Compact equipment helps resize a campus carbon footprint
A UNIVERSITY IN NORTHERN BRITISH COLUMBIA COMBINES THE BENEFITS OF A SKID-STEER LOADER AND A PAIR OF UTILITY VEHICLES TO IMPROVE OPERATING EFFICIENCIES SUCH AS SNOW REMOVAL.
Perched on a hilltop that offers cascading views of the Prince George valley and the Rocky Mountains beyond sits the University of Northern British Columbia (UNBC), where one of the newest and smallest colleges in Canada is making one of the biggest sustainability statements in North America.
Versatility in woodchips
Opened in 1994, the spectacular tree-lined landscape draws a picturesque backdrop for Canada’s most environmentally conscious university. It also provides plentiful green waste from the local forest industry to help heat more than one million square feet of buildings on its 4,000-student campus. Hundreds of truckloads of wood chips are delivered annually to UNBC’s award- winning bioenergy plant for conversion to clean-burning fuel, allowing the school to reduce fossil fuel consumption by approximately 85 percent.
Campus facilities supervisor Steve Patton, along with an eight-person crew, a versatile S175 Bobcat®
skid-steer loader, a pair of
2300 utility vehicles (UTVs) and a roster of attachments purchased from Williams
Machinery, are enrolled to clear the way — no matter what season.
One of the S175’s routine assignments is cleaning up the bioenergy chip bay’s overfl ow, which is performed with ease using these Bobcat attachments: bucket, push broom and angle broom.
“The guys love the angle brooms,” Patton says. “If they had to clean by hand, it could take up to 30 minutes depending on the number of truckloads that day. If it’s colder, more chips come in.”
Productivity in snow
attachment mounting system allows Patton and his operators to easily switch between attachments to maximize his investments.
For heavier snowfalls, Patton recruits the maneuverability of his Bobcat utility vehicles equipped with the RapidLink™ attachment
When snow arrives, the angle broom is used to sweep light dustings from miles of uncovered 5-foot-wide sidewalks and numerous smaller parking lots connecting the campus and its two residence halls. The Bob-Tach®
system and 60-inch blade. “We test drove a few different utility vehicles, but all the guys liked the Bobcat 2300 better because it maneuvered the best and was easy to operate.” Patton says.
The Bobcat equipment has sped up the facilities maintenance process signifi cantly — especially compared to the snow removal tools Patton inherited upon arriving in 2004 — shovels and snowblowers. “We had 10 inches of snow recently and we had it all cleared in eight hours. In the past, it would’ve taken a couple of days,” Patton said, pointing out that time effi ciencies on the grounds allows more time toward general maintenance like changing light bulbs, moving furniture or painting.
Labor savings
Contributing to even greater labor savings, the utility vehicles’ spacious cargo boxes are outfi tted with spreaders that haul gravel and ice melt. The hoppers are engineered to spread sand up to 40 feet. “As much as possible, we use the utility vehicles to ease the load on the guys’ backs and shoulders,” Patton remarked, adding that the push broom receives excellent grades in the spring, cleaning off that gravel and sand.
Visit www.MyWorkSaver.com/UTV to fi nd more information about Bobcat utility vehicles, including attachments for models equipped with the RapidLink system.
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WorkSaver | SUMMER 2012
Campus facilities supervisor Steve Patton and crew members keep their Bobcat skid-steer loader, utility vehicles and attachments busy at the university.