The F&S laborer-electricians shop has one primary job: keep the lights on. That’s everywhere on the Urbana campus – in classrooms, offices, laboratories, exterior lights, and even the Ice Arena. Bulbs of all sorts, shapes, and sizes can be found all over campus, and the laborer-electricians are quick to respond when a light goes out. […]
Author: Travis Tate
Commercial Geothermal Gains Momentum
By Austin KeatingOriginally posted to The ACHR News New research reveals growing acceptance of geothermal HVAC among commercial facility managers A comprehensive survey reveals the growing momentum of commercial geothermal HVAC, with one in four facility managers already adopting the technology and industry experts predicting continued expansion driven by tax incentives, energy efficiency, and technological […]
Shop Spotlight: Laborers Prep Work at VetMed
In order to do a new parking lot at F27, F&S laborers are amongst the first to go on-site. Their work includes the prep work between when old cement and asphalt and broken up and sent off, and the new layer is poured. Among other activities, laborers make sure to measure, shovel, drive implements, and […]
Shop Spotlight: Electricians Keep the Score
Ah, sports! There’s speed, strength, balance, timing and guts… but there’s also that fun scoreboard that may keep kids occupied or hype up the crazies. Without the F&S electricians shop, those giant, colorful, engaging scoreboards wouldn’t operate. Although installed by Daktronics, a leader in scoreboards and video and digital signage, you need a primary source […]
Shop Spotlight: Elevator Mechanics Talk Testing
When you’re an elevator mechanic, you’re always testing. That’s what these F&S experts do yearly at every one of the 360 cars, dumbwaiters, and chairlifts on campus. When testing, elevator mechanics basically want to make sure that governors, locks, brakes, and doors all operate as they should – the car shouldn’t go too high or […]
We’re Doing WELL
The Sidney Lu Mechanical Engineering Building (MEB) completed a major transformation in 2022, including over 40,000 square feet added to instructional and research capabilities. It even got a new piece of public and interactive art. Leaders from the building and those in the mechanical science & engineering (MechSE) department, along with help from F&S, invested […]
Shop Spotlight: Painters ‘Mauve’ It at ISB
The previous color combination of interior painting at the International Studies Building (ISB) atrium, entryway, and main stairwell is either pink or mauve – a color combination popular in 1990, when ground was first broken there. But now, after the F&S painters finished up, the space is a little more welcoming to Illinois specifically, with […]
Girl Scouts Tour Abbott Power Plant 2025
Girl Scouts from Champaign and nearby counties visited Abbott Power Plant in April to learn about the co-generation facility that provides heat and power to most of campustown. There, they interacted with demonstrations held by Grainger College of Engineering students, who showed how electricity and steam work, toured the production floor and other areas of […]
Shop Spotlight: Card Access Opens Doors
The F&S Card Access team keeps campus safe, by changing lock and unlock permissions of individuals on campus. For example, when a new person is hired, they can get in the parts of a building they need to; just as importantly, names and identities can be removed from entrance and exit permissions lists. The i-card […]
2025 Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference: What’s So Cool About Chilled Water
At the 2025 Chief Engineers & Facility Managers Conference, Mike Larson, director of utility operations at Abbott Power Plant, described part of why the Urbana campus is so remarkable in utility and energy production and distribution: chilled water. Cold water, taken down to 42 degrees Fahrenheit at five chillers in Champaign and Urbana, is pumped […]