Maintenance and Operations
It is the mission of the Maintenance and Operations Division to provide the highest quality, well maintained, and the most reliable environmental conditions, utilities systems, and facilities services conducive for supporting the mission of the Health Science Center.
The Maintenance and Operations Division is responsible for:
- Maintenance of the building systems
- Building system equipment
- Building system operations
- Thermal plant operations
- Landscape maintenance
- Automotive fleet maintenance
Building operations and maintenance is conducted on six campuses to include the Lozano Long, Greehey, Texas Research Park, Ediburg, Harlingen, and Laredo. Operations are conducted and availability of maintenance of staff are on a 24/7/365 basis.
The Maintenance and Operations Division is comprised of the following shops:
MAINTENANCE
The Maintenance Shop consists of personnel with a wide variety of responsibilities and duties. Several personnel carry a pager 24/7/365 to be able to respond to a variety of problems during normal and non-working hours. The Maintenance Shop performs a variety of preventative and reactive maintenance on building system, building equipment, thermal plant equipment, and elevator maintenance. The majority of the shop's personnel are stationed at the Lozano Long campus but we also have maintenance personnel assigned at the Texas Research Park, Greehey, Edinburg, Harlingen, and Laredo campuses. Additional personnel are dispatched to these sites as needed.
UTILITIES
The Utilities shop is responsible for operations and maintenance of all air conditioning, heating, ventilation, and utilities distribution systems within all facilities on the Lozano Long, Greehey, Texas Research Park, Edinburg, Harlingen, and Laredo campuses. Specific responsibilities are as follows:
- Operations and Maintenance of all building Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) equipment (chillers, boilers, cooling towers, pumps, compressors, air handlers, exhaust fans, fan coil units, water softeners, reverse osmosis systems, hot water generators, etc.)
- Energy Management for all campuses
- Repair and maintain the Electronics for the Energy Management System (EMS) and HVAC equipment
- Monitor all critical equipment and respond to alarms, 24/7/365
- Maintain and repair fire alarm systems
- Respond to hot and cold temperature calls
- Manage the de-ionized water bottle contract
- Certify fume hood airflow
- Air balance and aire pressurization verification in laboratories
THERMAL PLANTS
The Central Energy Plant on the Lozano Long campus and the North Energy Plant on the Greehey campus provide steam and chilled water to the buildings for use in HVAC cooling, heating, and other various processes such as equipment cooling, autoclaves, and washing equipment. Specific responsibilities are as follows:
- Operations and maintenance of all equipment required to generate thermal energy in the form of steam and chilled water.
- Optimization of energy consumption in the CEP and NEP.
- Repair and maintain the electronics for the energy management systems in both energy plants.
- Oversee work from outside contractors performing maintenance and repair on systems and equipment in both energy plants
Grounds Maintenance is responsible for the maintenance of over 300 acres of HSC property to provide a safe, clean, and comfortable environment for students, staff, and visitors. Among the shop's responsibilities are:
- Mowing, edging, and trimming of all turfgrass and groundcover areas
- Trash pickup
- Fertilization of turfgrass, trees, shrubs, and bedding areas
- Aeration of turfgrass
- Topdressing of turfgrass
- Planting seasonal color beds
- Outdoor plant containers
- Mulching bedding areas
- Insect and weed control
- Pruning of trees, shrubs, and bedding areas
- Irrigation system
- Landscape and irrigation renovation
- Brush removal
- Asphalt repair
Landscape Maintenance Programs / Philosophy
- Use a diverse palate of native plant material to create an ever-changing campus landscape
- Incorporate unusual or new-to-the-market plants to create interest
- Integrate different plant textures, shapes, and colors
- Use the correct plant in the correct place and plan for future growth
- Take advantage of micro-climates
- Ease of maintenance
- Safety
- Promote a landscape identity unique to the campus
Water Conservation
Grounds Maintenance practices water conservation based on the following principles:
- Use only plants appropriate to the climate and geographical area whenever possible
- Use recycled water for irrigation at the Lozano Long and Greehey campuses
- Perform irrigation audits to detemine:
- Precipitation rate
- Uniform distribution of irrigation system
- Soil texture
- Topsoil depth
- Determine schedules based on appearance and location of turfgrass
- Use rain sensors on irrigation controllers to prevent waste
Since water sprinkler heads may become damaged due to mowing, maintenance or foot traffic, the damage may not be evident until later. Please notify Work Control at 567-2885 if you observe problems with any of our irrigation systems.
AUTOMOTIVE
Facilities Management maintains an automotive garage to perform minor repairs, tune-ups, state inspections, and preventive maintenance for all FM-owned vehicles as well as university-owned vehicles when requested.