Virtually every industry in the world has been greatly affected by the global changes that have occurred over the past few years. Due to a wide variety of different factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, ecological disasters like forest fires and infrastructure failures, and interruptions to the global supply chain, the costs associated with the construction industry have skyrocketed. The cost of lumber, for example, has nearly tripled again in 2022 after a brief decrease in 2021.

Construction of projects like private residences have been halted or completely scrapped. In 2020 especially, many companies were forced to close, at least temporarily, which caused a large backup of construction projects. 

Some restrictions also required construction job sites to close, putting workers at a disadvantage and delaying construction of buildings that eventually caused major problems for people in virtually every industry. 

Companies were also required to spend more time on things like sanitizing tools and figuring out special scheduling that meant staggered shifts for workers to avoid interpersonal contamination and spread of the virus. Overall, this decreased efficiency and therefore brought down profits by a considerable margin. According to Keith D. Clarke, Noland Mechanical’s struggle with these issues was minimized because they offer Design-Build services.

What makes Design-Build services so effective? In addition to pandemic difficulties like supply chain issues, decrease in employees, and scheduling problems, the construction industry can face delays because of all kinds of issues, including pending approvals, withheld funds, and conflict between owners, architects, and contractors. With Design-Build services like those offered by Noland Mechanical, everyone (owner, architect, engineers, contractors) works together as a team.

When everyone’s working together on a project, it means greatly increased production because of equal accountability from everyone; there’s much less conflict and finger-pointing between groups. It also means reduced lawsuits because of the shared accountability. In standard construction projects, the architect can withhold payment to contractors if they believe the contractors are underperforming. “With Design-Build, everyone’s collaborating, which means a lot less back-and-forth between everyone who is working on a project,” says Keith D. Clarke. 

In a global economy where supply-chain issues, backlogged projects, increased material costs, and rapidly increasing transportation costs can cause major efficiency issues, the streamlined nature of Design-Build projects leaves everyone happier– and lowers costs, which is particularly important in a rapidly changing economy.

It’s this increased level of efficiency that makes Noland Mechanical stand out from the crowd. When other companies were forced to shutter or lay off employees, Noland was able to keep things running smoothly by shifting focus toward areas of construction that remain more consistent than private residential housing.

For example, while some job sites were forced to close down, other projects, like government-subsidized housing, were accelerated due to increased demand. Noland Mechanical’s shifted focus included government-subsidized and commercial projects, which were less affected by global issues in general.

According to Keith D. Clarke, HVAC design is more important than ever, and the industry will only continue to grow. Having well-ventilated and comfortable spaces is important all the time, but air filtering and climate control technology have the power to save lives during difficult situations like unprecedented high or low temperatures, or the spread of airborne contagious diseases. Noland Mechanical, Inc. takes its position as a potential lifesaver seriously, and will remain committed to keeping up with all of the latest technology in the HVAC business.