1. Amazing Story of How а Man Builds a 30 Story
Building
"Humble" is not a word one would commonly use when describing Zhang
Yue. After all, the founder and chairman of Broad Sustainable Building gives
off an air of confidence and assurance that some might mistake for borderline
arrogance.
It is probably just as well, for a lesser and meeker man probably wouldn't have
been able to rack up half of Zhang's considerable accomplishments. When
you consider that he constructed a classical palace and a 130-foot high
pyramid on his company's premises in Hunan, China, or that he turned a
successful air-conditioning manufacturing business into a skyscraper
construction company, his demeanor begins to make sense. Clearly no
ordinary man, Zhang Yue penchant for putting up skyscrapers at an
unprecedented rate has earned him a renown that few humble men would
ever experience.

2. In the second half of 2011, Zhang's company constructed a 30-story building
in record time, with the entire project taking only fifteen days. While other men
would have been satisfied with such an accomplishment, Zhang soon set his
sights on the even bigger goal of constructing the world's tallest building. The
timeframe? An astounding seven months.
You may have already seen the video of the aforementioned 30-story building
construction project. Released on the Internet on January 1, 2012, the striking
time-lapse video soon went viral, cementing Zhang's reputation as a
construction force to be reckoned with.

3. Zhang himself often seems to move in his own time-lapse video. He is most
often seen in the middle of a buzzing crowd of Broad employees, each
distinguishable by the company's white uniform shirts. This virtually
impenetrable army of employees is constantly passing on papers to the
company chairman, who himself is always at the center giving out orders. On
the day of the interview, I arrived to see him amidst the same familiar flurry of
activity, spinning in his chair. He only stops spinning around when he is ready
to be interviewed, which he conveyed via a single command: "Begin!"
With such a formidable founder and chairman, it isn't all that surprising that
Broad Sustainable Building inspires an almost religious fervor and devotion
among its employees. Only new employees refer to Zhang as "the chairman"
or "our chairman", but they quickly learn to adopt the more customary "my
chairman." Zhang is one of those rare employers that just seem to inspire
loyalty and dedication, and the corporate culture within Broad Sustainable
Building reflects that.
Zhang's almost larger-than-life persona is tempered by curiously quaint and
human aspects that for outsiders may verge on the outrageous. For example,
part of the admission process for employees involves the recitation of a "life
manual" that was written by Zhang himself. Employees are also given a crash
course on energy reduction, oral hygiene, and even giving birth!

4. And then there are the physical requirements. Part of the admission process
also includes a 7.5 mile run, which all prospective employees should
accomplish over two days in order to be considered into the company. Once
accepted into the ranks, employees will be provided free meals at the
company cafeteria. However, wasting food will result in a fine, and worse,
public humiliation. Broad Sustainable Building is clearly no ordinary company,
but then, Zhang is clearly no ordinary man.
To date, Broad Sustainable Building has racked up a record of sixteen
structures in China, with another building in Cancun. These buildings are
constructed in sections, with most of the work done in two plants in located an
hour away from Broad Town headquarters. After being fitted with electrical,
plumbing, communications and security fixtures, these sections are then
transported to the building site for assembly.

5. Broad Sustainable Building currently leases the technology to partner firms in
India, Brazil, and Russia. In a move remarkably similar to the development of
McDonald's, Zhang is clearly set on making his company the sole provider of
mass-produced skyscrapers.
This approach can be explained by Zhang's own assessment of traditional
construction as "chaotic". With the goal of addressing many of the problems
that riddle the industry, Zhang has taken the construction process off the
building site and "moved it into the factory."
Just like the company chairman, these aren't any ordinary buildings either. In
line with the company's numerous innovations, these buildings stand apart in
the industry due to their safety, low cost, and quick construction process.
When asked why he decided to turn the previous air-conditioning business
into a construction company, Zhang was quick to distance the company from
the term's standard definition. Instead, he proclaims his accomplishments part
of a "structural revolution."

6. While most men of his stature and accomplishments would be eager to talk
about themselves, Zhang is surprisingly taciturn when it comes to sharing
details of his life. Dismissing his personal history as "boring", Zhang instead
shifts the discussion into how his creativity and previous "outsider"
perspective of the industry contributed to his success.
Nevertheless, some details of Zhang's can be gleaned from the interview.
After studying art throughout the early part of the 1980s, Zhang forged a
partnership with his engineer brother and one other person. This partnership
resulted in the founding of a company that manufactured non-pressurized
boilers.
At this point in the interview, Zhang once again becomes bored with the
details of his life. Thankfully, Broad's senior vice president Juliet Jiang is more
than willing to provide additional bits of information. Jiang points out that
Zhang would have continued to be successful even if he had decided to stick
to manufacturing boilers. However, filling the need for nonelectric air-
conditioning had taken Zhang's fancy, and there was no turning back.

7. The chairman's decision was actually quite timely, coinciding as it did with
China's looming energy crisis. The country's economic boom also resulted in
a significant spike in the demand for electricity, and China's electrical grid was
unable to cope. In answer to the problem, Zhang set about developing
industrial air-conditioning units that ran on natural gas. Offering the benefits of
lower power consumption, reduced costs, and more reliable performance,
these air-conditioning units paved the way for the company's direction for the
next several years.
To this day, Zhang is actually still involved in the air-conditioner business.
Again, these are no ordinary air-conditioning units, with the typical models
being immense, barge-sized pieces of machinery. Even the company's "micro
chillers" weigh in at 6 tons, with the largest units registering a whopping 3,500
tons. This behemoth of a device can provide enough cooling power for an
area measuring 5 million square feet.

8. The cooling technology employed by these units is nothing short of
revolutionary. As impressive as it is however, the "absorption cooling" process
used isn't exactly new. These units rely on natural gas instead of electricity,
and they basically convert gas to cooling liquid via a refrigerant compression
process.
At present, Broad's air-conditioning units can be found in more than 70
countries around the world, with many of them installed in large building
complexes and airports. All these air-conditioning systems are constantly
monitored from the company's headquarters, allowing company technicians to
detect problems almost immediately. When a Broad air-conditioning unit
anywhere in any one of these countries goes haywire, Broad's team of
specialists will soon be on the case.
Zhang's air-conditioning business enjoyed remarkable success for almost
twenty years. However, two events caused him to reassess his priorities, and
along with them, his company's next move. The first event involved Zhang's

9. newfound course as an environmentalist, a realization that came gradually
over a period of several years.
The second event was more significant: the 7.9-magnitude earthquake that
struck Sichuan Province in 2008. The earthquake caused several
substandard buildings to collapse, and this significantly contributed to the
tragically high 87,000 death toll.
In the wake of this disaster, Zhang set his sights on improving building design
and addressing the problems that contributed to the earthquake's high death
toll. He started out offering a variety of retrofitting services to owners of
existing buildings, but his efforts to improve things were largely ignored.

10. Most people would take this rejection as a sign that they should quit, but not
Zhang. Instead of packing it in, Zhang assembled a team of engineers and set
about learning how to create affordable structures that could stand up to an
earthquake. Among his other goals were to manufacture buildings that were
cheap and environmentally friendly.
It wasn't all smooth sailing. Zhang quickly ran into roadblocks during the first
six months of research. Although he had already decided to eschew
traditional construction methods, he was becoming increasingly frustrated with
the need to hire a new team of designers and construction specialists for
every new structure that he wanted to develop.
In a bid to reduce costs, Zhang then took the bold step of moving the
construction process into the factory. This was an environment in which he
was familiar, given his many years of involvement in the air-conditioning
manufacturing industry.
However, making the shift from constructing air-conditioners to skyscrapers
presented a whole list of problems and challenges. Zhang realized that
creating these new skyscrapers required a different approach to construction
and design, and most traditional building principles were rendered irrelevant
to the process.

11. One of the key challenges that Zhang faced was the need to reduce the
weight of the building. This necessitated a revision of the entire load-bearing
structure. The solution he eventually decided on was to reduce the amount of
concrete used in the flooring. This in turn resulted in a corresponding
reduction in the amount of steel used in structural reinforcement.
As much as 90% of the 30-story building that Zhang first built was constructed
in the factory. This percentage will be increased even more in the future, with
the company moving toward constructing almost the entire building in a
factory. Zhang says that this will not only ensure less waste, but also a safer
and more structurally sound building.

12. Zhang's bold new approach to building construction is fast being adopted in
other countries. There is a perceptible shift toward sustainable buildings all
over the world, and prefabricated and/or modular buildings are quickly
becoming commonplace. Although wracked with union disputes that may
cause a reversion to traditional construction, the 32-story building planned for
construction in Brooklyn, New York started out as a modular project. In
London, two modular structures have already been constructed, attesting to
the hold that Zhang's innovations have taken on the construction industry.
That being said, most modular and prefabricated structures planned for
construction in the West are essentially low-rise buildings. At present, Broad
is still one of the few-if not the only-company employing these building
techniques in the construction of skyscrapers. Zhang remains firm in his

13. resolve however, and the reduced impact on the environment is one of his
more compelling reasons to stick to the path he established. Given that a
typical Broad building will produce only 25 tons of waste compared to the
3,000 tons produced in the construction of a typical high-rise, it is easy to see
from where Zhang draws his inspiration.
While Zhang's buildings offer a number of advantages over traditional
designs, they aren't likely to win any beauty contests. Compared to the almost
elegant modular structures common in the West, Broad buildings look almost
drab and utilitarian. The unique design has also given rise to a few aesthetic
issues, with a seemingly out-of-place pyramid base creating a less than
flattering impression inside. Many of the hallways are also uncommonly
narrow, and even the central stairway doesn't quite feel right.
To be sure, Broad's buildings don't really look all that bad when compared
with many other structures in China. What they lack in looks, they more than
make up for in quality however, and this is in fact Broad's primary selling
point. In a country wherein most buildings are riddled with structural and
construction issues, Broad may just have the edge by offering buildings that
are guaranteed to be structurally reliable and consistent. In addition, Broad's
buildings are also priced significantly lower than buildings made via traditional
construction, with $1,000 per square meter-versus the $1,400 for traditional
commercial buildings-being the typical price.
Safety is another key selling point of Broad buildings, and the company is
eager to push this advantage. According to Jiang, the construction of the first
20 buildings was accomplished without a single mishap. The construction of
the elevator systems in the company factory also greatly reduces the risk of
accidents. Elevator cars are also constructed in the factory, instead of being
assembled on-site. With plans underway to preinstall elevator doors,
construction-related risks are expected to be reduced even further.
So what else does Zhang have in mind for the company? As you might have
expected from such a bold and forward-thinking personality, the Broad
Sustainable Building chairman is now knee-deep in the planning of a towering
220-story structure that when completed, will be the tallest building on the
planet.

14. Just like most high-profile construction projects, the upcoming building is
subject to its share of conjecture and controversy. Some of the more skeptical
industry players have suspected the building of being little more than a
publicity stunt, for example. Whether or not Zhang is affected by these
criticisms is uncertain, but one thing that is certain is that he has hired some
of the best engineers in the business. Highly-skilled and well-regarded
professionals in their own right, some of these engineers were actually part of
the construction and design team responsible for the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.

15. In any case, plans for the building-currently referred to as "Sky City"-are
definitely in full swing, and two large models have already been unveiled. With
the groundbreaking having been scheduled for November 2012, completion of
the building is expected in March of 2013. This will represent a construction
period of seven months.
Despite these developments, doubts about the future of this mega-structure
still linger. Nevertheless, Zhang himself seems pretty set on the project,
emphasizing the need to "shock the world" with this latest construction feat. It
has to be said however, that even if this particular project never sees the light
of day, Zhang will have already done his part in shocking the world.