Grounds Management During Cooler Seasons

Grounds Management During Cooler Seasons

School grounds must be kept up and properly maintained on a routine and preventive basis. School grounds can be defined as the full extent of all school property, including school sites, the central office, and other administrative or support facilities. This includes courtyards, exterior lighting and signage, outdoor learning equipment, pools, museums, bike trails, modular facilities, paved surfaces such as sidewalks, parking lots, and roads, athletics fields including synthetic surfaces such as Astroturf, and any vacant property owned by the district.

Identifying and tracking facility maintenance problems can be complex if you have multiple buildings on your campus or site. Safety is always a priority. Facilities built for industrial, retail, commercial or governmental uses are also subject to guidelines for energy use, waste and materials management, emissions and air quality

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Winter Changes

Energy often represents a commercial property’s largest operating expense. By adopting strategies that increase energy efficiency, use renewable energy, and minimize waste, can maximize both economic and environmental performance. Energy wasted through leaks, cracks, drafts and other facility flaws can cost you dearly during the winter months. Winter can crack or burst pipes and render sprinkling systems useless. Check out the Winter Facility Preparation Checklist to stay on top of your facility during this season.

Winter Fire Safety

Fire safety involves both preventative and responsive measures at most facilities. Electrical contractors should run tests on “last mile” connections from input source to buildings and throughout the facility to check wiring and loads placed on outlets, panels and equipment. Daily checks should be running if necessary, to prevent storage of flammable materials including cloths or other solvent-soaked items. If your facility has fire protection tanks, check them daily to prevent freezing.

Just a reminder, keeping the school clean isn’t just the custodian and facility managers responsibility. It is also a great idea to adopt the “30-second” rule in which everyone in the building stops what they are doing and cleans the room they are in during the last 30 seconds of the day.