Education Program

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Who Says Money Doesn't Grow on Trees: The Benefits of Turning Your Campus into an Arboretum

Mike Mastrota, Stephanie DeStefano, Mark Feist & Henry Paul Davis, American University

Over the past 10 years, the grounds of American University have transformed from a typical institutional appearance into an award winning arboretum and public garden. Today, the landscape is reflective of the quality of the institution and is a key asset for promotion and fundraising success.  The arboretum serves as a catalyst for incorporating sustainable practices into our daily routines. Through stewardship and careful management, the arboretum compliments the campus sustainability program and broadens the educational experience offered to the university community.  This presentation will cover the many benefits the arboretum has brought to American University and specifically the green roof, rain garden and reforestation projects.

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O&M and System Training Requirements: It's Not Working*

Howard McKew, RDK Engineers

Going back to the mid-1900’s construction specifications have been requiring the contractor to provide O&M manuals that contained pertinent information buried within large volumes of other information.  Most often, the design team wrote the O&M manuals with little if any input from the end user.  Today these specifications continue to grow in size while not growing in facility management value.  In this computer age-Internet age, the design community needs to abandon their master specification and initiate a 21st century O&M manual compliance based on close communication with the end user/needs, formatted into a folder of electronic documents (rather than stacks of 3-ring binders), and in sync with the end user’s CMMS system so that there is a preventive maintenance work order system on Day-1 of occupancy. System training requirements, in recent years, has increased significantly in design team specifications, but the contractor follow-thru has fallen short for a variety of reasons.  Today we need to invest in system training specifications that are financially funded to succeed and a training facilitator committed to the training success.

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A System's Approach to Stewardship - PAASHE's Plan for the Future

Steven Dupes, PAASHE, Jeff Grimm, Kutztown University; and James Kadamus, Sightlines LLC

Faced with aging facilities and limited capital funding, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) has developed a new strategy to stewarding the 14 campuses with over 900 buildings comprising 26 million gross square feet of space.  PASSHE is using a process of performance measurement called "Return on Physical Assets: developed by Sightlines LLC to document the backlog of projects, measure the effectiveness of facilities operations and the impact of capital investment at all campuses. A multi-year capital funding program combined with best practices in preventive maintenance at the campus level will form the system’s approach to stewardship.

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Shedding Light on Long-Term Technology Needs of Institutional Data Center Design*

Robert Stein, Integrated Design Group, Inc.

Colleges and Universities are experiencing tremendous growth in all areas of information technology. Demands for enterprise, teaching, research, and communications computing continue to grow with no end in sight. Expanding data center capacity is vital to maintaining the academic institution’s quality on every campus.  The challenge facing facilities professionals on campus is to provide a data center that can meet computing needs today as well as into the future while staying within stringent budget restraints. This session will look at the many different information technology uses on campus and define their various facility requirements. We will discuss the trends in technology development for each unique application and how their differing densities, redundancy requirements and maintenance windows impact the design of the data center. Most importantly, cost metrics and conceptual design configurations will be reviewed.  

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BP Roundtables

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Maximizing the Value of Design Reviews: An Integrated Approach to Link LEED-NC and EB*

Matthew Judge & Brian Lee, Aramark

The focus on LEED®-NC projects in the marketplace today is extraordinary.  This substantial increase in the acceptance and desire for LEED® buildings demonstrates overwhelming acceptance that LEED®-NC has arrived.  Green building design has always focused on creating high performance, healthy environments that are financially beneficial. Specifically, for the financial well being, the goal must be to incorporate up front planning that supports the building program, LEED®-NC, Operations and LEED®-EB certification alignment. This presentation will demonstrate an integrated and holistic approach to perform a design review that focuses on both the delivery of a high performance designs, healthy building as well as ongoing preparation for green operational practices. This presentation will demonstrate the advantages of communicating, tracking, measuring and resolving issues found during the design review process, both from a system and operational perspective.

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Transformation of Facilities Management with an Intervention Program

John Shenette, Smith College

Facilities Management organizations by definition are organizations with a mission to be innovative with the integration of technology, satisfy customer driven requirements by balancing costs, quality, and to be a leader in dedicated service by showcasing continuous and measurable improvements.  Aligning individuals in this environment remains a constant challenge for management. This presentation will outline a process that promotes people as the key to a FM organization and provide an interesting assessment of a 360-degree strategic leadership team alignment. In order to reshape the business, you must transform the staff. This is not an easy task, but one that has tremendous benefits. Combining leadership and culture are the key processes necessary to influence organizational effectiveness.

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Performance Assessment: Gauging Your Success

Elizabeth Clark, Penn State University

This session will be a broad overview of assessment as a tool for performance measurement and its applicability in the facilities field.  The presenter will discuss what we can assess in facilities and why it is important.  The presenter will briefly talk about outsourcing large assessment projects, and then focus on in-house self-assessment instruments.  The presenter will examine questions such as “what do we want to know?” and “how is this relevant to our mission?”  Finally, the presenter will discuss asking the right questions, targeting an audience, collecting and analyzing the data, reporting the results, implementing changes, and repeating assessments for continued improvement.

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GIS and Facilities: How Not to Reinvent the Wheel

Randall Walsh, Maximus, Inc.

As GIS (Geographic Information System) has moved from a niche application to the mainstream, the key vendors are working toward standards for interoperability.  Now is the time to consider how you and your organization will utilize GIS in conjunction with your Facilities Management solution.  The presentation will explore what the standards are and how you can utilize them.  If you don't already have a GIS infrastructure or a plan for GIS, don't worry we have some suggestions on what you can do today with freely available web applications.

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Using a Proactive Strategy to Avoid Indoor Air Quality Problems

Timothy Duffy & Archie Barrett, Compliance Environmental & Stephen Kisielnicki, Gale Associates

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Unlocking the Potential of Solar Energy*

Rod Shaffert,Cutler Associates

Who says it isn’t easy or cost effective being Green?  There has never been a better or more important time to bring solar energy to your campus.  With the cost of oil going up, the cost of green energy is going down.  Imagine watching the electric meter on your new residence hall run backwards!  Campuses across the country are turning to photovoltaic panels to convert light into energy on new and existing facilities.  This is an overview of solar power and hot water, its advantages and future applications, and options for integrating alternative energy sources into your building program. 

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How the "Big C" Impacts FM Organizations: The Relationship Between Culture and Effective FM Organizations

Stormy Friday, The Friday Group

Often overlooked is the impact of corporate culture on the ability of the FM organization to be a successful player in the corporate arena and provide effective, value-for-dollar services that keep customers satisfied and invested in a partnership with the FM enterprise.  Understanding the nuances of corporate culture and how it influences the FM organization, requires a serious commitment on the part of management and staff to proactively explore and analyze what it means, how it is used and why it needs to be sustained or changed.  Although it is easy to pay lip service to culture and dismiss it as an insignificant component of the FM realm, culture provides the sustainability foundation for all FM organizations.

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The Union College Facilities Services Excellence Program

Loren Rucinski, Richard Patierne, Michael Connelly, & Diana Mirabile, Union College

Union College is a small undergraduate, liberal arts institution in upstate New York.   The Facilities Services Department at Union needed a change.  Maintaining a campus consisting of buildings which were (on the average) 85 years old, many systems were antiquated, and emergency repairs and failures were common.  With the limited funding available for asset renewal, the Facilities group became a reactive organization.  The Facilities Department at Union has initiated a creative program to energize and organize their staff by using open communication techniques and personal development that created ownership and “buy in” from the bottom up, by the people who where “in the trenches” on a daily basis. The expectation was that improvement would not happen all at once, but it would be cumulative.  However, the goals and additional programs that resulted far exceeded their expectations.

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Getting More Out of Your Campus Fire Alarm System*

Chad Barnes, C&S Engineers, Inc.

With the threat of large scale emergency incidents looming over college campuses and other public facilities, campus administrators and facilities personnel all over the country are reviewing emergency response and contingency plans to ensure that they are prepared for such an incident to the extent possible.  However, have you considered how you would conduct a campus-wide evacuation or relocation if necessary in a timely manner to help mitigate a large scale emergency incident and prevent it from involving collateral buildings or people?  With today’s fire alarm technology, some campuses and building owners are turning to their building fire alarm systems to act not only as a fire alarm/detection systems, but also as campus-wide mass notification systems.  With the installation of voice communication fire alarm systems in place of conventional style horn notification systems, even in buildings that do not require voice communication fire alarm systems, you can send automatic or manual voice communications from a central or numerous locations to a single building on campus or to all of your buildings on campus if planned and designed properly.

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High Performance Design: Sustainable, Obtainable and Cost Effective

Jason Kliwinski, Spiezle Architectural Group, Inc.

The list of college and university presidents signing the American College and University Presidents Climate Commitment letter to create a climate neutral campus grows each week.  With over 400 signatures to date and growing, Universities recognize their unique leadership role in educating our future leaders in creating a culture of sustainability. What are the real implications for the institution?   What is LEED’s role in the larger conversation of carbon neutrality and how can it be cost effectively incorporated? The unique experience of the presenter in creating LEED™ projects within the structure of a green house gas assessment and reduction plan, representing a variety of project types at Universities and touching on the involvement of many key stakeholders including the design professional, the institutional administration and facilities personnel, the faculty, and the students, will address these macro questions using real-time project experiences. The conversation will touch on the concerns, issues, and opportunities in working through the cross disciplinary layers of design and implementation in this new paradigm of green house gas master planning and cost effective LEED™ incorporation.

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Keys to Managing Diverse Generations

Fran Topping, Gordon Cooper Technology Center

For the first time in history, four predominant generations are sharing our adult society.  Each of these generations has unique workplace preferences and interaction styles.  This presentation is particularly targeted toward those managers attempting to recruit, manage, and retain employees of different generations.  Participants will have the opportunity to identify the characteristics typical of each of the four generations currently in our workforce, discuss the environmental and societal events which contributed to the development of these diverse traits, and determine strategies to enhance performance across generations.

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Using Condition Assessment Modeling to Better Understand the Condition of Our Physical Assets*

Gary Evans, Graphic Systems, Inc.

Facility condition assessments that produce capital project requirements and condition index results have become integral to strategic decision-making processes for higher education facilities.  However, visual assessments are becoming more expensive and time-consuming, resulting in the economic need for new, innovative, and streamlined condition assessment approaches.  Through research recently performed for the United States Federal Government, Graphic Systems, Inc. has investigated alternative methods used to predict capital repair and replacement project needs and calculate facility condition index results.  This presentation will cover the findings of this research that reviews and compares various condition modeling techniques available today.  It will also cover the benefits of using condition assessment models to help higher education facility management organizations focus valuable condition assessment resources, benchmark condition levels, make strategic planning decisions, and use modeled condition assessment results within existing APPA benchmarking tools. 

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Ready, Set, Occupy! How to Build an Award Winning Residence Hall in 60 Days (or Less)*

Mike Brewer, Muhlenberg College,Daniel L Harrigan,Spillman Farmer Architects, & Rich Smith, Kullman Buildings Corporation

Muhlenberg College faced a hurdle familiar to many other higher education institutions: replace inadequate dormitories and do it in just three months of summer construction. To achieve this goal, the College chose an innovative methodology that is transforming how facilities are built: Off-site Construction. The presentation educates participants on this cutting-edge construction strategy. Off-site Construction is an alternative that has been successfully implemented at Muhlenberg College and, previously at Yale University. Its appeal is the fact that the methodology reduces campus disruption time, is cost-effective, and, importantly, offers the same design benefits of traditional construction. The pros and cons and approach and technologies of Off-site Construction will be discussed by the Owner, the Off-site Constructor, and the Architect.

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Searching for Excellence Using APPA's Facilities Performance Indicators

Margaret P. Kinnaman, University of Maryland Baltimore & Michael Sofield, Smithsonian Institution

Data collection is an essential tool used to achieve organizational excellence and better communicate with campus decision makers. In this session attendees will discover why data collection is important, what areas should be measured and tools to get the job done.  They will explore APPA's Facilities Performance Indicator Survey results and work in teams to apply the data to institutional case studies. Finally they will report their findings to the rest of the group.

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From Brown to Green: Initiatives for New and Existing Buildings and Why You May Already Be Greener Than You Think*

Michael Mayes , Chemsearch

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Facility Director's Blueprint for Success

David Ferguson, University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth

This presentation will focus on 10 main areas facilities directors need to develop for success.  They include:  Leadership, Establishing Goals, Giving Staff a Voice, Communication, Building Partnerships, Being A Change Agent, Providing Tools, Customer Service, Knowing Your Facility and Staying Motivated.  Participants will learn how all of these topics are interdependent, as well as, how all this comes back to the first area - Leadership.  The presentation will focus on how to make significant changes in facilities organizations through sound leadership that cannot be learned in a classroom or in a book.  Attendees will come away with new strategies to help them become more successful facilities leaders.

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Strategic Vision for Facility Management: Striving for World Class at the Smithsonian Institution

Nancy Bechtol, Smithsonian Institution

The Smithsonian Institution centralized its facility management functions in 2002 in the Washington Metropolitan area.  Efforts to build a robust, strategic, and world class organization were developed with many accomplishments and lessons learned along the way to share with other facilities management organizations.   Highlights of these major accomplishments will make up the majority of this presentation.  Creating an environment of professional development and national certification in all facilities disciplines, managing a simple and used CMMS, developing a strategic plan and vision are all essential to make sure the right work is being accomplished. 

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The Benefits of Building Information Modeling (BIM) for Colleges and Universities*

Martha Averso & Brian Robinson, Gannett Fleming Inc.

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The Keys to Success Have Changed*

Brad Williams, Hansa Air Conditioning

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Mooo'vin Forward in Vermont: A Comprehensive Facilities Plan at the University of Vermont

Sal Chiarelli, University of Vermont

The University of Vermont has undertaken a major transformation over the past decade.  From the realignment of the university’s mission to the repair of the foundations of 200 year old buildings, the Physical Plant Department has played a major role in the university reaching some of its most important goals.  Using a variety of techniques -  self study, strategic planning, business partner involvement, employee empowerment and utilizing the industry’s best practices - UVM’s Physical Plant Department has met the challenge of reducing deferred maintenance, implementing a computerized maintenance management system, increasing its engineering effectiveness, creating a utilities master plan, and a variety of other initiatives that helped UVM succeed in its expansion.  This presentation will describe the strategies and initiatives used to accomplish these tasks along with a discussion of how each system improvement has helped to create a more professional approach to facilities management at the University of Vermont.

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Best Practice Methods for Prioritizing Capital Requirements at the University of Guelph

Robert Carter, University of Guelph

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Cool Trends on Campus: A Survey of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) Use of Campus District Cooling*

John Andrepont,The Cool Solutions Company

A survey was conducted to develop a database of the use of Thermal Energy Storage (TES) in campus applications.  These data should lead to useful insights and conclusions to assist campus planners, utilities managers, and facilities managers and engineers, not to mention business officers and trustees.  A summary will be presented, illustrating such factors as: geographic distribution, including individual U.S. states and other countries; chronological distribution of installations; campuses with multiple TES installations or multiple phases of TES capacity expansion; and, a variety of other factors.  To-date, 159 identified TES installations, on 124 campuses, comprise more than 1.8 million ton-hours of daily TES capacity and achieve an estimated total peak load shift of over 258,000 tons (or 194 MW).  On average, they exhibit a TES capacity of 11,374 ton-hours and a peak load shift of 1,625 tons (or 1.2 MW) per installation, or 14,584 ton-hours and 2,083 tons (or 1.6 MW) per campus. Examples will be presented to illustrate applications and typical benefits, including potential capital savings.

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STARS: The Sustainability Tracking and Rating System and the University of Maine*

Gordon Nelson, University of Maine

Sustainability is much more than energy and recycling; it is a cohesive outlook of the future and how we live today. The Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) has developed the Sustainable Tracking and Rating System so that each college and university can measure their sustainable performance. This presentation will examine the different elements of sustainability that are ranked by the STARS model and explain the University of Maine’s journey in gathering the information and the decision making processes that affect the University’s score.

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Facing Tomorrow’s Critical Facilities Issues Head On: Educational Options and Strategies

Jim Whittaker, Facility Engineering Associates

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Reducing Heating Plant Outages Through REDOX Stress Management

Steve Spiwak, Nalco

Maintaining reliable steam production and protecting asset life of boiler systems are primary goals for every university heating plant manager and operator.  The dynamics of the heating and cooling demands of a large university campus; however, can present many challenges to meeting these goals.  One common challenge is corrosion of pre-boiler systems such as deaerators, feedwater lines and economizers due to feedwater REDOX (reduction/oxidation) stress events.  REDOX stress events are not predictable, and often go undetected and thus uncorrected, resulting in localized corrosion attack, boiler deposits, blown boiler tubes and unscheduled outages. Controlling the REDOX stress in boiler feedwater is therefore essential to maintaining the integrity of boiler systems and reliable steam generation.  To address the need for improved pre-boiler corrosion protection a large university evaluated a method for detecting and managing feedwater REDOX stress events. This presentation will discuss the results of this evaluation, and will outline a best practice approach for mechanical, operational and chemical improvements that extend equipment life, optimize chemical usage, reduce unscheduled outages, and save energy.

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Don't Lose Sight of Maintaining Control Through On-Line Management

Ken Olsen, Ocean County College & Rachael Bittner, SchoolDude.com

Most maintenance departments are fighting fires by reacting to work requests from their educational facilities.  These work requests occur hundreds to thousands of times a year and drive manpower responsibilities.  Computerized Maintenance Management Systems (CMMS) have been available for years and allow the maintenance department to streamline this process.  However, the systems have historically been too expensive and too complicated for most educational institutions.  New Internet technology brings the power of maintenance technology to the smallest of maintenance departments, as well as the largest!  Hear from Ocean County College about their business challenges, and how new Internet technology helped bring the power of technology to their facilities department.