HICAPS is certified by the State of Tennessee as a Service Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (SDVBE) Small Business

Greensboro, NC – June 01, 2011 – HICAPS, INC. (www.hicaps.com) has been certified as a State of Tennessee Service Disabled Veteran Business Enterprise (SDVBE) by the Governor’s Office of Diversity Business Enterprise. The purpose of this program is to foster growth of minority, woman, small, and Service-Disabled Veteran owned businesses who are seeking procurement opportunities in the State of Tennessee.

HICAPS is a VETBIZ Federally verified Service Disabled Veteran Owned Business, a North Carolina certified HUB firm and is a licensed general contractor in the State of Tennessee. HICAPS is presently the Prime Contractor for a $1.3M Pharmacy Renovation project for the US Department of Veterans Affairs in Murfreesboro, TN.

“HICAPS is extremely excited to announce this certification in the State of Tennessee. HICAPS strives to provide a level of service that exceeds our customer’s expectations. This certification will provide an additional value-add to our customers who wish to utilize State of Tennessee certified small business sub-contractors,” HICAPS Vice President and Co-Founder, Wayne McGee, stated.

Making Smart Choices for a Sustainable Project

Green or Sustainable construction is a hot button topic these days. In our blog discussion on making choices that make $ense, solar options seem to be a more and more popular choice today for a renewable energy source. As always we are a proponent of planning. In the planning stage you will determine if this is the right option for your project and budget. Doing your homework will save you time and money later in the project. Below are good steps to follow as a rule of thumb to ensure solar is right for your project.

STEP 1 - FEASIBILITY:

·    Feasibility analysis – Be sure this will fit the OPR (Owners Project Requirements)

·    Preliminary proposal – Pricing is another key component

STEP 2 - FINANCING:

·    Available incentives (tax credits, accelerated depreciation, state and utility solar rebates)

·    Financing options, if needed (e.g. leases and power purchase agreements)

·   Non-tax based incentives: Incentives offered through local power companies.

STEP 3 - SITE PLANNING AND DESIGN:

·     System Design-Have a strategy in place

·     Project planning: Working with all parties involved in the project (perspective and feedback)

·     Analysis, scheduling and planning-tools

STEP 4 - PROCUREMENT AND INSTALLATION

·     Procurement of materials-Do some investigating and pricing

·     Solar Panel Installation-Use reputable firms with the qualifications to do the project

·      Inspections

·     System commissioning and testing

STEP 5 - OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE

·     Training of facilities personnel (system monitoring and maintenance)

·     Administration and execution of all warranty coverage

·     Field service and technical support, if required

Following these steps and knowing what the ROI (Return on Investment) will be, eliminates the unknown and unpleasant surprises. A significant portion of the commercial solar system's cost is paid for by taking advantage of state rebates, incentives and the 30 percent federal solar tax credit / grant and accelerated depreciation which makes this a good time to consider going solar if it fits.

Gabriele Medley-Harry, LEED AP BD&C

Director of Sustainable Construction

HICAPS, Inc.

Budgeting Methodology for Sustainable Construction

Time and time again the topic of “How much more does it cost to build sustainable buildings?” has come up. This is a tricky question. Whether it is a sustainable building or not, ultimately the cost of construction will be determined by the choices we make and why we make them. The dynamics of a building are crucial. Business models have a huge impact on what our expectations and goals will be. I would like to address several topics in the next few blogs that relate to various factors in sustainable construction. The first is along the lines of Planning and Scheduling. This is a core capability of our firm here at HICAPS. We live by this rule. It is amazing how this relates to so many things in life.

First and foremost, you need to make decisions for the right reasons. If it makes sense to focus on energy cost savings, then of course you would make choices that would achieve that goal. Therefore it is necessary to understand and establish the project goals, including specific goals. For example if you are designing and constructing a LEED building, the first step is to fill out the LEED checklist. This will enable the team to clearly understand the project goals and expectations. The next step is to have a cost model that will align your budget to these goals. This clearly defines the project budget and communicates to the team budget limitations. Once you establish your cost model and allocate funds to achieve the goals set by your project, stay on track throughout the entire project. To do this, documentation should start as early as possible in the project. Update and monitor your checklist on a regular basis so you have clear understanding of how the sustainable goals are being met. Use energy and cost models as design tools. Cost models will allow you to track cost impact from any necessary changes in design or procedures as the project progresses.

Gabriele Medley-Harry, LEED AP BD&C

Director of Sustainable Construction

HICAPS, Inc.

HICAPS, Inc. along with teaming partners Hoffman Building Technologies and George White Consulting are pleased to begin the installation of advanced utility meters at the West Texas VA Health Care System in Big Spring, TX. This is the first of six other VA medical centers and five National Cemeteries within Veteran’s Integrated Service Network 18 where we are designing and installing advanced steam, chilled water, irrigation, potable water, and natural gas meters that will remotely communicate data to a national repository. We are pleased to be part of the VA’s energy management efforts in helping improve their capability of measuring their energy consumption within a percentage of their over 5,000 owned buildings and 150 million gross square feet nationwide.

Route 58 Bypass

Another success for HICAPS & BHI. Schedules were produced by David Steger of BHI with HICAPS' assistance and project reviews and audits over the last 3 ½ years.

As we enter our 4^th (and final) season of the $83 million Rte 58 Bypass BHI is poised to complete the project almost two months early. Since the notice to proceed over 2 million cubic yards of cut/fill have been handled and 8 bridges constructed. Careful planning and monitoring of the plan over the 4 years of project has allowed BHI to achieve all of its construction season goals (8months of intense production and 4 months of winter slow down per year). Season goals are set from March – Nov each year.

NTP was given 10/02/07. Projected substantial completion of the 5.3 mile Bypass is 09/01/11.

Selecting Sustainable Commercial Interior Surfaces that fit Your Environment and Cleaning Processes

For years commercial buildings and surfaces were designed and manufactured to be impervious and withstand many environments and most cleaning compounds. Builder’s, designers and cleaning crews learned through trial and error, developing a knowledge base selecting materials suitable for a commercial structures form and function. Many of these surfaces were reliable, inexpensive and could be easily replaced if damaged.

Sustainable interior designs offer up a new pallet of surfaces and looks that are attractive and make environmental sense. Sometimes they may be an expensive initial investment but provide a longer term esthetic and financial benefit. Many of the these materials are new and there is very little experience with long term usage or interactions with cleaning chemicals, or soiling specific to the intended environment.

Therefore new surfaces require a new selection and evaluation process in that several decisions are necessary in making a sustainable surface evaluation or selection. They are the same decisions that had to be made previously but unlike those materials you no longer have a historical understanding of their performance and longevity.

1. Will the surface or equipment function adequately within the confines of the environments intended use? For example, a compressed sesame seed or sunflower seed table may work well in a commercial office or doctor's office, but is it adequate for the customer area in a restaurant with high levels of grease and oil and food spills?
2. Will the surface or equipment hold up to the cleaning requirements necessary for the environment? Hospital surfaces are exposed to high disinfectant levels; food service to high soil loads and sanitizers; with office buildings requiring high aesthetic value and clean ability with low soil loads.
3. Who selects and evaluates your cleaning products?
4. Is your cleaning program internal or is it performed by a third party?

Surface Selection-

· Make sure that the supplier bidding for your project understands where and how their surface will be used and do they have a history with your requirements. This should be in writing and specified to protect you from a product failure claim in that you used the material in a manner which it wasn’t intended.

· Request all supporting documentation for how the surface should be maintained along with cleaning recommendations. This should not be an issue if your project is going for LEED accreditation.

· Request 1-2 material samples from three different production lots to test under your intended conditions. This means testing the surface with soils that may be associated with your environment and the current cleaning program or new cleaners under consideration. A general test overview is provided at the end of the article.

Testing of new sustainable surfaces is an additional step that is new to the building process and can be difficult to manage and coordinate as well as to understand how much time should be allotted. The material supplier or chemical cleaning supplier may be willing to provide the testing if your account is substantial or they may be willing to provide the name of a third party evaluator and cover or share in the costs. Be leery of any material that does not have any historical data for you application. It’s not that it will not work but the supplier may not be aware of all of your applications. Document…document…document or test.

Contributing writer:

SSS-Cubed (Sustainable Scientific Solutions)

David Harry, Consultant

Gabriele Medley-Harry, LEED AP BD&C

Director of Sustainable Construction

HICAPS, Inc.