People&Places A Quarterly Newsletter of Plant Operations
Summer 2010
Plant Operations
University of Houston
Cougar Village , the freshmen housing project along Wheeler Street next to Moody Towers, was completed on time for the planned Grand Opening on August 16th. The 1132-bed facility was full upon opening with a large waiting list, a nice anecdote to our record enrollment this year. Complimenting the building is the pedestrian bridge connecting it to the newly-renovated Moody dining facilities.
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In
This Issue 03
05 07
10
13
17 18
Personnel Changes
Promotions/Job Changes Retirements New Hires
Main Article Campus Landscaping/Hurricane Ike Improvements
Plant Operations Departmental Updates Facilities Information & Information Technology Facilities Management Safety Training Billable Rates
Program Updates / Employee Spotlights
Building Coordinator Program Update – Jacquie Vargas Metro Project Update – Keith Ivy Project Controls & Inspections – Gary Alley Space Management Program – Camille Porter
Project Highlights
Fleming Building Central Plant Expansion Project Delivery Master Plan Design Specifications Infrastructure Master Plan
Blurps
Outage Policy Plant Ops Website
Kudo’s Section
Labor Shop – Roy Johnson & Curtis Robinson Skilled Trades – Jorge Rivera & Miguel Fernandez Facilities Management – weekend duty Utilities – Robert Dawson Skilled Trades – Theron Mathis
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Personnel
Changes
Promotions / Job Changes Employee Lisa Bourque Myrlin Brazil Miguel Elizondo Otu Inyang Johnnie King Cynthia Ramos Michael Sharkey Neal Smith Tuan Tran Eno Udoh Steve Wright
Title - Department Administrative Coordinator, Business Services Supervisor, Labor & Garage Maintenance Lead, Skilled Trades Environmental Health & Safety Manager Supervisor, Solid Waste & Recycling Exec. Admin. & Projects Assistant, Facilities Mgmt Administration Wortham House Maintenance & Grounds Manager, Central Facilities Services Coordinator for Fleet, Auto & Equipment Repair Risk Manager, Environmental Health & Safety Manager, Skilled Trades
Retirements Retiree Gladys Goins James Maiden Callistus Nnabuife Victor Rey Martha Salinas Antonio Hinojosa Basilio Martinez Enrique Cardenas Martha Escalante Angelo Salazar IInocencia Gutierrez
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Retirement Date
Years of Service
04/01/10 04/01/10 04/01/10 05/01/10 05/31/10 06/01/10 06/14/10 07/31/10 08/31/10 08/31/10 08/31/10
36 years 18 years 30 years 39 years 29 years 22 years 26 years 25 years 29 years 6 years 29 years
New Hires Employee James Ballowe Rhoda Daniels Jackie Barnes Trinidad Rodriguez Elsa Amador Timothy Dixon Mike Davis Maria Vazquez Camille Porter Mike Coppinger Avinash Rahurkar Samantha Crosby Isaac Semont Blake Wright Ruth Hulett Jacquie Vargas Victor Ramirez Maria Guzman Ana Vazquez Rosalinda Mendoza Gary Alley Keith Ivy Patricia James Erwin Enojado Larkin Buechmann Michael Wetzel Benjamin Markin Vincent Simmonds Bennie Lopez Anna Wiesman Richard Ortega James Regan JR
Title
Department
Manager, Central Facilities Services Director, Project Accounting & Contracts Fire Alarm Tech 2 Custodian 1 Custodian 1 Custodian 1 Project Manager Custodian 1 Lead, Facilities Space Coordinator Sr. Project Manager Manager, Electrical & Elevator Systems Facilities Projects & Admin. Coordinator Groundskeeper 1 Groundskeeper 1 Admin Asst Facilities Services Coordinator Custodial Supervisor 2 Custodian 1 Custodian 1 Custodian 1 Principal Project Manager Sr. Project Manager Skilled Trades Tech 2 Sr. Project Manager Facilities Project Inspector Skilled Trades Lead Facilities Dispatcher Refuse Driver/Collector Fire Alarm Tech 2 Facilities Services Coordinator Facilities Inspector Facilities Inspector
Central Facilities Services Business Services Utilities Central Facilities Services Central Facilities Services Central Facilities Services Minor & Planned Projects Central Facilities Services Facilities Planning & Construction Facilities Planning & Construction Utilities Facilities Management Central Facilities Services Central Facilities Services Facilities Planning & Construction Facilities Management Administration Central Facilities Services Central Facilities Services Central Facilities Services Central Facilities Services Facilities Planning & Construction Facilities Management Administration Skilled Trades Facilities Planning & Construction Facilities Planning & Construction Skilled Trades Central Facilities Services Central Facilities Services Utilities Minor & Planned Projects Facilities Planning & Construction Facilities Planning & Construction
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Main
Article
Campus Landscaping/Hurricane Ike Improvements We are currently making efforts to improve the campus landscaping and to repair damaged trees and plantings left by Hurricane Ike. Beautification measures include removal and replacement of leaning and damaged trees, replacement and improvements to landscape plantings and repair/replacement of irrigation systems to support those plantings. The project will be paid for with Ike damage insurance funds. The removal of plantings and irrigation will start in June. There will be a few bare spots around campus as planting will be delayed until fall, beginning in September, conducive with good horticulture practices. Improvements will be throughout the campus with special considerations given to the central quad area, the east perimeter along Spur 5, and University Drive. The project drawings were prepared by Clark Condon Associates, Inc. — a local landscape architectural design firm, in business since 1985, specializing in public, institutional and commercial projects. Landscape Art has been hired to provide landscape planting installation and irrigation work. They have been in business in Houston more than 25 years and have a respected reputation as a commercial landscape contractor.
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Concurrent with this landscape project, the existing oak trees from Scott Street prior to METRO improvements. Forty-five trees will be saved and relocated to areas throughout the campus. Environmental Design will handle their relocation. They have been in business nearly 30 years and are known throughout the US for their expertise in transplanting of large trees. Root pruning and preparations will begin this summer. The actual transplanting will occur this fall - ‘when the sap falls’.
We are moving right along toward becoming a Tier One University! For questions related to this project please contact Melissa Rockwell at 713-743-8750 or mrockwel@central.uh.edu.
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Plant Operations Departmental Updates Facilities Information & Information Technology Changes in IT Information Technology and Space Information Changes: Plant Operations has been working with Central IT to perform a review of services, structure and delivery methods in relation to Space Information and Information Technology. They have carefully studied structure efficiencies, staffing levels and integration of core services. As a result a reorganization has taken place and Facilities Information and Information Technology has been formed under the direction of Director, Lillian Wanjagi. Services in this structure are noted below for reference. For questions regarding these changes please contact Lillian Wanjagi at 713-743-5541 or lwanjagi@central.uh.edu.
Facilities Information Lillian Wanjagi
Sheree Pearce (Technology Support)
- All Desktop Management and Support (Software and Hardware) - Software License Management - Security Administration - File Share Admnistration (P Drive) - Server Administration (with UIT)
Khanh Hodges (Information Systems)
-Application Management and Support (FME, Active Docs, ACCESS (EHRM)) -FAMIS level 1 Support and Functional Analysist for Facility Management -Database Administration - FME, Adept and Active Docs (until Sunset)
-Sharepoint
-Sharepoint
-IT Training
- IT Training -Web Development -Web Content Publishing
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Space Information (Shared)
-FAMIS (Space) Level 1 Support and
Functional Analyst - Camille Porter - AutoCAD functional Analyst - Eva Lyon -Adept Application Administrator Chad Thome -Adept Level 1 support and Functional Analyst - Chad Thome -Sharepoint for FPC - Chad Thome
Facilities Management Safety Training Safety Training Many of the University’s skilled trade, maintenance and custodial employees use chemicals and have potential exposures to bloodborne pathogens. During the month of July 2010 the Environmental Health and Risk Management Department trained more than 200 Facilities Management employees in an effort to educate employees regarding proper precautions to prevent occupational related injuries and to comply with State requirements. Individual skilled trade and maintenance shops were assessed for hazards and commonly used chemicals prior to the training class in an effort to customize each class. The first class was Hazard Communications which informed employees about the need to inventory chemicals in their work areas, interpret warning labels and to access/read material safety data sheets (MDDS), which provide extensive information about hazards of chemicals, how to work with them safely and necessary first aid procedures. The second class was Bloodborne Pathogens which informed employees about potential exposures to Bloodborne pathogens and how employees can protect themselves. Seven (7) training sessions were offered to accommodate day and 3rd shift employees. Spanish translations services were provided by volunteers from Finance, Planning & Constructionand Plant Operations Customer Service Center. We are glad to report a 100% passing rate for all sessions taught.
For information /questions regarding safety training please contact EHRM at 713-743-5858.
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Billable Rates The billable rates for services for FY 2011 have been published. Billable rates are now based on the average salaries and benefits for the field representative performing the billable tasks. This change will now provide a uniform rate for all work being performed based on service and not staff assignment.
For questions related to this rate please contact Lisa Castro at 713-743-5710 or lcastro5@central.uh.edu. The new rates are below:
Service
Rate
Examples
Auto Service
Actual material costs
All Auto Repairs
Craft Services Regular Overtime Technical Services Regular Overtime General Support Services Regular Overtime
$30.02/hr $45.03/hr
$32.91/hr $49.36/hr
$19.69/hr $29.53/hr
Skilled Trades Carpentry, Exterior, Plumbing, Painting, Lock (above normal schedule) HVAC, EMECS, Elevator, Electrical, Mechanical,Fire Alarm, General Utility Support
Custodial, Grounds, Cement, Solid Waste/Recycling, Labor, Moves, Events Setup
The chart above represents LABOR rates only. Maintenance & Operations (M&O) will be billed at cost as applicable.
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Program Updates /Employee Spotlights Building Coordinator Program Update- Jacquie
Vargas
Building Coordinator Program Update Building Coordinator Program Update A planning committee consisting of representatives from Facilities Management, Public Safety, Environmental Health & Safety, Academic Affairs and various colleges has been working for the past few months to develop the Building Coordinator Program and its key components. Program implementation is slated for January 1, 2011. The committee meets monthly with coordination lead by Jacquie Vargas, Facilities Services Coordinator. Jacquie is new to the University and joins us with over twenty years experience in higher education specifically in student life services. She holds a Masters of Science degree from Texas A&M University. For further information regarding this program please
contact Jacquie at 713-743-1679 / jvarga5@central.uh.eduor visit the Building Coordinator Program webpage uh.edu/plantops/building-coordinator-program.
Metro Project Update- Keith
Ivy
METRO Project Update Construction has begun on Houston’s new METRO Rail lines including one right here in our community – South East line. METRO has contracted with Houston Rapid Transit (HRT) to handle all aspects of construction. Construction work on the South East corridor borders University of Houston on the south side of campus. The majority of the work this summer has focused on utility relocations and upgrades in preparation of the new light rail lines along Wheeler Street. Work so far includes: + Water, electric, communication, and gas utility work has commenced along Wheeler Avenue between MLK Boulevard on the east and Scott Street on the west. + Electrical power drop for Child Care Center + Upgrade of sanitary line for Cameron building. 10 Plant Operations Newsletter
Power drop at Child Care: After completion of the design and investigation work earlier in the summer, construction began in the playground area south of the Child Care Center on August 7th. Excavation and electrical relocation work will continue after hours to minimize disruption to Child Care Center operations. All work is scheduled to be completed before school reopens for the fall semester. Cameron Sanitary Project: UH and Houston Rail Transit (HRT) subcontractor worked jointly to complete the sanitary line work near the Cameron building. This project is expected to resolve ongoing sanitary issues experienced historically at the Cameron building. With the exception of the removal of an existing manhole, all upgrade work is now complete and the system is working very well. Next UH and METRO/HRT will finalize the details of following betterment projects which includes pedestrian lighting, widening of sidewalks, pedestrian safety upgrades, sound wall installation for Child Care Center, etc. Keith Ivy, Senior Project Manager is overseeing this project alongside Sameer Kapileshwari, Director Utilities, Energy & Technical Systems. Keith recently joined the university bringing with him over 5 years of design and project management experience in the Houston area relating to utility relocations, drainage, site development, traffic and transportation. He is a licensed civil engineer and earned his degree from the University of Texas.
Please free to contact either Keith at 713-743-9262 / kmivy2@central.uh.edu or Sameer at 713-743-5797 / SAKapileshwari@central.uh.edu with questions related to this project.
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Project Controls & Inspections
– Gary Alley
Gary Alley has recently joined Facilities Planning and Construction as Principal Project Manager of Project Inspections and Controls. Gary brings 25 plus years in commercial construction experience, from serving as a Project Superintendent to Project Manager in addition to a BS in Civil Engineering Technology from UH. Most recently, Gary consulted on projects at our very own Energy Research Park. His portfolio includes the Hobby Center, UTMB in Galveston, Sam Houston State University, and the George R. Brown Convention Center Expansion. Gary’s focus will be developing and leading the inspections team that will provide inspections for both the major and minor projects on the Central Campus, but also all major projects throughout the University of Houston System. Regarding Project Controls, much of his concentration will be on implementing tools for the project management and business services staff to better control and manage our many diverse construction projects.
Please contact Gary directly with any questions in regards to this area at 713-743-9612 or gmalley@central.uh.edu.
Space Management Program
– Camille Porter
Plant Operations would like to introduce Camille Porter, a new addition to the Office of Facilities Information department. Camille joined Plant Operations in June of 2010 in the role of lead facilities space coordinator which is a newly created position within Facilities Planning and Construction. Camille oversees all the university space reporting and the maintenance and management of the facilities/space database. She is responsible for all required facilities related reporting. She will be an integral part in directing the efforts of implementing FAMIS, the newly procured integrated workplace management system for space management. She will serve as the administrator for space management functionality. Camille is a UH alumna with a BS in industrial engineering. She was most recently a senior replenishment analyst for a major retail chain where she was responsible for data analysis and forecasting inventory levels. Her background also includes project management and process improvements.
Camille may be reached at 713-743-1337 or cnporter@central.uh.edu and her office is located in Room 214 in the General Services Building. 12 Plant Operations Newsletter
Project
Highlights
Fleming Building Fleming Teaching Lab Building The Fleming Teaching Lab Building will be a new $31 million four-story facility located at the south corner of Entrance 14 and Cullen Blvd. This state of the art structure will include: undergraduate biology teaching laboratories undergraduate chemistry teaching laboratories future research facilities This is the first project associated with the renovation of the entire Science Complex. The existing labs will vacate Old Science and Fleming so those two buildings may be renovated. What this means for the university Upgrading the University’s science buildings is critical to obtain Tier One status. The existing undergraduate biology and chemistry laboratories are sixtyyearsold and have received only minor renovations and upgrades. As a result, the building lacks updated safety standards. The new laboratory building will contain first class teaching labs equipped with biosafety cabinets and chemical fume hoods. The laboratories will also consist of full multi-media capabilities designed to enhance the learning experience. A new chemical stockroom on the first floor will supply the building with its daily use of ingredients for student experiments. The building will continue to foster learning and collaboration by housing gathering lounges on each floor where students and laboratory instructors can casually meet between classes. The top floor of the building (to be completed at a future date) will be dedicated to Tier One research. Hoar construction has teamed with the architecture firm of PGAL to design and build this new addition to campus. The project is scheduled for completion in fall 2011.
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Central Plant Expansion Central Plant Expansion and Renovation The expansion of the UH Central Plant involves approximately $40 million upgrade to the existing equipment. The scope of work for this project includes: Expand the west side of the Central Plant building by installing additional bays for the replaced 3000Tons chiller, add three new chillers 2700Tons each, and one new cooling tower cell Replace all existing cooling towers 1 to 4 Replace two 66,000 lb/hr boilers with low NOx high efficiency boilers Modify existing piping, electrical and controls systems to accommodate new equipment and modified existing equipment What this means for the university This project is critical for Tier One and campus expansion and has a number of goals. First, the Central Plant’s existing equipment is past its manufacturer recommended life which makes it increasingly expensive to maintain, therefore replacement is critical. Secondly, older equipment causes our current plant to be energy inefficient and not as clean when compared to new state-of-the-art technology—a major problem in an air quality nonattainment zone like Houston. The federal government and EPA have mandated that we replace existing equipment with new lower polluting equipment as part of the directive that calls for Houston to meet clean air requirements. Third, with the increased efficiency we will reduce energy usage by 3-4%; we’ll save significant money and dramatically reduce the university’s carbon footprint. Finally, this project will increase the Central Plant’s capacity to serve future buildings that are needed to support our Campus Framework Plan, house Tier One research, increase on-campus housing, and add extra instructional and student support space. Shah Smith & Associates managed the pre-design and also completed the construction documents. This massive project is scheduled for completion by spring 2014. Vaughn Construction was awarded the construction contract after competitively bidding this project.
For questions regarding Fleming or Central Plant expansion projects please contact Kelly Buehler, Project Manager, at 713-743-9637 orkbuehler@central.uh.edu.
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Project Delivery PROJECT DELIVERY PROGRAM Plant Operations is working diligently to align all service areas to better support our project delivery services and clients. Over the last eight months Plant Operations core management team has identified critical priorities and restructured with the intent to create one service delivery organization with two major components, (1) Major Capital Projects and (2) Minor and Planned Projects that support and share both technical and business service support structures. The project delivery program will be developed with the ultimate goals of becoming a project delivery organization balancing architecture, operations, technology, and successful facility transition and operations.The project will be completed by early 2011 and will be transparent and visible to the university community. The magnitude of work required assistance in the form of procuring the services of Broaddus and Associates. Broaddus and Associates are proven experts in the field of project delivery service programming and have completed this process at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Texas State University, Texas A&M University, Methodist Hospital and the University of Texas. Broaddus and Associates will assist in assessing current practices as well as introduce processes which will establish and streamline the delivery program as our final product. Program development is continuing and is estimated to conclude in February 2011. The Project Delivery Program will establish a standard to better communicate how a project is phased, initiated, planned, procured, managed, closed out and transitioned to maintained and sustained.
For questions regarding this project please contact Jim Norcom, Sr. Project Manager at 713-743-5404 / jgnorcom@central.uh.edu or Gary Alley, Principal Project Manager at 713-743-5541 / gmalley@central.uh.edu
Master Plan Design Specifications Master Plan Design Specifications
The University of Houston has hired Philo Wilke Architects to strengthen the current UH Campus Design Guideline Standards that are used in planning, designing, constructing and maintaining campus facilities. The Master Construction Specifications will be a series of documents pertaining to all CSI Master Format divisions that will reflect how each type of facility on campus is to be designed, constructed, and/or renovated. This new tool will help us achieve higher levels of quality, simplify inspection and maintenance, and lower life cycle facility costs. The new Master Construction Specifications will complement, but be much more detailed than current Campus Design Guidelines, which are available on the Plant Operations website. A Master Construction Specifications Development and Review Committee has been formed with 24 members of our Plant Operations staff who will be lending their special expertise in assisting Philo Wilke Architects with the preparation of the documents.
Work is expected to be complete by December 15, 2010. 15
Infrastructure Master Plan Utility Infrastructure Master Planning This is an exciting time at the University of Houston. Since 2005 we have increased our gross square footage (GSF) by approximately 3,000,000 GSF. This increase is due to recent building additions such as Calhoun Lofts, Cemo Lecture Hall, Cougar Village, Science Engineering and Research Center (SERC), M. D. Anderson Library Expansion, along with the acquisition of the Energy Research Park located along I-45 near Telephone Road. We expect the growth trend to continue for the next few years as we continue our pursuit of TIER ONE status. In order to meet growth demands, Plant Operations has commenced a Central Plant Expansion and Renovation project. This project will ensure availability of adequate and reliable chilled water for cooling and steam for campus heating needs. The project design and the contractor selections have been completed. Construction is scheduled to commence during the latter part of August 2010. Shah Smith & Associates, a design and consulting engineering firm, was hired to study the capacity and distribution of the campus chilled water, steam, and electrical utility infrastructures to meet the current/ future campus demands and make recommendations to address concerns. The scope of this study will include: Electrical load and demand analysis Chilled water and steam distribution analyses Assessment of campus growth needs Identification of grid bottle necks and overloads Recommendations for possible operating scenarios Cost estimations for recommended options along with a desired implementation schedule A draft version of this report will be available near the end of the year. Similar studies will be conducted to address water utility infrastructure. This will include domestic water, storm water, and sanitary water grids for the campus. This project will be divided into two phases. The first phase of this study will include surveying of existing underground water utilities. The subsequent phases will address the distribution, future loads, and will provide recommendations for improvements along with estimates of probable costs. We will also be working in partnership with university IT to complete surveys to identify IT related underground infrastructure and ensure that for the university’s 10 year capital plan all infrastructures are properly planned. Findings from all the utility master planning studies will be used in preparation and prioritization of future campus deferred maintenance plans.
Please contact Sameer Kapileshwari if you have questions related to this project at 713-743-5797 or SAKapileshwari@central.uh.edu.
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Blurps Outage Policy Outage Policy Facilities Management recently released the Universities Planned and Emergency Utility Outage Policy. The policy was developed with support from multiple constituents and committees to enhance business continuity and improve university operations. The purpose of this policy is to streamline current practices and procedures used to coordinate and/or communicate planned outages as well as restoration procedures to be used for emergency outages. For further information in regards to the Outage Policy or general questions about planned and emergency outages, please contact Sameer Kapileshwari, Director Utilities, Energy & Technical Systems at 3-5797.
This policy along with presentation for outage procedures can be found at uh.edu/plantops/departments/fm/utilities-technical-services.
Plant Ops Website We are pleased to announce that the newly designed Plant Operations website went live in July 2010. Our website has a wealth of facility related information and a list of services offered by Facilities Management and Facilities Planning & Construction. Please visit the webpage to read more regarding news and events, current programs and capital project updates.
uh.edu/plantops
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Kudo’s Section Plant Operations employees strive to provide the best service to our campus customers. We appreciate any and all feedback regarding those individuals that you have witnessed going above and beyond to ensure the project that they are working on meets the customer’s satisfaction. We would like to give thanks to the following Facilities Management employees who exhibited professionalism and positive attitudes during their projects:
Labor Shop
– Roy Johnson & Curtis Robinson To Roy Johnson and Curtis Robinson for their professionalism during the service work they performed for the set-up of Offshore Technology Conference. (Feedback submitted by Sharon Lahey, Marketing Manager)
Skilled Trades
– Jorge Rivera & Miguel Fernandez To Jorge Rivera and Miguel Fernandez for their professionalism and positive attitudes observed by staff while completing painting services within the Human Resource offices. (Feedback submitted by Yvonne Norwood, Benefits Manager)
Facilities Management
– Weekend duty To Ronald Sampson, Ron Martinez, Don Martin, John Hancock, and Andrea Martinez for their prompt response as well as the thorough clean up services performed during weekend duty to repair the Moore’s School of Music Opera House water leak. (Feedback submitted by Brian Lawrence, Principal Project Manager)
Utilities
– Robert Dawson To Robert Dawson who was very helpful during the inspection of the dust work in the Optometry Building. (Submitted by Valeri Lansford, Laboratory Sales Consultant)
Skilled Trades
– Theron Mathis To Theron (Matt) Mathis whose extensive knowledge of the campus irrigation system and passion for his job helped in a successful collaborative effort with contractor for UH Ike Recovery project and campus irrigation inventory. (Feedback submitted by Lindsay Landers, Clark Condon & Associates).
Each of these individuals received recognition and a small token of appreciation for their outstanding work efforts.
Thanks to all of you for your outstanding service and commitment to the university. You Are The Pride!
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University of Houston Plant Operations 4211 Elgin Suite 122 Houston, TX 77204-1011