Risk comes with the territory for professionals managing high-profile buildings. But that doesn’t mean maintenance and engineering managers still don’t get butterflies before undertaking huge renovation projects or mechanical-system retrofits.
Jeffrey Plutz, director of engineering at the Orlando World Center Marriott Resort and Convention Center, felt a little uneasy before deciding to move forward with the rebuilding of chillers dedicated to cooling the world’s largest Marriott. It wasn’t the project itself that created that feeling in the pit of Plutz’s stomach. He had done his research and knew ignoring the aging equipment could create a disastrous situation in due time. What really worried Plutz was the thought of hotel occupants and visitors being without air conditioning — in the heat and humidity of Orlando, Fla. — if there happened to be a misstep.
Despite that risk, Plutz trusted his research and went ahead with the $2 million project. The results have been better than expected. The hotel is saving on energy costs and reducing its carbon footprint. The rebuilt chillers also have improved the hotel’s indoor air quality and relative humidity.
“Having an understanding of the business, first of all, and understanding what people have to do to make the place be successful,” Plutz says of his approach to projects such as the chiller retrofit. “Realize that everybody has a part to play and that downtime is unacceptable.”
The Orlando World Center Marriott is a 2,000-room hotel, resort and convention center encompassing roughly 2.2 million square feet. The day-to-day responsibilities in a facility of that size is enough to make any manager feel overwhelmed at times. And when a big project is thrown into the mix, stress levels can elevate. But the key for Plutz and his team was continuing to focus on the business side of project – ensuring hotel occupants were comfortable throughout their stay.
Read more about the Orlando World Center Marriott and its chiller project in the September issue of Maintenance Solutions.