Facilities, Construction, and Energy Management
Resume:
Jerry Van Couwenberghe
Macomb, MI 48044
*********@*****.***
SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS
Managed facility operations, construction, space planning, and renovations at multiple buildings in hospitality, education, healthcare, and manufacturing industries. Orchestrated planning, design, and development for large casino/resort. Automated preventive maintenance and repair scheduling to improve equipment performance and reduce costs. Coordinated project planning and all program management.
High levels of expertise in facility, energy, and construction management. Improved operational efficiencies to ensure high levels of user satisfaction. Directed compliance, including safety and security. Reengineered process to reduce cost and to increase revenue.
CERTIFICATIONS
Unlimited Refrigeration Journeyman- City of Detroit
AREAS OF STRENGTH
Formulates action plans to improve efficiency. Manages cross functional teams to reach goals. Strong work ethic, excellent verbal and written communication skills. Upgrades obsolete systems. Develops and manages contract requirements. Skilled at union relations. Friendly, genuine and sincere. Remains calm under pressure.
SALARY
Negotiable
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Project/Engineering Manager – Greektown Casino-Hotel
3/2009 –1/2014
Administer and manage annual capital projects budgeted at 6 to 20 million dollars. Manage supervisors and staff of 30 engineers. Responsible for overseeing and implementing preventative and corrective maintenance programs for a 400,000 sq. ft. casino and a 400,000sq. ft./ 400 room hotel.
Interviewed and selected architects and engineers. Negotiated and implemented AIA contracts. Overseen and reviewed procurement of schematic, design, and construction documents. Overseen bidding process assuring budgets were met. Monitored schedules and assured timelines were met. Attended all project meetings. Assisted in value engineering. Responded to RFI’s. Reviewed and approved pay applications and change orders. Validated that all punch list items were complete and assured that all warranty and close out documents were provided.
Responsible for the mechanical plant and environmental systems of a Hotel/ Casino. Including 30 – 75,000 CFM air-handlers each with 75 tons of direct expansion cooling and natural gas heating. 12-60 ton air-cooled rooftop chillers. 4-Cleaver Brooks condensing hot water boilers. 3- generators. 4- domestic hot water systems. Micro Main and Hotsos computerized maintenance management systems. Trillium-Niagra energy management system. Simplex and Gamewell fire alarm systems.
Managed and maintained 4 parking structures totaling over 500,000sq. ft.
Developed scope of work and RFP’s for all vendor contracts and construction work. Negotiated all contracts.
Developed and implemented Departmental Standard Operating Procedures.
Developed job descriptions and overseen the interview and hiring process.
Responsible for all Life Safety code requirements for Fire Marshal, and local Fire Department.
Provided in-house training in areas of mechanical/electrical skills and safety.
Senior Project Manager – Defeo Enterprises
4/2007– 9/2008
Responsibilities:
Recruited as lead owner’s representative responsible for implementing the design and development of a large destination resort. Worked with site planning, architects, designers, and engineers throughout planning stages for casino, hotel, water park, and sports coliseum.
Facility Director – Mt. Clemens Community Schools
10/1994 - 6/2007
Mt. Clemens Community Schools, 1994 to 2007. Managed $2M maintenance budget and staff of 30 for school district operations. Designed/implemented preventive maintenance program to improve equipment life and avoid unplanned maintenance. Managed key construction projects as part of modernization project.
Responsible for mechanical equipment/environmental systems for a 10 building school district with over 1 million square feet. Includes 2- 500 ton water cooled centrifugal chillers. 5- 120 ton air cooled chillers. 14- non condensing Bryan Boilers. Several VAV and constant volume air handling systems. American Auto Matrix building energy management system. All buildings with Gamewell fire alarm systems.
Led opposition to power rate increase, resulting in substantial savings to school districts. Testified in hearings before state Attorney General successfully opposing natural gas price increase led by the gas utility. Formed consortium of 15 school districts, proposed bulk purchasing which allowed for discounts ranging from 20 to 40 cents/mcf. Savings to districts ranged from $50 to 100K based upon usage.
Saved over 50K annually in outside contractor cost through in- house training. Instituted a training program for the maintenance staff teaching diagnostics, service, repair, and troubleshooting. Kept preventative and corrective repairs in-house, saving substantial annual contractor fees.
Saved $90k annually in natural gas costs. Heat plant for 380,000 sq. ft. secondary school complex was old, costly to maintain, and extremely inefficient. Working through existing construction budget, replaced steam generated heating system with state of the art closed loop hot water system. Realized substantial saving through dramatically reduced maintenance cost as well.
Director of Plant Operations – Mt. Clemens General Hospital
5/1990 – 10/1994
Mt. Clemens General Hospital, 1990 to 1994. Initiated and directed programs to maintain buildings, grounds, and equipment for 320,000 sq. ft. hospital complex. Held full responsibility for all new construction and renovation projects, assuring all work done on time and below cost. Supervised staff of 25, department budget of $5.5M, and capital expenditures budget of $2M.
Responsible for maintaining boiler plant which include centrifugal chillers and gas fired steam boilers. Implemented and overseen the operation of servicemaster’s computerizes maintenance management system and Johnson Controls Metasys energy management system.
Initiated a construction program to retrofit systems for energy efficiency. Installed computerized energy management system, replaced aging equipment, and installed ice storage/building cooling systems. Saved $0.08/kwh, or over $60K annually from air conditioning changes alone. Received $104K in rebates through Detroit Edison energy conservation program.
Unlimited Refrigeration Journeyman – Parke- Davis Pharmaceutical
5/1982 - 5/1990
Hands-on tradesman working on all types of HVAC equipment servicing a muti- building pharmaceutical manufacturing facility. Daily involvement in the equipment/line repair of manufacturing processes of pharmaceutical product.
Foreman – Alpha Electric Refrigeration Company
10/1978 - 5/1982
Foremen in charge manufacturing low temperature environmental refrigeration equipment. Including the field installation of the manufactured equipment in industrial manufacturing facilities all across the country.
EDUCATION
Associates Degree- Climate Control technology from Macomb Community College.
Bachelor Degree-senior status in Business Administration at Central Michigan University.
Member of American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air Conditioning Engineers and the American Society of Hospital Engineers. Past President and member of the Michigan Society of Business Officials.
REFERENCES
Available upon request
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