Nowhere is the “sign of the times” more evident than building access control technology that NECA contractors and their IBEW workforce are installing.  Health and safety depend on it.  St. Louis CNR tapped Aschinger Electric Vice President of Communications Scott Aschinger on how Covid 19 is impacting building access control.  Aschinger noted that biometric access technology was already adapting pre-Covid to touchless technology. “We’re seeing the industry heading toward other means of biometric such as facial recognition,” noted Aschinger. Sophisticated systems can include not only facial recognition, but identify individuals with higher than normal body temperature. In that same article, Guarantee Electrical Systems Project Manager Mike Hoefler describes an access control “triangle” that keeps a weekly database of temperature readings and access attempts, should an employee try to re-enter a building while still potentially infectious.  Hoefler also notes that Guarantee has installed a silent messaging system in the form of a blue light that notifies employees of an active shooter in the building. Read the full article at this link.

Have you been watching American Ninja Warrior down at America’s Center on NBC? Behind all those obstacles, there is an elaborate production that requires a significant electrical set up.  The work was performed by Guarantee Electrical and its IBEW workforce.  Working on a short timeframe due to the confidentially preceding the event, Guarantee Electrical’s team coordinated with Edlen Electrical Exhibition services and the American Ninja Warrior exhibition crew to power the challenging course which spanned the America’s Center and dome complex. Fiber cabling was also run to assist with networking and control systems.

NECA contractors Kay-Bee Electric and Kaemmerlen Electric powered expansion and improvements to a couple of well-known Friendship Village senior living campuses, working with general contractor PARIC Corp.  At Friendship Village in Chesterfield, Kay-Bee’s in-house staff of professional engineers provided design build services for the project. That included the trillium and wellness centers, “working in phases to accommodate construction activities without impacting continuous use of portions of the buildings by residents.” Kay-Bee also completed electrical work in the new four-story assisted living/memory care facility to accommodate staff offices, a kitchen, beauty shops, a chapel and family activity centers.  Work also included a security system and all exterior site lighting. 

Kaemmerlen, meanwhile, served as a design-build project partner with PARIC on improvements to the Sunset Hills Friendship Village campus.  Its work entailed wiring two buildings.  That included “wiring the enclosed ramp leading to the skilled nursing facility and wiring the 15-bed memory care facility.”  It also seamlessly wired a new bistro to an existing building, installed electrical infrastructure for an underground parking garage, and provided power to numerous water features throughout the campus.  Read more about both Friendship Village projects in the latest issue of St. Louis CNR.