Susquehanna University’s Science Center and Office building represented a large and extremely complex project. From its roof-top greenhouse to its lower level, where visitors can view real-time information about the building’s energy consumption, the building is a model of sustainability.

The project team consisted of the owner, Mowery and a third-party Project Manager. As with most educational facilities, time was of the essence. The original project schedule (set by the owner) assumed a 22-month duration. In the end, Mowery was able to complete the project approximately five (5) weeks ahead of schedule.

While there are many contributing factors, the most compelling actions taken involved an extremely intentional subcontractor selection process as well as a dedicated approach to project scheduling.

Because Mowery was part of the preconstruction process, we prequalified the subcontractors, not only for cost but also for their overall size and capability to deliver a complex project in the prescribed timeframe, resulting in the selection of subcontractors who could not only staff a project of this size, but also respond to routine issues that impact the overall schedule. An enhanced system of scheduling was utilized with daily meetings to address the schedule requirement for the day ahead, week ahead and month ahead allowing for greater coordination of the subcontractor trades and resulting in a more harmonious and efficient project delivery well in advance of the contemplated deadline.