Meet fourth-year Human-Computer Interaction, major Anthony Chow. Anthony has been working as a User Experience and Design Intern in the Energy and Engineering office. He has worked for the University since the fall of 2019 and made the move to Facilities Management about 9 months ago. Anthony actually created his own major at UC Davis, a Bachelor of Science in Human-Computer Interaction.
From unknown room numbers to class schedules to contact information, the CEC has a resource that can solve even the toughest mysteries to get technicians to the right locations at the right times. That resource is FacilitiesLink.
You may notice several new tools around campus that are helping Custodial Services improve service levels. Seeking inventive ways to meet the needs of the campus is a key focus of Custodial Services, especially with the additional cleaning requirements prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The use of new equipment, including robot floor scrubbers, new paper towel dispensers, and touchless restroom cleaners, is one way that the custodial team has proven to find innovative solutions to new challenges.
Understanding how people use dashboards and tools has provided Facilities Management (FM), Energy & Engineering’s Kiernan Salmon with a new perspective on the design and usability of products. As Kiernan understands more, she is able to build tools that give FM staff valuable insight that allows us to provide better customer service to the UC Davis campus.
This summer, two buildings: Earth & Physical Sciences (EPS) and Sciences Laboratory, worked with FM: Energy & Engineering to pilot a Smart Labs program. Smart Labs is a utility incentive program through Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E), which provides funding for implementing energy-saving solutions in laboratory buildings within the PG&E service area. Completion of this program will result in safer labs, fewer carbon emissions from reduced energy use, and lower utility bills.
Alexandra Rivas is a fifth-year student employee who is double majoring in Civil and Environmental Engineering and pursuing double minors in Sustainability in the Built Environment and Construction Management and Engineering. Alexandra worked for UC Davis Conference and Events Services before accepting a position in the Energy and Engineering Office as a Green Buildings intern in the fall of 2020.
After UC Davis took over the Renewable Energy Anaerobic Digester (READ) Biodigester facility in 2017, staff ramped up efforts to increase usage of the facility. They started by investigating removing ammonia from the digestate (the material remaining after the anaerobic digestion of a biodegradable).
This past March and April, water conservation projects were completed by the Facilities Management Plumbing Shop in TB 183, Poultry House X, and Poultry House Y room 3. The team installed new water emitter systems in the three buildings. The new systems provide water when it is needed by the animals, rather than water constantly flowing. James Medeiros, Gary Fitzpatrick, Chris Persons from the Plumbing Shop worked to install this new system. It took some planning and creative thinking to route and support these lines systems.
We are proud to announce Shields Library is officially certified as a LEED Green Building! As of May 2021, Shields earned the LEED Gold Certification in the Existing Buildings: Operations & Management category with 73 out of 110 total points.
Meet Thomas Patten, a second-year graduate student working on obtaining his Master of Science in Energy Systems. In his current position as a Graduate Student Researcher for Energy & Engineering, Thomas supports them on energy conservation projects.
