2025 CONFERENCE PROGRAM

CENTRAL VALLEY FACILITIES CONFERENCE

Time Name Speakers Description
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
8:50 AM - 9:50 AMSession 01: Luminaire Alterations in Commercial Buildings – Guidelines for Successful Projects

Alterations codes for non-residential buildings are frequently misunderstood, which often leads to a significant number of designs being incorrectly drawn. This session will focus in particular on the topic of luminaire alterations, including a review of lighting wiring alterations and specific triggers and requirements. The speaker will discuss three distinct calculation methods to determine the requirements for various projects, and provide a detailed examination of luminaire component modifications, including the conditions that necessitate these changes.

8:50 AM - 9:50 AMSession 02: How to Achieve a Culture of Safety at Your Facility

Safety slogans aren’t enough. There needs to be a culture of safety in every facility – which may involve implementing changes in employee mindset and behavior. In this session, you’ll learn the first step: how to hone your communications skills so you can be sure you’re effectively delivering the safety message that will make workers want to improve.

10:00 AM - 11:00 AMSession 03: Hybrid Heat Pump Solutions for Commercial Facilities

Hybrid heat pump solutions are becoming more common in commercial buildings, where the owners prefer using heat pumps to reduce their carbon footprint, but where the facility could also benefit by including backup gas-fired or electric boilers. Electric heat pumps consume no fossil fuels and emit no greenhouse gases directly, but they also have some performance limitations at extreme conditions.  This hybrid solution of including backup boilers with heat pumps for a temporary source of hot water during extreme conditions, provides the resiliency needed to keep the building operational during all conditions, with only a small impact to its carbon emissions.  Learn about the details of hybrid heat pump solutions, which are a realistic way to move toward climate goals without sacrificing performance in your commercial facility.

10:00 AM - 11:00 AMSession 04: NFPA 70E: What You Need to Know About the Electrical Safety Standard

NFPA 70E, Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace® is the topic of this presentation, which will focus on safety related work practices, safety related maintenance requirements and safety requirements for special equipment.  Also learn about additional resources for electrical safety in the workplace. This session will advance on-the-job safety for you, your staff members, and contracted people.

11:10 AM - 12:10 PMSession 05: Behind the Scenes of a Net Zero Office Project – the May Lee State Office Complex in Sacramento

This presentation will showcase a very impressive net zero office project – the 1.25 million sq ft May Lee State Office Complex – a Department of General Services project that opened April 2024 with four office towers, located on 17 acres in Sacramento. It is the largest all-electric net zero energy and net zero carbon operational facility in the nation. Hear the details of this sustainably innovative project from the design-build contractor and architect team, with a focus on the design and performance goals and how they have been achieved.

11:10 AM - 12:10 PMSession 06: Most Common Mistakes Made by Companies in the OSHA Recordkeeping Standard

For the purposes of the OSHA 300 recordkeeping forms, determining whether an injury or illness is work-related or not can be challenging, especially because specific criteria must be applied to real-world situations. OSHA's regulations aim to ensure that employers properly record incidents that are directly related to work, but the guidelines leave room for interpretation, leading to both over-reporting and under-reporting. This session will discuss the most common mistakes made by companies in the OSHA recordkeeping standard.

1:00 PM - 2:00 PMSession 07: EV Charging at Your Site – What You Need to Know For Most Effective Implementation

This session will be for anyone looking to implement EV charging for their property or facility. Or maybe there’s already infrastructure in place, but there’s a need to add more charging stations – but you aren’t sure where to start or what questions you need to be asking. The speaker will reveal five factors to help maximize EV charging infrastructure – ensuring the EV charging implementation can scale without costly electrical upgrades and that it goes live without a hitch.

1:00 PM - 2:00 PMSession 08: Conflict Management in the Workplace

This session will describe the challenge of dealing with conflict in a business setting. Learn about the underlying sources of conflict and effects on communication. Conflict management approaches, including negotiation, mediation, and arbitration will be discussed, as well as the human behaviors associated with conflict and resolution.

2:10 PM - 3:40 PMSession A: Film -- Earthquake-Resilient Hospitals for the FutureFacilities managers who work in companies located on the West Coast are always cognizant of earthquake risks and want to ensure they are prepared. And of all facility types, possibly hospitals are those where emergency preparedness is the most vital. This extremely interesting film, produced by University of California Television, shows a first-of-its-kind structural test conducted at UC San Diego as a five-story mockup of a hospital, including a surgical suite, is subjected to dramatic earthquakes and fire testing in order to better understand how the many complex systems within hospital buildings perform after earthquakes. Teaming up with the California Seismic Safety Commission, this UCSD-TV documentary explores the history of seismic safety for California's hospital infrastructure, and what is being done to secure its future. This film will be of value to facilities engineers who work in all types of West Coast facilities – not just hospitals – since the “lessons learned” from this important testing project will give ideas of what they need to examine regarding their own emergency preparedness.
Thursday, March 20, 2025
8:50 AM - 9:50 AMSession 09: The Top Causes of Motor Failures and How to Avoid Them

Discover the secrets to keeping your electric motors running at peak performance by tackling the most common pitfalls head-on. The top causes of motor failures discussed in this session will include power misapplication, overheating, contamination, vibration, bearing failure, lubrication problems, and misalignment. Learn about practical, proven strategies that prevent costly breakdowns, increase efficiency, and ensure reliability in even the most demanding environments, to protect your investment.

8:50 AM - 9:50 AMSession 10: Disasters Happen Every Day – Not All Are On the News

This presentation will discuss Do’s and Don’ts for facility professionals who are faced with a building emergency. Learn the important considerations when encountering an unexpected building problem that can negatively affect business continuity. Key takeaways will include tips to mitigate water, fire, and smoke damage. Also discussed will be guidelines for developing/updating an emergency preparedness plan.

10:00 AM - 11:00 AMSession 11: Innovative Ideas for Improving the Attractiveness of Your Facility’s Exterior

This session will provide an overview of some of the creative things facilities managers can do to upgrade their buildings, grounds, and parking, with a goal of making their sites more attractive and appealing to both employees and customers. The ideas, from the City of Modesto’s Master Plan, discuss improvements regarding building facades, building frontages, pedestrian areas, and streets and public spaces, with before and after illustrations of improvements. Gain ideas you can apply at your site.

10:00 AM - 11:00 AMSession 12: Testing and Service Requirements for Standby Power Systems

Standby power system testing, although often misunderstood and misapplied, is critical to the reliability of a modern power system. This session will walk attendees through the final part of the four major stages of testing that takes place for a generator set: maintenance testing. This review of best practices will empower facility owners and managers to administer appropriate test strategies in an effort to maintain a reliable power system.

11:10 AM - 12:10 PMSession 13: Sustainability Accomplishments at Stockton Unified School District

The speaker will explore innovative energy solutions shaping the future of his school district, from solar panels and EV chargers to electric buses and ground equipment. These advancements not only reduce emissions but also cut costs, paving the way for a cleaner, more efficient tomorrow for the facilities.

11:10 AM - 12:10 PMSession 14: NFPA 70B – What is Required for Infrared Inspections of Your Equipment Under the Updated Standard

As of 2023, the National Fire Protection Association’s update to its NFPA 70B standard changed maintenance inspections of electrical equipment from recommended on an annual basis to mandated on an annual basis, for equipment including outdoor substations, switchgear assemblies, stationary batteries, motor control equipment, busway, and UPS systems. And in some cases inspections must be done as frequently as every 6 months. This session will focus on infrared (thermographic) inspections, describing proper infrared inspections, and who is qualified to do the inspections. Learn what you need to know to be in compliance with the standard, which is also required by commercial insurance companies for policy renewals.

1:00 PM - 2:00 PMSession 15: Floatovoltaics – the Technology and Applications of Floating Solar Panels for Electricity Production

Learn about floating photovoltaic systems – also known as floatovoltaics – which are solar panels installed on bodies of water, such as ponds and water treatment facilities, affixed to buoyant floats that use solar radiation to produce electricity. This presentation will provide an overview of floating PV systems, including tech review, components, and engineering; what sites make sense for FPV; and benefits to the site owner. Also discussed will be long-term operation and maintenance considerations.

1:00 PM - 2:00 PMSession 16: Fire Systems Testing and Inspection

Testing and inspection of fire systems and fire extinguishers – sprinklers, fire alarms, suppression systems and fire extinguishers – are an important part of maintaining a safe and secure facility. This session will describe an overview of What, When and Why fire and life safety systems testing and inspections are required. Find out what you need to know to ensure safety and protect your budget.

2:10 PM - 3:40 PMSession B: Film – Earthquake-Resilient Hospitals for the FutureFacilities managers who work in companies located on the West Coast are always cognizant of earthquake risks and want to ensure they are prepared. And of all facility types, possibly hospitals are those where emergency preparedness is the most vital. This extremely interesting film, produced by University of California Television, shows a first-of-its-kind structural test conducted at UC San Diego as a five-story mockup of a hospital, including a surgical suite, is subjected to dramatic earthquakes and fire testing in order to better understand how the many complex systems within hospital buildings perform after earthquakes. Teaming up with the California Seismic Safety Commission, this UCSD-TV documentary explores the history of seismic safety for California's hospital infrastructure, and what is being done to secure its future. This film will be of value to facilities engineers who work in all types of West Coast facilities – not just hospitals – since the “lessons learned” from this important testing project will give ideas of what they need to examine regarding their own emergency preparedness.

As of 2012, the Green Building Certification Institute allows individuals with LEED Professional credentials to report any education related to green buildings to the Institute for continuing education. Upon request, Facilities Expo will send a certificate of completion for sessions on green building topics to any LEED Professional who requests one for GBCI documentation purposes, as long as they make the request at the conclusion of the class session, and as long as their badge was scanned.