Prince also thinks that what will help set apart one general contractor from another is new technology, such as the BIM program and 4D and 5D modules that can be added to it. " This is the wave of the future, and those construction companies that embrace it will excel. It takes all the project management tools and field tools into one software program, with the added dimension of modeling, so you can physically see in 3D what's going on with every action. It'll revolutionize construction, because we'll be able to build more complex structures for less money on shorter schedules with greater efficiency, and with more off- site fabrication." Met2 is the second part of a four- phase development. The recently opened Met1 is a high- rise condominium building, Met3 will be a retail/ parking development with a future condominium structure, and Met Square will be mainly retail. Suffolk did not take part in the Met1 project but hopes to be a part of the Met3 and Met Square projects. My superintendent and his staff worked out the logistics for the site, coordinating all those deliveries. Trucks are staged off site and then brought in through that lane and the materials unloaded." Prince points out that with the lull in construction in Miami, there has been no labor shortage, so Suffolk's been able to hire the best available workers. And since their crane was one of the last to come down on the skyline, it's pretty quiet here now. They originally had four cranes on the site; the first two came off the hotel, which topped up earlier, and they removed the center crane from the office tower a few months ago. " When we began a few years ago, there were more than 40 cranes on the skyline and about 100 projects being constructed at the same time. It's been a tough year for most of us in the construction business all over the US, but we know it's cyclical, so it always bounces back. But the hardest part for all of us in the field is that we'd been on a decade- long roll, and now we're faced with a much more competitive market, with few projects to pursue. But it'll be back in a few years, I'm sure, at a more moderate pace than we experienced in the past decade." The Met2 office tower has already been pre- certified for LEED Silver accreditation. Up to 90 percent of the construction debris on the site is being recycled or reused, adding construction- phase points to the considerable sustainability already built into the design, and all subcontractors are contributing to that effort. Prince's own opinion is that LEED is essentially common- sense building practices and material selection in the interest of achieving energy efficiency and water conservation. " Most material manufacturers are now making building supplies that are LEED-compliant, and I think it's a natural trend that will become more normal." Suffolk Construction: Met2 JANUARY 10 www. bus- ex. com 179 "" I like working with the younger guys, to help them learn the business. I understand the excitement they've been feeling, having worked on a 50- story building myself when I began my career"