Top Stories
Power Outage — a great test of our emergency response
Monday’s brief power outage was terribly inconvenient for the campus but it was a great test of our emergency response. Around 11:15am power went out on the UBC campus. The VOIP phones were still working and calls were coming in to the service centre from all over inquiring on the situation. FM cell phones were also lighting up with calls and texts from concerned building administrators. Quickly, it was determined that our email to text message was not working. Since this is how we disseminate information to utility outage contact list (which includes E&W, Building Ops, Scheduling Services, Risk Management and Public Affairs) we divided up the list and started to call individuals. Within 2 minutes all key personnel were contacted. FMs and Building Ops managers assembled on the second floor of USB, which is our Departmental Emergency Operations activation, and began to triage the communications and response efforts. Meanwhile the High Voltage Electrical team was racing to the main substation to assess the cause of the outage. Quickly the High Voltage team was able to conclude that the transformer had tripped, and was able to reset it and the subsequent feeds. While this was happening senior university officials were on a conference call getting an update of the situation. Power was restored within about 40 minutes. As with all power bumps and outages many systems on campus needed to be reset and Building Ops staff spent the next few hours attending to multiple buildings to restore all systems.
Many thanks to the Customer Services team, particularly the Service Centre and the FMs for keeping campus updated with the latest information. And to Mike Paley and the Electrical team, elevator and high voltage crews in particular, Pete Mcloughlin and the Operating Engineers on shift, and all of the other trades groups that spent their afternoons resetting systems so this campus could return to normal operations.
Snow, snow, snow and now rain
We have been battling snow for weeks and now, rain is coming. Forecasts indicate that Wednesday night will be bringing heavy snow/rain and so Building Operations is taking steps to protect the campus including:
- Catch basin clearing
- Sandbagging around areas where we have experienced water ingress before
- Check roofs and skylights for snow loading that may get saturated and lead to leaks
Contractors are also making their sites safe by clearing roof drains and guarding low points.
Our snow fight just got better with new equipment and new helping hands
Municipal Services continues to improve their response to snow and ice on campus. In response to the December snow events, it was recognized we needed some new tools to help prevent build-up of snow and ice on sidewalks and narrow pathways. And so the municipal team acquired a new brining unit that fits on the back of our Kabotas. Now brine can be spread before the snow falls or before a heavy overnight frost to prevent the snow and ice from sticking which assists with clearing and encourages quicker melting. Also we realized that the effort to clear all of the campus walkways takes an incredible amount of hands-on effort. A team of staff was recruited to be available for overtime call-outs. This team includes utility workers, custodial staff and trades. So when the municipal team is stretched because of the work at hand, this fresh batch is called out to help. This sure came in handy this past weekend when two major snowfalls hit campus. Building Ops was able to deploy a large workforce and address snow and ice of the primary walking routes on campus. Nice work team!
No planned noise or building maintenance in LSC on February 10 – 12
From Friday, February 10 to Sunday, February 12, please note that there are important undergraduate interviews taking place at the LSC on the ground floor. Noise issues can be very distracting and are grounds for applicant appeals.
Therefore, no planned loud noise (jack hammers, pounding, electrical outages, alarm system testing, etc.) and no construction. All planned building maintenance should be scheduled outside of interview event. No building maintenance on main floor of building for duration of event (painting, etc.)
Before & After photos of maintenance projects reveal good work we do to keep campus performing
With so many preventive maintenance and capital renewal projects going on this year, we can lose perspective on the numerous positive impact we are making on campus spaces.
For instance, the installation of new flooring in Chemistry B was coordinated by our Construction Office. Now the floors are repaired and in top condition.
Building Ops also partners with other units on campus for building maintenance and rehabilitation projects. Check out the Infrastructure Development website for more before and after photos. These capital renewals are all part of our asset strategy to keep spaces on campus performing to enable great research and teaching.
Quick Updates
- NPS score increased to 84%, with 9 new promoters
- Reminder: Zone Trades to use Core Building Work Order Numbers on time cards starting February 1