Building Exterior Solutions LLC

Jerry Abendroth, Amy Peevey and Dale Clark founded Building Exterior Solutions LLC (BES) in 2008 in response to a surge of demand in the wake of Hurricane Ike. With a small but experienced staff with diverse capabilities, BES began working with building owners and insurance companies to remediate storm damage, evaluate building envelope failures and provide solutions to better protect structures in the future.

The company’s home office is based in Houston with a staff of 20, including architects, engineers and construction managers with the knowledge and expertise to deliver working solutions.

“We specialize in providing clients with a comprehensive approach to building envelope evaluation, rehabilitation and design,” explains Jerry Abendroth, president of BES. “We analyze each aspect of building envelope construction and how each exterior component is interrelated with the next. Over the last five years, we have grown into a global company, though the majority of our work is here in Texas.”

A growing portfolio

The company’s clients include universities, health care institutions, commercial and multifamily housing communities, among others.

In recent years, the team’s strong capabilities have attracted a broad range of business at home in Texas and abroad. “One of our current projects is the development of the building envelope design for the second Anadarko Tower in The Woodlands, Texas,” says Abendroth. “The challenge for BES on the project was to establish the performance specifications and testing criteria for the curtainwall assembly and to design integration details to adjacent systems for a continuous air and moisture barrier of the building envelope.”

The company has been busy overseas, as well. “We performed building envelope consulting services on a conference center in Gabon, West Africa,” Abendroth explains. “The center is two football fields long and forms an oval shape. The top is cut at an angle and has hollow cylinder shapes. There are floors below, an indoor lake with gardens and floors overhead.”

According to Abendroth, the project exemplified BES’ strength: the ability to provide innovative solutions for a specialized building. One way BES evaluated adverse conditions was by performing mock-up testing to simulate the stone roof panel configuration during an 8-inch per hour rain event over a 15-minute duration based on the requirements of the project documents. The information was supplied to the roof membrane manufacturer for review and acceptance for full system warranty.

The team also completed work for the Houston Ballet, The Lamar Tower, University of Houston and other local landmarks. BES’ work has been featured by several publications, as well as the Discovery Channel in the United Kingdom, which highlighted one of the company’s projects in Las Vegas.

Keeping up with the market

In an effort to be competitive, manufacturers of building exterior systems are modifying existing products and introducing new products into the marketplace. As new and modified building exterior systems and products are introduced, building designers require the expertise of knowledgeable consultants to assist with the building exterior design.

“BES’ building envelope construction knowledge allows us to assist the designer and contractor with the proper selection, detailing and integration of each of the building exterior’s components in order to achieve the overall scope of the project,” says Abendroth. “The result is that BES provides assistance to building designers and contractors for the successful evaluation and integration of the entire building envelope.”

Strong performance in such a complicated business is an attractor for clients, according to Abendroth. As demand grows, however, Abendroth and his team have been seeking qualified professionals to do the work. “People are our biggest asset,” he explains. “We recruit people from all over the country, but are looking locally, too. We only hire people at the top of their class or industry to join our diversified workforce.”

Candidates must share BES’ strong commitment to quality performance. “Each person on our staff has the same job description: create value for internal and external customers,” says Abendroth. “We strive to foster communication that leads to repeat business. Having a team that shares that goal is vital.”

In the years ahead, the strong and growing team is gearing up for expansion. Abendroth estimates over the next one to two years the company’s volume will double. To help that happen efficiently, BES is upgrading technology and even developing in-house software to automate workflow. “Future projects will come together more efficiently, streamlining key processes,” Abendroth says.

BES maintains a strong commitment to clients through advancing technology and the creative process to provide better systems in less time for a lower cost. Value is Building Exterior Solutions LLC’s top priority.