Danforth Newsroom

Published Date – Jan 18, 2016

The project team for the GlobalFoundries Central Utility Building D (CUB-D) project has been recognized for their collaboration and performance on the project. The team received the 2015 Excellence in Partnering Award presented by the Associated General Contractors of New York State, the largest statewide contractor association. The project, valued at over $100 million was critical to GlobalFoundries operations.

During the construction of the TDC semi-conductor production facility, GlobalFoundries challenged the Construction Manager, M+W Group, to build a supplemental central utility plant in addition to the planned production facility. The deadline for the project was set at one year from original design concept to completion. M+W Group determined the only way to hit this aggressive deadline was to collaborate with trusted Subcontractors and Vendors, and employ the Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) method of construction. The team collaborated on all aspects of the project including design, planning, coordination, pre-fabrication, construction and risk management, to ensure that the 100,000 ft² central utility plant was completed on time and within budget.

This project required innovation, flexibility and collaboration in order to meet the needs of the customer, GlobalFoundries. Danforth provided key insight and precise execution throughout the duration of the project. During the design phase, Danforth and M+W Group noticed an issue with the pipe stress analysis that would cause the team to purchase additional structural steel after fabrication was complete. Danforth brought in a third party designer who worked with the project team to find a new solution. The new solution avoided the need for additional steel and fabrication which saved the project schedule and nearly $250,000 in additional material cost. Danforth set new benchmarks for speed to construction, taking only 26 working days to go from design/coordination to fabrication.

Time and cost savings were realized in the construction phase of the project as well.  The collaborative environment allowed Danforth to begin installation at far earlier point in the project, only 58 days from start of design/coordination, providing tremendous opportunity for reduction of the project completion timeline. Danforth pre-fabricated 40’-58’ lengths of 24”-42” piping off-site, with Code compliant welded branch connections in lieu of purchased fittings, integrated with all required piping supports, and installed the pieces as the structural steel was being erected. A reduction of 75% of traditional field welds was achieved through the collaborative process. Danforth’s pre-fabrication capabilities were utilized again when erecting the half-mile utility trestle that serves the CUB-D facility. Eighty foot plus lengths of 30” pipe were fabricated off-site, fully insulated, and integrated with all required piping supports. These pre-fabrication efforts improved quality, as well as reducing the installation schedule and field labor required for final installation. More than 1.5 miles of large bore piping was fabricated, with 9.7 miles of weld. All pre-fabricated piping was internally cleaned using high pressure water prior to shipment, avoiding the time required for chemical cleaning. Over 700,000 pounds of piping installed in 10 working shifts. Trade cooperation was a key component of the project success as Danforth worked in unison with the ironworkers to attain a level of mechanical installation during the structural erection phase never before achieved.

Danforth had also pre-fabricated all of the specialty and HVAC ductwork for the project as well, and was going to follow the same integration with erection, however, prior to mobilization of this work element the project was put on hold. Even with this delay, Danforth and the rest of the project team were able to address the needs of GlobalFoundries in an agile fashion, bringing the project to a safe and enclosed suspended state without issue. The creativity and knowledge delivered by the Trades were able to provide GlobalFoundries with an opportunity to improve their timeline for system operation by nearly four months which was not able to be capitalized upon due to the ‘Cold Shell’ directive.

The collaboration and innovation of the project team were crucial components of the successful execution of the CUB-D project. Despite the aggressive schedule, complexity of the project scope and ensuing ‘Cold Shell’ directive, the project was executed with zero claims, zero non-scope change orders, zero mediation and zero non-compliance incidents.