What happens to all of the items generated by thousands of University of Washington students as they race to clear out their spaces and leave campus for the summer?
Facilities Services joined other University of Washington groups in Red Square on April 20 to celebrate Earth Day 2018 and support this year’s theme of “planting the seeds for a sustainable future.” Employees from UW Recycling, UW Surplus and Transportation Services staffed outreach tables at the event, and the Energy Resource Conservation team received a Husky Green Award during the ceremonies.
The West Campus Utility Plant (WCUP) serves as an extension of the University’s Power Plant, providing additional cooling and emergency power to the University’s expanding collection of research buildings in the southwest corner of campus.
On Saturday, October 8 nearly 130 volunteers from Facilities Services came out to clean and spruce up the University District in what has become an annual event for FS staff and their families.
Every June as the spring quarter wraps up, students living in all on-campus residence halls and on Greek Row are required to fully vacate their rooms before summer break. Often, there’s only enough time and space to pack the essentials, which means tons of items are at risk of being left behind on University District streets.
The zipping-sound of a duct tape roll is cut off by the beeping of a radio. Employees mill about, some in Tyvek suits on an 80-degree day, others wearing high-visibility gear and hard hats. A 9.0 magnitude earthquake hit at 8:08 a.m., but luckily chaos hasn’t ensued because it’s just a drill.
The power plant electrician asks the group if they’re ready with their stopwatches, then counts down. Three—two—one—the lights go black for a beat. Five giant diesel engine backup generators, each larger than a pickup truck, begin to roar.
The lights are back on; surgeries continue without missing a beat, and priceless research continues to stay frozen in a lab on campus. It’s a monthly test of the University’s backup power generation capabilities down at the Power Plant.
