Case Studies February 2023

Imagine a hospital that can monitor its HVAC as closely as it tracks the blood pressure of patients. It uses sensors and controls to generate real-time data on energy use, temperature and air pressure throughout the facilities. As vice president for HealthTrust FacilitiGroup, Brian Weldy hopes to do just this for the nationwide network of […]

At Criterium-Dudka Engineers, President and Owner Andrew Dudka has built work-life balance into the foundations of his firm. An affiliate of Criterium Engineers, a national engineering-consulting company, Criterium-Dudka has been family-owned since 2017. And if anyone knows how important it is to have a life outside of work, it’s Dudka. “The thing about my office […]

A rectangular brown and beige, two-story concrete structure that once housed the Star Press in Muncie, Indiana, the building really was yesterday’s news. It had stood vacant since 2000, save for break-ins. Years later when the newspaper’s owners donated it to Ivy Tech Community College, it was one very distressed property. “Just a rundown eyesore […]

After starting her career in construction project management and then getting into real estate and facility management, Kristine Fisher realized the areas are often segmented at companies. She noticed that some organizations only focus on repairs and maintenance rather than taking a comprehensive corporate real estate approach. She says this approach creates more efficiencies, higher quality […]

Trent Bosard used to go to Kearney Public Schools every day because he had to. Now it’s a choice he makes happily. “I take a lot of pride in my work here,” he says. “My whole family has gone through these schools.” While he’s now the director of facilities for the Nebraska-based district, Bosard was […]

It’s a design that hasn’t gone stale, it’s just in need of some refreshment. So explains Michael Kazarian as he oversees renovations at around 75 Panera Bread locales this year. Much has changed since the popular chain of bakery-cafes debuted in 1987, with the past few years perhaps the most consequential for Panera as well […]

Education is multifaceted. For instance, one can learn how to install an irrigation system by working on a farm or by sitting behind a college desk. Marcos Rodriguez did both. Between 1996 and 2004, he worked as an irrigation manager for Wonderful Orchards, a pistachio, almond and pomegranate farm covering 22,000 acres. In 1999, he […]

Like many who rise to the rank of university housing facilities director, Brandon Chandler started at the bottom of the ladder, serving as a resident assistant at his alma mater, Rutgers University, and then taking a job as a housing coordinator after graduation. But as he began climbing the rungs, Chandler did something different: he […]

At the center of the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh campus sits a beige, two-story building known as Polk Library. While the tree-lined library looks serene from the outside, its infrastructure—which dates to the 1960s—has literally become an explosive issue for the university community. When it was constructed, Polk used what’s known as a two-pipe mechanical system, […]

It’s far from the most expensive project he’s tackled as a healthcare construction executive, but it just might be the most challenging. There’s lots for George Mejias to consider as Valley Health System constructs a new hospital in Paramus, New Jersey, with related projects at 60-plus properties throughout the Garden State. “A very diversified position […]