Robert F. Borg is chairman, founder and one of the owners of the Kreisler Borg Florman General Construction Company in Scarsdale, NY. It was founded in 1955 and is now regarded as one of the top 100 construction firms in the nation, ranking 10th in the tri-state area, where it has built more than 300 projects.
Borg also founded the ASCE Committee on Social and Environmental Concerns in Construction in 1975, recently retiring from the committee chair position.
Robert Borg is a civil engineer, a lawyer and a member of the New York Bar. He is a well-regarded contractor and he is also a successful entrepreneur, a published author and a photographer whose exhibits have garnered positive reviews, a leader and an authority in the field of socially and environmentally sensitive construction and one of the first three members to receive the grade of Master Builder from the ASCE’s Construction Institute.
His advice to the next generation? “If you fail to succeed, it may be as a result of your inability to get along with people.”
This interest in people is reflected in Borg’s work on behalf of the Committee on Social and Environmental Concerns in Construction.
In August 2003, the committee issued a report on the Rebuilding of the World Trade Center, which was published by the Construction Institute. Currently, the committee’s projects include disseminating information about the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System®, a standard for developing sustainable buildings put forth by the U.S. Green Building Council.
Borg’s firm, Kreisler Borg Florman General Construction Company, followed LEED principles in its completion last year of a residential high-rise located at West 57th Street in Manhattan, which is slated to receive LEED’s platinum certification.
Borg emphasized, however, that studying environmental issues and educating the industry about the LEED system make up only a part of the committee’s work. Other concerns include the social aspects of construction, such as the effects of noise and dust on residents around a construction site; environmental damage and the effect on the local community of the project’s choice; and use of labor.
“I think it could be far-reaching if LEED’s guidelines could be supplemented by some social aspects of construction; for example, jobs for women, the disadvantage for minorities. The principle is that if we are paying wages that are less than the prevailing wages, a project would not qualify for recognition,” Borg said.
The committee is now co-chaired by Stephan Butler and Dr. Led Klosky, with support from Dr. Wai Kiong (Oswald) Chong who serves as the committee secretary.
In 1991 Borg co-founded the Garth Woods Conservancy on the Bronx Parkway in Westchester, NY. In addition, he served as a member of the Joint Committee of the US and USSR on cooperation in housing and other forms of construction.
Borg’s professional interests are by no means limited to the social and environmental issues. He is the author of numerous articles and sections of handbooks on construction, most notably the “Construction management” section in the McGraw-Hill Building and Construction handbook, and of the “Technical and Business Practice” section in the McGraw-Hill Handbook of Temporary Structures in Construction.
He has taught Construction Management and Business as an Adjunct Professor at New York University, Columbia University and Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. He has also served as a mediator and arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association and was on its national board. He found the work gratifying “because of its capacity to impact other people’s well-being. People look to you to help to resolve their disputes, and if you resolve them, they are very grateful,” he said.
But the Committee on Social and Environmental Concerns in Construction is close to his heart. Borg has spent time reviewing the rebuilding of New Orleans, paying attention to all points of discussion of social and environmental concerns, and trying to start a dialogue about whether there were enough steps being taken.
Mr. Borg is “a very serious photographer,” having put himself through college at New York University by operating photography concession in jazz clubs in New York City and selling 8 x 10 prints to patrons. Years later, he served as a guide and docent at the International Center of Photography and periodically exhibited his own work in galleries. His next exhibit will be held at the Scarsdale Public Library in May 2007. In the meantime his photos can be found at www.robertfborg.com. This personal Web site displays over 500 exhibition-quality photos.
Mr. Borg also has about 40 pieces of African sculpture, ranging from museum quality artifacts to contemporary pieces made specifically for the market. His only criteria for evaluating his sculpture purchases, he said, are the following “1. Does the piece show originality?, 2. Did the artist who executed the piece have talent in using his tools, and 3. Is the subject interesting enough so that when you look at it you want to continue to see it and display it?”
It is not difficult to understand why Mr. Borg is attracted to sculpture. In discussing the traits that make a successful engineer, Mr. Borg said that “you either have a talent for working with materials or with your hands, or you don’t.” His grandchildren, he said, are very good with their hands so it would not surprise him if they became either sculptors, architects or engineers.
Construction Institute of the American Society of Civil Engineers