BuildHER Power Up: Understanding Industrial Power Infrastructure
Power comes up in almost every industrial project, but unless you work directly with utilities or electrical systems, it can be difficult to know what questions to ask.
That was the idea behind WILD’s latest BuildHER Education Series: Power Up.
The team from Qualus Corporation joined us for a practical conversation about how power gets from the grid to a building and what happens along the way. They walked attendees through transmission, substations, distribution, switchgear and meters without making the conversation feel overly technical.
For many people in the room, these were terms they had heard dozens of times but had never had fully explained.
Why Power Matters in Industrial Real Estate and Development
Power availability can affect whether a building works for a tenant, how much a project will cost and when a company can actually move in.
A building may look perfect based on its size, location and loading, but that does not mean it has the electrical capacity needed for manufacturing equipment, warehouse automation, HVAC systems or other specialized operations.
Some of the most important questions need to be asked early:
How much power is currently available?
Can the utility provide additional capacity?
Will the building need electrical upgrades?
How long could those upgrades take?
Can the property support future growth?
Waiting until the end of a transaction to answer those questions can lead to delays, added costs or a building that simply does not work for the intended use.
A Better Understanding of the System
The Qualus team broke down the path power takes before it reaches an industrial building and explained the purpose of the equipment involved.
More importantly, they connected those systems to the decisions people make every day in real estate, development, construction and operations.
The conversation covered how power can affect project timelines, tenant requirements, building functionality and long-term planning. Attendees did not need an engineering background to follow along. The goal was to understand enough to recognize potential issues and know when to bring in the right experts.
A Room Where People Could Ask Real Questions
One of the best parts of the BuildHER series is the environment it creates.
Power can be an intimidating subject, especially when everyone else in the room seems to understand the terminology. This session gave attendees space to stop the conversation, ask questions and talk through examples without feeling like they were supposed to already know the answer.
Bringing together women from different parts of the industry also made the discussion better. A broker may approach a power issue differently than a contractor, developer or operations professional. Hearing those different perspectives helped connect the technical information to real projects.
Attendees left with a clearer understanding of industrial power and more confidence participating in those conversations.
About the BuildHER Education Series
WILD created the BuildHER Education Series to make industry topics more approachable and useful.
The series brings together experienced professionals who can explain the subjects that come up in our work but are not always taught in a straightforward way. Each session is built around practical information, open conversation and the chance to learn alongside other women in industrial, logistics and development.
Thank you to the Qualus Corporation team for sharing their time and expertise with WILD. This was exactly the kind of education the BuildHER series was created to provide.
