Commercial Remodeling in Omaha, Nebraska

Commercial remodeling is quite a popular undertaking given that there’s generally always plenty of great ways that you can spruce up your place of business on any budget.  If you’ve been thinking about making improvements, it’s likely either out of necessity or with a specific goal in mind that a remodeling project would help you to achieve.  Whether it’s a small task or an extensive project, there’s no shortage of local resources that are available to help you with your latest commercial remodeling endeavors.

In terms of the best place to begin, if the project extends outside of your building itself then it’s extremely important to have your property lines defined before proceeding.  “A boundary survey is critical in determining exactly where the property lines are,” says Toni Montana, owner of Land Survey Inc.  “This time of year is a wonderful time to get creative and tackle big projects, so why not know what your limits are?  Too many times I’ve seen property owners who have relied on previous land marks (fences, retaining walls, etc.) to determine their property lines. This can be quite costly when these landmarks prove to be wrong demarcation lines. Having that peace of mind along with a legally binding document to clear up any disputes or questions, currently or in the future, is just cost-effective and smart planning on the part of the property owner(s).  With GPS technology that has greatly increased output v. costs from methods employed years ago, what would have taken days or weeks now can be done in hours in the field.  Remodeling is a wonderful opportunity to be creative, so aside from knowing where your boundaries lie on your property it’s also advisable to work with people who inspire you and who want the same results for your business!”

For projects that are more complicated than replacing flooring or giving the walls a fresh coat of paint, you’ll likely be incorporating some level of construction which will necessitate the expertise of a general contractor.  A general contractor will not only help you stay on budget and effectively manage the project from planning to completion, but they also have the experience to mitigate the downtime your business will face during the process.  In fact, many times closing down operations can be eliminated altogether, which will allow you to keep your doors open and avoid the loss of profit compounded with the funds you’ll be spending on the investment in your building. When assessing what improvements need to be done right away versus what can be planned for the coming months or years, consider not only smart investments that will add value but also attending to what has the propensity to cause the most damage if left in its current condition or what will need to be brought up to code for the health and safety of yourself and your employees.

“The most popular commercial remodel projects today are redesign of existing space for new purpose, better flow and efficiency, and to freshen up the look,” explains Todd Sanwick, owner of Sanwick Remodeling Contractors, Inc. (www.sanwickremodelingcontractors.com).   “Our ability to stay on time and on budget is of utmost importance to potential clients.  We go through every part of the project with the management and make suggestions of different materials and different designs to accomplish their goals in the best way.

A big concern that our clients are dealing with now is fire sprinkler systems.  Many older buildings are not equipped with them, so when starting to think about a renovation, this needs to be a part of establishing the budget.  Moreover, the codes have changed a lot in different areas of commercial remodeling.  For example, some clients may want to just add another stall to the restroom of their old building. But when you do this, often the old restroom was never designed for handicap accessibility and the client is now going to have to bring it up to the new codes. Most of the time the existing space is not adequate for the turning radius of a wheelchair that is required and walls have to be moved. Now you can see how just adding one more stall can turn into a larger project. This is why it very important to hire a contractor that is up to date on all the new codes.

Currently we have seen more interest in LED lighting, carpet squares, Wi-Fi capability, and security systems just to name a few. Low maintenance designs are very popular as well as products that last versus products that are inexpensive.”

Giving new life and a new look to older buildings has also continued to be a popular trend, as evidenced by the appearance of newly renovated mixed-use buildings in urban areas such as those that have been popping up around the Omaha Metro.

“It’s been fantastic to see so many old buildings being refurbished into mixed use developments that incorporate housing, offices and storefronts,” explains Darin Cielocha of McGill Restoration (www.mcgillrestoration.com).  “This is especially popular in urban areas; many people are choosing to live in modern downtown areas as opposed to the suburbs and therefore there continues to be high demand for these types of establishments.  Revitalization efforts have been underway in recent years in both Omaha and Lincoln, and larger cities in the Midwest such as Kansas City and St. Louis are no different.

For those who are considering a project that involves restoration, you’ll want to make sure to take into account how the existing structure will need to be modified to accommodate re-design.  While we specialize in giving the exterior of aging buildings a complete facelift, we also consult on a lot of projects involving modifications to the interior of older buildings.

If you’re renovating a building with the goal of opening up the space, it’s critical to consider the actual structural support of the building and make the appropriate plans to transfer the load.  There are many types of strengthening systems, many of them which employ very innovative methods, which can be applied depending upon the situation and specifications of the project.  Another common improvement is to upgrade your building’s equipment to updated versions, which is problematic for older structures as they weren’t built to support the weight of the larger, heavier equipment available today.  This also necessitates planning to transfer the load in addition to the installation of the equipment.  Essentially it’s the same constant as engineering bridges as cars have gotten heavier over time to increase the load capacity.  All of these are things that would ideally be installed by a professional who understands the mechanics of masonry and concrete.

Masonry was most widely used in exterior cladding systems 100 years ago and even today, so in assessing if improvements or repairs are necessary it’s always important to check the tuckpointing as well as the joint sealants around the windows and doors.  When holes or voids appear in these it’s a very bad thing and needs to be remedied right away.  A solution can be as simple as using water repellant to seal the gaps, which maintains the aged look while protecting the integrity of the original materials.  Other times a more sophisticated solution will need to be tailored to fit the problem.

Especially in the case of older buildings, any problems that exist have the propensity to compound quickly and exponentially so it’s better to address these things proactively.   Archways and decorative features, or even how the structure of the walls adjoins to the roof are also areas that need to be addressed if any major construction will be taking place. As another rule of thumb with older buildings, any time you have similar materials coming together you’ll have the chance for leakage or breakdown over time.  If air or moisture is present and flowing through an old building, that’s a very bad sign and needs to be addressed as soon as possible.

When restoration comes into play, from an architectural and engineering standpoint, you’ll also need to bring the building up to today’s commercial codes by the time the project is completed.  If your goal is to preserve the older look but to give it a more modern appeal, it’s well within our means to do so.  But when you’re working with an older building, it’s not just as simple as going right into the demolition process.  Structural integrity is fundamental and you’ll want to plan your project and budget with this in mind.  While proper restoration is a sizeable investment, you’ll likely save on your utility bills as a result of a commercial remodeling project that involves an older building as well which can offset the cost a bit.  Repurposing a building isn’t just popular right now because of their antique look and feel, but also because it is incredibly green to do so.

Going green is not only kind to the environment but beneficial to a business’s bottom dollar based upon ROI, and along with the examples of urban revitalization as well as energy efficiency there are plenty of ways to incorporate this into the plans for renovation.

“By far, anything tagged with a ‘green’ label should be a prime target for commercial remodel work,” agrees Pat Killeen, owner of Engineered Controls (www.engineeredcontrols.com). “Contractors such as our team at Engineered Controls commonly assist building owners and energy managers to help in developing reliable and cost-effective solutions for their specific energy challenges and to reduce their carbon footprint.

A building’s mechanical systems can be optimized by providing supply air and supply water reset programs where the temperature of the air or water is automatically adjusted depending on space demands and outside air temperatures. Mechanical optimization programs could also include demand control ventilation programs to provide the right amount of outdoor air required in the building to improve the indoor air quality. Additionally, constant volume air and water systems can be converted to variable air and water flow systems where just the right about of air and water are delivered based on demand.

Regarding a building’s electrical systems, there is a whole host of ways a BAS can optimize electrical energy in buildings. The simplest and most recognized way is to monitor a building’s electrical energy usage. Most buildings electricity is billed two ways, electrical energy consumption or kWh, and what was the peak electrical energy usage over a specific period of time or kW demand.  A BAS has time based scheduling programs that can be used to minimize the electrical consumption of a building. And at the same time a BAS can also be constantly monitoring a building’s kW demand, and as it begins to approach a pre-determined peak demand, begin shedding or shutting off electrical loads automatically.

All of these mechanical and electrical optimization solutions are designed to maintain building comfort, and maximize energy savings that result in reduced energy bills.

Furthermore, there are several trends that are beginning to surface in the Building Automation System (BAS) industry. We live in an era when today’s buildings of any size and shape can become intelligent buildings. With open protocol technology, they can connect multiple subsystems together, on one network, rather than operating them all independently – maximizing energy efficiency, lowering maintenance costs and providing centralized building control.

Building automation systems provide efficient control of internal comfort conditions, individual room control, increased staff productivity, effective use of energy, improved building reliability and life, quick and effective responses to HVAC and Security problems, and save time and money. The systems also provide information on problems in the building, allow for computerized maintenance scheduling, are easy and effective for employees to use, and easily detect problems.

By integrating heating and cooling, lighting and security functions all within one common BAS platform, a building’s power systems–lighting and illumination; electric power and control; security, video surveillance and magnetic card access; heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems (HVAC); outdoor controls; and elevator controls–will all be monitored and controlled from one central location. Studies show that by 2018, it will be the integrated control systems that will show the greatest growth in future years. The largest segment of expected growth are for the HVAC segment, which comprises 30% of the market, and security and access controls segment that comprises between 40%-50% of the market.

Building automation systems have been around since the late seventies and early eighties but addition of wireless technologies and the integration of wired and wireless systems is driving the market forward. There is now a great demand for energy efficient buildings, high-tech devices and enhanced security systems that are now a central component of the building automation system. Wireless technology will continue to revolutionize building automation system market. For example, lighting control systems with dimming and light harvesting capabilities are generating an especially high demand for these kind of products. It is expected that the Internet of Things (IoT) devices will be instrumental in the integration of heating and cooling systems, hot and chilled water systems, card access systems, video management systems, lighting systems, power generators, pumps, metering equipment to name a few.”

He continues, “Long range analysis shows that there are a number of business sectors that are currently, and will continue to, drive the building automation sector of the building technology industry in the future. These include the demand for ‘green building technology,’ electrical energy management systems, LED lighting and lighting controls, security and access systems, asset management, smart buildings and the technology convergence into one, holistic Building Automation and Control System. In addition the demand for home automation products will increase the demand for more commercial automation products.”

“It is advantageous for an end user to have simple point of control for a room or space,” adds Dave Bodenstedt of Echo Systems (www.echosystemsmidwest.com).  “There are so many different technologies that converge to make a business more efficient and productive.  It’s important that the average person be able to operate a converged system by a simple press of a button that will then automate a function or process in preparation for a meeting or possibly a video conference across the state or world.

Today an end user can do anything from simply connecting wirelessly to a display hanging on the wall to show a presentation to connecting to your customer or vendor in a different country via Video Conference from a smart phone or board room coupled with annotation to keep consistent notes and employee engagement.  There are trends for IP megapixel cameras throughout one’s facility to record motion after hours, track productivity, keep record of disputes, or to start recording and alert if something was left behind in a certain area.  Your camera technology can also be interfaced with a smart device to remotely view cameras or receive alerts via email.  A camera at all of your external entrances could be tied to a door access solution to acknowledge a face with a badge, which will also get time stamped, or to accept or deny access to certain rooms or areas throughout your facility.  You could even integrate a door access solution with your Outlook calendar to ‘unlock doors’ for an event that’s after hours, or to simply lock or unlock doors on a daily schedule.

It’s advantageous to ‘brand’ your business by using digital signage for lobby advertising, event scheduling, or showing processes.  It’s also advantageous to control light (natural and manufactured) for energy management or to get the right atmosphere for employees or customers by deploying different architectural light fixture concepts at different light levels to show sophistication and warmth.  The same concept can go with HVAC control.  I’d also suggest looking into sound masking for cubicle areas where private conversations are preserved or the disruption of a loud person in a cubicle can be minimized.  Sound masking gives off an unobtrusive mechanical background sound that a person will not consciously notice.  Sound masking can also be tied into a phone systems’ paging system.”

As far as key recommendations for integrating technology or new systems during a commercial remodel, Bodenstedt emphasizes, “It’s all about your foundation.  First and foremost, a commercial end user needs to plan and have the proper foundation for a technology network.  As control and integration technologies within an office building or conference room continue to migrate towards IP, it is important that you have the proper network infrastructure in place to handle and manage converged technology traffic.  This includes separate network cabling, racks and management, and of course wireless and wired network switching.  Your technology network foundation should not be compromised with other network technologies such as phones and workstations. There should be a physical separation versus a virtual one.

Your AV integrator should be able to design, engineer and implement your technology network and system(s).   From there, it’s important to engage all ‘trades’ before and during the construction process so a job gets done on time and implemented correctly.  Last step would be to consider a service agreement for monitoring your system(s) and to eliminate down time.”

When considering upgrades that would greatly help your business, a generator is also a must.  “A power outage, even as brief as a few hours, can cause major problems for all types of businesses,” emphasizes Tobias Sommer, owner of Generators For Sale (www.homegeneratorsforsale.com).  “In most cases, if your phones or computers are down, you are missing leads or unable to conduct transactions.  However, if you’re still able to do business thanks to a back-up power system, you aren’t losing out and you may even have an advantage over those who don’t have a generator to keep them up and running.  There are many reasons why you could lose power; utility transformers can blow, a vehicle can hit the light pole and take out the whole line, a storm can cause damage, and that’s just a few of the common scenarios.  Unfortunately, however, many of the people who recognize the importance of a generator have had to learn firsthand why it is so important by suffering the unforeseen consequences.

If you’re already remodeling and you don’t already have a generator, it’s a great time to incorporate one as we can pre-plan for integration and recircuiting and you’ll very likely save yourself a lot of time and money with this approach.  When deciding what type of generator is the best fit for your needs, look at what you absolutely can’t live without.  For some businesses it may be critical to keep their whole building operational, while for others it may just be keeping a few key components up and running.  With commercial remodeling it’s all about planning ahead; maybe not for today or tomorrow, but over the next two, five or ten years.  Technology is only going to become more integrated, so it makes sense to mitigate risk of complete shutdown by covering your bases with an alternate power source.”

Often times during a remodel you’ll need to temporarily relocate and/or store your building’s contents to allow for the work to be done.  “Remodeling, though temporary, can be challenging,” advises Reva Tyler, owner of BlueCow Boxes (www.bluecowboxes.com).  “Planning and preparation will make the process less stressful and BlueCow Boxes is ready to help.  For temporary packing and storing during a remodel, industrial strength plastic boxes are ideal to maximize efficiency and to provide portability and organization.  BlueCow Boxes can be stacked and moved on a two-wheel cart and/or the provided four-wheel dolly.  Rental packages are both flexible and affordable; delivery and pick-up are also free within a 50-mile radius of Omaha.”

Remodeling a commercial property can be quite the undertaking, but it is also exciting and rewarding to update your place of business.  Familiarizing yourself with the options that are available and connecting local professionals, whether for guidance or to manage and complete your entire project, is advantageous for the best possible outcome and will keep you well ahead of the game if you consult with them early and often.