The company, founded by Strieter's father, initially centered around mechanical insulation, not expanding into asbestos abatement until 1979. It proved to be a key expansion. These days, Strieter says, abatement projects comprise 70% of the company's work volume.
Asbestos was for years the insulation of choice in residential and commercial structures. Since the late '70s, it has emerges as the scourge of property owners everywhere. The mere mention of the term makes building owners and occupants skittish, with thoughts bouncing in rapid succession between the carcinogenic threat it poses, plunging property values and potential liability suits.
Allaying the Customer's Fears. Given the wide array of concerns that surround its removal, it is not surprising that the first step in the abatement process can often be that of "abating" the fears of a building's inhabitants. Though typically the domain of a building's owners, the dissemination of information about a project's details is a responsibility from which Southern Insulation does not shrink.
Says Vice President Joe Nagro, "We like to go in and get everything out in the open. If an owner wants us to communicate with the tenants, we will lay out exactly what's going on, how it's being done, and the controls that are in place to protect them."
The company's commitment to customer protection is exemplified in its refusal to cut corners with respect to safety-related expenditures. Since entering the abatement business in 19790, Southern Insulation's investments in abatement equipment and personnel training total more than $1 million.
Similarly, in all of its abatement jobs, the company employs an independent industrial hygiene firm to monitor the project's air quality. Although the laws governing this vary depending upon the project's locality, the task of collecting air samples for submission to a lab is one that the company could perform itself. However, as Nagro explains, "It's simply another step we prefer to take to protect everybody, from the owner to the occupant."
Experience. Complementing Southern Insulation's dedication to safety is its breadth of experience. The company does not fear the prospect of a difficult job; indeed, it relishes the challenge. Personifying that enthusiasm, Strieter's eyes light up as he explains, "The harder the job, the more the competition drops off and doesn't want to be a part of it. Not us."
The company's track record speaks for itself. Impressive in range, a few of Southern Insulation's more complex abatement projects have included the removal of asbestos in the wall and ceiling above the swimming pool in the University of Maryland's Cole Student Activities Building.
Other efforts at both the Museum of American History and the National Gallery of Art involved the buildings' mechanical equipment rooms. As Nagro recalls, these projects were particularly tricky because we'd seal off the area, but we had to keep some of their mechanical equipment in operation as we worked. This was equipment that was supplying air and heating to the rest of the building. It was a huge responsibility."
Emerging from the pack. Building on firm foundations of reliability and direct experience, Southern Insulation has additionally carved out a niche for itself in the industry for its unique ability and willingness to respond to varying demands. Not content to merely follow, the company has in recent years become something of an industry trailblazer with its ingenuity.
The birth of the MT-3, a Portable Isolation Enclosure unit designed and patented by Strieter himself, best illustrates the point.
the story has its origins 5 years ago as Southern Insulation was bidding a job that involved the removal of ceiling tiles in a four-building commercial development in Northern Virginia. The buildings' owners were anxious to avoid disrupting the workflow of their tenants and sought to have the work done at nights and on weekends. The job's guidelines called for the standard total enclosure of each office, with the employee's workstation to be protected by two layers of poly film. Southern Insulation submitted one bid complying with those specifications. They also submitted a second involving Strieter's brainchild, the MT-3.
Consisting of a heavy aluminum cubicle on wheels topped by an extendible shroud, the MT-3 introduced a decidedly new flexibility to the task of abatement. A mere 29 inches wide, it was easily maneuverable between desks and other office fixtures. Inside the cubicle a worker could remove ceiling tiles as a powerful High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter maintained a continuos inward air flow through the hood opening, eliminating the danger of dust exposure to the surrounding areas.
The MT-3 bid undercut the costs of the traditional methods by two-thirds. The company tapped him to test his creation in a vacant area of one of the buildings. Strieter did some tinkering with the airflow, calling in the outside expertise of an industrial hygiene firm. In the end, his concept proved to be a safe, extremely effective method of abatement. Southern Insulation got that job and has since been called upon to perform numerous others for the same company.
The success of the MT-3 is two fold. Southern Insulation has used it to remove in excess of 1 million square feet of ceiling tile in the Baltimore-Washington area. The company has also gone on to market it nationwide. It is available for both sale and lease through a subsidiary, Southern Concepts, Inc.
In the final analysis, and it's nothing new, it's keeping the customer happy that's the bottom line. No company survives in any industry without the repeat business a satisfied customer brings. With its unique blend of reliability, experience, and ingenuity, Southern Insulation readily accomplishes the former and enjoys seeing the fruits of its labor culminate in the latter.
Indeed, it seems fitting to have a customer's words be the last. Following are the words of Joe Bowen, assistant vice president for Operations at the University of Maryland's Center of Adult Education, where Southern Insulation has performed numerous tasks.
Begins Bowen, "Southern did two consecutive jobs for us involving asbestos removal and total rehabilitation of the area. These days with asbestos removal, you might as well roll in a hand grenade by the time it's done, but we were very pleased with Southern Insulation from start to finish."
The particular jobs referred to involved a 250,000-square-foot, mixed-use building, which included a residential conference center that had to remain operational throughout the work.
It made for a difficult job, as Bowen recalled, but Southern Insulation met every demand. "They were very sensitive to our needs and very cooperative. Because of the client remaining in the building, it was sometimes necessary to have them stop completely, find new ways of performing their work, or require different work hours that were originally specified. What sticks out in my mind is Southern's flexibility in responding to these challenges."
It is doubtful whether Southern Insulation's guiding philosophy could be better put.