Construction Management

Construction Management

• CMGT-1 Affordable Housing Project in West Philadelphia

  Jacob Hornung, Jon Kaufman, Keanu Brewster, Juan Hillinger, Anaelle Charlot
  Advisor: Dr. Christine Fiori

  West Philadelphia is a diverse area of the city with local families and college students living side by side. However, as the college campuses continue to gentrify the area, many families are forced out into the surrounding neighborhoods by the rising property values. The city poverty rate is 26.5% whereas, in West Philadelphia, the poverty rate is 50.8% showing the drastic need for affordable housing in the area. The goal of the project is to create affordable housing for this community with a focus on providing housing to families and individuals making $30,000 or less a year. The project seeks to fund the housing through the utilization of different government organizations and private investors to ensure affordability. The project also aims to break the traditional affordable housing complex stereotype. Generally, affordable housing complexes only allocate a percentage of the units as affordable, however, this project aims to have all the units be classified as affordable housing units. As West Philadelphia continues to gentrify, much of the existing affordable housing is being replaced by student housing. This project seeks to provide much-needed affordable housing to Belmont and Mantua.

• CMGT-2 Innovative Technological Facility

  Joe Rooney, Robert Hogrefe, Dean Peck, Sam Mediavilla
  Advisor: Dr. Christine Fiori

  The construction industry is one of the largest industries yet, it fails to implement the newest technology. The industry continues to stick to its known methods despite new tech improving construction activities massively. Our solution is to partner with Drexel to design the building and business plan for the Innovative Technological Facility. Led by Drexel’s Construction Management program and in partnership with local contractors, we plan to research, train and expand on construction technology. The space will consist of computer laboratories for software training, lecture areas for scheduled courses, a sandbox space for hands-on field training and our “What’s New Workshop”. Currently, Drexel has no permanent area for its CMGT students. We feel this facility will be a perfect headquarters for the growing major at Drexel and connecting them with industry professionals, as well as improve construction in the region. Not only will Drexel students be able to utilize the space, but classes will also be offered for safety certifications and licenses required in the field and industry people can come to learn as well. Companies will also have the opportunity to showcase their new products and hold hands on seminars for direct advertising and marketing benefits. Successful completion of this facility will provide Drexel students, the administration and construction professionals alike a place to share ideas and maintain solid connections. Teaching people how to utilize technology effectively, efficiently and safely will help this industry progress into the future.

• CMGT-3 Renovation to Net-Zero

  John Card, Joseph Lapinson, Tara Marrongelli, and Christopher Vokes
  Advisor: Dr. Christine M. Fiori

  There is more and more waste being produced and energy being consumed than ever before. Construction is typically stereotyped and generalized as ground up construction. Renovations and salvaging existing building structures is not the first solution that comes to mind. However, by renovating an existing home, one is able to salvage the substructure and superstructure of the building which would reduce the carbon footprint of construction by nearly 70%. Our focus is to create an innovative guide, blueprint, to convert existing structures to net-zero energy consumption. A house in Cherry Hill, NJ, representative of the typical suburban single-family house in the area, will be utilized to form the basis of our research and testing. A net-zero home is a balance between energy needed for the building and renewable energy sources that are producing energy onsite. A home energy audit will provide you with the crucial information that is necessary to quantify energy usages. This audit established the home baseline to compare renovation options. Since affordability plays a large aspect of the final decision when it comes to upgrades, payback periods were calculated. While the idea at large sounds like the environmentally, financially, and morally thing to do, most system payback periods are longer than the time period that the average United States citizen owns a home for. Strictly from the financial standpoint, lighting is the only system upgrade that would save the homeowner money while conserving energy consumption within a reasonable time frame.

• CMGT-4 Construction Technology Laboratory

  Ankit Avichal, Jason Calabria, Alex Criswell, Nick Fredericks, & Ernest Sciulli
  Advisor: Dr. Christine Fiori

  In recent years, the Drexel Construction Management Program has been moving from facility to facility on campus due to the needs of Drexel University. Currently, the program is in the University Crossings building on a single floor and its director, Dr. Christine Fiori, is on an entirely different floor due to the space constraints in the space given by the university. While the rest of the program’s faculty are connected well to the classroom’s, there is still not enough space and resources to conduct all the classes on the floor. To address this, Summit Construction has proposed a building design, budget/estimate, schedule, and location to accommodate the needs of the Construction Management Program. The needs and desires of the current faculty, student body, and the surrounding West Philadelphia community have been taken into consideration. Many features and amenities ranging from a large demonstration space to an in-house recreation center have been included in the design. It is with this building that the Drexel Construction Management Program shall finally gain stability and a new home. While gaining the space it needs to expand its outreach to new students exploring the possibility of a career in the construction industry.

• CMGT-5 Spring Garden Street Bridge Replacement Project

  Abdelrahman Ali, Jacob Birgen, Daniel Dolliver, Andy Houston, Steven Volpe Jr
  Advisor: Dr. Christine Fiori

  The Spring Garden Street Bridge replacement is a construction project that poses many challenges to both designers and constructors. The Spring Garden Street Bridge is a bridge that connects one of Philadelphia’s major highways (I-76) to West Philadelphia and Center City as well as providing a path of travel between West Philadelphia and Center City for the nearby communities. This bridge is in dire need of repair to ensure safe travel for all and no longer structurally deficient. The challenges that this project poses are completing work through the obstructions of working over the Schuylkill River, working over I-76, and working over several railway lines. To face these challenges, the project was segmented into several phases with comprehensive traffic control plans to go along with each phase. Detailed schedules, safety plans, demolition plans, construction plans, and more for this project were also developed throughout the time working on it. It is vital that coordination with all agencies that would be involved in the project is established well before the project begins so that this project can be delivered in a safe, efficient, and economical manner.