Smith LaRock Architecture PC Receives 2013 Denver Award

Denver Award Program Honors the Achievement

DENVER April 10, 2013 — Smith LaRock Architecture PC has been selected for the 2013 Denver Award in the Industrial Design Consultants category by the Denver Award Program.

Each year, the Denver Award Program identifies companies that we believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and our community. These exceptional companies help make the Denver area a great place to live, work and play.

Various sources of information were gathered and analyzed to choose the winners in each category. The 2013 Denver Award Program focuses on quality, not quantity. Winners are determined based on the information gathered both internally by the Denver Award Program and data provided by third parties.

About Denver Award Program

The Denver Award Program is an annual awards program honoring the achievements and accomplishments of local businesses throughout the Denver area. Recognition is given to those companies that have shown the ability to use their best practices and implemented programs to generate competitive advantages and long-term value.

The Denver Award Program was established to recognize the best of local businesses in our community. Our organization works exclusively with local business owners, trade groups, professional associations and other business advertising and marketing groups. Our mission is to recognize the small business community’s contributions to the U.S. economy.

All Our Licenses & Registrations

Congratulations to Justin Gerze of SLA for completing the AutoDesk Revit Certified Professional test!  After completing his Certified Associate test in 2012, he has completed the second and final test that is offered by Autodesk.

1. New Admin/Control Building Project | Wyoming, USA
2. New Control Building for Refinery Terminal (Wharf Expansion Project) | California, USA
3. Two New Control Buildings for Refinery | Texas, USA
4. New Refinery Control Building | Alberta, CAN
5. Renovation Refinery Control Room Project  | Alberta, CAN

Stay tuned as we’ll post new pictures in our portfolio for a sneak peek!

Of all the $$ put into a facility over 10 years

The importance of applying good Human Factors in design is recognizing that so much invested value is dependent upon good design.

Safety must be paramount- nothing is safer than promoting the vigilance of those persons running the plant. Good people must be retained, and recruitment must be supported.  What we’re talking about is the leading edge of the Time-Value Chart.

The chart tells us that 82% of all costs spent over a ten year period on a structure once the bldg is in place goes to People:  salaries, benefits, taxes, vacation, sick time, recruiting, training, retention, etc. The next 10% of all dollars spent go to the specialized IT & computer systems, cable/fiber infrastructure systems beyond normal systems within the building. 5% goes to the Design & Construction:  5% of this 5% (depending on the size /complexity of the building) is for the Design services.  Rounding this tabulation up is 3% of all the dollars spent goes to the Operations & Maintenance.

As expensive as energy is, it pales in comparison to the cost of people.  If a good design can save (by not constructing) 10% of the building area considered just through good design understandings, the design fee can be covered by the savings.

For a 25,000 sf bldg: 10% saved (2500 sf) @ 350/sf = $875,000 in costs NOT spent.

A normal Design Services fee for a 25,000 sf building may equate to 5-6% of the construction costs for typical architectural services within the battery limits.  For a design fee range of ~$8.75MM x 5%= ~$438K in design fees.  Keeping the same ~5% design fee on a smaller bldg is 393K fees, plus the owner didn’t build ~$875,000 worth of building area: this indicates a $1.25MM savings could be realized.

These are strong incentives when recruiting and retaining workers when one factors in what it costs to train and develop employees.  Another way to look at this is to say that of every 100 dollars spent on Building Operations costs for that 25,000 sf example building, it will break down over ten years as:

• $82 for people,
• $10 for IT Systems,
• $3 for Ops & Maintenance,,
• just under $5 for Construction costs,
• and of this, 25 cents per 100 dollars spent over 10 years on the Design of the facility.

Ignoring for a moment the profits developed by having that facility in place, from a purely maintainability perspective, it just makes sense to have better people-support designed into the facility to wield the most efficiency & savings. Including the higher profitability, lower absenteeism, and higher job satisfaction and better recruitment & retention capabilities if better human factors are designed into the structure….Good Design pays on-going dividends as cost savings.  Poor Design pays dividends too- every time the lights are turned on, we have to live with & pay for lost functionality.

Don’t forget to stop by our booth and talk with us about your project needs and enter our iPad giveaway!

Drawing will be held on Wednesday 12 noon on November 7, 2012 at the Summit!

Submit entry by 11:30am. Must be present to win.

Interested in attending the 6th Annual Global Refining Strategies Summit in 2012?  Worried it’s too expensive?  Well as a sponsor Smith LaRock can get you 80% discount!  That’s huge!  Get your tickets for $500 vs the $2500 it normally costs.

Just contact us to get your discount voucher.

Smith LaRock Architecture and Human Centered Solutions will be attending the 2012 Global Refining Summit. We’d love to talk with you about your upcoming control room facilities needs and how important the correct environment and interface with technology is to operational effectiveness.

Request a meeting with us before the event, or stop by November 5-7th to get answers to your questions about best practices, vigilance, situational awareness, or just to chat about what’s new in Best Practice Control Room Design. Don’t forget to enter our iPad giveaway drawing!

The New iPad Giveaway

We thought, “why stop at an 80% discount?” so we are giving away a Brand New iPad at the summit as well!

Learn More Here

SITUATION:

Operators within a control space, like most of us, act on information received visually.  LCD screens, reports, memos, and logs convey the information typically needed to perform one’s daily duties.  In a 24/7 Command and Control Center, mission-critical information presented must be easily identified, understood, and addressed by the operators.  Improper room design and ergonomics can cause impediments or interference to processing that information and result in environmental workplace stress and physical discomfort.

Many things can create operator disruptions in a focused environment like a 24/7 control center.  Reflected or direct glare, too much or too little light, unplanned/uncontrolled contrasts, distracting sounds, interruptions by non-critical persons, etc. all add to the distractions that must be dealt with by the Operators. As designers of these specialized spaces, we must make sure we don’t create more problems than we solve.  One of the biggest issues we see as control-space designers is the issue of admitting natural light into a collaboration and control space:

• Are we trying to introduce natural light to reduce energy consumption, or for another reason?
• Do we want views out to provide visual relief or just allow diffuse light in?
• Where can we add natural light?
• Can natural lighting help create better operator vigilance and performance?
• How much or how little to do the job?
• What happens at night?

Studies have shown that introducing natural light into work areas makes employees more comfortable and productive and leads to improvements

Benefits such as improved reduced worker absenteeism, employee satisfaction, and greater staff productivity levels result from the use of natural lighting and views out. In Control Suites, we try to introduce the natural lighting in areas outside of the main control room. The potential for glare, contrast, and reflection on screens must be considered.

Even if natural light sources are located where they cannot reflect off LCD screens, they can still produce significant contrast issues.  In a space where contrast ratios rule the design, it is inadvisable to create a problem that then requires a procedure to control it.  Consider also whether blast resistance outweighs the other benefits; it can be done, but must be designed carefully to meet the physical requirements.

Instead, consider putting natural lighting where it is less intrusive to the Operators on station or using a translucent panels to diffuse the light, along with a control device (shading).  Having a view to the exterior engenders a connection to the outdoors that is lacking in many of today’s Control Suites. Natural light (i.e. full-spectrum) is also a critical need in a best practice facility to help temper physiological and biological issues such as circadian rhythms of the personnel.  Artificial light can emulate full-spectrum light indoors, however artificial means may not be the best way to create alertness when natural lighting is possible.

RESULTS:

Proper lighting design does not bombard operations personnel with indiscriminate lighting. In fact, it is designed to achieve specific results, allows for user control, and helps us produce control spaces that are pleasant, perceptibly brighter, and more conducive to 24/7 shift schedules. Combined with our other design techniques, we can promote:

• Effective room and functional ergonomics
• Application of indirect lighting techniques utilizing several systems with layers of light developed specifically for mission critical spaces
• Heating and cooling to provide an environment with user control
• Acoustics so that the space and design helps reduce the impact of radio chatter and other intrusive sounds

We find that the combination of natural and artificial lighting balanced with the use of natural materials creates control spaces that are warm, inviting, and connects users to nature that help reduce stresses and fatigue.  Contrary to the past, we know that Control Rooms can be pleasant places to work while quietly helping to promote vigilance and better situational awareness.

View Full Case Study

Vigilance and Situational Awareness is a desired result of both technology and environmental systems collaborating to provide the means to remain alert when our bodies have other ideas. In addressing these desired outcomes, we must develop an Architecture that embeds the means to create the desired outcomes into the structure and environment. Architecture is the means; it is the scenery we see on our journey from our current ways of managing, operating and controlling a process, towards a new paradigm that is made available through advances in technology, requirements of regulation, design for purpose, and development of improved operational methods.

While somewhat interesting to look at, the designs of many of today’s control facilities do not offer direct clues as to what support the room design can provide to the Users to meet these new regulations. Only when there is a concerted effort to collect and understand the needs of the Users may we influence those needs through the architectural design process. Once we have the right information for design we can readily see the benefits of safer and more effective operating methods within Control Centers. By paying close attention to those influences, we can create better design practices that support our Operators/Users. How we apply such influencing design solutions, useful products, and the fit and finish of materials to the benefit of both Owner and Employee is where Smith LaRock’s specialized experience lies.

View Full Case Study

Paper Abstract

Transforming CRM Regulation into Operational Excellence: Going Beyond Compliance

Peter Bullemer, Mike Smith and Dal Vernon Reising

In the past year, pipeline companies have conducted assessments, identified gaps and modified operations practices to be compliant with the new Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) issued new regulations for Control Room Management (CRM).

These new regulations address some basic human factors engineering and management solutions that can enhance the performance reliability of control room pipeline operations personnel particularly around abnormal and emergency situation management capabilities.

As companies are investing in the operations improvements, there is an opportunity to not only achieve compliance with the new CRM regulations but also to become a high performance organization by addressing the human reliability factors.

In this workshop, key human factors considerations are presented that highlight the role of human reliability in preventing and responding to abnormal situations.

Human Centered Solutions has developed extensive knowledge and experience on effective abnormal situation management practices over the past twenty years through participation in the Abnormal Situation Management (ASM) Consortium.

We will discuss some important solutions elements that may enable your organization to address the regulations and at the same time go beyond compliance to improve controller performance such as control room and operator interface design practices.