SLCCC Recognizes Best Practices

Best practices in the construction industry were recognized by the St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers (SLCCC) during its annual awards on December 15, 2011 at the Sheraton Westport Lakeside Chalet, St. Louis, MO.

The ZeaChem Cellulosic Ethanol Demonstration Plant was recognized for Quality Management. Construction of the project was conducted by Burns & McDonnell of St. Louis and built in Boardmen, Oregon. The facility is an integrated bio-refinery that was designed to produce ethanol from popular trees as a "green" alternative for providing power. The project employed numerous quality reviews including at conceptual design, detailed scope, purchasing and construction. As a result, it was completed 6% under budget with less than 1% of the total installed cost for change orders. The award was shared by ZeaChem and Burns & McDonnell.

Ameren Corporation was the winner of a Best Practices award for the use of the Lessons Learned Best Practice on the Rush Island Energy Center Replacement. Numerous complications impacted a similar project in 2010. Ameren identified the most notable difficulties, including stakeholder involvement, front end planning, constructability and project performance and focused on eliminating those past problems. The project used three dimensional modeling to plan the project and eliminate obstructions before construction began. As a result, the 2011 project was completed 25% under budget and one week ahead of the 11 weeks scheduled for the outage.

Westminster Christian Academy's new campus was the beneficiary of an award and recognized for use of Front End Planning. The $50 million campus in west St. Louis County was constructed partially from the former West County Technical School. Through re-use of one quarter of the existing structure and construction of seven separate building sections, the project compressed 22 months of work into 15 months, thus allowing the school to open a full school year earlier. Project team winners were Brinkmann Constructors, Westminster Christian Academy and Zwick + Gandt Architecture.

There are fifteen best practices which have been validated by the Construction Industry Institute (CII) to provide savings in cost and schedule. Validation is based on results from projects throughout the country. The CII is recognized as a principal construction industry forum for improving the business effectiveness and sustainability of capital facilities.

SLCCC also presented awards for diversity excellence and advocacy. Paric Corporation was recognized as Organization of the Year. Raineri Construction was recognized as the outstanding Minority / Woman Business Enterprise of the Year. Christopher Bowers of KAI Design & Build and Leticia Lago of Alberici were honored with individual awards as Diversity Champions. A special Lifetime Diversity Advocate Award was awarded posthumously to Edward Frazier of the Jefferson City office of the Federal Highway Administration.

The St. Louis Council of Construction Consumers (SLCCC) is the owner organization representing major buyers of construction. SLCCC promotes the region through collaborative leadership to improve the efficient delivery of construction projects. It serves as the owners' voice for design and construction.

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