The Epsilon team attended the recent “Advancing Data Center Construction” conference in Dallas. It was another solid Hanson Wade event, and a great opportunity to reconnect with folks in the industry. We were pleasantly surprised by the amount of focus and emphasis on Off-Site Construction at the conference, as a means of meeting the schedule and quality demands of Data Center / Mission Critical projects. Here are some of our key takeaways, including quotes that resonated with the audience:
“SHIFT LEFT” was a consistent message
- The more time you spend on preconstruction, the more certainty you’ll have in key project outcomes; it’s worth the investment
- “You must design for Prefab upfront… it’s almost impossible to design field-built and then convert to prefab later”
Get trade partners involved early – especially those who are prefabricating
- Make decisions with partners based on comprehensive risk analysis
- “Quality issues are schedule issues”
“Prefabrication is a PROCESS, not a Product”
- “Ten Years Ago, we were trying to sell Owners a product – that was the wrong way to try and do prefab – customers want THEIR product, so the process is critical”
- While prefab is essentially cost-neutral, owners are seeing ~33% productivity gains through a significant reduction in onsite labor hours
- “Prefab is a disrupter – and it is a mindset”
