Travis Tomanek, head of sales for Mission Critical Solutions, said USG will unveil an innovation meant to address a major pain point for its construction partners. 

“This will help building teams accelerate installation in the data hall while helping to solve for lost time in maintenance and repairs,” he said. “It addresses challenges across the entire project chain and is an example of how we provide solutions, not just products.”

Tomanek said USG seeks to partner and share its expertise with construction and design teams to help them build more quickly and efficiently. With more than 1,500 new data centers planned in the U.S. and unrelenting pressure to build them faster, Bisnow spoke with Tomanek to learn more about USG’s partnership approach and its upcoming announcement. 

Bisnow: How does the fast pace of data center construction impact your clients?

Tomanek: Commercial construction has seen nothing like this. I was just in a meeting with a construction team that talked about earning millions of dollars of bonuses to open a month early. When you consider that data center owners can make between $1M and $2M an hour when they turn the power on, it’s clear why they're willing to pay a million dollars to open a month early, considering that they're going to make that back in a few hours.

Bisnow: How does USG help building teams maintain that pace?

Tomanek: Every trade in that building is trying to go as fast as possible, and if we can help them coordinate better and move faster, then they can bring more value to the project. 

Our engineering and architecture teams can go in and look at the project and say, “Hey, if we do this, we can change the lead times. We can turn it around faster.” Everything that USG can offer these teams is not just what you see in our portfolio.  

Bisnow: That’s intriguing, because USG may be best known for its lines of building products, including for mission-critical clients like data centers, correct?

Tomanek: Well, we think of ourselves as building science experts. If you look at the history of USG and our iconic Sheetrock Brand, we are technical leaders. We invented modern drywall and mineral fiber ceiling tile, and USG continues to introduce new innovations, as people will see at DICE. We want to have a true impact for the end user, installer and architect, and we're always looking for ways to bring value to our customers.

Bisnow: And one way you bring value is by acting as a partner to construction teams?

Tomanek: If they need something, we’re going to help them figure it out. Especially if we're involved in the initial stages, we can bring value to a project with our design and engineering expertise and say, “You know what, this isn’t what you really want. We think if you do this instead, you’re going to work a lot faster,” or, “This is going to give you more flexibility in the future.” 

We're not just providing a product. There's no partnership in that. Partnerships are helping people see what we see and seeing what they see, and then trying to develop solutions for their current and future needs.

Bisnow: How do you make this approach work?

Tomanek: The key to any good partnership is communication. The more open and honest we are with everyone in the room, the less chance there is to fail. This applies to lead times, too: If there's something that we see going on, like a snowstorm or something that prevents material delivery, we call you right away. We might have another solution that we can provide at one of our other facilities. 

Honestly, the best thing for all of us to be is to be in the same room. Whether it’s the subs, GC or owners, as long as we're in that conversation, we can make everyone's lives easier.

Bisnow: What can you tell us about your coming announcement at the Bisnow event?

Tomanek: I can’t share details yet, but we're very excited about it. I can, however, tell you that it addresses one of the biggest problems in a data hall, which involves rework or repairs. It’s very challenging to go back into the building to make repairs once construction is completed, but our new solution addresses the maintenance component.

We innovated this idea after speaking with customers who told us about the time and logistics required when they have to go back in and remove something that they've already done. This solution will both accelerate deployment and improve install efficiency.

Bisnow: How can we learn more?

Tomanek: Attend DICE Dallas, where we will be doing a demo of our newest solution. We’re looking forward to explaining to GCs and others there how they can work faster and more efficiently with us as their partner.

This article was produced in collaboration between USG and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.