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Description
Public institution facility operations and maintenance is a significant factor enabling an institution to achieve its stated objectives in the delivery of public service. To meet the societal need, Facility Directors must make increasingly complex decisions managing the demands of building infrastructure performance expectations with limited resources. The ability to

Public institution facility operations and maintenance is a significant factor enabling an institution to achieve its stated objectives in the delivery of public service. To meet the societal need, Facility Directors must make increasingly complex decisions managing the demands of building infrastructure performance expectations with limited resources. The ability to effectively measure a return-on-investment, specific to facility maintenance indirect expenditures, has, therefore, become progressively more critical given the scale of public institutions, the collective age of existing facilities, and the role these institutions play in society.

This research centers on understanding the method of prioritizing routine work in support of indirect institutional facility maintenance expense through the lens of K-12 public education in the state of Arizona. The methodology documented herein utilizes a mixed method approach to understand current facility maintenance practices and assess the influence of human behavior when prioritizing routine work. An evidence-based decision support tool, leveraging prior academic research, was developed to coalesce previously disparate academic studies. The resulting process provides a decision framework for prioritizing decision factors most frequently correlated with academic outcomes.

A purposeful sample of K-12 unified districts, representing approximately one-third of the state’s student population and spend, resulted in a moderate to a strong negative correlation between facility operations and student outcomes. Correlation results highlight an opportunity to improve decision making, specific to the academic needs of the student. This research documents a methodology for constructing, validation, and testing of a decision support tool for prioritizing routine work orders. Findings from a repeated measures crossover study suggest the decision support tool significantly influenced decision making specific to certain work orders as well as the Plumbing and Mechanical functional areas. However, the decision support tool was less effective when prioritizing Electrical and General Maintenance work orders.

Moreover, as decision making transitioned away from subjective experience-based judgment, the prioritization of work orders became increasingly more consistent. The resulting prioritization, therefore, effectively leveraged prior empirical, evidence-based decision factors when utilizing the tool. The results provide a system for balancing the practical experience of the Facility Director with the objective guidance of the decision support tool.
ContributorsBeauregard, Michael A. (Author) / Ayer, Steven K (Thesis advisor) / Laroche, Dominique-Claude (Committee member) / Gibson, Jr., G. Edward (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
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Description
Energy performance and efficiency plays of major role in the operations of K-12 schools, as it is a significant expense and a source of budgetary pressure upon schools. Energy performance is tied to the physical infrastructure of schools, as well as the operational and behavioral patterns they accommodate. Little documentation

Energy performance and efficiency plays of major role in the operations of K-12 schools, as it is a significant expense and a source of budgetary pressure upon schools. Energy performance is tied to the physical infrastructure of schools, as well as the operational and behavioral patterns they accommodate. Little documentation exists within the existing literature on the measured post-occupancy performance of schools once they have begun measuring and tracking their energy performance. Further, little is known about the patterns of change over time in regard to energy performance and whether there is differentiation in these patterns between school districts.

This paper examines the annual Energy Use Intensity (EUI) of 28 different K-12 schools within the Phoenix Metropolitan Region of Arizona over the span of five years and presents an analysis of changes in energy performance resulting from the measurement of energy use in K-12 schools. This paper also analyzes the patterns of change in energy use over time and provides a comparison of these patterns by school district.

An analysis of the energy performance data for the selected schools revealed a significant positive impact on the ability for schools to improve their energy performance through ongoing performance measurement. However, while schools tend to be able to make energy improvements through the implementation of energy measurement and performance tracking, deviation may exist in their ability to maintain ongoing energy performance over time. The results suggest that implementation of ongoing measurement is likely to produce positive impacts on the energy performance of schools, however further research is recommended to enhance and refine these results.
ContributorsThurston, Anna (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Okamura, Patrick (Committee member) / Slife, Curtis (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
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Description
For decades, load shifting control, one of the most effective peak demand management methods, has attracted attention from both researchers and engineers. Various load shifting controls have been developed and introduced in mainly commercial buildings. Utility companies typically penalize consumers with “demand rates”. This along with increased

For decades, load shifting control, one of the most effective peak demand management methods, has attracted attention from both researchers and engineers. Various load shifting controls have been developed and introduced in mainly commercial buildings. Utility companies typically penalize consumers with “demand rates”. This along with increased population and increased customer energy demand will only increase the need for load shifting. There have been many white papers, thesis papers and case studies written on the different types of Thermal Energy Storage and their uses. Previous papers have been written by Engineers, Manufacturers and Researchers. This thesis paper is unique because it will be presented from the application and applied perspective of the Facilities Manager. There is a need in the field of Facilities Management for relevant applications. This paper will present and discuss the methodology, process applications and challenges of load shifting using (TES) Thermal Energy Storage, mainly ice storage.
ContributorsWhitcraft, Daniel S (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Okamura, Patrick (Committee member) / Slife, Curtis (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
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Description
Standardized processes for training and accountability, for an Environmental Services department within a healthcare system, were implemented to see the impact they would have on key performance indicators (KPIs). The KPIs involved infection rate for hospital acquired Clostridium Difficile (CDI), cleaning verification compliance, patient satisfaction, concerning the cleaning of their

Standardized processes for training and accountability, for an Environmental Services department within a healthcare system, were implemented to see the impact they would have on key performance indicators (KPIs). The KPIs involved infection rate for hospital acquired Clostridium Difficile (CDI), cleaning verification compliance, patient satisfaction, concerning the cleaning of their environment, and employee turnover. The results show that standardizing training and an accountability measure can have a significant impact on turnover, contribute to the reduction in CDI cases, ensure cleaning is performed at a high level and that the patient perception requires additional tools to meet their expectations on a consistent basis.
ContributorsZiffer, Steven (Author) / Sullivan, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Smithwick, Jake (Committee member) / Lines, Brian (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017