Coming out of this latest cold snap, I wanted to thank all of you for keeping the U running despite the bitter cold. In particular I wanted you to know about our Energy Management group. Like many of the services FM provides, most folks don’t think about heating/cooling on a daily basis (and except for conservation efforts, we’d like to keep it that way).

By the numbers:
4 – Boilers that provide steam to our Minneapolis campus
2 – Boilers that went down last week needing repair
0 – Amount of research, teaching and outreach impacted

Despite temporarily losing two of our four boilers, with quick thinking and team effort, we were able to keep the campus running with minimal impact. How did it happen? Boiler repairs were performed quickly, non-essential fans were switched off and the steam load was constantly monitored. We had great communication between Energy Management, the Districts and Foster Wheeler, and got the problem solved. As of Wednesday, we are once again running buildings at full-speed and meeting all facility needs having completed essential repairs to the major boilers needing repair.

Great Performance – Peter Fetzek, Carpenter Foreman, St. Paul District
Many of us are drawn to the U because it gives us a chance to work at a place that improves people’s lives – open heart surgery, seatbelts and safe new food products (i.e. Honeycrisp apples) to name a few. This week’s great performance takes us from the theoretical to the real world.

Late in January, Pete turned “customer-focused” from something we say into something we do. A student was scheduled to take classes at St. Paul’s livestock arena. One problem – he was in a wheelchair and the arena was inaccessible to him. The student met Pete and showed him the access issues. Later that day when the student returned he was pleasantly surprised to find an asphalt ramp to access the sidewalk, the arena doorway cleared of ice and a wide plywood ramp leading from the threshold down to the arena floor.

“Mr. Fetzek, in my opinion, went way over and above what could have been done to minimally fix the accessibility issues. I am very impressed with the work he did. It was professional and a great reflection on the U of M.”

Pete did a great job of communicating with our customer and solving the problem. Thank you Mr. Fetzek!

Keep up the good work!

Mike