Nightly Miracle:
In the season of miracles here’s a tangible one that impacts FM.  Every night the COMPASS production database is copied to a report database that we use for our web reporting. The copying of this massive 25+ gig file used to take 8-10 hours to run and had become known as the "nightly miracle" due to the extreme size and complexity of the updates. When you added in the age of the old server that held the file we have truly been operating in a very fragile mode. In addition, all web reports used to be unavailable or very slow during the entire update period. Through an innovative approach utilizing materialized views, Michael Seberg, Janet Heller and other members of the USIT, BAS and finance teams have created a method to update the report database in less than 2 hours - a 75% improvement. These changes coupled with a new server have significantly increased the reliability of our report generation. As an added bonus, the new process only requires each report to go off line for a few minutes.  While this is only one of many steps for us to become an organization that makes data driven decisions, our thanks go out to Michael, Janet and all the team members who contributed to this success!

Great Performance – Dave Grote Electrician
I don’t know if you’ve done this yet, but in my house we have tried to swap most of our standard light bulbs for compact fluorescents – think about that on a much larger a scale.  Dave noticed that some of the hallways in K-E are lit with old school 100 watt Mercury Vapor fixtures. He did some research and learned they can be easily converted to compact fluorescents using a kit that Dave located.  Dave brought his idea to Mat Lindquist in Energy Management.  In working through the numbers they found we could save $45 per year, per fixture.  With 200 fixtures these numbers added up fast, to the tune of $8,600 and an annual electrical savings of 120,000 kilowatts.  Including the retrofit kits and installation labor, the project has a three year payback.

Here’s what I appreciate about Dave’s efforts.  He saw a problem and proactively identified a solution.  He then worked closely with Mat to figure out a way to make it happen.  Dave’s idea is good for the environment and embodies the 3C’s by helping FM provide cost effective service.  Thank you Mr. Grote!

Another thing I appreciate about Dave is how he worked with folks outside the District.  Our new organization structure will require us all to work with a wide variety of folks.  This week front line staff saw what teams they’ll be working in, teams made up of different crafts.  When they’ve got a project that requires more resources, they’ll be able to look elsewhere in FM (eg. FM Service, Asbestos Team, etc.) or within University Services (e.g. Public Safety, University Health and Safety, CPPM).

Happy Holidays
For those of you who will be traveling during the holidays I hope your travels are uneventful and that your events are memorable. With luck you will all have a chance to relax and come back ready to roll as we go live with our new organization January 7.

Happy Holidays!
Mike