Procore got down to discover the businesses, initiatives and people that stood out for his or her daring achievements in building. Among the many 27 excellent finalists chosen, 9 had been named winners of the 2022 Groundbreaker Awards. This text is the third in a nine-part sequence spotlighting every winner.
In 1904, James B. Duke set out with a crew to generate electrical energy by way of lakes and dams alongside South Carolina’s Catawba River. Since that undertaking, Duke Vitality has been dedicated to offering progressive energy options throughout America — even to Walt Disney World.
At present, Duke Vitality is executing an aggressive clear power technique to create a wiser power future for its prospects and communities. The corporate can be investing in main electrical grid upgrades, expanded battery storage and exploring zero-emitting energy technology applied sciences corresponding to hydrogen and superior nuclear.
Their groundbreaking power options are fixing distinctive energy necessities throughout complicated initiatives nationwide. One such undertaking is the largest floating photo voltaic plant within the Southeast United States at Fort Bragg—the primary for the Division of Protection.
An unprecedented undertaking
In a collaboration with Fort Bragg, Duke Vitality put in a 1.1-megawatt floating photo voltaic set up on the Huge Muddy Lake situated at Camp Mackall in North Carolina. Because the prime contractor for this Utility Vitality Service Contract (UESC), Duke Vitality supplied technical and contract oversight for the $36 million undertaking that targeted on power resilience and safety. Duke Vitality labored with Ameresco and D3Energy to help with design and supply.
Fort Bragg owns and operates the photo voltaic system, which is paired with a 2-megawatt battery power storage system (BESS). The system provides energy to Camp Mackall from the native grid and offers energy throughout electrical service outages.
Terri Stubblefield, senior industrial contract supervisor at Duke Vitality, was excited to supply the federal government with a novel renewable power resolution. Stubblefield took over undertaking administration in 2018, performing as a liaison between the federal government and Ameresco, and leveraging Procore to maintain communications up-to-date.
“We’re actually into progressive know-how, particularly when serving to the federal government,” says Stubblefield. “That’s one of many issues we love to do for our prospects—offering superior know-how options.”
The undertaking crew spent a number of time working by way of interconnection and technical points with Fort Bragg. Duke Vitality owns the utility grid outdoors the shopper property, nevertheless, the utilities on the shopper web site are privatized.
The undertaking crew spent appreciable effort resolving technical challenges among the many undertaking wants, together with the privatized utility that linked again to the regulated Duke Vitality utility.
The pandemic additionally introduced provide chain and lead time challenges. For all of those points, Procore instruments had been vital in holding data organized and the crew targeted on the actions that drove vital path parts.
A central supply of reality
The undertaking crew leveraged the Paperwork, RFI, Submittals and Stories instruments in Procore, leaning on the platform as its major building workflow software. All undertaking data had been saved in Procore. Procore is among the few cloud platforms that fulfill firewall and different IT safety necessities, and due to this fact one that each one stakeholders can use.
“From a doc administration standpoint, Procore has all the time been very helpful with our federal companions,” explains Stubblefield. ”RFIs had been generated utilizing the RFI software to get questions requested and answered by the correct individuals and having documentation of what these solutions had been was very useful.”
Communication and sharing of the proper data throughout preconstruction actions had been vital for achievement. The undertaking crew prevented rework and misunderstanding by imposing the usage of Procore for sustaining and referencing undertaking metrics. Procore’s workflow additionally helped the crew preserve readability on standing of labor and accountability.
“Procore is a single place for communication, doc administration and report storage,” Stubblefield says. “The federal government has a number of cybersecurity and firewalls in place, so it may be troublesome to cross paperwork backwards and forwards. You’ve received to have a central repository for all this data — and so they’re all the time ready to make use of Procore, in contrast to another platforms.”
As a result of it’s a federal authorities undertaking, Procore additionally served as a clearinghouse for materials that had already been vetted for launch for public consumption. Whereas it may be troublesome for presidency initiatives to movement by way of some platforms, Procore supplied ease of use, wanted privateness and a single supply of reality for all stakeholders.
Partnering for achievement
Duke Vitality labored intently with subcontractors Ameresco and D3Energy. Ameresco provided engineering design and execution experience wanted to carry out contract work. D3Energy is a specialty photo voltaic contractor who has pioneered photo voltaic PV set up on water our bodies by way of non-destructive and habitat-safe options. The three firms labored collectively to beat novel challenges to ship the biggest floating photo voltaic system within the Southeast United States.
“Duke Vitality’s work with Fort Bragg will result in higher power effectivity and price financial savings on the base,” says Brian Savoy, Duke Vitality’s chief technique and industrial officer. “We’re excited to assist put Fort Bragg on the forefront of renewable power innovation by way of this distinctive floating photo voltaic facility.”
Actually a crew effort, the floating photo voltaic set up is testomony to Duke Vitality’s dedication to offering renewable power no matter complexity. Setting a clear power precedent with this undertaking, Duke Vitality continues to innovate for every buyer and their distinctive necessities on each job.