Illinois Business Journal - Companies invest in structural safety

Bringing architects, engineers and their clients together to design a building that can maintain its structural integrity despite a catastrophic incident - either natural or man-made - is what is most important to A. Epstein and Sons International Inc.

Although the events of Sept. 11, 2001 brought this concept into much more intense focus, the need to design buildings that hold their form and facilitate safe evacuations has always been a priority in the industry.

John Patelski, president and director of business development for the Chicago-based firm, says that when executives start talking about threats related to security and how they could affect their business, it depends what type of business it is when dictating the structural security measures needed.

"It's really about architects and engineers making sure the structure can withstand an incident and still maintain its integrity, and it's also very much about allowing people to evacuate safely and preserve life safety," Patelski said. "We work with businesses and perform as detailed an analysis as possible up front, plotting a curve that illustrates the costs for each measure to reduce specific threats."

Investing dollars to heighten the safety potential of the company's workspace, he said, generally offers tangible benefits to the business through two areas: reductions in the company's insurance premium due to reduced exposure to risk; and increased attractiveness in the real estate market, with the added safety features elevating the structure's commercial value.

But the number one reason a company chooses to spend money on security-related measures? To reduce loss of life, he said.

"You can't provide a cookbook or universal approach to it," Patelski said. "Each existing building is unique, and every new structure is also different from another."

A. Epstein and Sons is currently consulting on the World Trade Center. The firm is lending its expertise to discussions concerning security and building hardening should a replacement structure be erected at or near the site.

The firm, which includes the specialties of architecture, engineering, construction, interior design and graphic design, is providing expertise to a proposed high-profile office tower in Chicago. The Chicago Transit Authority and the city of Chicago's Department of General Services have had discussions with A. Epstein and Sons regarding security issues.

"In lots of cases, these security measures become an extra budget item, something that wasn't even considered at the outset," Patelski said. "We've definitely seen the magnitude of security concerns increase since Sept. 11, 2001."

Several of the firm's clients are making strategic decisions about the safety and security of their location, be it in a downtown, urban area or in the suburbs. Patelski said some companies currently located in a central business district are considering spreading out their physical presence.

"We're dealing with some clients who want us to study the cost and feasibility of taking these (central business district) elements and relocating them, either to the suburbs or to another city altogether," he said. "Data processing centers, in particular, are deciding to operate a parallel entity as protection against operations disruption. Our technology alliance is seeing a lot of direct discussion on setting up business continuity plans for companies with large volumes of sensitive information technology."

In addition to the threats against a corporation's physical structure and threats to its computer brain of information, Patelski said the federal government is challenging municipalities to address - and prepare for - possible water treatment contamination by terrorists.

"There is a (U.S.) Presidential directive that's ordering all municipalities to develop a plan, a risk assessment and measures to respond to contamination of their water treatment systems," he said. "We're actively involved with consulting work in this arena."