Maintenance Management Group chosen for facilities management at American University of Beirut

by Brianna Crandall — March 25, 2011—Maintenance Management Group (MMG), one of the Middle East’s leading facilities management providers, has just been awarded the contract for managing the facilities of the American University of Beirut (AUB).

The contract covers three of AUB’s newest and greenest buildings: The Charles W. Hostler Student Center, established in 2008; The Scientific Research Laboratory, completed in 2007; and the Suliman S. Olayan School of Business, inaugurated in 2009.

MMG was chosen due to its proven track record in running similar educational facilities in the region, and its knowhow in operating and maintaining the latest energy efficiency systems through its sister company EEG (Energy Efficiency Group), which specializes in this field.

Under the new contract, the MMG team is working closely with the facilities team of AUB to manage the environmentally friendly systems in place in the facility, in particular the ones used in the CHSC building, including:

• The solar system—for the pre-heating of domestic hot water and the swimming pool. MMG’s role is to clean, maintain and operate the solar system and panels in order to ensure efficiency and to maintain energy conservation;
  
• Green roofs—the roofs are thermally insulated and covered with gravel. MMG’s role is to ensure that they are protected from any damage resulting from, for example, installing equipment on the roof;
  
• Water treatment system—this minimizes waste by reusing water, including the use of the brackish water for irrigation, the use of shower water in the toilets, and the use of the water wasted while cleaning the sand filters of the swimming pool. MMG will operate and maintain this advanced water system by monitoring the chemicals and maintaining the valves, pumps and other equipment;
  
• Double glazed facades—all of the faades are double glazed. MMG will be helping to add even further thermal insulation films on the glass to conserve heating and cooling for a longer period inside the buildings;
  
• Absorption chiller—this feeds the whole project with chilled water for the cooling and other systems, with very low power consumption. MMG will operate and manage the subcontractor of the absorption chiller to keep it in good condition;
  
• Energy and water meters—meters are installed in every section of the building to facilitate the monitoring of the power and water consumption during the year. MMG will monitor and report the readings from these meters, and will take necessary action to ensure that consumption is kept as low as possible.