happy holidays! Facilities’ FIRST FALL GARDEN TOUR Richard Bussert, director of landscaping and grounds, leads our team on a tour of Columbia’s award-win- News for the Employees of ning grounds. Read more on page 8. Columbia University Facilities VOLUME 11 | WINTER 2010 NORTHWEST CORNER BUILDING Contents WELCOMES OCCUPANTS 2 From the Executive Vice President 3 Customer Compliments 4 Construction Projects 5 CUF and the Community 6 Making Columbia Green 7 Awards & Accomplishments 9 Public Safety News 10 Employee News Photo courtesy of David Sunberg | Esto 12 The Back Page Our newly constructed Northwest Corner Building welcomes occupants from the University’s sciences. Read more on page 4. From the Executive Vice President s we enter the holiday season, we end the calendar year on an eventful note, highlighted by the opening of the new, skillfully Adesigned and constructed Northwest Corner Building. It was three years in the making and now the perimeter of our core Morningside campus is complete, consistent with the original McKim, Mead, and White master plan. As you read this issue, our science faculty members are moving into their new spaces, a hub of interdisciplinary study (read more on page 4). This is a historic moment for the University as a whole, as well as for our team. The Northwest Corner Building is exemplary of all that we do—creating spaces where students and faculty want to live and work. Among these spaces are our residential buildings, whose elegance is maintained thanks to the hard work by our Residential Operations team, which is now implementing new green initiatives. From classroom training to energy saving technologies, we continue to reduce the University’s carbon footprint (details on page 6). Our campus grounds remain outstanding and have recently received yet another award for exceptional grounds maintenance by the Professional Grounds Management Society (PGMS) (read more on page 8). In addition to our work, many of you have gone above and beyond the call of duty in your personal lives. One such example is Public Safety Officer Anthony Tavarez, who generously donated his bone marrow to help save a child’s life (more on page 11). Officer Tavarez’s heroic action is truly in keeping with Facilities spirit of helping others. These are just a few of the many ways in which you have demonstrated excellence this year, and I invite you to read more about them in this issue of Off the CUF. Thank you for all you do and happy holidays to you and your family! Joe Ienuso Video still courtesy of Columbia University Office of Communications and Public Affairs. From left, Columbia University Facilities Executive Vice President Joe Ienuso and University President Lee C. Bollinger listen to renowned architect José Rafael Moneo as he describes his vision of the Northwest Corner Building, during the December 9, 2010 media tour of the building. Read more on page 4. 2 Customer Compliments Dear Facilities that for me, but he was so courteous about it without showing an ounce of frustration for having to do it. I felt the need to say something because every Cathy Ryder is always incredibly helpful with projects. She is really a gem time I have gotten a ride or every time I have gone to their office in Low this and wonderful to work with. school year, everyone’s been so fun and helpful. I really appreciate that CU’s public safety rocks (Oh, and my parents do, too). Vicki Aspenberg Director Thanks, guys! Columbia Greenhouse Nursery School Elizabeth Mayer Thank you for getting our studios for the undergraduate architecture Student program in Lewisohn Hall up and running for our first days of classes. It School of International and Public Affairs was such a relief to have the rooms ready to teach in. I also can’t tell you enough how helpful it was for you to find us temporary lockers as well. Many The building looked superb. I want to thank Facilities for the exceptional thanks for that. The space looks great and everyone sincerely appreciates the way they dealt with last minute requests (painting included) to make this effort you made to get it ready for us. building look so beautiful for the opening of school. I want to express my appreciation to each of you for the work that was accomplished, the Karen Fairbanks flexibility, and the care for this school. Ann Whitney Olin Professor of Professional Practice and Chair, Architecture Barnard College Annette Raphel Director I would like to thank you and the residential operations staff for taking The School at Columbia University care of our apartment so promptly and efficiently. We have now finished unpacking and can enjoy the apartment with its newly finished floor and I just wanted to let you know how pleased I was with the A/C maintenance fresh paint on the walls. The fact that it was done under such strict time done in our apartment (542 West 112th) last week by Ajay [Pathania] and constraints is truly impressive. Robert [Kishun]. Our apartment was just barely cool enough before their work. Now it gets downright cold, which is quite pleasing. So kudos on With all best wishes, having such fantastic and nice employees. Ajay in particular is a real gem; he’s extremely knowledgeable and been of great help to us several times already. Pierre Force Professor of French and Romance Philology Best regards, I want to thank you for the outstanding level of service that you Josh Reich [Dragos Sisu] have provided for Miklos Haraszti and his wife, Antonia. Student Your work ethic and your willingness to assist in any way possible sets Graduate School of Arts and Sciences an excellent example for all university employees and is very much appreciated by our office. I am just writing to let you know how much I appreciated the newsletter [The Morningside Resident] you sent for fall/winter 2010. It was a lovely Regards, publication! Very informative and attractive! Stephen T. Hands Thank you so much, Executive Director, Administration Office of the President Monique Rinere Dean of Advising I have lived on 113th Street between Broadway and Riverside for over Division of Student Affairs 42 years. We have always had vermin on this block. I had the pleasure of Columbia College & Columbia Engineering speaking with Anthony Nasser a couple of months ago and expressed my concern with this ongoing problem. He took the time to discuss many of The hallway on the 14th floor, including the elevator area, is very clean and his already ongoing initiatives with me. I am pleased to say that for the first freshly waxed. Thank you [Scott Hudgins] very much for your effective time since I moved into the neighborhood, I have not seen one rat in over supervision. I am grateful to have you as a super at 560. a month. Thank you and Anthony Nasser for addressing this problem. I sincerely appreciate your commitment to this problem. Yoshiko Scholz Resident Eileen O’Keefe 560 Riverside Drive Corporate Director Admitting Department. St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital Center thank you! I can’t say enough awesome things about Columbia’s Public Safety Department. Tonight was just one of many great encounters with a public safety officer. Billy Miranda kindly returned to my apartment to drop off my cell phone I had left in the Public Safety SUV. It wasn’t just that he did 3 Construction Projects Science Has a New Home at the Upgraded Powerhouse to Enhance Northwest Corner Building Campus Cooling Among our many goals at Facilities is the provision of economical and reliable air conditioning on a 24-hour basis to the University’s Morningside campus buildings. In order to meet growing cooling demands, we have committed to undertake a modernization of the University’s central refrigeration plant, located in the original powerhouse. The powerhouse, which measures approximately 12,000 square feet, will be renovated to receive two new, ultra efficient chillers. Together these new refrigeration machines will provide an additional 5,600 tons of cooling to the Morningside campus. In addition, older chillers, previously scattered across the Morningside campus, will be centralized within the University’s powerhouse. This project is being led by our Campus Operations team, under the leadership of Vice President Frank Martino. Completion is anticipated for spring 2011. Photo courtesy of David Sunberg | Esto After much planning, design, and construction, the Northwest Corner Building welcomed the University’s science faculty members on November 29. The 188,000 square foot building provides much needed academic research space for the Arts and Sciences department as well as the Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science and fosters interdisciplinary research, study, and interaction among the sciences. Nestled in the Morningside campus’ northwest corner at 120th Street and Broadway, the 14-story science building Steam fitters install two 30 inch diameter condenser water pipes along the side of the Fairchild building. The pipes will carry water to the roof of Fairchild and into new provides seven research lab floors, 21 new labs, an integrated cooling towers, facilitating the campus air conditioning system. At full capacity, science library, a café, and direct connections between Pupin these pipes will carry 26,000 gallons of water per minute, greatly enhancing our and Chandler Halls, among its many features. campus cooling. The Northwest Corner was a collaborative effort among all Facilities departments, with construction managed by Capital Project Management. Renowned architect José Rafael Moneo designed the building’s unique aluminum and glass façade in partnership with Davis Brody Bond. Turner Construction is the construction manager. For more information on the Northwest Corner Building’s construction, visit http:// facilities.columbia.edu/ 4 CUF and the Community Community Comes Out to 22 New Firms Enter the MWL Clean & Go Green Certificate/Mentorship Program Columbia University, in partnership with the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS), welcomed 22 new minority-, women-, and locally-owned (MWL) businesses to its 2010-2011 Construction Trades Management Certificate/ Mentorship Program, during a kick-off orientation and networking reception on September 9, 2010.