Wilkinson Building Advisors
Experts in the planning & building process
Extreme Panels Technology in Cottonwood MN is changing how we build. Structural Integrated panels (“SIPs”) combine structure with high-efficiency enclosures and rapid on site assembly. Radically reduced construction periods combined with very low operating expenses make SIPs a BIG player in the design and construction of sustainable architecture.
Contact Terry Dieken or Don Jahnke at 800 977-2635 for more information.
Schadegg Mechanical, St Paul Minnesota, is installing these products at various customer sites.
Unofficial word is that the sales-engineering capability of SmartLam is growing. In Minnesota-speak, they are skating to where the puck is going to be as we all work our way through and out of the COVID era.
In this writer’s estimation, pent-up demand will be there for those that prepare now. For official status of growth at SmartLam, contact Steve Marshal: steve.marshall@smartlam.com
In the meantime Wilkinson Building Advisors (“WBA”) is skating as well. WBA and it associated work group are designing and engineering the next generation of small commercial and industrial buildings using advanced and sustainable building techniques. Today’s snapshot can be found at the blog post “Small Sustainable Commercial Buildings“.
These methodologies are also applicable to the emerging need for creating live-work environments for many of us working from home offices. Take a look at the blog post “Sustainable Live-Work Environments.”
[(disclaimer and attribution) This is not a Wilkinson Building Advisors project or work product. It is a work product by Extreme Panel Technologies, Inc in Cottonwood,MN; 800 977-2635. This image illustrates the concept of off-site fabrication of enclosure systems.]
[Recognition of the designer; Sarah Susanska; Ms. Susanka is an architect and house designer with a reputation arising from the theme of “The Not So Big House.”]
Wilkinson Building Advisors and its working group are planning a new and innovative way of designing, building, and financing environmentally sustainable and affordable small commercial buildings. In some cases, these building and sites will be configured as “Live-Work” environments Because these buildings will be flat packed ship to the the project site, the design has been dubbed: a “Building in a Box” (aka “BiB”). Note the image above
These buildings are designed for very rapid on-site construction and thus limiting the amount of disruption to surrounding facilities; work can often proceed in spite of Minnesota winters,
Read more elsewhere on this site….
Live-Work is not a new idea, but the national pandemic is pushing the idea into the forefront. Here is an interesting link in connection with real Live-Work projects. Wilkinson Building Advisors is coordinating an additional dimension to Live-Work: financing for energy sustainability features. To the extent that the building has a genuine commercial aspect, sources of long term financing are available.
Contact george@wilkinsonadvisors.com for Q+A and information.
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[(disclaimer and attribution) This is not a Wilkinson Building Advisors project or work product. It is a work product by Extreme Panel Technologies, Inc in Cottonwood,MN; 800 977-2635. This image illustrates the concept of off-site fabrication of enclosure systems.]
[Recognition of the designer; Sarah Susanska; Ms. Susanka is an architect and house designer with a reputation arising from the theme of “The Not So Big House.”]
Wilkinson Building Advisors and its working group (“Sustainable Building Group”) are planning a new and innovative way of designing, building, and financing environmentally sustainable and affordable small commercial buildings. Because these buildings will be flat pack shipped to the the project site, the design has been dubbed: a “Building in a Box” (aka “BiB”).
The Building in a Box (“BiB”) product line will engage web-based commerce to rapidly deliver small commercial buildings with the following attributes:
The national health crisis (COVID-19) raises specific challenges in connection with building design and construction. These requirements will no doubt be ongoing after the pandemic is brought under control. The systems used in BiB solution will address these issues including indoor air quality and other pathogen spread control features.
Also and in many cases, these designs will yield a “0 carbon footprint” when considering C02 sequestration in the mass timber components, the all-electrical indoor climate system, and the value of the Renewal Energy Credits resulting from the organic solar power generation system.
BiB solutions have an additional benefit due the energy effective nature of the designs: long term financing AND preserving capital for the core mission. All of the BiB designs will engage energy efficiency design and construction to add the incentive of long term financing.
Further, the Sustainable Building Group has is extending its capabilities to include optimal economic geography in the site selection prices (paraphrase: “using realtime data to plan urban investments” -Jon Commers)
Taken together, expert site selection combined with sustainable design yielding low operating expenses will be strategically critical for most businesses.
More to follow at this post…….
This updates the solar checklist post: i.e. what to consider if deciding to make a PV solar investment. This update adds information about the financial engineering consideration for the investment.
The “Commercial Solar Design-Build+Development Group” at Wilkinson Building Advisors can help apply the following checklist to discover opportunities….the earlier the better. Review of commercial real estate ventures in the planning stage maximizes financial opportunity. Here are some thoughts about how to get started…..
The good news for the right commercial ownership is that the incentives in Minnesota (Xcel service areas) are compelling. In general they are:
In addition, skillful analysis of a (new or proposed) site and building may yield many cost effective alternative designs from which to choose, for example: ground mounted arrays, building mounted arrays, or roof mounted arrays. This is where working with a solid architectural and engineering team can make a good deal even better.
Application of solar energy generation and use into a building project involves a sequence of planning, design, construction, operational actions as well as financial engineering.
In the case of an existing site and building what constitutes “solar ready”?
In the case of a site and building project, all of the above considerations apply. However, there are additional advantages:
With the above ideas in mind, it is also important to remember that the tax status of individuals and corporations are very different. This has a fundamental bearing on the “go, no-go” decision. Can various tax incentives be applied?
Lastly, working with an experienced entity that can deliver all aspects of a well-engineered financial and physical solution is a key to success. Plan thoughtfully and act purposely.
Contact George Wilkinson ((612) 889-3792) or Dean Larson ((612) 685-9207) at Collins Electric for more information.
This post is written amid the COVID-19 global pandemic. This tragedy heightens awareness of how small and fragile this globe is and how much sustainability is essential in all matters.
I am a design-builder and see this matter through many layers but in the case of this post, I point out how intertwined solar energy and mass timber are as we all try to invent a future. Perhaps this future rides on the lessons of this spring and summer. Further, improved indoor climate is now critical. Here is a company that is responding: Schadegg Mechanical in St Paul, MN. They are evaluating various ways to improve indoor air quality including bi-polar ionization techniques:
Additionally, the emerging mass timber and CLT design and construction technologies are now coming into their own. They are not the short term, low first cost choice but are the best for the planet in the mid and long term. See my post for a little more.
Lastly, the practical opportunities for what I call “organic solar” energy are passing the traditional financial engineering hurdles thanks to many federal tax law incentives and many programs operated by local serving utilities. In my lingo “organic solar” means photovoltaic solar energy generation systems that are integral to building and site, design and operations. They are best executed by “vertical stacks,: companies that plan, design, build, finance, and sometime own/operate. There are also emerging strategies that apply to retro-fit of existing buildings in addition to the typical roof-mounted solutions.
In other words: in the case of the future, it’s going to be different, like it or not. Sustainable building is inevitably in the mix.
Here are some of my posts on the matter. Note that I have included several in connection with financial management. They don’t attract the “reads” the way the timber and solar do but these actions are critical to turning the corner to feasible in ALL cases.:
Wood and heat pumps old made new again
The choice to build with mass timber
There is a reason that Teams is a fast growing platform. It is affordable, has wide application, and its learning curve is relatively flat. It is flat however only if some basic lesson are applied.
I’m a fan of Gini von Courter at LinkedIn Learning, her style helps us all to learn. Here is her current offering for Teams. It is time well spent:
Wilkinson Building Advisors is what MicroSoft calls knowledge workers; more than casual users but not developers. If you need to tinker under the hood, contact Craig Yellick at BlueNet:
cyellick@bluenetinc.com
As the recent international pandemic has painfully illustrated, internet communications and related computing is no longer optional. This is true for my industry: planning, design, and construction of buildings.
At this writing The Wilkinson Project Group (soon be dba Wilkinson Building Advisors) is providing complimentary support to persons and companies in our industry who are trying to get started and invest wisely (money and time) in the Office 365 suite of tools. We are NOT developers but rather so-called “knowledge workers” according to the MicroSoft hierarchy of learners. We are practitioners who have learned a lot over several years by trying and self-teaching. Thus, this initiative is named
DesignBuild360
In my estimation, MicroSoft has done a good job bringing us useful and affordable tools over the past several years. The tools are deeply integrated to web commerce and be bought (and turned off) as needed. In particular, spreadsheets are now better than ever; something very helpful to this industry. In fact, spreadsheets now can engage analytics and be a robust part of company operations (PowerBI)
All is not rosy however, here are a few recommendations and cautions
My firm is here to help. I hope we do business in the future but for now the support is FREE. So, let’s all get through this together. A big dose of community will make a big difference as we all work to get to the other side of this pandemic. These forced learning times will transform ourindustry.
If you have read this post and find it useful, please pass it on to colleagues, workmates, and subcontractor. Let’s whack the virus, grow the learning tree, and celebrate American ingenuity.
This post recognizes that MicroSoft Teams (part of the Office 365 platform) is rapidly emerging as a powerful personal and business communication place. At this writing, the costs approaches zero, limited only by the skills of the User group.
For the next 60 days, Wilkinson Building Advisors will offer complimentary phone and web support for any person for business affiliated with the building planning, design, construction, and investment industries. Interested parties are encouraged to respond through this website or to george@wilkinsonadvisors.com.