Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery, image courtesy of Findorff Mortenson

In addition to standard project savings considerations, such as space, time and cost, the
WID | MIR project team has embraced three dimensions: sustainability, changeability and lean delivery; in order to yield a unique building design. The team goal on the project is LEED Silver with the possibility of reaching LEED Gold certification. To meet their goals and deliver a successful project, the team needed to implement tools that would help them along the way, one of which was Submittal Exchange.

The WID | MIR project team is diverse and works in a highly collaborative environment across a wide geographic area, making Submittal Exchange a vital tool in successful team communications. According to Jeremy Cortesio, “Document access for the entire team is much improved because it is a web-based system.” Cortesio has over 10 years of experience in the construction industry and serves as a Project Manager for Findorff Mortenson, general contractor on the WID | MIR project. Previously he had worked with in-house systems designed primarily for one facet of the project team, either the contractor or the architect. “I would recommend Submittal Exchange because having an organized common document space that is available at all times to the entire project team is a huge advantage."

"With teams in Milwaukee and Philadelphia, online access to documents has saved us money in shipping and it’s definitely made a difference in turnaround times."
Mark Premo, Project Manager, Findorff Mortenson

J.H. Findorff & Son of Madison and M.A. Mortenson of Minneapolis came together in a joint venture, Findorff Mortenson, specifically for this project. The Findorff Mortenson team has a combined construction industry experience of more than 168 years and $3.1 billion in construction in the Madison market. J.H. Findorff and Son began work in Madison in 1890, and has a long history of work on campus, with more than 100 projects at UW-Madison. M.A. Mortenson began in 1954 and today has a national practice, being one of the nation's top 50 firms, as compiled by the Engineering News Record.

Mark Premo, Findorff Mortenson Project Manager, recognizes both the cost and time savings on the project, “With teams in Milwaukee and Philadelphia, online access to documents has saved us money in shipping and it’s definitely made a difference in turnaround times.”

Saving time and money were not the only advantages the project team realized by implementing Submittal Exchange. A key design goal for the building includes the project’s leaders and architects seeking LEED certification from the U.S. Green Building Council to ensure the institutes meet the highest standards for environmental responsibility and occupational health. In keeping with their commitment to sustainable building, the elimination of printing paper copies of documents through the use of Submittal Exchange has to date saved an estimated 200+ trees*.

Architect Debra Zins, with Uihlein-Wilson Architects, architect of record for WID| MIR, is coordinating the documents and communications on Submittal Exchange for the project. With over 14 years of experience in the construction industry, Debra has been impressed with the system’s ability to manage communications on such a large project.

“With the size of the files on this project and the broad distribution required, email or FTP was just not feasible,” said Zins. “Our collaboration goals were advanced by using Submittal Exchange. It breaks things out, yet brings things together. I would definitely recommend it to fellow designers.”

Opening for occupation in December 2010, the institutes will offer students of every age unique opportunities for hands-on training in cross-disciplinary approaches to complex problems.

*8,333.3 letter sized pages per tree according to Conservatree.com