APPA

Facilities Manager | May/June 2017

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FACILITIES MANAGER MAY/JUNE 2017 33 UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE Knoxville, Tennessee Submitted by Brooke Krempa, Communications Coordinator, Facilities Services STAR TEAM FOCUSES ON CUSTOMER SERVICE FOR RESEARCH In keeping with the University of Tennessee's (UT) academic mission, Facilities Services created the Special Team to Assist Research (STAR) as a subunit of its Zone Maintenance unit. e STAR Team is a specialized team responsible for providing a more focused service function to the research community. is is accomplished by assisting new researchers while renovating their lab space, helping them get acclimated to campus, and installing their lab equipment to ensure they can hit the ground running when they arrive on campus. e team also assists existing research with changing program- ming requirements and day-to-day problems that may arise, such as issues with the lab's HVAC, electrical, and plumbing. e STAR Team also takes the lead in developing projects for the Student Environmental Initiative's Green Revolving Fund to conserve energy on campus. e team has identified several projects with expenditures nearing $250,000 and savings of more than $150,000 per year. ese savings route back to the fund to allow financing of additional utilities savings projects. is team is also leading the way to predictive maintenance techniques with vibration analysis, shaft alignment, and thermal analysis on campus to maximize efficiency. ■ RAPID RESPONSE TO CUSTOMER INITIATIVES e UT Knoxville Facilities Services Rapid Response Team (RRT) was developed as a specialized subunit that handles overall facilities inspection, quality control, special projects, customer service initiatives, and emergencies. RRT receives work requests from all areas of the UT campus, and has a wide variety of skills in the areas of electrical, plumbing, carpentry, and heavy equipment. e team organizes and executes Spring Cleanup, a special event held for nine weeks annually as an effort to declutter aca- demic buildings by moving items no longer needed. Staff from RRT work building by building to help simplify the process. Computer and laboratory equipment, furniture, office sup- plies, paper files, and more can be recycled, discarded, or sent to UT Warehousing. In 2016, 3,312 cubic feet of material was recycled, taken to surplus, or disposed of at the landfill. e subunit performs whole-building relocations and office relocations. New building moves consist of complete move-in of new equipment, furniture, and supplies into facilities. RRT is also responsible for setup and teardown of special events on campus. is includes delivery and setup of tables, chairs, stages, and containers for recycling and waste. During the 2015-16 academic year, more than 700 work requests were performed by RRT. ■

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