Web Exclusive: Facility Fix with Mike Gardner, Butler University

What is your position? How many years have you been in the facility management profession?
I am the vice president for operations at Butler University in Indianapolis and have been working at the university for more than 18 years. I oversee the facilities operation for the entire campus, including managing a team of 110 maintenance and service workers, as well as overseeing the university police department.

Please give a brief description of the facilities involved in this project.
Butler University provides more than 4,700 students and faculty a world class learning environment. The university occupies more than 30 buildings on the 290 acre campus on the north side of Indianapolis, five miles from downtown Indianapolis in the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood.

Why was the decision made to pursue this project?
We implemented two phases of projects, one in 1995 and the other in 2005. In 1995, we were conducting master planning across the university and were very interested in getting a comprehensive assessment of the university’s infrastructure. At the time of the audit, we had a number of issues that had the potential to really give us problems down the road. Future cost avoidance was a major factor in justifying the investment.

Then in 2004, we started experiencing issues with the heating plant. One of our three boilers stopped working and another developed cracks, leaving us with one working boiler and no backup. With the prospect of rising natural gas costs and frequently having to repair the old boilers, it made sense to augment the boiler plant with new high-efficiency equipment.


Please describe the decision making and research process for this project.
To assist in conducting the facilities audit and develop an energy savings proposal for the Board, we sought the help of energy management experts at Honeywell. A proposal for an energy conservation and facilities renewal program was then developed. The energy savings from the $11 million, 10 year program would enable the university to fund the infrastructure upgrades and implement a new energy management system.

What led you to choose the specific solution that you did?
During the first phase of the project, we replaced the university’s pneumatic building controls with a Honeywell energy management system that electronically relayed information back to a main command center. This created efficiencies because the previous systems weren’t linked, making it difficult and time consuming to get a comprehensive picture of energy consumption.

For the second phase of work, Honeywell decentralized much of the university’s heating plant and installed 18 energy efficient, modular hot water boilers across campus. We have also initiated a contract with Honeywell that allows us to tackle small, yet, critical projects that arise between broad energy management programs.


What benefits have you reaped as a result of this project?
Since installing the high efficiency boilers, we’ve cut our fall and spring natural gas consumption by 35%. Over the course of the eight year contract with Honeywell, that’s more than $2.5 million in utility costs. The project is a fantastic success for the university.

What economic benefits have you reaped as a result of this project?
Since completion of the upgrades, the university has saved more than $200,000 annually in energy and maintenance costs.

Did you encounter any unexpected highlights or challenges while implementing this project?
We experienced a challenge with respect to financing of the project. We were on the tail end of financing with the first project, so we needed help from the university's CFO to help us with the financing of the second project.


How did this project require you to change your operations and maintenance practices?
Under the latest contract with Honeywell, a full time service technician is located on campus, helping to manage the high level energy management and temperature control requirements of the university. As a result, my team is able to focus on important day to day tasks that are often neglected.

How have the community and customers responded to this project?
We wanted to make these upgrades as transparent as possible and we've accomplished this task without much problem. With a project like this, it's better that we don't hear anything from the students or staff. Otherwise, it probably means the heat isn't working somewhere on campus.

What was the most professionally rewarding aspect of this project?
It's rewarding to work as a steward of Butler's physical plant and ensure that there is long term reliability of the campus infrastructure. It's satisfying to know we are accomplishing something good for the university, its students, faculty, and staff.






This facility fix column was contributed by former associate editor Jillian Ruffino.