Salas O'Brien News

It's a maxim of project management that you have any two of quality, speed, and cost. If you need a project done as soon as possible (preferably yesterday), then it's either going to cost you a fortune or will have sub-par quality.

When it comes to building projects, commissioning can prove the maxim wrong. With commissioning, you can save money, build better, and do good in the process.

Is that a bold claim? Sure. But there's a reason that more and more states and local jurisdictions are requiring commissioning on every building project.

In a prior article we defined commissioning and went over the basics of what it accomplishes. We also overviewed where it's required by law, and why you might consider it even it's when not required by law.

Arc flashes are a well-known risk factor, especially in the large, mission-critical facilities that Salas O'Brien's clients often build and manage. These indoor explosions take a serious toll on human life and on the buildings our clients manage.

Newell Brands is a Fortune 500 company and manufacturer of a variety of “classic” American products from the Sharpie and Elmer’s Glue to the Crock Pot and Rawlings baseball gloves.

Salas O’Brien principal Mark Minick recently announced his retirement after more than 40 years practicing engineering, and over 35 years with his own firm. Mark began Minick Engineering in 1981 and served clients in a variety of industries such as manufacturing, health care, critical environments, commercial/retail, housing, and education. Minick Engineering was acquired by Salas O’Brien in early 2016.

Salas O’Brien has several of our nation’s largest telecommunications providers as clients. One of those clients approached Salas O’Brien to solve a problem: their mobile subscriber base was exploding and they needed more capacity. The company had an existing telecommunications center in Irvine, California, that needed an additional 3,000 square feet of hardware.

Buildings operating at less than peak efficiency cost building owners money—lots of money in many cases. The EPA estimates that commercial buildings waste 30% or more in energy. And this doesn't even begin to include costs associated with lost employee productivity.

Salas O'Brien has won many awards over the past few months: MEP Giant, Top 10 Commissioning Firm, ENR Top 300, and Inc. 5000, to name just a few. Add another one to the list: Top 10 Fastest Growing Company in Silicon Valley.

Arc flash incidents get a great deal of publicity, and for good reason: electrical explosions caused by arc flash happen almost every day, causing a great deal of damage both to people and to the economy.

We enjoy tremendous freedom and liberty in the United States because of the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women of our military, and their families. On this Veterans Day, Salas O’Brien honors all members of the military for their selfless service that granted us our liberty from England in 1776 and has continued to keep our nation safe since then.

Salas O'Brien is excited to be working on yet another project with the State of Georgia—this time as the commissioning agent for a seven-story, six-acre judicial complex with more than 200,000 square feet.