New Technologies in Use on the Jobsite

​At Valley Park Business Center in Shakopee, Minn. we’re utilizing advances in technology to reduce indoor air contaminants and keep the workers on the site safer and healthier. Dust collection attachments and efficient temporary heaters have reduced the level of air contaminants typically produced during construction.

In the past, dry saw cutting of green concrete floors soon after concrete placement created a dusty/dirty atmosphere containing silica dust. The new dust collection attachments utilized at Valley Park collect concrete dust and provide a cleaner, safer work environment for our field workers.

The new air heaters at Valley Park provide a warm and dry environment without introducing significant amounts of combustion exhaust, which contains carbon monoxide and moisture, into the building. The system has a draw-through type burner for efficient combustion certified to be less than 5 PPM of carbon monoxide. In short, the system provides a controllable amount of clean, warm, dry air without exposure to an open flame at the heater discharge.

For the specific use and configuration of the Valley Park Business Center project, the heating system requires fewer units than other manufacturer’s heating system solutions. Although the units were more expensive to rent than other manufacturer’s systems, fewer required heating units resulted in reduced labor set-up cost and reduced total energy cost.

Our trades’ personnel at Valley Park speak positively about the air quality. Because of that we will continue to evaluate technologies that are available and consider using appropriate new technologies on future projects to help maintain the crew’s safety and health.