Thinking Outside the Box: UNC-Chapel Hill’s Morehead Labs
The Muter team collaborated with UNC-Chapel Hill’s Design & Construction team and EDI to develop a master plan and budget for the emergency project, which totaled $16M. The final construction cost was $15,214,367. Throughout the project, Muter value-engineered portions of the work to stay within the master budget. Following are examples of our success:
CHALLENGE:
It was difficult to find a vendor to supply the three new 55,000cfm air handlers that were critical to the project. The air handlers needed to be both an excellent quality and meet an incredibly aggressive installation schedule. The only manufacturer that could meet the schedule and deliver the units was a vendor that was not familiar to the University.
SOLUTION:
Muter worked with the manufacturer to gather all the necessary information the University needed to accept the recommendation and expediting the approval processes to stay on schedule. The manufacturer beat the schedule by several weeks and saved nearly $200,000.
CHALLENGE:
Newly specified air handlers required a larger size chilled water supply which called for the installation of a new water line.
SOLUTION:
There were multiple routes and solutions to solve the problem. Muter worked together withLee Baker (UNC Chilled Water Services Manager), UNC Design & Construction, EDI, and our subcontractors to price and evaluate options to make the best recommendation to the University. Major considerations were given to the point of origin for the chilled water, underground vs. above-ground, easements, schedule risks, and cost. Ultimately, our solution saved UNC nearly $300,000, met the tight schedule, and reduced design costs.
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