Consigli Construction and ICON Arch. complete library project for Salem State with plans to achieve LEED Silver

Consigli Construction Co., Inc. has completed a fast-track summer project at Salem State College, overseeing a fit-out of a new library on the school's historic Central Campus that is targeting LEED Silver certification for existing buildings (EB). In partnership with ICON architecture, approximately 25,000 s/f of previously unused space in an academic building on the college's Central Campus was converted to a modern library setting. The project operated under an extremely tight deadline, as the space needed to be finished prior to students returning to campus. To do this, several creative measures were implemented to meet the schedule requirements. Awarded in March, the team began demolition and abatement almost immediately. In concert with ICON, Consigli worked to develop early release packages for five major trades (elevator, windows, HVAC, asbestos abatement/demolition and electrical). By expediting the construction process and using submittals from when the first phase of the building was constructed, the team was able to save valuable time and begin moving the school's collections into the new space as each floor was completed with new storage racks, study areas, restrooms and wireless networking capabilities, as well as a new elevator to ensure ADA-accessibility. While the project is the first LEED EB for Consigli, it is also the first Consigli project to be completely paperless. The team was able to submit and distribute drawings, RFI's and all other forms of reports and documentation through an innovative software platform, thus allowing Consigli, ICON and subcontractors to substantially cut down on the office wastes generated by a construction project. It also helped save time by expediting the submittal process, thanks to a central database where all parties could access construction documents. Consigli, a leader in environmental construction, currently has 19 LEED projects registered or certified with the USGBC, including three SPiRiT (the US Army's version of LEED) projects. Among them are the LEED Platinum-certified Harvard Blackstone Office renovation and LEED Gold-certified Cambridge City Hall Annex.