SPARK

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

Facility improvements deliver big benefits for Larson Ice Center

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There are more than 4,000 municipal and community ice arenas currently operating across the U.S. These ice arenas offer communities a healthy way to connect and stay active. Maintaining ice arenas facilities can be challenging and improving them can be costly. Additionally, the energy and operational costs needed to run ice arenas continues to increase year after year.

Ice arenas are complex facilities. To provide a quality ice surface, they must maintain proper ice temperature with appropriate amounts of humidity, all while maintaining a comfortable environment for the athletes, coaches, spectators, facility managers and the members of the community who attend events at the facility.

McKinstry partners with ice arenas and recreational facilities across the country to develop and implement solutions to address deferred maintenance items and make improvements to the facility with the goal of reducing energy and operational spend. We are passionate about the game and committed to finding ways to make hockey and other ice activities affordable for everyone.

McKinstry works hard to drive down ice arena operating costs. Our Midwest team, in particular, grew up on the ice as players, coaches and on-ice officials at the high school, collegiate and professional level. All of us have been hockey parents and one of our teammates is a current member of the off-ice officiating staff for the NHL. My colleague Susie MacMillan operated an ice arena before joining McKinstry. That passion for hockey and ice arenas is why the Brookings City Council in South Dakota trusted McKinstry to be their partner for the Larson Ice Center renovation project.

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Spooky energy savings at Wayzata School District

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Wayzata School District in Minnesota isn’t afraid of creative ways to save energy. The suburban district located 13 miles west of Minneapolis is a longtime powerED participant at each of its eight elementary schools, three middle schools and one high school.

Wayzata School District students excel because they have access to enthusiastic teachers that know how important it is for students and parents to get engaged. More than 10,000 teachers, students and parents have pledged to cut energy waste since engaging in McKinstry’s powerED program. That call to action has paid off. The district has reduced energy consumption by 26 percent and avoided more than 5,600 metric tons of carbon emissions.

On October 30, Oakwood Elementary is taking energy savings one scary step further in a combined Halloween and Energy Action Month celebration. For one “spooky day,” the school will keep as many lights off as possible to raise awareness and demonstrate action.

Grab your flashlight and watch the energy savings roll in!

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.

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

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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!

Wrapping Up My B.L.U.E. Summer

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Jessica Baumann.

With only a few days left in my internship this summer, it’s important for me to look back and reflect on how I’ve grown during my time with McKinstry. My internship has taught me many different lessons—both work-related and life-related. This may seem a bit confusing to some of you, so let me explain.

This summer, I went from attending a small college (University of Wisconsin, Platteville) to living in a big city (Madison), where I lived on my own. This meant I was responsible for all my own cooking, cleaning, and—probably my most daunting chore—not having a dishwasher and doing the dishes by hand. During this summer, I got a real taste of what the adult world was like. I’ll be graduating in a few short years, and this was a helpful preview of what to expect down the road.

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