IFMA’s Atlanta chapter recently held its annual awards luncheon, where members were recognized for furthering both Facility Management and the chapter.
One of these was the Achievement in Facility Management Award. It is presented to a professional member whose facility management program, project or concept has demonstrably and successfully contributed to more effective management of his or her organization’s facilities. This award highlights the importance and significance of professional member accomplishment to the future of facility management.
The winner of this year’s award is Ed Brownlee. Ed has developed and supported his company’s sustainability initiatives as he detailed in the recent October Atlanta Chapter of IFMA panel discussion, “Green is the New Black” where he worked with the CNN team to develop a plan to meet the company’s growing needs for efficient energy management and, at the same time, support their growing infrastructure’s energy needs. As an added benefit to his company, Ed’s team discovered a bonus profit center by diverting outdated video tapes through an innovative recycling plan for Turner Broadcasting which may well become an industry Best Management Practice.
In September, Ed hosted the IFMA Sustainability Breakfast meeting at the CNN Building to present and inform members of the specifics and metrics of how Turner’s facilities staff initiated and tracked many energy improvements as their responsibilities and infrastructure, (5 networks in 1995 to over 16 networks by 2009,)expanded over a ten year period. The presentation highlighted Turner’s Electrical and HVAC infrastructure efficiency improvements through smart investments in capital expenditures and the corresponding maintenance savings over a 12 – 15 year span, By using innovative techniques such as building simulation techniques and dual – fuel chillers Turner staff managed to save 10.505, 670.00 from 1998 to 2008 as they brought the new networks online which netted a total CO2 reduction of removing 254,00 cars from the road. This presentation also covered as Turner’s involvement in Sustainable Initiatives as well as their involvement in the Zero Waste Program which focuses on improving sustainability initiatives for food waste in the downtown corridor.
Ed has served as the Sustaining Patron chair for two years and has been a guest speaker for two luncheon topics, one in which he spoke of his trip to China and key observations of FM developments in China and a second where he presented a fascinating comparison of FM on Navy Ships to traditional FM in buildings. He has written several article for our Newsletter , the most recent , “What Keeps Facility Managers Awake At Night China 2007 ” in which Ed further expanded on his visit to China in preparation for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and his key observations of FM trends in that country. Ed is both an asset to Turner and to our IFMA chapter.
