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Vernox Labs turns data into assets Mountain View startup is working to eliminate the unpredictability inherent in the AEC industry and project development with its new predictive analytics platform.
By LIISA ANDREASSEN Correspondent
WANT TO BE PART OF THE PILOT? Visit vernoxlabs.com to learn how to get involved.
F ounded in 2014, Vernox Labs is a group of tech- nology and construction professionals focused on helping the AEC industry improve project deliv- ery. Backed by Y Combinator, an early stage startup incubator based out of Mountain View, California, day-to-day operations at Vernox Labs are head- ed up by Vinayak Nagpal, Michael Savaiano, and Adam Frandson. Vernox Labs is developing a predictive analytics platform that transforms data from construction projects into a business asset. It derives insights from historical data objects such as RFIs, change orders, schedules, and inspection and safety re- ports to improve delivery of current and future projects. OUT WITH THE OLD. Though providing constructability reviews for construction projects is not new to the AEC industry, such reviews come in various forms and levels of detail. Savaiano says that, in the past, if a project decided to use an in-depth constructa- bility review after a general contractor won the job, it could have been delivered in at least two ways: A consulting services firmwould have been brought on to conduct the formal constructability review
on the project. A static report and list of design and constructability items would then be reported to the team to address. The general contractor could conduct a formal con- structability review leveraging his own expertise and employees (usually including a superinten- dent) as resources to address key design and con- structability items early in the project. “Both of these options rely heavily on tacit knowl- edge from those providing the constructability re- view to identify omissions, conflicts, or clarifying questions with regards to the design. The output is most often a static report that is delivered to the project team,” Savaiano says. Option 1 requires the project team to engage with a consultant, which can often be a long and costly endeavor. Option 2 assumes that the general con- tractor has the time and resources to focus on con- ducting a constructability review. IN WITH THE NEW. “With the current building boom, at least in the San Francisco Bay Area, we’re seeing See VERNOX, page 8
THE ZWEIG LETTER OCTOBER 19, 2015, ISSUE 1124
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