164 www. bus- ex. com JANUARY 10 Linbeck believes that by improving production and eliminating waste, the team is able to more easily overcome the typical challenges involving labor, time and schedule that affect the average construction project. The company is a corporate member of the Lean Construction Institute, which seeks to encourage a fresh approach to construction projects. With lean as a foundation, Linbeck developed the TeamBuild value process mapping approach, a proprietary process that starts before actual design with extensive work aimed at finding out the true goal and objective of a project, and continues well beyond the final commissioning of a project. The firm argues that if buildings manage to function with better space efficiency, operate in a more cost- effective way or enable an owner to produce more revenue or otherwise reduce costs, they can become part of a competitive advantage. The Linbeck approach has resulted in scores of projects across the country, including academic work at the Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge and Yale University. Healthcare projects in the firm's portfolio include the Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, Texas, which earned the AGC Outstanding Construction Award, and the Texas Heart Institute in Houston, which earned the AON Build America Award in 2002. The firm has also performed extensive historical renovation work and a host of cultural projects, including Crystal Bridges in Bentonville, Arkansas- where buildings act as dams that create crystal- clear ponds- and the Modern Art Museum in Fort Worth, which won the 2003 AON Build America Award. The firm also acted as project manager on behalf of the Houston Texans National Football League franchise as it built the new Reliant Stadium. Current projects that Linbeck is helping to guide to completion include the Rice University Collaborative Research Center, a 10- story facility with eight floors of research laboratories, a vivarium and a 280- seat educational auditorium- all designed to bring together academic researchers in medicine, biology and engineering together with doctors from the Texas Medical Center. Linbeck is also managing the construction of the Co- Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Houston, a project meant to be a foundation for the long- term future of the Catholic Church in the fast-growing Houston area. As it seeks to continue and enhance its reputation for excellence, Linbeck is constantly searching for the best

Amon Carter Museum completed its expansion, it turned to Linbeck for help coordinating the purchase of all furnishings and fixtures, as well as the selection and installation of a security system. And when Tufts University wanted to get a better handle on the work its facilities required, it hired Linbeck to develop a comprehensive list of deferred maintenance requirements as well as plan to optimize the value of its current and future maintenance allocations. Linbeck takes pride in its innovative approach, which last year included the bold step of taking an equity stake in a building information modeling ( BIM) software startup, Trelligence, a move the firm said was based on its belief that the BIM approach creates an effective platform for its TeamBuild approach to planning, design and construction. As the company proclaims on its Web site, " We approach the planning and building process as a journey from vision to reality." The Linbeck Group JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 165 and brightest employees nationwide. Once on board, employees receive extensive training and are retained through the work of a number of special programs. Linbeck has earned national safety excellence awards in every year since 2003 and is active in the communities it serves, with the company as a whole and individual employees doing volunteer work at a host of agencies such as Habitat for Humanity and the Ronald McDonald House. Often, clients turn to Linbeck for specific tasks, using it as a representative to oversee certain aspects of a job or tapping into its expertise to help move projects forward or get them from the idea stage to the project stage. For instance, Baylor University tapped Linbeck to help develop a comprehensive plan for a complete redevelopment of the campus's student housing, mapping out a plan to upgrade existing dormitories and other living quarters while also adding 2,500 new beds. Similarly, when the