Sustainable Maintenance Operations

In Module Two, you will learn that operations management is the art of keeping the facility running while meeting tenant, customer, and staff requirements by striving to provide a comfortable, healthy, safe, and productive environment for all occupants of the built environment through a skilled workforce’s efforts. The central portion of the job responsibilities for most facility managers is successful maintenance and repair management. Facilities employ work order systems to issue the work, record the results, and provide future planning and budgeting data.

We discuss different work orders and how the Computerized Maintenance Management System (CMMS) has dramatically increased operational effectiveness. You will then learn about different maintenance strategies and how maintenance contributes to sustainability. This module ends with information on property conditions surveys and how the surveys contribute to effective maintenance management.

Managing Outsourced Services

In Module Three, you will learn outsourcing is the term applied to situations when a facility manager hires an outside contractor to provide maintenance or repair services. Some government facilities want to be entirely standalone to meet all emergencies; however, all well-managed facilities utilize outsourcing to meet the facility’s needs. In doing so, facilities achieve the highest quality of service at the lowest cost. This module discusses outsourcing processes, including the need for contractual agreements and determining the facility’s actual needs when outsourcing. The module closes by discussing outsourcing the facility management function and the differences between outsourcing in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Financial Management and Control

In Module Four, you will learn that financial management is managing budgets and resources for current and future needs, so funds are available when needed. The module begins with managers’ basic financial tools to pay for goods and services. We then discuss planning for future expenses through various budgeting methodologies and the two major budget divisions of capital and operating budgets. The module ends with discussing financial control and budget data to find facility operation problems.

Construction Management and Sustainable Design

In Module Five, construction project elements are discussed from conception to completion. The module examines facility managers’ important contributions to construction projects by acting as the owner’s representative. The module shows how the construction contract greatly influences project performance and the relationship among construction personnel. It discusses the different types of bonding and other legal instruments used in construction. You will learn about sustainable design and sustainable construction methods, and newer construction document production systems, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and laser scanning. The module also explains a sustainable construction scheduling method known as the Critical Path Method (CPM), developed during the U.S. Navy’s Trident submarine project in the mid-1950s.

Fire and Security Systems and Disaster Prevention

In Module Six, you will learn about the many types of disasters that can strike the facility. A facility’s ability to quickly (relative to the type and size of the disaster) return to full operation after a disaster event is evidence of a sustainable disaster recovery operation. The module begins with disaster categories and the risk analysis that initiates a disaster plan for the facility to overcome the disaster. Fire is the only disaster type that the building provides equipment to combat. The module discusses the various fixed fire suppression systems, smoke control, fire spread control, and structural fire insulation that either mitigates the effects of fire or attempts to eliminate the fire threat. America’s greening has even encompassed fire suppression chemicals that provide safer and less toxic alternatives to the environment. The module then discusses other potential disaster events, including security, access control, alarm systems, and cyber attacks.

Facility and Global Environmental Management

In Module Seven, you will learn the management of environmental issues is extremely important for any facility. Environmental management begins before properties develop, extends through the property’s life, and continues through recycling and redevelopment. The module discusses the different environmental concerns and environmental personnel that can aid a facility with these concerns. The module defines the due diligence process for property acquisition and leasing, discusses the various environmental problems many facilities can face, and introduces the government regulations related to these hazards. The module discusses two global environmental concerns, the stratospheric ozone layer and the greenhouse effect, the difference between carbon dioxide equivalent gases and biogenic carbon, and how they relate to a facility’s carbon footprint.

Building Systems and Controls

In Module Eight, you will learn about HVAC ventilation systems and control. The module begins with building control systems, older pneumatic systems, and the newer, direct digital control systems. You will learn about the system’s language that allows different equipment to speak to each other and work together. The module then looks at the components of a healthy, comfortable indoor environment and the various air supply systems and equipment used to produce it, emphasizing reducing energy consumption through systems and control.

Major Building Equipment Systems and Subsystems

In Module Nine, you will learn about basic vapor compression and the absorptive refrigeration process for air-conditioning. You will learn about commercial air-conditioning equipment consisting of electrical centrifugal chillers, steam absorption units, and heat recovery chillers. You learn about chiller operational strategies, ice storage systems, and cooling towers, including operation, maintenance, and water treatment. The module moves into building heating, discussing boilers, combustion, and efficiency basics. Heating plant operation and licensing is the next topic, followed by boiler water treatment and testing. We then discuss condensing boilers (whose increased efficiency has made them extremely popular) and the need for proper design to maximize their efficiency. Plant sustainability is crucial for achieving an overall sustainable facility, and this topic ends the module.

Energy Management and Renewable Energy

In Module Ten, you will learn about energy, equipment efficiency, power generation, rate structures, and one of the major uses of energy, lighting. We also discuss electrical distribution, the importance of the power factor and its effect on a building’s carbon footprint, and strategies to help prevent demand charges from being assessed by the power utility. You will learn how retro-commissioning reduces consumption by improving plant efficiency, as facilities save money by utilizing the interruptible rate for natural gas.

Renewable energy devices are becoming more and more necessary in building construction. The module describes geothermal heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, solar water heating, wind power, hydroelectric power, and photovoltaic power. The module discusses microgrids for power distribution in storage and moves on to fuel cell technology used at One World Trade Center and three surrounding towers at the World Trade Center site.

Building Site Interior and Personnel Management

In Module Eleven, you will learn about the building site, including landscaping, drives, walks, and athletic fields. Next, you will learn how managers achieve sustainable landscaping using old tried-and-true methods and new methods such as xeriscaping and recycled materials in place of purchasing new soil additives. We discuss turf maintenance, comparing artificial turf and natural grass-friendly fields. We then discuss common paving materials and the new porous paving options, followed by a detailed examination of new methods of storing and naturally treating stormwater runoff. The next section discusses the consumables used in facilities, recycling, waste management, and restroom water conservation. The module changes direction and goes inside the building to discuss housekeeping and facility maintenance methods and management. The module concludes with safety and safe work practices for housekeepers.

Green Building Construction

Module Twelve begins with some basic commercial building construction methods. You will learn about the equipment used to mitigate damage to buildings due to seismic disturbances and wind loads. You then learn about the different types of commercial roofs, their benefits, maintenance work requirements, and current technology in these areas: green walls, cool roofs, green roofs, and new water leak detection methods. The module then discusses people moving equipment (elevators and escalators) and current strategies to improve this equipment’s efficiency.

Strategic Planning and Project Financial Analysis

In Module 13, you will learn about beginning strategic planning through team development. You then learn about some of the methods a manager may employ to achieve a strategic plan, which is only effective if it meets the organization’s financial goals. The module discusses various financial analysis tools and master planning. The module ends with space planning, churn management, and discusses Melbourne, Australia’s Council House 2 project.