A new system to monitor the University’s energy use will help to identify ways to save both energy and money, says the Facility Services engineer responsible for the project.
“Each building has meters to measure its consumption of electricity, natural gas and cooling water, and now we have a central system to gather all of that information on one desktop,” says Dan Castellan. “We can analyze each building independently and set performance standards.”
His experience in the simulation labs as a UWindsor nursing student helped Andrew Peltier land his dream job. Even before his June Convocation, the fourth-year student will take up a position in the emergency department of North York General Hospital.
He said the scenario-based job interview was not much different from what he did in the Faculty of Nursing labs.
A break in the pipes which carry water to cool most campus buildings will complicate the seasonal process of switching from heating to cooling, says Susan Mark, executive director of Facility Services.
“We were in the process of filling our system with chilled water so that we could cool buildings as necessary by May 1, when a 40-year-old pipe broke under pressure,” she said. “Repairs are underway which will allow us to feed chilled water from the Central Refrigeration Plant at the river.”
Sorting through the University’s garbage can be a little disheartening, says Taylor Purdy.
A master’s student of environmental engineering, she combed through a pile of trash Friday outside the maintenance compound on Union Avenue, conducting an audit of the waste produced on campus.
“At least half of this could have been recycled,” Purdy said. “It’s especially sad because this pile comes from the Centre for Engineering Innovation, a LEED-certified building where we are not recycling like we could be.”
Friends and colleagues of UWindsor custodian Linda Bell are organizing a pasta dinner to help her cope with financial pressures arising from an illness.
Bell, who usually cleans Essex Hall, is on long-term disability while undergoing treatment for cancer, explains co-worker Tom Dean.
“She’s on half-pay now and still has a mortgage and three teenaged boys at home,” Dean says. “Linda is really feeling the pressure and we just want to help her out.”
Grounds crews were kept busy at the end of last week, with snow accumulating across campus.
While much of Canada and the eastern United States was pummelled by a winter storm, Windsor got off easy, with snowfall of about seven centimetres. Walkways and parking lots were kept accessible and classes and services proceeded on schedule.
Facility Services will begin a 10-month project next week to update the small-scale floor plans of buildings across campus.
Consultants from DiMaio Design Associates will survey and measure all areas—labs, classrooms, offices, mechanical rooms, janitorial closets—in each building. Facility Services will notify the occupants of each affected building as their turns approach.
Leaving windows open in campus offices, classrooms and labs can be detrimental to buildings’ health, says Facility Services.
The reminder was prompted by an incident last weekend, when a window was left open, freezing water pipes which burst and caused a great deal of damage inside the building.
Although the cold weather this week should provide its own reminder to keep windows closed, freezing temperatures aren’t the only hazard, says administrative assistant Pat Roberts.
With winter temperatures now dipping low on the thermometer, the campus community is reminded that Facility Services staff has completed the semi-annual system switch from summer air conditioning to cold-weather heating.
Susan Mark, executive director of Facility Services, says maintenance staff spent several weeks preparing equipment at the Energy Conversion Centre, the Central Refrigeration Plant and buildings across campus, and now that the change is in place there is no going back until spring.
The University’s plans for its downtown campus cleared another hurdle Monday, as Windsor city council approved a change in the zoning of the Windsor Star, armouries and bus depot sites from commercial to institutional.
