To: UT Faculty and Staff
From: Dave Irvin, associate vice chancellor for Facilities Services

I want to give the campus community an update about our efforts to implement the Total Cleaning program and bring custodial services back in-house.

Our goal, which we announced last spring, is to provide a more extensive and professional level of cleaning service in every campus building. This involves more attention to both common high-traffic areas and individual offices. Gordon Nelson, a general superintendent with Facilities Services, is overseeing the initiative.

We are committed to our goal, but our timeline has been delayed by a number of complicating factors. We began the transition in August with the goal of moving all buildings to in-house staff by July. Because we want to do this right, it likely will be next fall before all buildings are brought in house and being serviced to the level we have promised.

The plan requires transitioning seventy-three buildings that are being cleaned through a contract with GC Services to in-house services. Accomplishing that transition requires that we hire as many as 120 people as regular UT employees. These also include front-line supervisors and training staff. So far, we have transitioned twenty buildings and hired fifty new UT employees.

When we transition a building, we should perform a “deep clean” so its occupants and frequent users will see immediate positive results. We have been unable to immediately do that with the last several transitions due to a staffing shortage. We are, however, performing deep cleaning of buildings as our staffing permits.

We are recruiting to fill the remaining positions, but finding the best people for the jobs requires that we invest the necessary time. I encourage you to refer potential employees by having them visit the Human Resources jobs database and searching for the keywords “service aide.”

We appreciate your patience as we work through our plan. Please feel free to share feedback about your building or office so that we can continue to improve our service. We cannot address problems until they are brought to our attention. If you want more information about the status of your building, please visit http://www.pp.utk.edu/or call or e-mail Gordon at 865-974-2054 or gnelson5@utk.edu.

Thank you again for your patience. Over the next few months I plan to update the campus community about how things are going.

Over the past four years, the campus community has worked together to avoid more than $5 million in energy costs through changing their daily habits as part of our Switch your Thinking effort.

The winter months offer a significant opportunity for Volunteers to conserve energy and have a positive impact on the campus’s environment—and its wallet.

From December through March, the university will pay significantly more for electricity used during weekday mornings. Energy rates are higher between the hours of 5:00 and 11:00 a.m. Mondays through Fridays during winter months. Students, faculty, and staff are being asked to follow a few simple steps to save resources and help lower the campus’s energy costs.

Click here to find out ways that you can help us save.

Additionally, campus buildings are heated to 68 degrees Fahrenheit and cooled to 76 degrees Fahrenheit. Faculty or staff concerned their office spaces are not heated sufficiently may contact Facility Services for assistance. Facilities Services staff can conduct a review of office spaces to determine if there is a problem. Space heaters and most other personal appliances are not permitted in offices unless Facilities Services staff have conducted a review and given permission. Please take a moment to review the campus Energy Conservation Policy (pdf).

You can help save energy on campus by reporting concerns or temperature issues to Facilities Services at 946-7777.

Find more tips on reducing energy use at switch.utk.edu.

An effort to declutter academic buildings by getting rid of surplus equipment, used furniture, trash, and recyclables, the Spring Cleanup brought Facilities Services crews to twenty-eight buildings between April and July.

The campus generated:

• recycling of seventeen tons of concrete, twelve tons of scrap metal, and two tons of cardboard;
• removal of 656 tons of surplus equipment and furniture;
• removal of fifteen cubic yards of construction and demolition waste; and
• removal of fifteen tons of general waste.

The largest building contributors were Hodges Library, the Science and Engineering Research Facility, Ferris Hall, and the Art and Architecture Building.

Staff from Facilities Services dedicated nearly 1,700 man-hours to the cleanup, going building-by-building collecting surplus equipment and recyclables. Staff from UT Warehousing also spent many hours processing the surplus equipment.

While the Spring Cleanup targeted most academic buildings on campus, new and recently renovated buildings were not included. Departments in any building may arrange a pick up of surplus property by contacting UT Warehousing at 974-7773.

UT Knoxville introduced the Switch Your Thinking campaign in 2008 to encourage energy conservation. Since that time, the campus’ electricity use has decreased by 10 percent.

The rising summer temperatures present ample opportunity to cut energy costs and usage by adopting energy conservation practices in your offices and homes.

Students, faculty and staff at UT Knoxville are taking active steps towards saving energy on campus — and it is working! Since the Switch Your Thinking energy conservation campaign was launched, the campus community has helped to save $1.25 million in electricity, freeing up resources to support the university’s teaching and research mission.

In addition to saving money, Switch Your Thinking also has helped to advance campus sustainability efforts. This year alone, energy conservation on the part of faculty, staff, students and campus visitors, combined with energy efficiency projects completed by the facilities services department, has reduced the university’s carbon emissions by 1,118 tons, which is equivalent to removing 214 automobiles from the road for a year or preserving 10.6 acres of forest from deforestation.

“It’s clear that sustainability has become part of our campus culture,” said Gordie Bennett, UT Knoxville sustainability manager. “I am proud of everyone who has incorporated energy-saving habits, such as turning off lights and computers when not in use, into their daily routines.”

Help reduce costs and consumption, both at home and at work, by following these simple practices.

• Plug electronics into a power strip and turn off the strip at the end of each day.

• Use artificial lighting only when daylight is insufficient for the task at hand.

• Turn off lights in work areas when they are unoccupied.

• Set computers to enter sleep mode when not in use for 10 minutes or more.

• Keep exterior doors and windows closed when HVAC systems are operating.

• Close chemical fume hood sashes when not in use.

• Use break room coffee makers and refrigerators instead of personal units.

Faculty and staff also can help save energy by reporting any waste that you encounter on campus. Facilities Services staff are on hand to address service requests and emergencies. To report energy waste or request service, call 974-2347 or visit http://facilities.utk.edu/service.

For more information on UT Knoxville’s sustainability efforts, visit the Make Orange Green website at http://environment.utk.edu.