Growing Building Services: Window Washers
F&S established, and is growing, a window washing team that strategically cleans windows at approximately 270 campus buildings. “We are excited to grow the team and add a significant new service that will beautify campus buildings,” said Pete Varney, director of Transportation & Building Services. Varney said it had been over 10 years since this type of work has been done regularly on campus. “It … Continue reading Growing Building Services: Window Washers
Adapting Building Services: New Custodial Operations
F&S Building Service Workers (BSWs) began rolling out a new cleaning program this summer. So, when each employee received certificates honoring workshop completion, pomp and circumstance played for all. Much deserved! F&S partnered with the Cleaning Management Institute, the education division of the International Sanitary Supply Association (ISSA). Approximately 40 BSWs from all three working shifts are enacting the program, which is being piloted in … Continue reading Adapting Building Services: New Custodial Operations
For the Fans!
A couple pipefitters and plumbing projects improved facilities that host the highest level of intercollegiate athletic competition. Memorial Stadium and Huff Hall are among the most well-known sporting homes in the state. Both promote a positive fan experience for the coming seasons and well into the future. At the home of the Fighting Illini football program, nearing its 100th birthday, on the east side: the … Continue reading For the Fans!
Prizing Performance (with 🍕pizza🍕)
Good behavior nets pizza, especially for administrators and building liaisons at six Grainger College of Engineering buildings. So when this multi-year energy avoidance project, completed through Energy Performance Contracting (EPC) team at F&S, came to an end, already showing $2.9M in cost avoidance, a few folks celebrated, alongside Associate Vice Chancellor and Executive Director Ehab Kamarah, and Utilities & Energy Services Director Rob Roman. Sylvia … Continue reading Prizing Performance (with 🍕pizza🍕)
Library Hosts Firefighter Safety Training
The former “Undergraduate Library,” now called the Archives and Special Collections building, has been undergoing demolition and full-scale renovations for months, as it prepares to transition from a study and learning space to a storage facility for certain types of books and other documents. F&S Capital Programs project managers Jon Hasselbring and Sandra Roesler have helped lead the demolition and construction. Two floors had been … Continue reading Library Hosts Firefighter Safety Training
Altgeld Glow Up: Generations of Dirt Cleaned From Eons-old Stone
When you’re as old as Altgeld Hall, you deserve a nice cleansing scrub. The stony skin of the building dates to as far back as 1896, after all, and a lot of history, and other gunk, has built up on the stone. Even a U of I student’s thesis from more than 50 years ago notes the coloration change. Roughly hewn, randomly placed hard pink … Continue reading Altgeld Glow Up: Generations of Dirt Cleaned From Eons-old Stone
Machinists and the Cold Steel “O”
A circular iced steel sleeve spends time in a cooler filled with dry ice measured at about -120 degrees Fahrenheit (F). After a couple of hours, machinist shop foreperson Stuart DeHaro said the metal part, a cylinder about 8 inches in diameter and 2 inches tall, will shrink by a few 1000ths of an inch, just enough to allow it to slip into place on … Continue reading Machinists and the Cold Steel “O”
Arbor Day 2023 on the Main Quad
The national holiday Arbor Day was April 28, 2023; locally, it was easily seen on the University of Illinois Main Quad that day. To celebrate, F&S helped plant and honor a new horizon elm tree just west of Davenport Hall. Campus tree and sustainability experts spoke, including Brent Lewis, university landscape architect, and Morgan White, associate director of sustainability; Mike DeLorenzo, Vice Chancellor for Administration … Continue reading Arbor Day 2023 on the Main Quad
Making It Safe: A New Green Boneyard Bridge
Ironworkers make things safer. In the end, their repairs to a bridge over the Boneyard Creek will last decades and allow safe passage between student housing and buildings on the Grainger College of Engineering Quad. The now-bright green bridge is just north of the Astronomy Building. The culprit causing damage was rust, which disintegrated parts of the bridge bottom. F&S ironworkers Mike Paris and Rene … Continue reading Making It Safe: A New Green Boneyard Bridge
Girl Power: Education at Abbott
Local girl scouts came on a Saturday morning to learn about the utility systems operated at Abbott Power Plant. Associate professor in Civil and Electrical Engineering (CEE) in the Grainger College of Engineering, Ashlynn Stillwell helped organize and manage the groups and distributed safety and personal protective equipment (PPE). Stillwell is also the former Central Illinois Girl Scout leader. Kids toured the power plant with … Continue reading Girl Power: Education at Abbott