New Year, New Shop for Any Temperature

For more than 40 years, Any Temperature has provided commercial and industrial clients in the Chicagoland area with excellence in design-build, service and custom fabrication solutions. Armed with an extensive network of personal connections, husband and wife team Joe and Natalie DeMeo began the HVAC contractor company in 1977 — and it’s been family-run ever since.

“My older brother Joe joined the company first in 1991, I started in 1993 and then Lou, our youngest brother, started in 2000,” said John DeMeo, vice president of construction. “Natalie is the owner and still runs the company.”

Although certainly not unheard of, a female-run company in a typically male-dominated industry presents unique opportunities for such organizations. Earlier this year, Any Temperature submitted an application to become a Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) Certified Women’s Business Enterprise (WBE) — a prestigious certification and valuable distinction of diversity in the construction industry. Company executives are anxiously awaiting approval of the certification.

The first quarter of 2018 has been busy for Any Temperature. In addition to going through the WBE certification process, the business has also recently moved to a larger shop in Carol Stream.

“We’re hoping that our new fabrication facility is going to increase productivity in the shop, which will reduce labor costs in the field,” John said, noting that in-house BIM is a transformative capability for the company. “3D BIM has taken over the industry. Everything’s that much more precise, and you’re not worried about throwing away material like you used to be. We’re definitely using the computers to our advantage to do this. Technology — that’s why it’s king. If you don’t get with it, you’re going to lose out.”

Prefabrication has been key to Any Temperature’s productivity on a number of recent projects, including Northwestern University’s Seeley G. Mudd Library renovation and expansion. The original three-story structure was reimagined to anticipate and promote future scientific research at the school. Completed in time for the start of the fall 2017 semester, the new Mudd building stands five stories tall with climate-controlled space for sensitive instrumentation, research consultation space in the library and computational and web labs.

“The project it was 300,000 square feet, shell and core, and 100,000 square feet of build-out. We did all the ventilation and stainless steel, and every single piece of ductwork was pre-cut,” John said. “We’re really trying to figure out how to prefab everything.”

Any Temperature has also worked on large-scale hotels and apartments, including Loews Chicago Hotel, a 400-room luxury hotel in the heart of the city. The project totaled 1 million square feet, and was completed in 2014.