By Heather Bunn, Rafn Company Vice President
I have recently had the opportunity to talk about our success during the latest recession. One key fact that amazes people the most is that Rafn was able to keep all of our people gainfully employed during this time. Meanwhile across the US, from 2007 – 2011, the construction industry suffered a loss of 5 million jobs. That is a staggering number even before you couple it with the projection that “a net of 2 million construction employees left the industry when unemployment approached 20%, and most are simply not coming back”.
What that means for most of our clients and business partners is a serious shortage of craft people as the market heats back up. We are just now beginning to see the shortage impacting construction sites across the region. This phenomena is not new, but it is of a larger magnitude than the last cycle. Hopefully as an industry we learned some lessons that can be brought forward to prevent repeats of the sleepless nights.
So what can we do? Short term we need to be cautious and we need to pace ourselves. We need open communication with our subcontractors about their capacity and we need to be honest about our own. We need to balance the work so that not all projects are starting and ending at the same time. We need to balance the types of work so that not all of one specialty trade or specialized vendor gets used up. We need to keep lines of communication open to make sure that none of the team gets stretched beyond their capacity. We need to ensure that those assigned a particular task are properly trained and experienced, and that the “new guys” are being well mentored. All of these tactics will pay off for our industry across our region in the short term.
Long term, we need to encourage young people to look seriously at the trades as career choices. Our craft workers earn good wages, have great health care, PTO (paid time off), and a generous 401(k) program. Many of our craft workers will spend a good portion of their working years here and will retire with a comfortable nest egg after a very fulfilling career. Some of them will also graduate from the “University of Rafn” to become the future leaders of the company.
By Ryan Meno, LEED AP, Rafn Company Project Manager
Most consumers would like to save energy, both for environmental and financial reasons. But there is another entity that likes us to save energy even more, utility companies. That may seem counterintuitive as they make money by selling energy.
End user incentives are an energy saving alternative to the much greater capital expense of expanding power plant capacity and infrastructure maintenance. It is often cheaper to pay for rebates than to build a new power plant. Utilities we've worked with on local projects that offer incentives include:
- Puget Sound Energy
- Seattle City Light
- Seattle Public Utilities
The following are just 3 examples of incentives recently pursued on behalf of our client on our Emerald City Commons Mixed-Use project. This new construction is located in South Seattle and combines 61 apartment units over 5,700 square feet of commercial space.
Gas Fired Boilers
For gas fired boilers in multifamily projects, PSE has a custom measure incentive/rebate opportunity. For this PSE asks for two cost estimates: one for the +90% (and we often see +93% submitted) and one for the 83%. Other items to submit are equipment cut sheets and PDF copy of related project drawings. PSE will generate the energy savings calculations but if you have an energy model that has already looked at this they are happy to receive that information too.
PSE bases our incentive amount on the cost difference between the more efficient choice and the code minimum choice, the energy saved, and how long the measure will last before it needs to be replaced. If the energy savings produce a quick payback PSE will pay for most of the upgrade cost difference. If it has a longer payback PSE pays a smaller percentage or perhaps none of the cost increase.
Showerheads
Rebates for installation of low-flow showerheads vary from year to year. In 2012, PSE offered $5 for each showerhead 2.0 gpm max. Currently in 2013, PSE is offering $15 for each showerhead 1.75 gpm max and $25 for each showerhead 1.5 gpm max. Our project is looking at a potential incentive of $1,525 for use of the 1.5 gpm max showerheads.
Built Smart Program
Seattle City Light's Built Smart incentive program looks at a variety of energy savings measures and incentivizes a project accordingly. Our project will earn incentives from:
- low u-value glazing
- interior common area lighting
- in-unit Energy Star light fixtures
- Energy Star refrigerators
- energy efficient whole house fans
- energy efficient washing machines
We estimate the combined kWh savings for these measures to be 159,351 and the incentive for the project owner to be just over $35,000.
In summary, there are many incentives from many utilities that developers may not know about but are easy to achieve. However, they do change each year; even if your project is underway, check in to see what programs are currently being offered. Utilities move funds from one program to another based on their market and what makes sense to them to encourage energy savings.
Energy savings = more green in your pocket.
By Kay Wilson, Rafn Company Project Manager
Piper Village, which is located in the vicinity of 85th & Greenwood in Seattle, has been in the Brunt family since 1885. The various parcels that make-up the 13 acre site are managed by the Greenwood Shopping Center Board and more specifically their representative Gary Brunt. Gary began actively participating in the management, planning, and acquisition of the property in 1981. Piper Village first entered the Rafn project portfolio as a “site” with a variety of optional development paths more than a decade ago. It has been a very fun project to participate in as it has unfolded for the Brunt Family.
The evolution of Piper Village is the family’s legacy designed to transform the old shopping center to meet the needs of a new generation. The work began by soliciting ideas from a number of local design firms as to what to do with the old Fred Meyer, the shopping center and various underutilized small retail shops. Michael Whalen was selected as architect for his innovative approach to protecting the “small shop” and organic growth of neighborhood retail and a pedestrian feel rather than giving way to exclusive big box retail.
While estimating and planning began in 2002, the construction didn’t begin for Rafn until January 2008 with the Sedges – a 3 story, 46 unit mixed-use project. That project included the beginnings of Morrow Lane, a new through street that is key to creating Whalen’s pedestrian access to small, local retail shops.
Barry Leahy, the development consultant and owner’s representative through that early process is also still part of the project team. Barry has been instrumental in helping to plan the project phasing in such a way as to balance the best construction cost with a positive cash flow and a minimal disruption to existing retail tenants.
We will profile the second mixed-use piece known as Buildings 5 & 6, and the balance of Morrow Lane that connects through to Greenwood Avenue, in Part 2 of the series in our next newsletter.
By Halene Sigmund, CITC of Washington President 
Since the Construction Industry Training Council's (CITC) inception in 1985, 31 Rafn employees have graduated from CITC’s programs. “We put people in the first class at CITC,” said Shawn Rhode, Rafn President and COO and CITC board member. “Gregg George graduated then and has been with us more than 30 years.” Gregg George is now a senior superintendent and remembers his start in construction well. “I started working with a demolition contractor that was a subcontractor for Rafn,” said George. “Rafn offered me a carpentry job and I took it. Then they offered me the opportunity to attend CITC. I’d been a carpenter for quite a while so at first it seemed like a step backward. Then I started learning a lot, growing in my job and was promoted to superintendent before I even graduated". George continues “At CITC I learned all facets of construction from beginning to end. It would have taken me years to get this much experience on the job alone.” “Our graduates do much more than carpentry,” said Rhode. “They move up to superintendents, foremen and project engineers which builds strength in the company. The knowledge and continuity of our people provides a lot of capacity for the company to grow over the years.” Tony Beaupre changed from a career in construction bonding to working for Rafn when a friend suggested that he give construction a try. “I started with Rafn as a carpenter/laborer but wanted to be a superintendent,” said Beaupre. “Rafn said I needed training at CITC to do that so I went through the program, became a project engineer, and now will retire soon as a superintendent.” Rafn brings as much value to CITC as our training brings to them. It’s a symbiotic relationship – they train employees here and their employees in turn come back to CITC as instructors, volunteers, and board members. Rafn supports those volunteer efforts and we are both stronger for their steadfast commitment.
By Ryan Meno, LEED AP, Rafn Company Project Manager 
The 21 Acres Center for Local Food and Sustainable Living (http://21acres.org/) project in Woodinville recently submitted it's application for LEED Platinum certification from the US Green Building Council (http://www.usgbc.org/leed/certification). The number of points a project earns determines the level of LEED Certification that the project will receive. Points are awarded in various categories including sustainable site, water efficiency, energy and atmosphere, materials and resources, and indoor environmental quality. 52 points are needed to achieve Platinum Certification and the 21 Acres project submitted for 55. The project was completed with the following statistics: 48% energy cost reduction over ASHRAE 90.1-2004; 15% of the building energy provided by PV’s.; 100% reduction of building waste water; 84% reduction of building potable water use; and 95% construction waste diverted from landfill. A special thank you to the entire project team including ArchEcology (Architecture), Coughlin Porter Lundeen (Civil Engineering), Michael Nouwens (Structural Engineering), Van Ness Feldman GordonDerr (Land Use), Terracon (Geotech), Solterra (Green Roof), Sunergy (Solar Panels), Kirby Electric, United Systems Mechanical, Clearview Mechanical, Earthheat Geothermal Systems, and AAA Drainfield Design.
By Debbie Anway, Rafn Company Project Engineer Security at construction sites has become more and more of a topic in recent years as thieves look for ways to make quick money and others look to have epic adventures in a prohibited place. From the perspective of a general contractor, securing a construction site goes hand in hand with safety and loss prevention. Contractors work hard all day to keep projects moving forward but all that can be undone with an accident or theft afterhours. Top reasons to secure a job site:
- Safety - Construction sites have inherent hazards that are mitigated by workers with the use of safety equipment including boots, long pants, gloves, shirts with sleeves, fall protection (harnesses), eye protection, hearing protection, and hard hats. On site hazards are addressed at all times by making sure ladders are secured, floor edges have temporary railings, and exposed rebar have protective caps to name just a few. But if an unauthorized person enters the site after hours we are unable to assure their safety.
- Theft Prevention - Construction sites are prime targets for thieves due to the large amounts of new materials and products waiting to be installed. Because they have been recently delivered to the site, they are often in an easily transportable state aiding the thief in their removal. Knowledge of the security system's existence deters a thief from entering the site in the first place. We have signs on all of our fences announcing our security system.
- Apprehension - The security system is armed each day after the work day is over. Security cameras are motion activated and begin to record when they sense movement. The system calls the Police every time a video camera is triggered, proving that an unauthorized person is on our job site. Response times vary but multiple arrests have been made at three of our sites already this year (one this week).
- Insurance - The project owner and their insurance representative are looking for a predictable result in the construction of their project. Accidents and theft can throw a monkey wrench in the schedule and budget, resulting in delays, cost overruns, and insurance claims. Site security provides them peace of mind; they have confidence that materials won't be stolen and that we have done our due diligence to maintain a safe site.
Security on current Rafn jobsites is provided by Secure Pacific Corp. (http://securepacific.com/).
This third installment of looking back over the history of the Rafn enterprise captures the solidification of a culture that looks like it is here to stay. Our 20th Anniversary marked an all-time high revenue for Rafn. 1998 was an apartment boom not dissimilar to the one we are seeing around us today. It was in the midst of that boom that we learned some very valuable lessons, lessons that continue to serve us well today. Rafn’s leadership adopted what we have come to know as our Golden Rules. They include things like not hiring for a project or taking on work for which we have no capacity, to always manage potential subcontractor failure proactively and with extreme caution, and to always use our tools, systems and processes to protect our customers and their projects from failure. We also learned the value of a balanced portfolio of projects in the pipeline. In addition to a healthy dose of apartments and condominiums, Rafn continued to grow our Special Projects Group (SPG) through a diverse range of customers. SPG did multi-floor office build-outs in Key Tower, technology switching stations for Looking Glass, and the Oceanaire Seafood Restaurant in the Clise Tower. Office buildings were a staple in Rafn’s resume during this decade. They included the award winning curved wall tilt-up for Burnstead, the concrete and steel shell for Columbia West and the Mount Baker Ridge offices that were sandwiched between two single family homes. 
Some of the most significant projects of this decade were those done in the name of the environment. Rafn was fortunate to get the opportunity to build the first LEED Gold project this side of the Mississipi – Islandwood. With the help of the creative folks at Mithun and the generous support of the Brainerd Family, the private school that was then known as the Puget Sound Environmental Learning Center became the Pilot for LEED in developing all of their tools for construction documentation and training. Next came Traugott Terrace, the first low-income apartment project in the country to get it’s LEED Certification. And the last “first” was the Green Globe certification given to Blakely Town Center at the new Issaquah Highlands. Today Rafn’s portfolio of sustainably built projects is just one of the things that was developed over that decade that has really stuck. The Rafn culture continued to evolve through this time of growth. It became a culture that allows people the opportunity to build unique and interesting projects for great people in an environment that is safe, fun and structured. We became structured not by a timeclock or a uniform but rather through common tools and systems. Tools and systems that make doing the work easier, faster and more efficient all the while producing more reliable outcomes with a high degree of predictability. It is low stress because we have each other’s backs and because the work gets done consistently on time and under budget. 
All of that adds up to another unique feature of the Rafn organization – people don’t leave. Tenure at the Rafn Company really began to add up during this decade. It was now not uncommon for people to have been with the company for over 20 years. We had our first retiree – Trygve Bjorndal in 1999. A world class craftsman Trygve is memorialized with our annual mentor award for the crafts person who gives most generously to others. We also began to see a trend in re-hires. Those rare birds who flew the coop for new adventures at other companies began to come back. They brought with them both valuable experience and a sense of loyalty that is inspirational and irreplaceable. Today we have Joe, Todd, Tim, Marc and others all who have stepped out for a brief education and then come home. In 2002 Shawn Rhode and Heather Bunn were added to the stockholder group as Jack Rafn prepared for retirement. The good people and the great work of the Rafn Company culminated in major rebranding effort in 2002. Our new logo and tag line appeared as a result of some serious outreach to our customers to find out how they thought about us. We then took that show on the road to make sure that our business partners really understood the breadth of the organization and to make sure that we knew how we could best serve our clients, associates and community.
