Case Studies

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 […]

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 […]

It takes some doing to earn the designation of Canadian Certified Healthcare Facility Manager. Bryan Wakefield reckons that everybody who has the certification, along with his experience, would fill a modest room with seats to spare. He garnered that certificate in 2019 while finishing a 14-year stretch at Ontario’s London Health Sciences Centre in facilities […]

When visiting a pool, people may think about cooling off in the water, getting some refreshing exercise or simply having some fun. Most aren’t considering the air quality around an indoor pool. And at Wood River Community YMCA they don’t have to because Property and Facilities Manager Brian Dirksmeier has it under control. When he […]

In 2021, when Billy Demory first spoke to Blueprint, he was tackling the construction and the redesign of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems for Frederick Health’s new Critical Care Pavilion. At the time, COVID-19 cases were stubbornly high, and the goal was to minimize airborne risks in the hospital. A year later, he proudly […]

Those 1,000-mile round trips between Nashville and the Chicago suburb of Itasca weren’t anything Brian M. Anderson enjoyed but they’re now in the rear-view. He wanted to see his biggest and most complex project taking shape when commercial flying was off limits. It’s a 50,000-square-foot and very specialized single-story brick building where Option Care Health […]

When Brian Hamilton was profiled in Blueprint in spring 2021, he was helping Resorts World Catskills reconstruct a “monster,” a famously difficult golf course so nicknamed by golfer Gene Sarazen because of its notorious fourth hole and large size. The new version of The Monster, which closed in 2015, is scaled down from 7,650 yards […]

The good news for Bradley Nelson—and all of the hospitality industry—is hotels are filling again after occupancy rates plummeted in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Occupancy rates are projected to reach 63 percent in 2022, increasing from 54 percent in 2021 and 44 percent in 2020—and approaching pre-pandemic levels. Revenue is increasing, too, with […]

Bryan Wietrzykowski grew up in Plainfield, Illinois, outside of Chicago. On long and hot summer days, he’d spend hours in a sandbox digging holes. During the dark, cold winters, he’d be inside working on the latest LEGO set, trying to assemble it faster than his previous build. When he was 14, Wietrzykowski started working in […]

When Scott Bailey’s truck was totaled, it was a blessing in disguise, says his wife, Beverly Bailey. Scott, a traveling electrician, was tired of being on the road. Beverly was on maternity leave and dreaded returning to her job as a loan officer. So, the pair used the money from the insurance settlement to launch […]