Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for the New Year 2012 from on campus at the University of Delaware!

It's going to be a "Blue Christmas..." in Lane this year!

As part of an on going review of public area spaces and potential improvements, we re-painted the TV lounge in the basement of Lane Hall a dark, fightin' blue hens blue.  In addition to coordinating with the furniture, other plans for this lounge and a similar one in the basement of Thompson include new ceiling tile and a larger flat screen TV.

"Sprucing up" an entrance at the Towers

Over the recent Thanksgiving Holiday, a new surface was installed over the "short hallway" entrance to the Christiana East Tower.  Due to the popularity of this entrance during the week, it tends to get more traffic than the main entrance to East Tower opposite the Commons.  The combination of many feet and the winter ice and snow had taken its' toll over the years.  This new entrance material should hold up better as additional prep on the floor allowed for a smoother installation. This was done over Thanksgiving to minimize the disruption to students entering and exiting the building.

Is it a dorm...or the President's House?

It's New Castle Hall's "new" Main Lounge furniture that was just delivered this week.  In keeping with the residence hall's nearly 85 year existence, the new furniture purchased for the lounge has that old time feel that blends in with the Mall Renovation that was completed over 10 years ago.  At that time the old furniture was re-upholetered instead of replaced.  Most of that "old" reupholstered furniture has now been moved into the Warner Hall basement to continue it's service to residents.

TV size to expand in Brown Hall

In working with the Residence Life Staff in Brown Hall, a plan has been developed to make the basement area more user friendly and inviting for residents in the North Central area.  Secifically we are working on a project that will result in two new locations for large screen TVs in the basement and also in the first floor Main Lounge.  They will replace the small TV that was originally located in just the basement, which will now be moved to the fitness room.  This blank wall in the basement will soon be a home for a 55" TV.

Facilities & Auxiliary Services participates in Sustainability Day at UD!

On a cloudy Fall day UD celebrated Sustainability Day on Wednesday October 26, 2011 with a display of tables that highlighted initiatives taken by Departments and Units at UD all geared towards reducing our overall carbon footprint. Our tables included info about our annual carpet recycling program for the residence halls as well as info about metering in the dorms that will allow us to better monitor and control energy consumption.  On the new "Henergy" web site launched on Sustainability Day, students in some of the residence halls can actually "see" their building energy consumption in real time.

Freshmen Get Safety Tips at September "Fair"

Last month incoming Freshmen at UD got the chance to win great prizes but also to find out how to "play it safe," while living on campus.  Sponsored annually by the Office of Residence Life, Facilities & Auxiliary Services participated along with many other Departments to present safety issues in an atmosphere where we tried to make learning more enjoyable.  Our table included the "Safety Tips Jar," that allowed participants to draw one of 20 Safety questions out to see if they could answer correctly.  Whether they answered correctly or not, they then wrote out the correct answers on a sheet that was used to verify and enter them into a drawing for prizes.  Our table donated a multi plug power strip for the drawing.

Pieces of the "puzzle" fit together in Thompson/Lane!

One of the projects this past summer was to replace the 10+ years old public area furniture in the first floor main lounges of Thompson and Lane.  The "old" furniture was then moved to the basement for use down there in the TV rooms and the furniture previously in the TV rooms was recently moved to the Harrington Commons to be used again in the area that was previously the Harrington Computing Site.  In that way everything was recycled and nothing was disposed of in any way.  The new furniture is referred to as "puzzle" pieces as each section can be moved around in different ways to create a loveseat, sofa, or just a stand-alone chair to allow for maximum personal choice when residents are using it. Additional plans for these lounge areas include replacing the carpeting next summer and re-painting the walls.

The "higher ups" get new mattresses in Christiana East

During the Summer of 2011, Christiana East Tower floors 17-9 all received new mattresses according to our replacement schedule.  The Summer of 2012 the lower floors will be replaced.  Most of the mattresses on the upper floors of East Tower were last replaced in the Year 2000.  In order to responsibly dispose of the old mattresses, Ohio Mattress Recovery Company was hired to pick up all of the old mattresses and take them back to their factory where they are "deconstructed" and the materials used again to avoid disposal in landfills.  The photo shows piles of the old mattresses outside the Tower awaiting loading onto the Ohio Mattress Recovery truck.

New carpeting spruces up Warner

This past summer Warner Hall received new carpeting ahead of it's 100th Anniversary in 2014.  The old carpeting had lasted beyond the normal 7-10 year life span but was becoming bleached from the afternoon sun pouring in windows on the south side of the building.  The new carpeting should also last better than the average and look great for years to come.

Sypherd gets new mattresses this summer

During the summer months, we get a chance to make some complete replacements of mattresses around campus and this past summer Sypherd was on the list.  Last summer mattresses were replaced in the surrounding buildings of Brown, Harter, and Sharp.  This completes plans to finish off a replacement cycle in North Central that was last done during the Mall Renovation Project from 1997-2001.

Residence Hall Housing Ushers in Fall with Table at Taste of UD

On Thursday September 1, 2011, we ushered in a new year in the Residence Halls at UD by participating in the "Taste of UD" Program outside the Trabant Center.  The Housing Carpenters and Housing Upholstery Shops, that keep the furniture in tip top shape all around the dorms, put their heads together and their exercised their talents to create a "bean bag toss."  Nearly three dozen great prizes were given away from Best Buy, and except for the complimentary candy melting, everything else went fine.  We're still looking for a perfect 25 point score...maybe next year!

Things are about to "heat up" in Lane and Thompson...read on!

With the temperatures hovering around 70 and 80 degrees during the last few days, probably the last thing most people are worried about is heating, but this summer Lane and Thompson will receive a new HVAC system that will make the buildings more comfortable during the fall and winter months.  The original heating conveyance system will be entirely replaced from the basement to the fourth floor.  In addition to the heating system, the first floor lounges in each building will be receiving brand new furniture to enhance study and just hanging out.

Another White Board Appears in George Read South!

As more students request large white boards to facilitate group study in lounges across the campus, we are responding by adding more locations.  The latest boards were added in North Central buildings and by request, in the George Read South 1st floor lounge.  The boards can be made any size and the wood boarders are painted to match the surrounding wall color.  The photo shows the board installed in George Read South.

Earth Week is next week!

Make sure to get involved in next week's Earth Week activities as Facilities participates with the rest of campus to raise awareness and work together to cut down on consumption where possible.  Facilities is committed to doing it's big part to monitor campus energy use and make changes that will impact our carbon footprint. For a list of all the activities during the week: http://www.udel.edu/earthweek

Spring Break week results in a new floor for West

Over the recent Spring Break week, we installed a new rubber flooring product in the third floor short hallway of West Tower that feeds off the North Blue Lot area and creates significant traffic.  The new rubber floor replaces the original carpeting.  We have found that the carpeting is difficult to maintain given the enormous amount of foot traffic through this area, and a similar floor that was installed last summer in the East Tower first floor short hallway has worked out well and stood the test of time.  The new floor is much easier to maintain than carpet and cleans up a whole lot easier.

Flatter is better for the Towers TV!

This week a new 60" flat screen TV was installed on the wall in the open lounge area of Christiana Commons.  It replaces an older model big screen TV that was purchased over 5 years ago and does not have jacks for connecting up video games and other more modern DVD players.  The new TV, which was requested by Residence Life and CRAB, will allow for more social interaction and programming activities that bring folks together in any environment that otherwise can tend to be isolated and not allow for as much contact between residents as more traditional dorms.

When "Sitting on the Bench," is not a bad thing...at the Commons!

Just in time for Spring, and or spring-like weather, and in response to a request from CRAB, the Christiana Residents Advisory Board; we installed three black metal benches outside the Christiana Commons for use by students waiting for the buses that pick up right outside the Commons.  These benches are the same type that were used all around the new Laird Campus residence halls that were built in the last five years.  Since the Christiana Commons pick up site is a very popular spot on Laird, it made sense to make it more comfortable for students awaiting buses, especially when the weather gets nicer.

Housing Fair A Huge Success!

Yesterday at the Trabant University Center Multi Purpose Room Housing Assignment Services hosted the Housing Fair for 2011.  At the Facilities table, pictured above, we had a slide show of buildings where renos have occurred, and we sponsored a gift card "giveaway" contest for giving your opinions about study and lounge space in the residence halls.  The day allowed current residents to find out info about where they would like to live next year and students ready to pick their assignment had the ability to sign up right there at the Fair.  Thanks very much to all the students that stopped by our table and gave us valuable opinions that we can consider for future upgrades and or renovation projects.

Adding Lighting Control to Dickinson Lounges...Phase I

Prior to the Holidays, lighting controls were added to the lounges in Dickinson A so that lights would automatically turn off late at night when everyone was sleeping and no one was using the floor lounge.  Previously the lights would continue to burn on without anyone inside, unless someone manually turned off the lights before exiting the lounge.  This "Watt Stopper" technology saves energy by sensing use or non-use of the lounge in a way similar to the basement laundry rooms.  If Phase I is completely successful, we'll go ahead and outfit the rest of the Complex lounges with the same units to maximize the energy savings.  In the middle of the photo you can see the new control unit to the left of the doorway.

Video Blog on New East Campus Residence Halls

Hi, I’m Mark Mankin, Coordinator for Facilities for the Residence Hall system at the University of Delaware with this week’s video blog.  If you aren’t familiar with where I am standing, I am directly in front of where the six building Gilbert Complex stood until about a year and a half ago when it was demolished.  The demolition was to make way for a brand new Complex of buildings that will begin rising out of the ground this summer with the first new building going up right behind where I am standing.  When everything is complete in the summer of 2017, the new set of buildings will replace the current West Campus Rodney and Dickinson Complexes.    In addition, the Harrington Complex to our left will be completely renovated beginning in the summer of 2013.  Although the new buildings will be similar to Harrington in that they will have double loaded corridors, gang bathrooms, and be designed primarily for Freshman students; they will include many of the popular features of the relatively new halls up on Laird Campus that feature generously sized rooms with air conditioning, adequate electrical circuits for today’s college student, and floor lounges for social and studying space.   Until next time this is Mark signing off from UD’s East Campus.

Are you ready for some football?!!

In response to a request from residents, we recently created a "new" TV lounge for students living in Squire and Sussex Halls, by putting a 32" TV/DVD Player on a wall in the large main lounge of Sussex Hall.  When Sussex and Squire received major renovations about 10 years ago a small TV lounge was set up in the basement of Squire to serve students living in both halls.  However, the basement lounge is really too small to have a large group sit down to participate in a program or perhaps watch the upcoming playoffs and Super Bowl.  Now the two buildings have an option for a greater number of people to sit down and watch TV or a movie together without feeling claustrophobic.

A "Redo"...on the White Board in Thomas McKean

About a year and a half ago we experimented with some paint to create a large white board surface in the 1st floor lounge of Thomas McKean in response to student requests. The concept was a great success judging by all the formulas and other writings that indicated that residents were using the board area for some intense studying. However, the paint surface ending up being difficult to maintain and the colors from the dry erase pens bled into the paint so bad that it was becoming impossible to use the surface. A new solution was found to "redo" the surface by using a peel and stick product that we tried successfully in a lounge in Harrington. The new surface is still a white board, but it completely covers the previously paint and makes it usuable again for studying. We plan to use this as the standard as we expand to other buildings. The next dry erase surface is being developed on the 4th floor lounge of Independence West in response to another request.