For the renovation of  St. Luke’s Hospital, the team designed and constructed 44 separate projects within an 18-month period. The targeted buildings ranged from 30 to more than 100 years old.

The majority of the mechanical, electrical and plumbing infrastructure within the renovation areas was more than 50 years old, well beyond its useful life. Complex MEP systems were prefabricated, allowing for better performance and quality, judges said.

Syska said that to reduce costs and expedite the schedule, it explored alternative approaches to traditional construction methods —like compressing the hot water reheating system’s fittings with a hand-operated clamp rather than soldering, which drastically reduced the installation time.

The Mount Sinai Health System became the first health system in New York City to execute an integrated project delivery (IPD) process. This made the architect, engineer, owner and contractor teams contractually obligated to work in a collaborative manner to remain below budget. The project shows how IPD entices more senior engineering staff to get involved, which results in them offering a number of creative options to reduce project costs.

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