The first building in the South Fork Business Park in Mooresville, N.C., is nearing completion by L.B. Builders Construction Group. The project involves an 85,000 sq. ft. (7,896 sq m) personal race shop for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

The structure, which is a steel building package for Nucor Building Systems, originally started at 62,000 sq. ft. (5,759 sq m), and increased from there.

When complete, it will include approximately 21,000 sq. ft. (1,950 sq m) of office space. There also will be a fabrication area and a car set-up area. There will be a capacity for 55 to 100 employees.

“Everything will be state-of-the-art in the building,” Peterson said. “We are running all the fiber optics for the computers, and LED lighting is going in.”

Currently, Kyle Busch Motorsports is located in several different locations. The new site will combine everything into one facility.

Construction began in June 2008, and is expected to be complete in late 2009.

“We are working on LEED certification,” Peterson said. “This has been a challenge, since it was brought to us halfway through the project. We’re actually going for gold certification.”

Another challenge has been rainy weather, which has particularly affected the drilling of 128 geothermal wells, which are each 300 ft. (91.4 m) deep. Each six-inch well contains two one-half-inch diameter pipes. In all, the project will involve 86 mi. (138 km) of piping underground and under the slab. When complete, approximately 600 gallons of water per minute will move through the building at all times. The geothermal system will result in a 65-to-75- percent savings on electric and gas for the business.

In addition, Peterson explained that another challenge was that his group has gone through several major changes to the original design plans per the owner’s request, which resulted in new plans and approvals.

The entire business park project will cover about 120 acres. Phase I, which is complete, involved moving approximately 150,000 cu. yds. (114,683 cu. m) of dirt. Phase II will begin in the spring of 2010.

“We are totally equipped to do all the grading and utility work, the whole nine yards,” Peterson explained. “We own everything that we need.”

Major subcontractors for the project include The Plumbing Shop for all plumbing in the building, including all geothermal piping inside the building; ADS Interiors for all framing drywall, ceilings, and paint; Stamey Brothers Electrical for all electrical in the building; A-1 Glass for all glass inside and outside of the building, including the front walls that are 38 ft. (11.5 m) tall and lean outward at a three-degree angle; Shumi’s Concrete for all concrete inside the building and the two-acre parking lot; Hills Service for all the geothermal outside the building and valves inside the building; and Climatech Heating and Cooling for all HVAC within the building.

The equipment list for the job includes well drilling equipment, a Cat 963, a Komatsu 200, D51; and several types of trackhoes and backhoes.

L.B. Builders Construction Group has been in business for 10 years, and specializes in commercial buildings. About 95 percent of its work is completed in Mooresville. Recent work has included buildings in the Talbert Point Business Park and the Lakeside Business Park.

The company is owned by Butch Bouwens, who has been a builder for more than 20 years.

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