Project Spotlight - NRG Energy – Safety Signage

Temporary Building Construction Safety Signage
Princeton, New Jersey

Challenge:

NRG Energy announced plans in 2014 to construct a new 130,000- square-foot facility with completion scheduled for 2016.

No ordinary build, the company’s new $40 million facility would be a true “green” development. From its solar-paneled parking canopies to its rainwater storage system and other energy-saving elements, it would showcase NRG’s commitment to advanced power generation technologies with which it serves three million residential customers spanning nearly every state.

As with many ambitious building projects, timing was an important factor. Experienced in construction, minor setbacks were expected by the energy producer, but the response of the city authorities was not anticipated.

Local building inspectors required that NRG install temporary signs to help ensure safety on the jobsite. Without them, workers could not enter the new headquarters. Stoppages would ensue and, in the meantime, contractors would continue billing the company at full rates—creating a potential loss of tens of thousands of dollars. NRG needed temporary safety signage, and fast.

Solution:

Given the situation, NRG reached out to its go-to source for signage solutions—Alliance Global Graphics.

We began by meeting with the lead Facilities Manager for the NRG building and conducting a thorough review of the entire site—numbering stairwells and other areas in need of signage on a dry-erase board and photographing each to create an accurate inventory of all that was needed.

Working on an accelerated basis to meet the needs of NRG, we reviewed all signage regulations before drafting proofs for each sign and submitting them to the local municipality for approval. Once given the go-ahead, we constructed the temporary signs on foam board and installed them in all necessary areas to notify workers of safety information, such as evacuation routes.

In addition to keeping the job site open, maintaining the timeline and forestalling the contractor’s costly “dead time,” many of the over 105 temporary safety signs Alliance Global Graphics created for NRG later served as templates for the permanent signage that would take their place as construction neared completion.