CO2 emissions compared to traditional concrete and steel structures, provides a compelling alternative, steering clear of high-embodied carbon materials.

INNOVATION AND VERSATILITY

Mass timber lends itself to innovative applications where standard materials or techniques may prove too heavy or expensive. Its unique combination of strength and light weight make mass timber ideal for projects such as tall buildings, which require greater stability. The comparative weight advantage is staggering. A timber building, on average, weighs only 20% as much as its concrete or steel counterpart. This advantage is especially significant for sites with poor soil conditions, pressure limitations or high seismic activity, where a lighter building could be built larger and taller than a heavier building without compromising stability.

MASS TIMBER AND THE FUTURE OF CITIES

With its intrinsic sustainability, reliability and aesthetic appeal, mass timber promises to be the future of construction. To move urban environments into a greener future, contractors must engage with city and state regulatory agencies to advocate for updates to building codes that support the use of mass timber in commercial buildings.

厂飞颈苍别谤迟辞苍鈥檚 Heartwood project in Seattle exemplifies the power of this collaborative approach. Heartwood is Seattle鈥檚 first mass timber middle-income housing development, challenging traditional building practices via a new, replicable typology for mid-rise residential projects. The project utilizes CLT with exposed glulam columns and beams and is the first Type IV-C tall timber building entitled through the City of Seattle under the newly adopted 2021 International Building Codes (IBC), following the exact IBC provisions by design.

The West Coast is not the only place experiencing a mass timber breakthrough. A 2022 update to the New York City Building Codes explicitly provides for mass timber elements, aiding Local Law 97鈥檚 goal to establish carbon neutrality in the city by 2050 鈥� one of the country鈥檚 most ambitious plans for reducing emissions. Additionally, the New York City Economic Development Corporation launched the New York City Mass Timber Studio this year to support the development of mass timber projects in their early phases.

Since 蜜芽传媒 expanded its operations into New York City in 2021, the firm has been at the forefront of the new opportunities. Also breaking into the East Coast scene is Timberlab, a wholly owned entity of 蜜芽传媒 offering design-build mass timber services.

The mass timber firm recently opened its East Coast glulam fabrication facility 鈥� located in Greenville, South Carolina 鈥� to build on the momentum of mass timber adoption across the eastern United States and to tap into the abundance of durable and fast-growing southern yellow pine, which has emerged as the preferred species for many architects.

THE FUTURE UNVEILED

The push for sustainable buildings and cities is dramatically shaking up the construction landscape, and regulatory updates are finally beginning to recognize the cost savings, improved sustainability and streamlined construction benefits that position mass timber as an integral piece of the movement.

The future of wood-based construction lies in reimagining and reclaiming one of the world鈥檚 oldest building materials to provide sustainable economic growth and preserve the environment. But to do this, firms need to remain nimble, adaptable and open to whatever comes next in the dynamic world of mass timber construction.

, the rental division of Toll Brothers, Inc. (NYSE: TOL), the nation鈥檚 leading builder of luxury homes, in partnership with PGIM Real Estate and general contractor 蜜芽传媒, is pleased to announce the topping out of聽The Lindley. Located at 1331 Columbia Street in San Diego, California, this new community will feature 422 apartment and penthouse residences, upscale amenities, unrivaled rooftop views, and over 12,000 square feet of retail space. Totaling over 800,000 square feet, The Lindley will be one of the largest multifamily communities ever developed by Toll Brothers.

A topping out event was recently held at The Lindley to celebrate this construction milestone and was attended by over 300 guests, including development partners, local officials, and the project鈥檚 construction team. Financed with a construction loan facility from BNY Mellon and Wells Fargo, construction commenced in 2022 and residential occupancy is anticipated in late 2024.

鈥淭he Lindley represents our commitment to delivering top-tier multifamily communities in sought-after locations,鈥� said John McCullough, President of Toll Brothers Apartment Living. 鈥淲e are thrilled to top out this new community, Toll Brothers Apartment Living鈥檚 first in San Diego, and look forward to offering an exceptional living experience in one of the city鈥檚 most desirable neighborhoods.鈥�