SCHOOL DESIGN FROM THE GROUND UP 

LAN Associates was instrumental in assisting the Sussex County Charter School for Technology with the construction of its new building in Sparta, NJ.  The school had been renting space for the last 12 years, but explosive growth in enrollment required a space twice the size of what it had been. Now the charter school has a large permanent home in its new facility which opened on January 3, 2011.  The new school, located at 385 North Church Street in Sparta, is comprised of two buildings which total 20,000 square feet and hold fourteen classrooms and a 4,000-square-foot gymnasium/multi-purpose room.  In order to contain costs, modular buildings were selected for the classroom areas and a pre-engineered steel building selected for the multi-purpose room. LAN was responsible for all engineering design aspects of the project as well as all regulatory and local approvals. We first developed the site design for the formerly vacant lot. The scope of the site development included a storm water management control for the new buildings and parking lot, a septic system, a well for potable water, and a 30,000-gallon underground water storage tank for fire suppression and fire fighting. LAN designed the new plumbing which includes the hot and cold water supply and sanitary waste piping; provided the design for the electrical, fire protection and HVAC systems; and handled all construction administration for the project.    

LAN Anticipates Construction Boost as Capital Improvement Projects Are Awarded

Judging from the first-quarter bid activity at LAN Associates, the economic downturn appears to be adjusting upward in the New York metropolitan area. According to President Kenneth H. Karle,  LAN currently has bids out on public school construction projects worth over $18 million, with additional bids being prepared for the remainder of the first quarter of 2011 totaling an additional $24 million. The capital improvement projects, which encompass renovations, additions, and ventilation system upgrades, are for schools throughout Bergen (Alpine, Ridgewood), Morris (Boonton) and Passaic (Hawthorne) counties in New Jersey, and in the Westchester County town of Mamaroneck, NY.  The construction cost estimate for roofing and heating improvements in Union County, NJ (Cranford) has yet to be determined, but Karle predicts the dollar value will be approximately $4 million.

Of the uptick in public bid activity Karle noted that, "Many large-scale construction projects have been put on hold as budgets were cut and the economy has suffered; however, certain capital improvements cannot be put off for too long despite the bad economy. Improvements to public schools must be done to keep them safe, modernized, and energy efficient." He added that the construction bid activity is a leading economic indicator for the region and that hiring among the related construction trades should increase this year to handle these large-scale jobs.

"Our robust level of design and bid activity in 2010 and early 2011 forecast strong hiring opportunities in one of our country's most hard-hit industries, construction," noted Karle. "We are optimistic that these public projects are just the start of renewed construction in New Jersey."

In September 2009, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) issued proposed changes to the Hazard Communication Standard. The revised standard is expected to be promulgated this year. The Hazard Communication Standard applies to hazardous chemicals in the workplace, from chemicals that are used in industrial processes to cleaners and maintenance materials that are found in nearly every workplace. The proposed new rule will mean significant changes in the way that employers are required to communicate hazard information to their employees. 

The proposed new rule will incorporate the Globally Harmonized System (GHS) of Classification and Labeling of Chemicals. This will mean that the GHS container labeling system will have to be used instead of the HMIS and NFPA labeling systems that are often used now. Employees everywhere will have to be trained to recognize and understand the new GHS labels. 

Additionally, with the implementation of the new rule and GHS, the Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS's) that employers are currently required to maintain will be replaced with new documents known as Safety Data Sheet (SDS's). The new SDS's will be in the standardized format that is specified in GHS, and will include the GHS classification of the material. 

Manufacturers and importers will be required to classify their products based on the new GHS classifications and author SDS's for their products in compliance with the new rule. All employers will be required to maintain SDS's instead of the MSDS's that they currently maintain. Employers will also need to revise their written Hazard Communication Programs to be in compliance with the new standard once it is promulgated.

Hazard Communication Standard violations were the third most frequent workplace safety violation cited by OSHA in 2009. Employers will face new compliance challenges during the transition to the proposed new rule.

LAN is well versed in the proposed rule, and has decades of experience in providing outsourced environmental, health, and safety compliance services, including providing training, preparing written OSHA-required programs, and authoring MSDS's/SDS's. For more information, or if you need assistance with achieving GHS compliance, please contact Elizabeth Bouvier, PE, CIH. 

Please join us in congratulating Chris Guddemi on obtaining his NY Professional Land Surveyor license, which complements his expertise in wetlands and land use regulations.  Guddemi has been with LAN since 2001 and serves as a Professional Land Surveyor and Wetlands Specialist for the Civil Engineering department. He has performed numerous boundary, topographic and bathymetric surveys for a variety of clients in both the public and private sector, which have been relied upon for subdivisions and site plans, and have been utilized for real estate transactions, volume calculations and a variety of construction projects. 

LAN also congratulates Tom Wighard for recently earning his NJ Professional Engineer license. Wighard joined the LAN team full-time in 2003 and brings with him an array of experience including design of new and replacement HVAC systems and complete boiler room layouts for new construction and renovation projects. His responsibilities include drawings set-up, scheduling, coordination, site observations, field measurements, schematic design, and the development and production of construction documents - mostly for mechanical & HVAC systems.

The Officers of LAN are also pleased to announce that Kim Vierheilig, Gerrit Visscher and Elizabeth Bouvier have been named as the newest Directors of LAN. Kim will join Jim Sanders and Peter Manouvelos as Directors of Architecture, Gerrit will serve as Director of Environmental Services, and Beth as the Director of Regulatory Compliance. Their leadership skills and professional accomplishments are a true testament to their commitment to LAN and we are excited to see them advance and look forward to their contributions.

We are also excited to announce a new "Associate" program to provide further growth opportunities to those employees who have worked to develop their careers here at LAN. It is our hope that this will be the first step in providing a more defined career path for all employees of LAN, with clear opportunities for advancement. Those named as Associates include: Jim Diana, Vlad Potiyevsky, Matt Milnamow, Paul Bryan, Erik Boe and Alex Li.