During the day on May 13, standard, annual emissions testing will take place at Penn State's East Campus Steam Plant. Individuals in the area of the plant, which is located on Porter Road south of Medlar Field at Lubrano Park, may notice noises and steam clouds associated with the testing process, which requires the venting of steam.
Extensive construction and renovation projects will swing into full operation on Monday, May 12, impacting traffic, transit and parking for much of the campus community.
This week Old Main became the 50th building at University Park to launch möbius — Penn State Waste Management. This initiative includes office composting and expanded recycling to help the University divert 85 percent of its solid waste from the landfill. “Penn State wants to demonstrate the same level of excellence in management of all its resources as it does in its education and research activities,” said Nick Jones, executive vice president and provost at Penn State.
To ensure that Penn State's approach to safety, public health and environmental protection is uniform, the University has multiple safety and administrative policies in place, and maintains a variety of training programs at campuses across the Commonwealth, according to Ford Stryker, associate vice president for the Office of Physical Plant.
Invited Japanese master gardeners Kurato Fujimoto and Dr. Kibo Hagino worked with the Penn State Department of Landscape Architecture and Office of Physical Plant staff, teaching traditional tree preservation techniques and then installing traditional support braces on a threatened maple tree on the University Park campus. The crutches and braces were installed this week.
A team of four from the Penn State student chapter of the Design-Build Institute of America (DBIA) recently won the DBIA Northeast Regional Competition.
Join the EMS Energy Institute and Penn State's Office of Physical Plant to learn about Penn State's decision to switch from coal to natural gas. The seminar is from 10 to 11 a.m. Sept. 18 in C213 Coal Utilization Lab.
This Thursday (June 20) from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Penn State will again test University Park’s capability to reduce its electricity load when called upon during national or regional power emergencies. The Office of Physical Plant (OPP) will be working behind the scenes to reduce the overall electrical load remotely during this one-hour test. However, all University employees and students are requested to turn off all unnecessary lighting, office equipment, coffee pots, dehumidifiers, and air conditioning. University offices should stay open and operate in a normal manner while reducing their consumption of electricity.
Penn State's Office of Physical Plant is accepting nominations for the Spirit of Physical Plant Award to honor employees in the three categories: janitorial, technical Service and staff.
Penn State's Grounds Maintenance crew will be performing controlled burns of several brush piles at The Arboretum starting at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday (Jan. 29). The Alpha Fire Company will be on site, and the fires will be extinguished by 5:30 p.m. Additional burns will take place on Wednesday (Jan. 30) and throughout the winter to help maintain The Arboretum site.
A year ago, Penn State Housing, with help from the Office of Physical Plant and Residence Life, embarked on a seemingly impossible quest. Its goal was to change habits, raise awareness and increase options in an effort to make the residence halls zero waste.
A daunting task indeed. But starting with North Halls last spring and now in several East Halls buildings, on-campus students have proven they are not afraid to take on the zero waste challenge.
"They're on board here," said Jan Mason, East Halls Housing manager. "It took some time to adjust and some education, but now we have the buy-in we're looking for, and we're ready to move forward."
In November, Penn State's Board of Trustees approved the final plans for renovations to Old Main. Primary work on the historic lobby will begin in January to stabilize the environment, add sprinkler coverage and replace the lighting. Subsequent work on offices around the outside of the building will begin in April. All construction and renovation should be complete by next fall.
When holiday travelers return after the winter break, the Old Main lobby and main staircase will be closed. Contractors will be erecting scaffolding to work on the ceiling. Staff and visitors will still be able to enter Old Main from the front doors that face College Avenue, but they will be directed around the edges of the lobby to the wing corridors through April. Access to the President's Office will be via the second-floor balcony only, accessed from the stairwells at either end of the second-floor hallways.
Once again this year, Penn State will implement reduced temperature settings in many University buildings during the holiday break to support energy reduction strategies. All faculty and staff should have already received notice via email.
The Gaige Technology and Business Innovation Building on Penn State's Berks campus recently won two new awards for its unique design and construction. The Construction Owners Association of America (COAA) granted a Silver Award from its Project Leadership Award Program at its national conference in Orlando, Fla. Within weeks, the Construction Management Association of America (CMAA) granted a Project Achievement Award at its 2012 national conference in Chicago. Both the COAA and the CMAA recognized the steady leadership and detailed scheduling that led to this building's completion three months ahead of schedule and under budget.
Penn State's Board of Trustees today (Nov. 16) approved the final plans for the modification of the West Campus Steam Plant on the University Park campus that will convert the coal-powered plant to natural gas.
The Board also authorized a 30-year contract with Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania Inc. The plans have been designed by the firm of Burns and McDonnell of St. Louis, and the total projected cost of the conversion is $48.3 million.
