Case Studies Region: Northeast

David Floricic arrived in New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport in 1988 on a flight from what is now Croatia—but was then still Yugoslavia—with skills in the trades and $300 in his pocket. An electrician by training, he was eager to land a job and had found work at a marble company by his […]

David Smith was majoring in history at Penn State University when he began working at a home renovation company during school breaks. Seeing how happy this work made people, he realized the positive impact he could have on people’s lives—and pivoted his life. “It helps that I realized I have sawdust in my blood,” he […]

By now, examples of the economic tolls caused by climate change have become all too obvious: ramped-up water use by farmers to save their crops from droughts; billions of dollars in damages to towns torched by wildfires; lost tourism revenue as snow melts faster at ski resorts. But as directors of facilities across the country […]

When the new Wells Fargo corporate campus is completed in mid-2025, its twin 10-story buildings will loom large over the Las Colinas community in Irving, Texas, just outside Dallas. Their tinted exterior windows will literally reflect the growing community surrounding them, while helping heat and cool the 6,000 employees working there. The employees will also […]

Dan Milinazzo grew up swinging a hammer alongside his father, who owned a construction business that handled commercial and residential roofing and siding installation.   As an adult, Milinazzo went on to work for an architecture firm, a building engineer, a construction company and a real estate investment trust.  Now, after roughly two decades in the […]

A bright orange traffic cone measures a measly 28 inches tall and weighs just pounds. Yet, a row of these can be all that stands between workers and large 18-wheelers and other vehicles barreling down highways at speeds often exceeding 80 miles per hour. “Sometimes trucks are going so fast that they can actually blow […]

David Miller and his team at Olean General Hospital were more than halfway through renovating a new psychiatric inpatient area when the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to pivot. Instead of completing the area for its intended purpose, they reverted it to a sub-acute rehab area. While that involved undoing work that had already been done, […]

He might be part of a disappearing breed, though one might wonder why. After all, there’s something to be said for on-the-job learning, which is how Daniel Switzer came to be director of facilities at Wagner College in 2018 after 20 years in related roles. He also may have been born for the position. “I […]

Among a hospital’s many components—HVAC systems, lighting, plumbing, etc.—one asset stands above the rest for David Neely, and that’s people. “Investing time and effort into my staff is absolutely one of my highest priorities,” says the director of engineering for Maine Medical Center. “I want to give the team the skills and room to grow […]

When two chillers broke at Sturdy Memorial Hospital last winter, Dann Boyer knew that repairing them would be a waste of money. Given their age, he knew they’d need to be replaced within three years anyway. So, he recommended to hospital leaders that the 500-ton chillers be replaced with two 750-ton chillers. “It was a […]