KANSAS CITY, Mo.— Fast Company named JE Dunn Construction’s new preconstruction tool the 2024 Innovation by Design award winner in the large business category in July. Align, created in partnership with design and technology consultant Crema, saves users the initial headache that comes with estimating project costs and trying to envision what they can build from numbers alone. With this tool, JE Dunn employees can guide users through setting specific and accurate target budgets paired with comparable project visuals all based on completed JE Dunn projects.

JE Dunn and Crema worked together to reimagine how users could interact with data using the construction firm’s existing Lens Search tool. With a new name and updated look and feel, the team developed Align. Align serves as a creative solution to generate more accurate cost estimates and define project expectations during critical — and often stressful — budgeting conversations during the preconstruction phase that involve the client, trade partners, and architects. It allows those looking for a reliable expectation of what a project will cost to work with JE Dunn to enter in the essential information by following simple, guided steps, reducing the decision fatigue that is often inherent to traditional preconstruction planning.

“Using Align creates a more collaborative and engaging process,” said Jason Hickam, national preconstruction and estimating director at JE Dunn. “It allows our clients and design teams to establish a realistic foundational budget that reflects their project goals and delivers certainty of results tied to historical costs and visual representations as well as live estimate updates.”

As JE Dunn, team members walk through the estimate, potential clients receive far more context from Align cost summaries and photos than the typical spreadsheet breakdown of numbers. With Align, historical data from more than 1,400 JE Dunn projects is used to set an accurate cost baseline that the entire team supports. This reliability of projected costs per square foot and total project costs paired with imagery from completed projects helps users better understand what they can accomplish with JE Dunn as their partner within a set price point. At the same time, it simplifies the estimating process and creates a more interactive experience for all parties involved.

“Together we reimagined an estimation process in a collaborative playground on a speed and accuracy scale unknown to the industry,” Crema Product Designer Jeremy Murray said.

With more than 20,000 estimates being built each year, the impact quick, easy-to-use tools like Align could have on the construction industry is significant. JE Dunn will continue to support more projects with the award-winning tool as part of the company’s suite of preconstruction services.

About the Fast Company Innovation by Design Awards

The 2024 Innovation by Design Awards honor the designers and businesses solving the most crucial problems of today and anticipating the pressing issues of tomorrow. The competition, now in its 13th year, features a range of blue-chip companies, emerging startups, and hungry young talents. It is one of the most sought-after design awards in the industry. There are 50 categories that capture every facet of design. Entries are judged on the key ingredients of innovation: functionality, originality, beauty, sustainability, user insight, cultural impact, and business impact.