Oct 06, 2021

An Exciting Project Win for Align Builders and the Environment

PROJECT | SOARS Instrument Make-Ready Lab Phase 1

TYPE | LIFE SCIENCE LAB

The newly built Scripps Institution of Oceanography Atmosphere Research Simulator (SOARS) lab proved to be an exciting project for the ALIGN BUILDERS team. The first-of-its-kind instrument was designed to provide an interdisciplinary UC San Diego science team with the ability to monitor the effect of pollutants over a wide range of ocean conditions from the polar ice caps to the equatorial tropics.

The simulator consists of a wave pool with a hydraulic piston and paddle at the end to drive the water back and and forth simulating the water movement of the ocean. Above the pool is an Aerolab LLC wind tunnel fiberglass channel that’s used to simulate wind and air effects on the ocean. Six Solatubes attached to the wind tunnel provide varying levels of sunlight from low light to full blown tanning weather. The project included a new outdoor mechanical yard with associated mechanical, electrical, and plumbing engineering upgrades, new foundations, and fire sprinkler modifications.

This important project came to fruition by the stakeholders sharing a common vision which was to build, inspire, and educate and to improve and protect our environment. The Align Builders team is grateful for the opportunity to work with first class trade partners as well as the UCSD CM and design teams, all working together to make the project successful and fun. We look forward to the positive impact it will have through a deeper knowledge of our oceans and by understanding how we effect our vulnerable environment.

Want to know more about this crucial project? Read NSF Awards Scripps Oceanography $2.8 Million to Develop Advanced Ocean and Atmosphere Simulator by the UCSD News Center.

Mar 28, 2019

Finding the Return on Your Small-Project BIM Investment

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is too often associated with large, ground-up projects where prefabrication and trade coordination can happen well before the structure is erected. When measuring productivity, quality, and future maintenance savings, there is simply no argument against the value it can offer.

However, when we approach managing small projects, even those with complex MEP systems and spatial constraints, BIM routinely gets eliminated from discussion. Why this resistance to investing in BIM? The answer usually comes down to initial cost, or better yet, the initial understanding of value. And, understandably so. Estimating the ROI on your up-front BIM expenditure can seem more like an art than a science. We will admit that this is largely true. Ultimate value is difficult to calculate when you are unsure of what the future benefit may be. Will a dollar spent today result in two dollars of hard cost savings at the trade level? For every day spent clash detecting in pre-construction, how many days of increased productivity will be gained during install? Could traditional trade coordination render similar results? We all wish we could answer these questions with complete certainty.

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Jan 21, 2019

UC San Diego Health – California’s First Accredited Senior Emergency Care Unit

Great article highlighting the first accredited geriatric emergency department in the state of California. We are proud to have been a part of this awesome project!

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Jan 02, 2019

Announcing the Certificate of Occupancy and CDPH Licensing

We are excited to announce the Certificate of Occupancy as well as CDPH Licensing for the UCSD Geriatric ED Project! This was a 10,000sf OSHPD renovation surrounded by operational healthcare services. It was an awesome journey from start to finish that can all be traced back to the teams undivided commitment toward trust. Hat’s off to Russ Onufer for his leadership, UC San Diego Health, Sandy Arbuckle, Carrie Arbuckle, Doug Stewart, KPFF Consulting Engineers, Eric Coffin, Daniel Stark, Ryan Booth, Gordon Schafer, UCSD Thornton Hospital Facilities Staff, and all of our trade partners who gave it their all!

Sep 25, 2018

UC San Diego – Breaking Ground with Virtual Reality

KM Consulting Group LLC is excited to partner with University of California San Diego, CallisonRTKL and ALIGN BUILDERS on the new state of the art Hybrid OR and Mircro Surgery suite for the Center for Future Surgery! At the ground breaking ceremony, we invited Stryker to create and share a virtual mock up of the space so that Dr. Santiago Horgan could experience the elements of the space before its even built! THANK YOU to Stryker’s Lillie Cole and Kyle Uminger for bringing this technology #halolens to the Project Team, we are all looking forward to seeing this project come to life!

Sep 20, 2018

End of Summer Party & Office Grand Opening

Thanks to everyone who joined us at our End of Summer party and Office Grand Opening. Great time introducing friends and family to our new space and to celebrate our efforts to date. We plan to make this a yearly event so mark your calendars for 2019!