Q&A: Maintenance and Operations, 21st-Century Style
The Maintaining and Operating of Schools Goes Far Beyond Just Cleaning and Construction
Much has changed over the decades in the maintenance and operations of schools. The facilities industry no longer just comprises individuals who know a little something about construction or cleaning. New building technologies and increasing legislative requirements have placed a strong focus on professionalism and the importance of working with industry leaders.
By Tania Salgado, AIA, LEED AP, Design Principal, RNL. 
CHICAGO — More than 150 delegates from educational facilities across Illinois attended the 8th Education Facilities Management Forum on April 25, at Chicago’s Soldier Field.
DENTON, Texas — The Zero Energy Research Laboratory at the University of North Texas will give students and researchers the tools to study new and emerging sustainable and renewable energy technologies.
By Steven Lichtenberger, AIA, NCARB, LEED AP. Lichtenberger is a managing principal for the architecture department in the Phoenix office of AECOM and serves as principal in charge of project management for selected projects.
Maintaining and operating schools today, as always, remains a daunting task for administrators. Challenges constantly arise in the form of older schools that need to be seriously updated to meet today’s educational needs, new structures with their own unique issues and the overall lack of funding available.
Columbus, Ohio-based architecture firm DesignGroup is designing the city’s first public middle/high school designed for emotionally disturbed students. 
BALTIMORE — At the University of Baltimore, the first LEED Platinum-certified law school building in the country is on the way.