Lowell, MA New Leaf Energy, a renewable energy developer, needed to quickly expand and remodel their headquarters to meet the needs of their growing team and business. They chose VBA Construction Management to deliver the fast-moving and complex-schedule project that included a 4,000 s/f expansion in a total project area of 17,500 s/f.

The pressure was on from the beginning of the project. The timeline for completion of this design build project could not be altered, even after a few additions to the scope of work. The project began on October 2, 2023, and had to be completed by December 8, 2023. 

“We had a very tight timeframe for completing construction of our new office space and VBA rose to the challenge and made it happen,” said Donna Barbosa, senior office manager, New Leaf Energy. “Thank you to the entire VBA team for our beautiful new office.” 

Targeted deadlines included having the office space ready for the installation of new furniture by November 12 and the team moving out of their temporary office space by December 8. 

“Today’s construction environment is more challenging than ever and to meet tight deadlines we have to work smarter,” said Paulo Ramalhinho, project manager for VBA. “And we made use of state-of-the-art project management tools to ensure communications between the New Leaf Energy team and VBA and our subcontractors were seamless.”

The project work included the addition of a front entrance, removing the existing acoustical ceiling and installing new light fixtures, and replacing all HVAC diffusers, among other tasks. 

“The VBA team was very easy to work with. Of the construction projects I have worked on they provided the most consistent communications throughout the entire process and when a few issues happened they resolved them effortlessly,” Barbosa said. 

Paul Votze, president of VBA said that as a Lowell-based company working on a project in the city was very meaningful to him and his team, “Lowell has a long history of leading the country in technological advances. It was great honor to continue this tradition by supporting New Leaf Energy as they accelerate renewable energy adoption.”