Insights

Why Our Change Orders Are One-Third of Industry Average

Cumulative change orders on a large building will cause construction to run anywhere from 11-15% over budget and 10-20% over schedule. At Salas O’Brien, we’ve studied our change order rate and discovered that we consistently keep our change orders below 3% of construction costs. This means that on a typical $1 million construction project with […]

How Growing Differently Puts Our Clients First

At a recent ESOP shareholder meeting, CEO Darin Anderson spoke to Salas O’Brien’s employee-owners about how the company’s core values impact our growth, and what that means for the future. Why Grow? While growth can be a worthy goal in itself, Salas O’Brien believes that growth has never (and will never) prevent us from living […]

TRS Joins the Salas O’Brien Family

Salas O’Brien is thrilled to welcome Concord, California-based Technical Roof Services (TRS) into the Salas O’Brien family.

When Commissioning Saved $900,000

At Salas O’Brien, we believe in commissioning. And though code now requires commissioning in more places than ever, we’ve always believed that the energy savings and long-term value that commissioning provide make it the right thing to do. In fact, commissioning saved a Salas O’Brien client $900,000 and resulted in an immediate payback. Here’s the […]

Interview: Partnering with the US Military

Salas O’Brien has for many years partnered with our government and military to improve infrastructure and serve our men and women in uniform. And it’s no surprise that our office in San Diego has an especially deep and long-standing portfolio in engineering and commissioning for the military. In this brief interview, Farzad Tadayon, Managing Principal in […]

Mel Kalmans Celebrates Nearly 60 Years in Industry, Announces Retirement for End of 2018

Mel Kalmans, co-founder of Salas O’Brien’s Houston office and an industry veteran of nearly 60 years, announced his retirement yesterday in a meeting with the Salas O’Brien teams in Texas and Louisiana. To ensure a smooth transition for clients, Mel’s retirement will take place at the end of 2018. Aside from Mel’s devoted family, Salas […]

Salas O’Brien Named a 2018 Commissioning Giant

Salas O’Brien has once again been named to Consulting-Specifying Engineer‘s list of Commissioning Giants. The award is based on annual billings and includes firms performing all types of commissioning around the world.

Interview: Engineering for High-Speed Tolling

Salas O’Brien’s new Orlando office has unique capabilities in engineering for high-speed tolling. Here, Adam Levine, Principal, shares details on what exactly these projects entail and why he loves working on them. How long have you been doing high-speed tolling projects? This office has been doing high-speed tolling projects for more than 20 years. I’ve […]

Saving Energy & Advancing Careers at Alief ISD

At Salas O’Brien, our commitment to community-building means that we love contributing to education projects. That’s why we were especially excited to attend last week’s ribbon-cutting at the Center for Advanced Careers in Houston’s Alief ISD. The 235,000-square-foot school can accommodate up to 2,500 students receiving training in areas as diverse as veterinary science, manufacturing, […]

Interview: Overcoming Obstacles and Achieving Solutions in Automation and Controls Retrofit

Without extensive prior documentation, there’s no way to know what obstacles may arise in complex retrofit projects. Salas O’Brien’s automation and controls team knows this better than most, and our insight and experience can help you plan for the best and prepare for the worst in your upcoming retrofit projects. In this short interview, automation […]

From Energy Audits to Energy Savings: ROI through Chilled Water and More

Coming out of a summer of record-breaking heat waves, many property owners and developers are taking a fresh look at the high energy costs that come with keeping things cool. AC can take a major toll on the bottom line during steamy summer months, but Salas O’Brien can help you maintain a comfortable atmosphere while […]

EBCx Raises the Bar at Georgia Department of Public Health Lab

In engineering, a project’s square footage doesn’t always indicate its complexity. Small, key environments like data centers, laboratories, and clean rooms often require incredibly detailed design work to achieve necessary outcomes. Our work for the Georgia Department of Public Health in Decatur, Georgia, is a prime example of this type of small-scale, complex project. The […]