The challenges facing maintenance and engineering departments never end. Luckily, managers and their staffs never run out of skills, persistence and ingenuity. The 2018 Facility Maintenance Decisions Achievement Awards recognize these qualities, as well as the success stories taking place in facilities every day. Here are this year’s award recipients:
Charlotte County, Fla. Facing staff and budget cuts and growing maintenance needs, the facilities construction and maintenance department implemented a capital assessment system. By identifying and prioritizing critical repair needs, the department was able to become more productive and effective in improving facilities’ conditions.
Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport. The world’s busiest airport established a successful energy management program to achieve its efficiency and sustainability goals.
City of Baltimore. The city’s department of general services developed and presented a successful hiring event targeting hard-to-fill positions that were hampering facility maintenance. The effort also streamlined hiring practices and increased the department’s social media presence.
Frederick (Md.) County Public Schools. The department developed its own skills tests for identifying qualified maintenance workers, improved employee orientation programs, and upgraded leadership training resources, resulting in improved customer satisfaction.
School District of Osceola County, Fla. Taking advantage of a new in-house facility condition assessment system, as well as new county funding, the maintenance department prioritized, addressed and completed more than 75 critical maintenance projects in one year.
University of Chicago. To more effectively track and analyze spending related to building trades, the operations and maintenance unit developed a cost tracking system that helped identify spending trends and cost savings, as well as improve estimating and forecasting.
Tulsa (Okla.) Community College. The facilities department used an energy performance contract, aided by buy-in across its campuses, to reduce its overall energy use by 26.3 percent in one year.
U.S. Department of Commerce. Targeted lighting upgrades in key areas of the 2-million-square-foot office building provided substantial energy savings and provided a template for more and larger lighting upgrades throughout the facility.
Check out all of the entries for this year’s awards at goo.gl/BzxWkn.
