Written by Katie Kotowski
On
April 3, 2006, a valve failure on the fourth floor of Grover Center caused
damage to 70 offices, 12 classrooms, and WellWorks fitness center, causing more
than 200 Ohio University employees to work 18 hour days for one week to deal
with water and 338 classes to be moved to other buildings on campus, according
to an account on Ohio University’s website.Now, with the help of the Voinovich School of Leadership and Public
Affairs, if this type of situation happens again Facilities Management will
have the information at their fingertips to deal with the situation more
quickly.
The Voinovich School has been
working with Facilities Management since 2005 to convert all their data on
blueprints to GIS maps.GIS is a
technique used to create visual maps with the capacity to hold an unlimited
amount of data.Each feature, for
example a road, can contain information not only about the road’s location, but
also what it is made of, its speed limit, its slope, when it was last worked
on, etc.
“GIS isn't just maps, it’s a collection of
data - more like a database.” said Matt Riley, a Voinovich School student
working on the project.“Theoretically, it would allow faster
responses to situations like [the flood in Grover], and any other relating to
the management of buildings and utilities because instead of browsing through
the hundreds of blueprints trying to find the right valve they can query a
search in the GIS database and let the software tell them where it is.”
According to Dave Simon, a
Voinovich School professional staff member working with GIS mapping for
Facilities Management, “the tool is extremely powerful and will be important to
Ohio University in understanding and managing their utilities and properties.”
The
Voinovich School has used campus maps to create various GIS maps for planning,
maintenance, grounds, and the police department, however the partnership began
with the creation of a utilities map that recorded the water, sewer, electric,
gas, and storm sewers across campus.The
maps recorded information about networks, valves, and materials for each
utility and could be used to aid in management, upkeep, and leak control of
utilities said Simon.
By
mapping the University’s subterranean, the Voinovich School will bring
facilities management “into the 21st century,” said Riley.
”In the past, geographic
information for facilities were stored on blueprints and engineering drawings.This data took up space and it took time to
look up information.… All that is being replaced so that the same information
can be managed on a single, personal computer.This project will allow facilities managers to better manage the data on
their buildings, and will give them the ability to create dynamic maps of just
about anything on campus,” he said.
In addition to mapping the university’s
underground infrastructure, the Voinovich School aided Facilities Management by
creating a map of the above-ground terrain.The map shows buildings, streets, sidewalks, and fences and contains
information about when structures were built and updated as well as how much
the property is worth.According to
Simon, this information will allow university planners to more easily access all
necessary information to create building plans.
GIS maps are not only useful for
the university.Many maps are
downloadable from the university website for student use.The Voinovich School created an Americans
with Disabilities Act map that marked handicap accessible sidewalks, noting the
easiest routes, which was uploaded onto the Ohio University website for use by
students and visitors.
The Voinovich School is now working
to create a topographic flood map to highlight areas that would be affected
first by flooding and high water.According to Simon, this will allow Facilities Management to form the
best emergency procedures and identify routes that will be blocked.
Together the maps give Ohio
University a snapshot of all of their properties, buildings, and utilities, and
allow them to access infinite amounts of data more quickly than before, Simon
said.
The maps ensure facilities management
professionals have easy access to all necessary information, allowing them to
more easily and more thoroughly meet the needs of Ohio University students.
“The [GIS] mapping will… [keep] facility
maintenance costs down for the university and hopefully translate that into a
lower tuition cost. It will also help students, especially special needs
students, navigate around campus in a safe manner,” Simon said.