NEWS

GLOBALADJUSTMENT Western dialed back its energy consumption this summer and the results are staggering

PRIMAVERARyan Lovell sets thetable for advancedproject coordination

In this Issue;Closer to Zero

Green Leaders Walking a Mile

40AND LOOKING FINE

Why FM’s architectural expert likes Weldon

Building. Leading. Growing.

GreenLeaders

Reaching first year students is the key to a successful recycling/composting program at Western.

REZ A TARGET FOR GREEN LEARNING

Like a buddy movie that continues to deliver the goods, Facilities Management and Housing have teamed up again.

The plot this time revolves around the joint effort to improve Western’s diversion rate by engaging the students as they enter their first year. Habits that will guide students over the next four plus years on campus are often developed in residence.

More than 5,000 students will call one of Westerns’ 8 residences home in September and, as Environmental Project Coordinator, Katie Wall says “They don’t all come from London - in fact many don’t- and it’s our responsibility to provide guidance on waste diversion.”

Environmental Project Coordinator, Stef De Adder echoes those comments and adds, “If we can reach students as they arrive on campus, the expectation is that they will continue to reduce their waste during their entire time at Western”.

To get the message established, the EPCs worked with Housing staff driving home the three Rs at a lunch and learn session.

Western’s recycling program matches the London curb-side pick-up - at least it used to. Recently, the municipal collection has expanded to include more items, following the opening of a new recycling facility in the south end.

The potential for confusion makes waste and recycling management education even more important. The pair of Facilities Management employees see the lunch and learn as an opportunity to ‘train the trainers’ as Housing staff will take the message from the event and share with the first year cohort.

Top; Katie Wall describes the recycling program on campusMiddle: Stef De Adder explains the elements of sustainabliityBottom; Two Housing employees compete in a challenge to test their recycling knowledge

Facilities Management’s co-op students, Stefanie De Adder and Katie Wall worked together this summer to promote environmental sustainability on campus. They developed a Sustainability at Western presentation and poster that can be presented to a wide number of audiences in the Western community. The presentation aims to communicate information about global environmental issues, as well as sustainability practices and resources at Western.

The presentation highlights the importance of energy and water conservation, as well as sustainable waste management practices. It also outlines Western’s initiatives including the installation of efficient lighting, low flow shower heads and faucets, water bottle filling stations, and new multi-stream waste bins that give everyone the opportunity to recycle on campus.

Stefanie and Katie can be seen at a number of events on campus, displaying their poster and engaging the community in sustainability activities. One of their favourite activities is a sorting challenge that encourages participants to sort items into the correct recycling bins under a time constraint.

“Everyone has a lot of fun doing the challenge and they learn a lot about sorting waste at Western,” Katie commented, “A lot of people don’t know that batteries, electronic waste, and ink and toner cartridges can be recycled at Recycling Stations on every floor of most buildings.”

Katie and Stefanie will be working with Facilities Management for the Fall 2012 semester and are hoping to provide a number of outreach programs in the community. If you are hosting an event and would like to see a presentation on sustainability at Western, contact Katie Wall at kwall9@uwo.ca or at extension 80530 on campus for more information.

This past summer, Facilities Management welcomed two new temporary employees; Stefanie De Adder and Katie Wall began their co-op placement for their Masters of Environment and Sustainability program in May, taking on the roles of Environmental Project Coordinators. One of their primary tasks this summer was to develop a Zero Waste Action Plan for the university. In order for Western to become a Zero Waste University, its staff, students and faculty must successfully divert 90% or more of the waste generated on campus from the landfill, either through recycling or composting.

In order to reach this goal, the Action Plan was created to identify key areas in which Western’s waste diversion practices are currently lacking, and how they can improve. For example, the signage describing proper recycling on campus was out of date and unclear, leading to the disposal of many recyclables into the landfill stream. Stefanie and Katie worked to completely overhaul the Green Boards on campus this summer, redesigning signage and providing information and tips on proper waste diversion at Western.

Some other ways in which the Zero Waste Action Plan will be implemented is through information sessions about recycling and composting, the distribution of a Zero Waste Checklist, and potentially through the integration of campus-wide composting in the future.

Taking Western from one Zero Waste building to a Zero Waste Campus

TAKIN’ OUT THE TRASH

Summer interns take the sustainability message to the rest of campus.

GETTING THE WORD OUT

VIDEOS TO RECOGNIZE THE FRONTLINE

Those with teenagers know the mess that can be left in their wake. Now imagine 30,000 teenagers descending on your place for the day and then leaving.

That’s a portion of the day in the life of a caretaker. And there is a hope everyone can respect their work as they keep Western’s facilities looking their best.

In an effort to share the stories of FM frontline staff, Communications Officer Brandon Watson and Communications Intern, Michelle Smith have picked up the video camera and made tracks to where the proverbial rubber meets the road.

“Our staff are identifiable, with their uniforms and fifty pound key-chains,” say Watson. “but I’m not sure our customer are always aware of the services they provide to the University.”

It is a big place and getting bigger. The expectation from the Facilities Management Division is that they will continue to maintain the same level of service year over year, new construction after new construction. Watson points out that customers can always expect great service, but hopes the videos will provide some insight into the complexity of each of our frontline positions.

“Take Rick Mercer interviews and add a dash of Dirty Jobs and you get the recipe for our new series,” says Watson.

The plan is to reach out to most areas of our service offerings and find out how we make the University a better place to learn, research and work.

“Videos are a good way to share our stories, but more importantly they can share the personalities that bring those stories to life.” - Brandon Watson, Communications Officer

SERVICE EXCELLENCE

This is Steve Leslie on the right, Supervisor of our Commissionaires and Tom Beckman, Assistant Supervisor. This event was the Annual Commissionaires Awards dinner held Thursday October 4th, 2012.

They received the Commandant’s award for exceptional service to Western. I nominated them for their work in replacing our meters. I had scheduled a two week transition period for this and they finished the task in 4 hours.

CLOSING IN ON ZERO DAYSFM has averaged less than 3.5 days lost due to injury per month for the past two years - and is on track to average roughly 1.25 days a month this year.

As the Division closes in on the - once thought unattainable - zero days milestone, it seems more than relevant to look back on how far we have come.

If you’ve worked in the Division for a decade or more, you’ll know the significance of our recent injury reports. In 2004, Facilities Management (then Physical Plant & Capital Planning Services) reported an average of 71 days lost due to injury per month - a total of 851 for the year.

In 2005 and 2006, the numbers improved slightly, but still combined for more than 1,200 days lost.

The crossroads came in 2007. Following above average injury figures in the previous years, the Workplace Safety Insurance Bureau (WSIB) conducted a WorkWell Audit. In February of that year, a team from WSIB visited the University (in particular Facilities Management & Hospitality Services) to present 27 recommendations for improvement with a four month implementation period.

Action items listed by the auditors to improve safety performance ranged from expanding the accountability managers and supervisors have for health and safety responsibilities, to ensuring staff conduct appropriate pre-use inspections and preventative maintenance programs for tools and machinery.

Following several months of preparation, the audit conducted earlier this year revealed Western had strong health and safety systems in place, but outlined opportunities for improvement to further enhance the university’s safety culture.

Auditors returned in June to review the new safety and training measures and gave both Divisions a passing grade. In the following years, days lost to injury dropped off immediately - roughly10 per

month. However in 2009, the injury days began to rise again and emphasis on safety and training was reestablished.

Since then, injury reports have demonstrated steady improvements. Meeting an all-time low in 2010 with a total of 39 days lost for the entire year, it seemed as though the quest for zero days lost was within the realm of possibility. In fact, that year, in seven of the twelve months Facilities Management recorded no days lost.

The injury data that comes from Occupational Health and Safety is still only available for the first seven months of this year, but Facilities Management is trending towards it’s lowest recorded days lost due to injury. With an average of 1.25 days lost per month, Facilities Management is forecast to have a total of 15 days lost for the entire calendar year.

“From over 800 [days lost] to around 15 is cause for celebration,” says RL. “This is one of those true team victories, where everyone is has a hand in the success.”

Note: While being written, August figures were released. That month alone, 21 days were registered as being lost due to injury, bring the average up inline with the previous two year average. The trend still points to significant improvements in reducing days lost.

FM DAYS LOST DUE TO INJURY - FOUR YEAR TRENDING

Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec

Day

s Lo

st

1007550250

Year Avg./mo.2009 20.252010 3.252011 3.252012 1.25

“These are not just numbers, these reports represent our people that have been hurt at work. We can’t forget why are reducing incidents of injury - to protect ourselves, our friends and colleagues in the Division.” - Roy Langille, AVP Facilities Mangement

During the hottest days of summer, Facilities Management was dialing back air conditioning in an effort to control the impact rising energy fees. The results have Western cutting their their utility bill by nearly a million dollars.

Last year, Western spent $16 million on energy. Of that total, a whopping 6.5 million dollars - about 40% - went towards our contribution of the global adjustment.

As noted in a memo to the campus community at the beginning of summer, Associate Vice President, Facilities Managment, Roy Langille, said Western is paying unnecessary sums in support of the provincial surplus. Basically, Ontario buys more energy than it needs as a reserve in case high temperatures bring on higher energy demands - it’s protection against brown and black outs. The cost of that surplus is passed on to the provinces highest energy consumer based on their share of load over the five peak energy usage days each year. With A/C being the largest energy consummer, the hottest days in the summer tend to be those peak days.

In a proactive measure, Facilities Management prepared to reduce chiller load on days that were projected to be ‘peak’ based on the day’s weather conditions. Experts in our Division were able to further target the peak usage to within 4 hours of the business day. A rotating shutdown of fans and chillers began at 2pm on select days and returned to normal operation by 6pm.

The Division was careful in it’s approach - not leaving fans and chillers off for more than half an hour at a time. Also, certain areas of research and study were isolated according to climate standards and steps were taken to maintain appropriate service levels.

The increases are inevitable. Every year (except one) since the benefit became an ‘adjustment’, it has increased. In fact, over the past three year’s Western contribution has gone from about $2 million to $7 million.

“Facilities Management stewards the resources of Western’s built environment, including utilities - making sound financial decisions is expected of us,” says Roy. “If we didn’t react to the growing GA fees, we’d be leaving money on the table and that’d be a disservice to the University.”

As a result of this conservation, Western will have saved roughly $900,000. In an economy of volitility and with public funding uncertainties, savings of this kind are partilcularly welcome.

Facilities Management doesn’t take full credit for the reduction in energy use. The Western community was asked to do their part and cut back throughout the summer. The combination of adjusting automated cooling systems and the commitment by end users on campus has made the response to the Global Adjustment a success.

“We did well being mindful of our energy consumption this summer and everyone should be commended,” says Langille. “The next step is to continue to view the Global Adjustment measure as an ongoing effort.”

Although ‘peak days’ are most certainly behind us this year, Facilities Management is continuously attempting to implement conservation measures that will help Western in the years to come.

This summer, Western dialed back the A/C and asked users to reduce their electrical demand. The results are staggering.

Togetherwe’re

AMPingDOWN

Reduced cooling in campus buildings from 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

‘Watt’ can you do? Turning off your computer at the end of each day

could save 60,000 kWh per year, enough electricity to power 2 average Canadian homes for an entire year.

Turn your lights out when leaving the office. Leaving lights on unnecessarily even for just 2 hours a day consumes 86,000 kWh per year, enough to power 3 average homes for an entire year, also the equivalent of emissions from 11 cars over one year.

Unplugging printers when not in use could save 91,000 kWh per year, which could power 3 Canadian homes for one year.

* Values are calculated assuming 1,000 staff members.

www.westernu.ca/fm

Above: Utility costs are on the rise and much of that total is from the Global Adjustment and not just usage.

ADJUSTING TO RISING ENERGY COSTS

CONGRADUATIONSThough there were no mortar caps, it didn’t take away from the accomplishments of graduates Adminstrative Officer, Tracey White-Lockwood and Director, Business Operation, Paul Martin.

Tracey successfully completed her Canadian Institute in Management (CIM) certificate. The program is a nine course offering through Western’s Continuing Studies. Paul Martin received the Professional Managers designation.

Both were recognized at a ceremony in September

Courses at Continuing Studies Since its founding in 1998, Continuing Studies has been leading the way in course and program that provide the skills and knowledge for you to prepare for and thrive in a changing world. Continuing Studies offers 13 certificate programs including Project Management, Marking, Leadership and Business Writing, and Communications.

Continuing Studies course are eligible for reimbursement. Tuition advances are also available for select course.

More info: http://www.uwo.ca/cstudies/

FM INVADES EAST PARKEast Park was once again the destination for Facilities Management’s summer family BBQ event.

Nearly 600 employees and their families came out in record numbers to race around the go-kart track, scale the climbing wall, take batting practice, and shoot the 18 hole putt-putt. Attendees also got to tee up some golf balls, rip down the park slides and pile up the bumper cars.

A BBQ lunch was merely a pit stop for most, who returned to the free activities until the Park closed.

Special thanks to Warren Meadows, Chair and Event Coordinator of the FM Staff Recognition Committee - another great success.

ADJUSTING TO RISING ENERGY COSTS

PROJECT PRIMAVERA

Primavera, is a new resource managing software to help FM Project Managers keep tabs on their projects.

The newly introduced tool allows for more efficient management of project documents/information. Facilities Management has a number of projects on the go and until recently information was stored in emails, directories, PeopleSoft, Advantis, and in hardcopy.

Primavera is a way to centralize the information with the ability to generate meaningful reports on project health and budget. At any time, it can answer the question “How is this project doing?”

Project Accountant, Ryan Lovell oversees Facilities Management’s projects from an accounting and financial perspective. He sees all kinds of upside to new system.

“Beyond the obvious benefits of consolidating information for project managers, [Primavera] will allow us to update our customers, keep real time financial records, and help management make better informed decisions throughout the project process,” says Lovell.

Fred Janzen lead the implementation of Primavera, Paul Martin sponsored the project and Robert Flegel oversees the technical integration.

YEARS OF SERVICEFacilities Management,

On behalf of the Staff Recognition Committee and our Senior Management, I am pleased to announce that the Division is caught up on long service awards.

Everyone feels differently about recognition, but from my perspective and from the feedback I received, it appeared evident that many people appreciated being acknowledged for their contributions over the years. I also realized that we had missed the mark by only retroactively recognizing those with 30 years of service.

I travelled to each of the units this summer to “make things right” and catch up with the 10 and 20 year recipients which would bring everyone to date with our program.

After dozens of unit presentations, I am proud to say that we are now caught up. We are currently working to iron-out discrepancies between our seniority list and the central HR service date. When we do, we will recognize those with 2012 milestones.

Congratulations to all who have dedicated themselves to the Division over the years.

Joanne Smith

How Primavera improves PM:• Increase to transparency, accountability

and collaboration while reducing risk• Common process for all capital projects• Dashboard - project health and budget

results• Repository for all project correspondence

and decision impacting designs and schedule

• “What if “ scenarios can be easily created and reviewed for time line and budget impacts

• Integration with PeopleSoft

DIGGING IN THEIR HEELS

A team of wobbly-ankled men from Facilities Management legged out a mile-long route around Victoria Park in support of Women’s Community House on Sunday. The slow paced march in bright red pumps downtown was part of the Walk a Mile in Her Shoes event, raising awareness of domestic violence and more than $40k in donations for the local women’s shelters.

For the past five years, the walk has presented a unique and comical way to open the discussion on a serious issue. Walk a Mile in Her Shoes is a way for men to make a statement that violence against women is not acceptable and to stand up against sexualized violence.

Wives, mothers, daughters, and other onlookers walked along the route with the more than 160 participating men to both support and playfully heckle. Led by the Shriner’s marching band, the parade began at Centennial Hall and etched a path along the edge of the park, to Richmond Street and back along Central, concluding back at starting line.

Thanks to the support and donations from members of the community and Coordinator, Kayla Lagerwerf, the team from FM raised $1,800.

Top: FM’s Campaign Coordinator, Kayla Lagerwerf visited the Division’s units to raise awareness of the cause and seek participation.

Milddle: JP Laporte goes au naturel

Bottom: Lookin’ good. The team from Facilities Management’s joined other community members to help support London’s women shelters. <Left-to-right> Cody’s Dog, Cody Brown, son Ryder, JP Laporte, Kyle Dickson, Brandon Watson, Doug Rodwell

PHOTO: Kayla Laferwerf

Western’s FM Team makes a statement to end domestic abuse

The “Brutal” Facts about WeldonImportant DatesDesign 1967-1968 Ground Broken October 1968 Dedicated October 29, 1971 Date Stone / Time Capsule November 30, 1972 Official Opening June 1, 1972

Interior Space: Total area 237,093 sq. ft.

Awards: Concrete Institute of Canada Award

Architects for Building: Ronald E. Murphy of Murphy, Schuller, Green & Martin Architects, assisted by John Andrews of Toronto

Structural Engineers: Mech. & Elect. Engineers: Carruthers & Wallace M.M. Dillon Ltd.

General Contractor: Frid Construction Company Ltd.

1997/98 Renovations; Diamond Schmidt Architects

2002 /2003 Addition of ARCC; Diamond Schmidt/Randy Wilson Architects

2006-2007 Single Service Desk; University Architect, Mr. Joe Dolezel.

(Archives & Research Collections Centre)

Manager, Planning, Design & Project Administration, Mike McLean shares his perspective at Weldon’s brithday party.

He states that the Collegiate Gothic styling that most of the campus exemplifies seems to work in stark contrast to th Brutalist period that gave us the Weldon Library, UCC, and Social Sciences Building.

It’s a decision that has polarized the campus community and is still part of the watercooler conversations forty years later.

In honour of this momentous occasion, Western’s Architect, Mike McLean shares his thoughts on this controversial building.

Think about it – for forty years Weldon has been a place where students can relax, maybe study. It’s a place where they can read whatever or surf the net - where they can take a nap, meet friends and have a coffee. It’s a place where they can get help from the librarians or just get lost in the stacks.

This centralized student hub came in the late 1960s during an era of substantial enrolment growth for Western. A plan was developed for infill of the central campus and abandoned the previous generations’ commitment to the traditional Collegiate Gothic architectural theme. The new style ventured toward a sharply planed architecture, using concrete as a construction material.

This architectural style is called Brutalism. The term sounds better in French – “beton brut” which means raw concrete.

But why Brutalism for Weldon Library? These heavy and angular, Brutalist buildings could be constructed quickly and economically. Common features include massive, sculptural shapes, rough, unfinished surfaces and striated concrete on the exterior.

Also, this style, which was prevalent from the 1950’s to the 1970’s, coincided with advances in what you could do with concrete. Pre-stressed, post-tensioned concrete - which was used throughout Weldon along with standard reinforced concrete -allowed for longer clear spans, fewer beams, & more slender, dramatic elements. The castellated, or egg-crate design of the concrete ceiling on the main floor is a good example of this.

It’s important to note as well that the counterculture movement that dominated the second half of the 1960’s inevitably had an influence on the architecture of the day. Many architects chose the Brutalist style even when they had large budgets and the time to build, as they appreciated the ‘honesty’, the sculptural qualities, and perhaps, the uncompromising, anti-establishment nature of the style.

There is no question that Weldon Library does not fit in architecturally, however, it is one of the finest examples of Brutalist architecture in Ontario. This seemingly fortified structure is successful at breaking down its mass to a more pedestrian scale along Oxford Drive. It makes good use of it’s space by bringing in natural light and provides good public, communal space.

Here and now, as much as when it was first built, Weldon has a unique sense of place. For forty years it has been a symbol of community and gathering for our students and I believe that will continue to be for decades more. At times Weldon is brimming with activity - I challenge you to come during exams and try to find a seat...

LOOK WHO’S 40Often referred to as an eyesore - is Weldon getting better with age?

Western University | Support Services Building | London, Ontario N6A 3K7 | www.uwo.ca/fm

Western’s Facilities Management DivisionVision: To be recognized as the leader in facilities management among research-intensive universities worldwide.

Mission: Our integrated Team provides excellence in creating and maintaining Western’s facilities and in serving the community.