SPARK

Discoveries, innovations, and insights that illuminate the future of the built environment

Building a “happy place”

by Leave a Comment

Take a moment to close your eyes and picture your “happy place.” Perhaps you’re floating in a lake or hiking through the forests of the Pacific Northwest. Let your imagination open your senses and become fully immersed in that setting. Now—open your eyes. Were you imagining yourself indoors or outside?

doyle_andie


Andie Doyle.

At a recent conference I attended, a panelist asked the audience this question. It was during a Smart Home lecture, and—even then—80 percent of the participants said their happy place was outside.

This highlights a major opportunity within the building industry: To make indoor spaces happier and more desirable. It’s vital for construction industry leaders to work alongside technology innovators and service providers to change the optics of how a person interacts with their surroundings.

As of now, there’s no single industry or company with the resources or motivation to create a seamlessly integrated and connected experience for people. Consider, for example, the following hypothetical living and working situation.

[Read more…]

FacebookTwitterLinkedInGoogle GmailPocketGoogle+Share

Condition data can fix capital plans

by Leave a Comment

Every facility management organization has horror stories of late-night repairs or equipment failures on the worst day of the year. Teams scramble to fix the problem and work overtime to get the building back up and running.

Nobody enjoys working reactively. But small teams, tight budgets, big workloads, daily issues and a growing backlog of deferred maintenance force most facility operations teams to prioritize emergencies over prevention. This resource-constrained world is the constant reality for facility management, and it’s unlikely anyone will start being asked to do less with more any time soon.

Organizations that efficiently use what they already have, value the time and expertise of their facility teams, and look around the corner can thrive in this world of scarcity. One common factor in their success? These best-in-class organizations rely on thoughtful capital plans to help them reduce the likelihood of unexpected failures – and they use facility condition assessment information to get them there.

[Read more…]

Building a thriving planet in 2019…and beyond

by 1 Comment

dean2019kickoff_sparkimage

February is already upon us and McKinstry’s work on projects across the country is in full swing. I’m proud to say that our platform provides unique opportunities for us to explore, invent and create an ever more efficient built environment.

That efficiency takes many forms if you’re building a 40-story skyscraper, retrofitting an elementary school or servicing a boiler. But, the underlying need is always the same: Today’s built environment costs more than it should to build, operate and maintain.

There’s no shortage of strategies for making the built environment more efficient, and—when you consider that construction is one of the least productive sectors of the U.S. economy—there’s also no shortage of opportunity. So, what will this new paradigm of efficiency look like for McKinstry in 2019 and beyond?

[Read more…]

Steve Leonard grows McKinstry’s fire protection capabilities across the Pacific Northwest

by Leave a Comment

steveleonardpic

Back in the late 1980s, Steve Leonard was living in Southern California and thought he wanted to work for a fire department, maybe as a firefighter. When a friend asked if he would consider working in fire protection design, it changed Steve’s direction and sent him off on a 30-year journey into the world of fire protection.

“No one is born with a passion for sprinklers or alarms, it’s usually a series of twists and turns that bring people into the fire protection industry,” Steve explained. “I didn’t think about fire protection when I was a kid, but I’m glad that my career path led me into this field.”

At McKinstry, we’ve offered fire protection services for decades because identifying and installing the right protection system to prevent or reduce fire damage is fundamental to every project we undertake. McKinstry has built a national reputation for designing and installing fire protection systems for a wide variety of venues—from office, retail, and hotel buildings to stadiums, laboratories, and museums. Owners and designers come to McKinstry for our expertise on systems, costs, and knowledge of all current fire codes and compliance standards for the National Fire Protection Association.

Steve’s fire protection path has been extremely unique at McKinstry. Since joining the company in 2010, he’s lived and worked in three of McKinstry’s major Pacific Northwest offices—Portland, Spokane and Seattle.

“I sometimes joke that I’ve completed the trifecta,” Steve said. “Working in three of our Pacific Northwest offices has been a pleasure, and they all have a different atmosphere that’s still connected by the common McKinstry culture.”

[Read more…]

Tahoma’s powerED Green Team kicks the year in gear

by Leave a Comment

eam_tahomaThe new school year ushers in Green Team kickoffs for powerED schools across the country. Tahoma School District in Maple Valley, Wash. kicked the year in gear last week with Green Team meetings at schools like Maple View Middle.

Tahoma School District serves more than 8,200 students from pre-kindergarten to grade 12. The district is recognized as innovative in its development and use of curriculum, including a focus on sustainability across all grade levels. Test scores place Tahoma students among Washington’s top five percent on average!

To date, more than 20,500 teachers, students and family members nationwide have pledged to save energy and cut waste through McKinstry’s powerED program. That action has reduced energy consumption 17 percent district wide and avoided 918 metric tons of carbon emissions. Maple View Middle is responsible for an amazing 358 metric tons of carbon avoided—nearly 40 percent of the district’s total!

Congratulations to Tahoma School District and Maple View Middle, and best of luck for another successful Green Team year!

Join McKinstry and our clients as we celebrate Energy Action Month by pledging to take action. If you think you can’t affect the future of energy consumption, you’re wrong. It takes all of us, every day, taking actions small and big. Together, we CAN build a thriving planet.

Here’s how Alison Schwabe takes energy action at work and at home

by Leave a Comment

alison-schwabe-eam-qaAlison Schwabe joined McKinstry eight years ago and works in our Golden, Colo. office. As powerED program manager for the Mountain region, she works with schools, universities and local governments within the Mountain region to help them save energy and cut waste. She has also been instrumental in building the Mountain Region’s corporate stewardship team including rolling out the office’s composting program.

Q: How do you explain powerED?
A: Our powerED program is all about people and encouraging sustainable behaviors (like this month’s challenge). We drive awareness, action, and impact to help our clients save energy and cut waste through three key components. The first is PEOPLE. We engage building occupants and operators in a campaign to increase awareness and action around energy efficiency. The second is PROCESS, which involves working with our clients to help them identify and implement low- and no-cost energy-saving measures. The third is PERFORMANCE. We’re only as good as our results. We measure impact and demonstrate progress by tracking energy savings, carbon reduction, and other key benchmarks. I’m proud to say that through our powerED program to date, company-wide we’ve helped participating clients save $21.7 million in energy cost and cut carbon by 155,861 metric tons.

[Read more…]

Energized by our future

by 1 Comment

October is Energy Action Month. While we take action every day to drive waste out the built environment, Energy Action Month offers an ideal opportunity to reaffirm our commitment. With each action we take, we’re one step closer to our vision of together, building a thriving planet.

McKinstry balances current action with remaining resolute on driving future innovation. Spokane embodies that balance, embracing innovation while honoring its historic buildings and rich past. Every trip to Washington’s Inland Empire inspires me. Here’s why.

The power of net positive energy

Catalyst will be the first net-zero energy building in Eastern Washington.

Catalyst will be the first net-zero energy building in Eastern Washington.

Net-zero energy buildings and net-positive eco districts are inevitable. State and local governments are now mandating solar photovoltaics as building code, and behind-the-meter energy storage is emerging in both commercial and residential buildings. Technology costs for these renewable energy systems are dropping at an astounding rate. By 2030, we will see net-zero energy system design become the norm in every new construction project with clusters of buildings working together to produce more energy than they consume.

Spokane will soon be home to the future of the built environment. McKinstry and our partners broke ground on the Catalyst Building in August, starting construction on what will become the world’s largest verified net-zero energy building. The five-story, 159,000 square foot building will demonstrate what’s possible in our built environment – and what we’re capable of delivering here at McKinstry.

[Read more…]

National Safety Month Spotlight: Client Praises Bill Leistiko and Troy Zimdars

by Leave a Comment

mck-safety-3

Safety is core to McKinstry’s mission, values and ongoing success. Join us in recognizing June as National Safety Month as we spotlight efforts to keep each other safe 24/7/365.

McKinstry continues to gain attention for our safety efforts. Bill Leistiko and Troy Zimdars were recently recognized by Mared Mechanical. Here’s what Project Manager Ben Bickler had to say:

“Working with Bill Leistiko and Troy Zimdars on several projects over the last few years has been a pleasure, both from an operational standpoint and, more importantly, a safety one. Mared Mechanical prides itself on its safety record and culture. Too often, we find ourselves needing to drive this culture at a jobsite rather than participate in one that already exists. With McKinstry projects, it is McKinstry taking the lead.

We find working with Bill and Troy most enjoyable because we are able to plan and coordinate ahead of time. This allows us to prepare the site, our tooling and our team with safety at the forefront of the discussion.

Bill and Troy are always stressing the culture of safety promoted at McKinstry. This culture is in lock step with that of Mared’s. It assists us in not only reinforcing our own safety plan, but gives our workers confidence about the safety of the job site as a whole.

We at Mared value our partnership with McKinstry. Safety is a cornerstone of that partnership. And I personally value my relationship with Bill and Troy.”

Nice work, Bill and Troy!

Passion and creativity collide at Carson City School District

by 1 Comment

carsoncity_event

Two hundred students, parents, teachers and school administrators from Carson City School District (CCSD) gathered at the Nevada Governor’s Mansion on May 24 to celebrate students taking part in McKinstry’s powerED program and Project ReCharge, a STEM-focused energy and sustainability curriculum program led by Envirolution.

CCSD hired McKinstry in May 2016 to conduct a comprehensive facility audit in search of energy savings. Dozens of potential improvements were identified, kicking off a $6.1 million contract spanning LED lighting retrofits, water conservation measures, heat pump replacements, improved HVAC systems and more.

McKinstry introduced powerED to CCSD students in October 2017. The program augments the district’s sustainability and STEM education initiatives by engaging students, staff and faculty in energy, water and waste conservation efforts. Ten CCSD schools are participating.

[Read more…]

How an inefficient work order management process hurts tenants, operators, and owners—and what to do about it (Part 2)

by Leave a Comment

officebuilding

In the first part of this two-part article, we discussed the impact on tenants, property managers, operators, and owners of a breakdown in a building’s work order management process. Here, in Part 2, we’ll explore five key questions to answer when fixing or replacing your CMMS (Computerized Maintenance Management System) or work order management process.

An unabridged version of this story was featured in the August 2017 edition of industry website AutomatedBuildings.com and can be viewed here. An edited version is included below.

[Read more…]

Archives

Follow McKinstry