Central New Mexico Community College in Albuquerque chose Flintco to deliver the $22.9 million addition and renovation of the 5-story Max Salazar Hall in part because of the company’s proposed use of self-performed drone flights and thermal and advanced laser scanning technology during preconstruction. The design provides additional instructional space and a “new front door” to better serve the college’s 33,000 students (opening December 2019). The 90,000 SF renovation and 11,000 SF entrance addition to the ‘90s era building is slated for a LEED Silver certification.

Flintco’s “virtual” approach during preconstruction verified the integrity of the building exterior by using a drone and thermal scanning technology. Timing for thermal scans is critical: Flintco conducted the scans in December when outside temperatures dropped, and inside building temperature were at maximum. Warm, pressurized air from inside a building naturally escapes, creating yellow exterior “hot spots” that contrast against the building’s cold “blue” surface. Our team confirmed existing building hot spots as expected at seals around windows and doors and at the top of parapets where heat rises. The building’s minor escaping air was easily corrected with routine maintenance. Once interior demolition was complete, our virtual design and construction team moved inside, self-performing both Matterport and BLK laser scanning technologies. Using the different scanners in tandem meant our team could find and correct structural model variations, allowing us to modify coordinated models instead of finding the issue in the field and sending RFIs to initiate design revisions. Because we modeled the precise locations of remaining chilled water lines and ductwork before starting renovations, we avoided costly rework – savings that accrued to the owner. Eliminating rework also has a direct correlation with delivering an incident and injury free workplace.