Chicago-based Pepper Construction was named the most innovative construction firm in the country for developing a virtual reality safety training program by leveraging tools and staffing resources that were already in place to create a “real life” safety learning environment. As a result, Pepper Construction was named as the grand prize winner of the AGC Innovation Awards, sponsored by Autodesk.
“In order to make construction projects great, firms must innovate,” said Bob Lanham, the association’s president and president of Williams Brothers Construction Co., Inc. in Houston, Texas. “These award winners have mixed hard work and ingenuity to strengthen their firms and produce outstanding results.”
Through collaboration between the safety and virtual technology department, the Pepper team developed a virtual training program by customizing it using their own statistics reinforced with industry data with an option to make changes as the data evolved. This process allowed the team to eliminate the need to hire a consultant or purchase new software minimizing financial investment. The team combined BIM models and point-cloud scans that were already in use in their programs with Unreal Engine, a creation engine used to build video games, to immerse employees within a replicated jobsite with real hazards in an authentic yet safe way.
In addition to Pepper Construction, Richardson, Texas-based Skiles Group received the second-place prize for development of their own app, Smart Safety, which provides field staff and project administrators with one-click access to site-specific emergency protocols and resources on all active jobsites. Dunkirk, Md.-based PATRIOT was awarded the third-place prize for creating individualized treatment units to support both the healthcare industry and patients suffering from COVID-19.
The association presented Pepper Construction with a $7,000 grand prize during its annual convention last month in Orlando. Lanham noted that the association created the AGC Innovation Awards to inspire members of the construction industry to craft innovative solutions to pressing industry challenges. Lanham added that the Innovation Award showcases free thinkers within the construction industry to provide solutions to construction challenges we face.
Click here if you would like to learn more about the Innovation Awards. Click here to view a collection of photographs for use by the media featuring diverse individuals in the construction workforce.
Related Stories
| Jul 16, 2014
Nonresidential construction starts up 34% in June
Construction starts for nonresidential work saw a surge in June, rising more than a third compared with the previous month, according to Reed Construction Data.
| Jul 16, 2014
ASHRAE, IAQA team up to improve resources on indoor air quality
Indoor Air Quality Association will become part of the ASHRAE organization while maintaining its own brand and board; HQ will relocate to Atlanta.
| Jul 15, 2014
Michael Graves talks with Washington Post about new design eye from life in a wheelchair
Celebrated American architect Michael Graves sits with the Washington Post to talk about how being on a wheelchair changed the way he focuses on design.
| Jul 15, 2014
A look into the history of modular construction
Modular construction is more than a century old, and throughout its lifespan, the methods have been readapted to meet specific needs of different eras.
| Jul 15, 2014
AECOM to buy URS Corporation in $6 billion deal
Together, the firms will form a massive global giant with more than $19 billion in revenue and 95,000 employees in 150 countries.
| Jul 15, 2014
Trade groups form task force to further transparency and optimization of building product ingredients
The Harmonization Task Group will offer marketplace benefits including consistent messaging, simplification, elimination of redundancies, and creation of more accurate, faster and less costly assessments.
| Jul 14, 2014
Meet the bamboo-tent hotel that can grow
Beijing-based design cooperative Penda designed a bamboo hotel that can easily expand vertically or horizontally.
| Jul 11, 2014
First look: Jeanne Gang reinterprets San Francisco Bay windows in new skyscraper scheme
Chicago architect Jeanne Gang has designed a 40-story residential building in San Francisco that is inspired by the city's omnipresent bay windows.
| Jul 11, 2014
Are these LEGO-like blocks the future of construction?
Kite Bricks proposes a more efficient way of building with its newly developed Smart Bricks system.
| Jul 10, 2014
Unique design of Toronto's townhome The Tree House
Plans for a new Toronto townhome brings cutting-edge design.