Innovation is also playing a key role in the new $36.8-million Asian Tropics exhibit at the Denver Zoo, where a biomass gasification system will turn human trash and animal waste into energy. Project spokeswoman Celeste Davis says the gasification system will convert 98% of the waste stream (human trash and animal waste) into 85% of the usable energy needed to power the Asian Tropics exhibit.

The 10-acre site also features 1 million gallons of water in a closed-loop filtration system, which increases efficiency by reusing water from the zoo's ponds and rivers.

Kiewit relied on building information modeling to elevate, move and readjust elements before construction began, Davis says. For instance, mechanical, electrical and plumbing lines were moved out of trunk-reach once zookeepers noted that elephants can smell a water line up to 20 ft away and could lift the lines off the walls.

Davis adds that BIM enabled the team to detect and mitigate potential problems early on, with all parties on board.

Due for completion in December and scheduled to open to the public in fall 2012, the six rotating interactive exhibits will house otters, tapirs, rhinos, gibbons, elephants, clouded leopards and bats.

The Asian Tropics project is on track for LEED-Platinum certification, joining the ranks of Kiewit's 75 other LEED-certified projects.

“Construction techniques as they pertain to the environment and sustainability, such as LEED-designated buildings, continue to gain traction, and today we have nearly 200 certified LEED professionals,” Janssen says.

In addition to LEED projects, Kiewit is focusing companywide efforts on spill reduction, greenhouse gas inventory, energy reduction, beneficial reuse of materials, intelligent compaction, hybrid equipment, idling restrictions, corporate governance and waste reduction and recycling.

Education and Transformation

One of few organizations with its own university, Kiewit spends more than $50 million each year on training. That's about $5,600 per salaried employee, six times more than the industry average, Janssen says. Every salaried Kiewit employee receives an average of 249 training hours each year, he adds.

Last year, 2,838 students—approximately 28% of Kiewit's staff—completed classroom instruction in Kiewit University at the firm's Omaha headquarters. In addition, 8,846 online courses were completed.

“Regardless of the economy, Kiewit has always looked for ways to improve our people and innovate how we do business,” Janssen says.

Kiewit has an ongoing companywide effort to leverage operational best practices of other industries and apply them to construction. For instance, the firm is currently upgrading its field mobility technologies to help better manage projects, using “smart devices” to inventory, schedule, supply and manage jobs in the field, ultimately saving costs, Janssen says.

The contractor also recently began an effort to analyze and improve internal communications. “Communication obviously isn't a new technique or technology, but innovations such as using timber piles on the Geneva Road project are generated by our professionals talking to each other,” Janssen says.