Join us at NexusCon 2024 - Apply to attend now
.png)
"I would say the top two things I do as a facility manager are stop problems before they happen and mitigate the impact of problems as they're happening."
— Mary Gloven
Welcome to Nexus, a newsletter and podcast for smart people applying smart building technology—hosted by James Dice. If you’re new to Nexus, you might want to start here.
The Nexus podcast (Apple | Spotify | YouTube | Other apps) is our chance to explore and learn with the brightest in our industry—together. The project is directly funded by listeners like you who have joined the Nexus Pro membership community.
You can join Nexus Pro to get a weekly-ish deep dive, access to the Nexus Vendor Landscape, and invites to exclusive events with a community of smart buildings nerds.
Episode 146 is a conversation with Mary Gloven from the Alliance Center in Denver, CO.
Episode 146 is the first episode of a new series called In The Field. In The Field will feature people working out in the built environment giving real-life perspective on their day-to-day, and how smart building technologies fit, or don't fit in. This is one of our most creative concepts on the podcast to-date, featuring a self-narrative and then live interview. Episode 146 features facility manager Mary Gloven. We met Mary at the Alliance Center in Denver, CO and were immediately drawn to her unique background and magnetic position on the bigger picture of the built environment. And most importantly, those who work within. She inspired this entire episode format and we’re excited to hear what you all think!
Note: transcript was created using an imperfect machine learning tool and lightly edited by a human (so you can get the gist). Please forgive errors!
[00:00:00] Mary Gloven: I would say the top two things I do as a facility manager are stop problems before they happen and mitigate the impact of problems as they're happening.
[00:00:16] James Dice: Hey friends. Did you know the best way to continue learning beyond the Nexus podcast is to sign up for our newsletter? The Nexus Newsletter is your one-stop shop for staying up to date on the latest smart building trends. Sign up today free of charge, and we'll drop this industry leading resource right into your inbox every Wednesday.
[00:00:31] If you're already signed up, double high five and thank you. But now tell your coworkers and your friends once you're signed up. The best way to continue the learning is to join the Nexus Pro membership community, or. Our online course offering, headlined by our flagship course, nexus Foundations. Diving into these products allows you to connect with our global community of like-minded changemakers licks are below in the show notes and now onto the pod.[00:01:00]
[00:01:01] Mary Gloven: My name is Mary Glove. I am the facility manager at the Alliance Center, a co-working space and event space that is also a nonprofit headquarters. And this is chapter one of In the Field.
[00:01:21] So let's. Dive in. How did I end up in this role as a facility manager? It all started when I took a carpentry class for home owners at a community center in Oregon, and I was instantly hooked on building and learning about how buildings work. And I ended up attending a trade program at a community college in Portland where I gained all of the skills to build a house, all of the hands on skills.
[00:01:49] So, Pouring concrete foundations to framing, to roofing, to designing permit sets. I did it all. And from that minute when I [00:02:00] stepped foot into the field, I instantly was drawn to the connection between. Energy, efficiency, comfort, and I picked up a book by Rocky Mountain Institute and went off the deep end.
[00:02:13] From there, I became a certified PV solar installer, as well as designer did Earth Advantages, sustainable homes, professional training. I. Attended leadership in the trades seminars and also earned my green associate with u s gbc. And then I came out to Colorado. Initially I was doing work as a general contractor on residential building projects.
[00:02:39] I was a deconstructionist and just, General laborer in the field. When I saw this position as a facility manager, I was thinking there wasn't a chance in hell that I would be qualified for it, but I loved the mission of the Alliance Center. The work of operating the building was not separate from the larger mission to create [00:03:00] systemic change in the facility.
[00:03:01] Manager position really was crafted as someone who holds the keys to the kingdom for making change in the built environment. I really did not know what I was in for when I started the role. Initially, when I pictured a facility manager, I thought of a guy in a dark room, no windows, clicking on Excel spreadsheets, moving numbers around, that kind of thing, which was kind of funny cuz it's not totally far off.
[00:03:31] You know, I do use my computer every single day and I have a. Massive spreadsheet that holds all of the information about the building, but it's a lot more than that. I make an impact on people every day through the choices I make with the building, whether it's just keeping the building afloat with the things that I'm working on right now as far as our waste hauler has pulled out.
[00:03:59] [00:04:00] Unexpectedly. Janitorial vendor has changed. Fire line. Broke washer, flooded all five floors of the building to doing things like. Mitigating air quality issues, working directly with the cafe that we have that's open to the public to find ways for more people to collaborate. There's a ton that I do and there's a ton that's on my plate that's a lot more than that initial picture I had of the windowless.
[00:04:29] Room and guy just clicking on a computer. But my background in construction has been extremely beneficial because I spent so much time understanding how to build from the ground up. I have that hands-on knowledge and big picture knowledge that is applicable to a commercial building. What I hope to do with this role is change the way people view and use the built environment.
[00:04:56] Day-to-day though most of my time is [00:05:00] spent overseeing the operations and inferring patterns from the numerous dashboards I use on a daily basis. I would say the top two things I do as a facility manager are stop problems before they happen and mitigate the impact of problems as they're happening. The biggest challenge I see.
[00:05:23] And digitizing and decarbonizing buildings is training the operators, the average Joes, like myself, the people who are new to the industry, to use those new technologies and for them not to become obsolete so quickly. And I think having different kinds of people. In this industry produces different kinds of innovation and thought.
[00:05:48] If you have the same person doing the same thing over and over again, there's a lot of resistance to change. A lot can be gained by having a more diverse [00:06:00] population in the building industry, especially facility management. I mean, I had no idea. How new a sustainable facility manager is. That's a completely new role.
[00:06:14] Um, and that's a role that I myself, am pioneering and I hope by doing what I do, I can make the industry a more welcoming place for women and anyone who's just a non-traditional individual entering. The construction world, the facility management world. I didn't know this was an option, and I'm excited to be here.
[00:06:38] I'm excited to pave this new path for myself and for others and to continue this journey.
[00:06:46] James Dice: All right, Mary, it's so great to have you here live. I, I love hearing your background and getting to know you.
[00:06:53] Mary Gloven: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me.
[00:06:55] James Dice: This is chapter one of a new series we're calling in the field.[00:07:00]
[00:07:00] I'm James. Hey Rosie.
[00:07:01] Rosy Khalife: Hi everyone. I'm super excited to talk to you. I, before meeting you haven't met a lot of woman facility managers. I. So you are very cool in my book and I'm excited to learn more. So maybe the first question that I'd love to ask is just how did you get into this role?
[00:07:20] Mary Gloven: I took a risk and I applied for a position I did not think I was qualified for.
[00:07:25] With my background in the trades, I. I couldn't not apply though because I loved the mission of the Alliance Center. It was anything but siloed. So I landed the job, obviously, and I've been here for almost a year now, and I kind of was just thrown into it.
[00:07:48] James Dice: I love it. I know you're a listener of the podcast, right?
[00:07:51] Yes. You've been listening for a while. Thank you for. Listening and participating and joining the Nexus Pro community. It's so great to have you in [00:08:00] it. Um, I'm wondering if you could talk about how you are different than the average guest on this podcast. How you see yourself differently than the average guest on this podcast and maybe the rest of the people in the community.
[00:08:13] You called yourself an average Joe, and I would disagree with that, but I, I would love to hear kind of how you see. Your role in, in all of this, and especially in the Nexus community,
[00:08:26] Mary Gloven: I highly admire the guests that you have. I, there's a lot about facility management that I'm still learning about, and I.
[00:08:34] The reason I listen to your podcast is because I learn so much about things that I encounter on a daily basis. Solutions to them, ideas, innovation, by saying, I'm the average Joe. I am that person that is new to all of these technologies. And hearing about them, hearing about water leak detection devices, you know, that could have changed my life last week.[00:09:00]
[00:09:01] Um, but. I am someone that's honing all of those skills.
[00:09:08] James Dice: You talked about how at the Alliance Center, nothing is siloed. I'd love if you could talk about how you kind of see things, see there not being any silos in terms of the outcomes that you advocate for or that you want to see advocated for. And maybe this is the, uh, maybe this is like a why you show, why do you show up for work every day?
[00:09:30] Okay. Sort of question.
[00:09:32] Mary Gloven: I show up to work every day because I want to continue to set an example, be a role model, and open up opportunities for others in the world of operating a building. I don't see or interact with very many people like myself in this industry, and I hope that. By simply existing in this role, that it opens up the opportunity for someone else [00:10:00] to know that it's a potential as far as the building industry needing to understand that all of the many issues that we're trying to dissect and become experts at.
[00:10:13] You know, whether it be the technology side or the environmental impact side, they're all interconnected. And equity is definitely a piece of that puzzle. I mean, I don't think you can have one thing without the other. They all impact each other. So a lot of the improvements that we're making so quickly, I think they need to be accessible to everyone.
[00:10:39] Um, I think by making that. Knowledge more public by being more educational about it. We raise the standard for everything in the built environment. It's no longer just code, but we all have a higher standard for what we should expect out of our buildings.
[00:10:58] Rosy Khalife: That's awesome.
[00:10:59] James Dice: That's, that's [00:11:00] brilliant. And, and let's, I think this would be a good time to talk about the technology you have.
[00:11:05] So I've been in your building, I've been a tenant in your building before. It's a really a. Amazing test bed, you know, lower downtown Denver, right next to Union Station. Really busy area, and it's here we have this little beautiful test bed for sustainable technologies. Can you talk about the technology that you have at your fingertips and the different systems installed?
[00:11:29] Mary Gloven: Yeah, so I utilize a bunch of different technologies that I wish were all in one place. Um, I utilize medicines to control the comfort of the building as well as how it corresponds to our utility bills. I use Crestron in a logic scheduler for communicating to each of our conference rooms and offices when it's occupied and when it's not occupied.[00:12:00]
[00:12:00] I also utilize. Kitara sensors, um, which are amazing and are kind of like the fun project I get. I get the one fun project amongst all the others. Um, I use Sunny Portal, which is a. I guess data tracker, you'd say for the pv, solar on the Roof, an Eye on Water app for monitoring the water usage security cameras, internet.
[00:12:30] James Dice: I love this because it's a 40,000 square foot building and it's overwhelming the number of systems that you have to manage, which I think says a lot about the state of our industry. This is not like some. Huge campus, right? Yes. And like you said, it would be ideal if you had some way to like pull these systems together to give you.
[00:12:51] Some sort of more comprehensive strategic view at things. And you even mentioned earlier, you mentioned you don't even have water leak detection [00:13:00] and you'd like that. No. So you'd like one. You'd like one more.
[00:13:03] Mary Gloven: I know, I know. Really, it's like when I get to work, I am opening so many tabs of dashboards and monitoring systems to just see where we're at.
[00:13:14] And then of course I have this like massive Excel spreadsheet that's at least. 50 different sheets. That is my Bible for just everything. The operations schedule broken down into responsible parties, associated vendors, reoccurring permit fees, utility tracking specs for everything on the building, the lighting, plumbing, emergency action planning.
[00:13:40] That is, yeah, that Excel spreadsheet. I would really be a goner if that. That disappeared. Which is, I mean, it just feels kind of ridiculous cuz it's like, I know we can do better and I know there are things out there, um, but I'm also coming from a place where I work for a [00:14:00] nonprofit and our budget is not endless.
[00:14:02] James Dice: And besides silos and all these different tabs in your Excel spreadsheet, can you talk about a little bit about the challenges that come to mind in trying to get where you're trying to go with the building, which is basically. More digital, more decarbonized, more equitable place to live and work. What sort of challenges come to mind for you?
[00:14:22] Mary Gloven: I mean, biggest challenge is. Creating a workflow that actually works while simultaneously dealing with so many emergency issues. Just when I think I can figure out things with our commissioning agent, you know, a fire line breaks and that becomes the center of my attention. But there are all these other things going on systems in the building that also need my attention.
[00:14:48] So, so much is figuring out where to. Prioritize.
[00:14:52] Rosy Khalife: Mary, can you share with us a story, uh, a recent situation, uh, that kind of brings some of these [00:15:00] challenges to light?
[00:15:02] Mary Gloven: All in one month, we had four separate water issues, flooding issues. The first one was our fire line burst within our brick foundation wall, so it was a.
[00:15:19] Pipe that was probably installed in the fifties, made of ductile iron, and it just became corroded and decided to burst. And luckily we were at the building when it happened. We do not have any type of leak detection in place. So, you know, had that happened over the weekend and been 48 hours, 72 hours later, that would've not been great.
[00:15:43] So at the same time, while juggling this project, which is also. A lot of communicating with the city of Denver, with city planners as far as what to do with that valve. We also had another flood on our fifth floor, [00:16:00] a fancy European washer. Don't know who installed it that we use now and again to wash rags that we use in our community kitchen.
[00:16:11] It wasn't closed all the way and just malfunctioned water flooded. All five floors to the basement, including private offices affecting fire alarms because those were stacked underneath the janitorial closets. Um, which is kind of an interesting place as far as design goes. You know, putting that near a water source.
[00:16:33] And so having that and then also having a fifth floor men's restroom flood due to a. Leak that was not mitigated by preventative maintenance. So my life has been a lot of water, a lot of also just running toilets, you know, that can eat up so much water and learning a lot about the different types of leak detection out there.[00:17:00]
[00:17:00] That's something I want to invest in for the building. We spend so much time talking about. You know, what users, how much water they should use. And then you have something like a running toilet for a whole weekend can, you know, be 80,000 gallons of water just down the drain. So yeah, that, those are some of the challenges I've been facing lately.
[00:17:22] Floods in water.
[00:17:26] Rosy Khalife: Wow.
[00:17:26] James Dice: So you, you, you were talking about your roofing, your roofing issue and preventative maintenance, and you strike me as someone that. Knows a ton about all of the systems in the building based on your, from your background, you've literally built these things yourself. And then you're also learning about the technology side.
[00:17:46] And so I was wondering if you think about the vendors that are sort of helping you run this building, you mentioned all those different systems. How do you like to work with vendors given kind of where you're at and what do you like to see from your, your vendors, especially as you [00:18:00] think about the, the ones you're working with on a day-to-day basis?
[00:18:04] Mary Gloven: Honestly, one of my most favorite parts of my job is working with vendors and maintaining those relationships. Um, the biggest challenge is trying to get vendors to see the whole picture of the building. You know, normally when someone comes out for a job, say it's just for roofing, they. They don't understand that there's like, there's no penetrations in our roof because we're a completely sealed envelope.
[00:18:34] They're not gonna quite understand like the PV solar on the roof. They're not going to quite understand what's going on with the rooftop unit, why we need to maintain our single rooftop unit, you know, make sure the flashing is correct around it. It's trying to. Bridge those relationships with people.
[00:18:55] That's the most challenging thing. I can't, you know, make someone see something [00:19:00] holistically, but hope that I can encourage them to
[00:19:04] James Dice: Yeah, really kind of, you need somebody to kind of bridge the silos with you, or at least try to.
[00:19:11] Mary Gloven: Yeah. Majority of vendors are responsive to that and they're, they're interested in learning more, but every now and then there is.
[00:19:20] Someone who, you know, doesn't wanna talk about anything that's going on in the building other than the job they came there for, not interested in chatting with me, don't quite understand, you know, am I the facility manager? Am I the wife of the facility manager? Who am I? Um, and occasionally that happens and unfortunately it's, you know, that's like one out of a hundred experiences.
[00:19:44] It really sticks with you and it really just sours it. Um, And it makes that gap so apparent.
[00:19:51] Rosy Khalife: I'm curious to hear from you. You know, you hit on it now. Being a woman in facility management is kind of unique, obviously, and we're [00:20:00] hoping that the work that you're doing continues to change that. And more young girls and older girls and everyone and between, you know, really knows that this is an opportunity and a role that they can take on.
[00:20:13] So, Can you share with us what it is like for you being a woman in facility management?
[00:20:18] Mary Gloven: Being a woman in the facility management industry is interesting. Every day is very interesting. I more often than I should get questioned about my knowledge about, not really my background, but I guess just how I know things.
[00:20:40] Um, Definitely after many conversations with vendors, I will get someone that says, wow, how do you know all this stuff? And I definitely don't think they would ask that if I was a 40 year old white dude. So navigating that is definitely unique [00:21:00] to who I am being a woman in the industry. But I also get a lot of positive feedback.
[00:21:05] I get a lot of people who are really excited that someone that's young, someone that's a woman is in the industry and are excited to share all of that knowledge with me. I would say there are more people like that than there are of the the negative experience.
[00:21:21] Rosy Khalife: That's great. And what do you think about, you know, the next generation?
[00:21:26] How do we help more women become facility managers? Like what needs to happen from your perspective?
[00:21:33] Mary Gloven: I think increasing education and visibility of this position. I mean, my role in any facility operations manager is pretty vital to the entire existence of a building. Um, the person that coordinates all of these things that require a building to be successful, I think.
[00:21:56] Just showing how interesting that is to younger people, [00:22:00] showing that it even is an option is what needs to happen first. But I am more than happy to be that person, to be that mentor in that space, to showcase that.
[00:22:10] James Dice: So Mary, I wanna thank you for coming on the show. This has been so, so great. It was great to have you be the first person in this new series.
[00:22:18] Um, you've mentioned the word learning. Like 20 times throughout this conversation, I can tell you're a continuous learner. You're one of us in that department. Um, can you talk about kind of what you're learning about right now? Like what's, what's on your learning list?
[00:22:33] Mary Gloven: Well, first, thank you so much for having me.
[00:22:35] It's an absolute honor to be on your podcast. Um, things I've been learning about lately, I am really interested in. The history of building technology, going from the dawn of time to now how we got here. I just finished a book on Choco Canyon down in the Southwest, and learning about complex [00:23:00] societies, complex buildings that incredibly interests me as well as just historic preservation as a strategy for.
[00:23:10] Sustainability. I think it gets a wrap as something that's super aesthetic, but I think there's so many existing buildings and to just throw them away seems not aligned with the environmental mission. I think most of us agree with.
[00:23:27] James Dice: Absolutely. I'm curious about the building technologies from the dawn of time.
[00:23:31] Are there any that stick out to you that people would be surprised by?
[00:23:35] Mary Gloven: Yeah. Um, I mean, thousands of years ago people were stunning stones, you know, to heat them up and then put them in their beds for warmth. So just that aspect of humans always looking for comfort and finding ways to increase their comfortability is fascinating.
[00:23:56] James Dice: I love that.
[00:23:56] Rosy Khalife: So cool.
[00:23:57] James Dice: All right, Mary, thanks so much for coming on the show.
[00:23:59] Mary Gloven: [00:24:00] Thanks for having me.
[00:24:01] Rosy Khalife: Thanks, Mary.
[00:24:07] Okay, friends, as we're trying these new formats, please let us know what you think in your podcast player right now, or on the episode page on our website, there's a link to a survey for this specific episode. We'd love to hear from you and we wanna hear your feedback. Also, don't forget to sign up for the Nexus newsletter.
[00:24:25] Or invite your coworkers and friends with a link below. Catch you next time.
"I would say the top two things I do as a facility manager are stop problems before they happen and mitigate the impact of problems as they're happening."
— Mary Gloven
Welcome to Nexus, a newsletter and podcast for smart people applying smart building technology—hosted by James Dice. If you’re new to Nexus, you might want to start here.
The Nexus podcast (Apple | Spotify | YouTube | Other apps) is our chance to explore and learn with the brightest in our industry—together. The project is directly funded by listeners like you who have joined the Nexus Pro membership community.
You can join Nexus Pro to get a weekly-ish deep dive, access to the Nexus Vendor Landscape, and invites to exclusive events with a community of smart buildings nerds.
Episode 146 is a conversation with Mary Gloven from the Alliance Center in Denver, CO.
Episode 146 is the first episode of a new series called In The Field. In The Field will feature people working out in the built environment giving real-life perspective on their day-to-day, and how smart building technologies fit, or don't fit in. This is one of our most creative concepts on the podcast to-date, featuring a self-narrative and then live interview. Episode 146 features facility manager Mary Gloven. We met Mary at the Alliance Center in Denver, CO and were immediately drawn to her unique background and magnetic position on the bigger picture of the built environment. And most importantly, those who work within. She inspired this entire episode format and we’re excited to hear what you all think!
Note: transcript was created using an imperfect machine learning tool and lightly edited by a human (so you can get the gist). Please forgive errors!
[00:00:00] Mary Gloven: I would say the top two things I do as a facility manager are stop problems before they happen and mitigate the impact of problems as they're happening.
[00:00:16] James Dice: Hey friends. Did you know the best way to continue learning beyond the Nexus podcast is to sign up for our newsletter? The Nexus Newsletter is your one-stop shop for staying up to date on the latest smart building trends. Sign up today free of charge, and we'll drop this industry leading resource right into your inbox every Wednesday.
[00:00:31] If you're already signed up, double high five and thank you. But now tell your coworkers and your friends once you're signed up. The best way to continue the learning is to join the Nexus Pro membership community, or. Our online course offering, headlined by our flagship course, nexus Foundations. Diving into these products allows you to connect with our global community of like-minded changemakers licks are below in the show notes and now onto the pod.[00:01:00]
[00:01:01] Mary Gloven: My name is Mary Glove. I am the facility manager at the Alliance Center, a co-working space and event space that is also a nonprofit headquarters. And this is chapter one of In the Field.
[00:01:21] So let's. Dive in. How did I end up in this role as a facility manager? It all started when I took a carpentry class for home owners at a community center in Oregon, and I was instantly hooked on building and learning about how buildings work. And I ended up attending a trade program at a community college in Portland where I gained all of the skills to build a house, all of the hands on skills.
[00:01:49] So, Pouring concrete foundations to framing, to roofing, to designing permit sets. I did it all. And from that minute when I [00:02:00] stepped foot into the field, I instantly was drawn to the connection between. Energy, efficiency, comfort, and I picked up a book by Rocky Mountain Institute and went off the deep end.
[00:02:13] From there, I became a certified PV solar installer, as well as designer did Earth Advantages, sustainable homes, professional training. I. Attended leadership in the trades seminars and also earned my green associate with u s gbc. And then I came out to Colorado. Initially I was doing work as a general contractor on residential building projects.
[00:02:39] I was a deconstructionist and just, General laborer in the field. When I saw this position as a facility manager, I was thinking there wasn't a chance in hell that I would be qualified for it, but I loved the mission of the Alliance Center. The work of operating the building was not separate from the larger mission to create [00:03:00] systemic change in the facility.
[00:03:01] Manager position really was crafted as someone who holds the keys to the kingdom for making change in the built environment. I really did not know what I was in for when I started the role. Initially, when I pictured a facility manager, I thought of a guy in a dark room, no windows, clicking on Excel spreadsheets, moving numbers around, that kind of thing, which was kind of funny cuz it's not totally far off.
[00:03:31] You know, I do use my computer every single day and I have a. Massive spreadsheet that holds all of the information about the building, but it's a lot more than that. I make an impact on people every day through the choices I make with the building, whether it's just keeping the building afloat with the things that I'm working on right now as far as our waste hauler has pulled out.
[00:03:59] [00:04:00] Unexpectedly. Janitorial vendor has changed. Fire line. Broke washer, flooded all five floors of the building to doing things like. Mitigating air quality issues, working directly with the cafe that we have that's open to the public to find ways for more people to collaborate. There's a ton that I do and there's a ton that's on my plate that's a lot more than that initial picture I had of the windowless.
[00:04:29] Room and guy just clicking on a computer. But my background in construction has been extremely beneficial because I spent so much time understanding how to build from the ground up. I have that hands-on knowledge and big picture knowledge that is applicable to a commercial building. What I hope to do with this role is change the way people view and use the built environment.
[00:04:56] Day-to-day though most of my time is [00:05:00] spent overseeing the operations and inferring patterns from the numerous dashboards I use on a daily basis. I would say the top two things I do as a facility manager are stop problems before they happen and mitigate the impact of problems as they're happening. The biggest challenge I see.
[00:05:23] And digitizing and decarbonizing buildings is training the operators, the average Joes, like myself, the people who are new to the industry, to use those new technologies and for them not to become obsolete so quickly. And I think having different kinds of people. In this industry produces different kinds of innovation and thought.
[00:05:48] If you have the same person doing the same thing over and over again, there's a lot of resistance to change. A lot can be gained by having a more diverse [00:06:00] population in the building industry, especially facility management. I mean, I had no idea. How new a sustainable facility manager is. That's a completely new role.
[00:06:14] Um, and that's a role that I myself, am pioneering and I hope by doing what I do, I can make the industry a more welcoming place for women and anyone who's just a non-traditional individual entering. The construction world, the facility management world. I didn't know this was an option, and I'm excited to be here.
[00:06:38] I'm excited to pave this new path for myself and for others and to continue this journey.
[00:06:46] James Dice: All right, Mary, it's so great to have you here live. I, I love hearing your background and getting to know you.
[00:06:53] Mary Gloven: Yeah, absolutely. Thank you for having me.
[00:06:55] James Dice: This is chapter one of a new series we're calling in the field.[00:07:00]
[00:07:00] I'm James. Hey Rosie.
[00:07:01] Rosy Khalife: Hi everyone. I'm super excited to talk to you. I, before meeting you haven't met a lot of woman facility managers. I. So you are very cool in my book and I'm excited to learn more. So maybe the first question that I'd love to ask is just how did you get into this role?
[00:07:20] Mary Gloven: I took a risk and I applied for a position I did not think I was qualified for.
[00:07:25] With my background in the trades, I. I couldn't not apply though because I loved the mission of the Alliance Center. It was anything but siloed. So I landed the job, obviously, and I've been here for almost a year now, and I kind of was just thrown into it.
[00:07:48] James Dice: I love it. I know you're a listener of the podcast, right?
[00:07:51] Yes. You've been listening for a while. Thank you for. Listening and participating and joining the Nexus Pro community. It's so great to have you in [00:08:00] it. Um, I'm wondering if you could talk about how you are different than the average guest on this podcast. How you see yourself differently than the average guest on this podcast and maybe the rest of the people in the community.
[00:08:13] You called yourself an average Joe, and I would disagree with that, but I, I would love to hear kind of how you see. Your role in, in all of this, and especially in the Nexus community,
[00:08:26] Mary Gloven: I highly admire the guests that you have. I, there's a lot about facility management that I'm still learning about, and I.
[00:08:34] The reason I listen to your podcast is because I learn so much about things that I encounter on a daily basis. Solutions to them, ideas, innovation, by saying, I'm the average Joe. I am that person that is new to all of these technologies. And hearing about them, hearing about water leak detection devices, you know, that could have changed my life last week.[00:09:00]
[00:09:01] Um, but. I am someone that's honing all of those skills.
[00:09:08] James Dice: You talked about how at the Alliance Center, nothing is siloed. I'd love if you could talk about how you kind of see things, see there not being any silos in terms of the outcomes that you advocate for or that you want to see advocated for. And maybe this is the, uh, maybe this is like a why you show, why do you show up for work every day?
[00:09:30] Okay. Sort of question.
[00:09:32] Mary Gloven: I show up to work every day because I want to continue to set an example, be a role model, and open up opportunities for others in the world of operating a building. I don't see or interact with very many people like myself in this industry, and I hope that. By simply existing in this role, that it opens up the opportunity for someone else [00:10:00] to know that it's a potential as far as the building industry needing to understand that all of the many issues that we're trying to dissect and become experts at.
[00:10:13] You know, whether it be the technology side or the environmental impact side, they're all interconnected. And equity is definitely a piece of that puzzle. I mean, I don't think you can have one thing without the other. They all impact each other. So a lot of the improvements that we're making so quickly, I think they need to be accessible to everyone.
[00:10:39] Um, I think by making that. Knowledge more public by being more educational about it. We raise the standard for everything in the built environment. It's no longer just code, but we all have a higher standard for what we should expect out of our buildings.
[00:10:58] Rosy Khalife: That's awesome.
[00:10:59] James Dice: That's, that's [00:11:00] brilliant. And, and let's, I think this would be a good time to talk about the technology you have.
[00:11:05] So I've been in your building, I've been a tenant in your building before. It's a really a. Amazing test bed, you know, lower downtown Denver, right next to Union Station. Really busy area, and it's here we have this little beautiful test bed for sustainable technologies. Can you talk about the technology that you have at your fingertips and the different systems installed?
[00:11:29] Mary Gloven: Yeah, so I utilize a bunch of different technologies that I wish were all in one place. Um, I utilize medicines to control the comfort of the building as well as how it corresponds to our utility bills. I use Crestron in a logic scheduler for communicating to each of our conference rooms and offices when it's occupied and when it's not occupied.[00:12:00]
[00:12:00] I also utilize. Kitara sensors, um, which are amazing and are kind of like the fun project I get. I get the one fun project amongst all the others. Um, I use Sunny Portal, which is a. I guess data tracker, you'd say for the pv, solar on the Roof, an Eye on Water app for monitoring the water usage security cameras, internet.
[00:12:30] James Dice: I love this because it's a 40,000 square foot building and it's overwhelming the number of systems that you have to manage, which I think says a lot about the state of our industry. This is not like some. Huge campus, right? Yes. And like you said, it would be ideal if you had some way to like pull these systems together to give you.
[00:12:51] Some sort of more comprehensive strategic view at things. And you even mentioned earlier, you mentioned you don't even have water leak detection [00:13:00] and you'd like that. No. So you'd like one. You'd like one more.
[00:13:03] Mary Gloven: I know, I know. Really, it's like when I get to work, I am opening so many tabs of dashboards and monitoring systems to just see where we're at.
[00:13:14] And then of course I have this like massive Excel spreadsheet that's at least. 50 different sheets. That is my Bible for just everything. The operations schedule broken down into responsible parties, associated vendors, reoccurring permit fees, utility tracking specs for everything on the building, the lighting, plumbing, emergency action planning.
[00:13:40] That is, yeah, that Excel spreadsheet. I would really be a goner if that. That disappeared. Which is, I mean, it just feels kind of ridiculous cuz it's like, I know we can do better and I know there are things out there, um, but I'm also coming from a place where I work for a [00:14:00] nonprofit and our budget is not endless.
[00:14:02] James Dice: And besides silos and all these different tabs in your Excel spreadsheet, can you talk about a little bit about the challenges that come to mind in trying to get where you're trying to go with the building, which is basically. More digital, more decarbonized, more equitable place to live and work. What sort of challenges come to mind for you?
[00:14:22] Mary Gloven: I mean, biggest challenge is. Creating a workflow that actually works while simultaneously dealing with so many emergency issues. Just when I think I can figure out things with our commissioning agent, you know, a fire line breaks and that becomes the center of my attention. But there are all these other things going on systems in the building that also need my attention.
[00:14:48] So, so much is figuring out where to. Prioritize.
[00:14:52] Rosy Khalife: Mary, can you share with us a story, uh, a recent situation, uh, that kind of brings some of these [00:15:00] challenges to light?
[00:15:02] Mary Gloven: All in one month, we had four separate water issues, flooding issues. The first one was our fire line burst within our brick foundation wall, so it was a.
[00:15:19] Pipe that was probably installed in the fifties, made of ductile iron, and it just became corroded and decided to burst. And luckily we were at the building when it happened. We do not have any type of leak detection in place. So, you know, had that happened over the weekend and been 48 hours, 72 hours later, that would've not been great.
[00:15:43] So at the same time, while juggling this project, which is also. A lot of communicating with the city of Denver, with city planners as far as what to do with that valve. We also had another flood on our fifth floor, [00:16:00] a fancy European washer. Don't know who installed it that we use now and again to wash rags that we use in our community kitchen.
[00:16:11] It wasn't closed all the way and just malfunctioned water flooded. All five floors to the basement, including private offices affecting fire alarms because those were stacked underneath the janitorial closets. Um, which is kind of an interesting place as far as design goes. You know, putting that near a water source.
[00:16:33] And so having that and then also having a fifth floor men's restroom flood due to a. Leak that was not mitigated by preventative maintenance. So my life has been a lot of water, a lot of also just running toilets, you know, that can eat up so much water and learning a lot about the different types of leak detection out there.[00:17:00]
[00:17:00] That's something I want to invest in for the building. We spend so much time talking about. You know, what users, how much water they should use. And then you have something like a running toilet for a whole weekend can, you know, be 80,000 gallons of water just down the drain. So yeah, that, those are some of the challenges I've been facing lately.
[00:17:22] Floods in water.
[00:17:26] Rosy Khalife: Wow.
[00:17:26] James Dice: So you, you, you were talking about your roofing, your roofing issue and preventative maintenance, and you strike me as someone that. Knows a ton about all of the systems in the building based on your, from your background, you've literally built these things yourself. And then you're also learning about the technology side.
[00:17:46] And so I was wondering if you think about the vendors that are sort of helping you run this building, you mentioned all those different systems. How do you like to work with vendors given kind of where you're at and what do you like to see from your, your vendors, especially as you [00:18:00] think about the, the ones you're working with on a day-to-day basis?
[00:18:04] Mary Gloven: Honestly, one of my most favorite parts of my job is working with vendors and maintaining those relationships. Um, the biggest challenge is trying to get vendors to see the whole picture of the building. You know, normally when someone comes out for a job, say it's just for roofing, they. They don't understand that there's like, there's no penetrations in our roof because we're a completely sealed envelope.
[00:18:34] They're not gonna quite understand like the PV solar on the roof. They're not going to quite understand what's going on with the rooftop unit, why we need to maintain our single rooftop unit, you know, make sure the flashing is correct around it. It's trying to. Bridge those relationships with people.
[00:18:55] That's the most challenging thing. I can't, you know, make someone see something [00:19:00] holistically, but hope that I can encourage them to
[00:19:04] James Dice: Yeah, really kind of, you need somebody to kind of bridge the silos with you, or at least try to.
[00:19:11] Mary Gloven: Yeah. Majority of vendors are responsive to that and they're, they're interested in learning more, but every now and then there is.
[00:19:20] Someone who, you know, doesn't wanna talk about anything that's going on in the building other than the job they came there for, not interested in chatting with me, don't quite understand, you know, am I the facility manager? Am I the wife of the facility manager? Who am I? Um, and occasionally that happens and unfortunately it's, you know, that's like one out of a hundred experiences.
[00:19:44] It really sticks with you and it really just sours it. Um, And it makes that gap so apparent.
[00:19:51] Rosy Khalife: I'm curious to hear from you. You know, you hit on it now. Being a woman in facility management is kind of unique, obviously, and we're [00:20:00] hoping that the work that you're doing continues to change that. And more young girls and older girls and everyone and between, you know, really knows that this is an opportunity and a role that they can take on.
[00:20:13] So, Can you share with us what it is like for you being a woman in facility management?
[00:20:18] Mary Gloven: Being a woman in the facility management industry is interesting. Every day is very interesting. I more often than I should get questioned about my knowledge about, not really my background, but I guess just how I know things.
[00:20:40] Um, Definitely after many conversations with vendors, I will get someone that says, wow, how do you know all this stuff? And I definitely don't think they would ask that if I was a 40 year old white dude. So navigating that is definitely unique [00:21:00] to who I am being a woman in the industry. But I also get a lot of positive feedback.
[00:21:05] I get a lot of people who are really excited that someone that's young, someone that's a woman is in the industry and are excited to share all of that knowledge with me. I would say there are more people like that than there are of the the negative experience.
[00:21:21] Rosy Khalife: That's great. And what do you think about, you know, the next generation?
[00:21:26] How do we help more women become facility managers? Like what needs to happen from your perspective?
[00:21:33] Mary Gloven: I think increasing education and visibility of this position. I mean, my role in any facility operations manager is pretty vital to the entire existence of a building. Um, the person that coordinates all of these things that require a building to be successful, I think.
[00:21:56] Just showing how interesting that is to younger people, [00:22:00] showing that it even is an option is what needs to happen first. But I am more than happy to be that person, to be that mentor in that space, to showcase that.
[00:22:10] James Dice: So Mary, I wanna thank you for coming on the show. This has been so, so great. It was great to have you be the first person in this new series.
[00:22:18] Um, you've mentioned the word learning. Like 20 times throughout this conversation, I can tell you're a continuous learner. You're one of us in that department. Um, can you talk about kind of what you're learning about right now? Like what's, what's on your learning list?
[00:22:33] Mary Gloven: Well, first, thank you so much for having me.
[00:22:35] It's an absolute honor to be on your podcast. Um, things I've been learning about lately, I am really interested in. The history of building technology, going from the dawn of time to now how we got here. I just finished a book on Choco Canyon down in the Southwest, and learning about complex [00:23:00] societies, complex buildings that incredibly interests me as well as just historic preservation as a strategy for.
[00:23:10] Sustainability. I think it gets a wrap as something that's super aesthetic, but I think there's so many existing buildings and to just throw them away seems not aligned with the environmental mission. I think most of us agree with.
[00:23:27] James Dice: Absolutely. I'm curious about the building technologies from the dawn of time.
[00:23:31] Are there any that stick out to you that people would be surprised by?
[00:23:35] Mary Gloven: Yeah. Um, I mean, thousands of years ago people were stunning stones, you know, to heat them up and then put them in their beds for warmth. So just that aspect of humans always looking for comfort and finding ways to increase their comfortability is fascinating.
[00:23:56] James Dice: I love that.
[00:23:56] Rosy Khalife: So cool.
[00:23:57] James Dice: All right, Mary, thanks so much for coming on the show.
[00:23:59] Mary Gloven: [00:24:00] Thanks for having me.
[00:24:01] Rosy Khalife: Thanks, Mary.
[00:24:07] Okay, friends, as we're trying these new formats, please let us know what you think in your podcast player right now, or on the episode page on our website, there's a link to a survey for this specific episode. We'd love to hear from you and we wanna hear your feedback. Also, don't forget to sign up for the Nexus newsletter.
[00:24:25] Or invite your coworkers and friends with a link below. Catch you next time.
Head over to Nexus Connect and see what’s new in the community. Don’t forget to check out the latest member-only events.
Go to Nexus ConnectJoin Nexus Pro and get full access including invite-only member gatherings, access to the community chatroom Nexus Connect, networking opportunities, and deep dive essays.
Sign Up
Nexus Labs exists to move the smart buildings industry forward, without the fluff.
On Wednesday, we send out the renowned (and free) Nexus Newsletter.