Defense Communities

The Magazine of MiliTary housing, lodging & lifesTyles

DefensecommunitiesNOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2011 www.phma.com

PDS XXIV Services Sneak Preview page 14

Foreclosure prevention page 30

Fast recovery from a disaster page 32

MaintenanceStrategies

THAT WORKCommunication may be the most important element in your maintenance plan

CONTENTS

2 Defense COmmuniTies

FEATURES

30 Fending Off Foreclosure National lenders commit to helping military homeowners at Georgia’s Fort Gordon avoid foreclosure. By Megan Purkey

32 Miracle Monday at Little Rock Air Force Base After a tornado ripped through Arkansas’ Little Rock Air Force Base, a private housing partner helped to repair housing dam-age and restore normalcy to the community. By Peggy Eason

34 LEED Pioneer How one Fort Jackson, South Carolina, employee built his own LEED-certified home. By LaShandra Gray

38 If You Think Training Is Expensive, Try Ignorance The benefits of providing employees with training and continuing education outweigh the costs. By Vicki Sharp

22 Strong From the Start Successful community maintenance programs can prevent emergencies and save money. By Joe Donitzen

26 Steps in the Right Direction The partnership between Lend Lease and InterfaceFLOR has provided customers with high-quality after-sale service.By Esther Perman

SPECIAL SECTION:

14 PDS XXIV Planning: Services Sneak PeekFrom Jan. 30 to Feb. 3, 2012, San Diego will host military housing professionals from across the services and throughout the world. Check out this special pre-view for PDS XXIV, including updates from the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

SPECIAL SECTION: MAINTENANCE STRATEGIES

nOvembeR | DeCembeR 2011 3

A Publication of the Pro fes sion al Hous ing Man age ment Association

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Defense Communities (ISSN #1088-9000 USPS #004-502) is pub lished bi month ly by Stratton Pub lish ing & Mar ket ing Inc., 5285 Shawnee Road, Suite 510, Alexandria, VA 22312-2334, for the Pro fes sion al Hous ing Man age ment As so ci a tion, 154 Fort Evans Road, NE, Leesburg, VA 20176. PHMA mem bers re ceive this pub li ca tion at the an nu al sub scrip tion rate of $30.

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Editorial/Production Asst.

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Debra J. StrattonBirgitt SeymourLisa JunkerSabrina HicksTeresa TobatJanelle Welch

Defense Communities magazine is designed to keep those who operate and manage the whole spectrum of military housing and facilities maintenance informed on the industry’s latest technology, prod-ucts, and services. It provides a forum for members to share les-sons learned, news and events, and training opportunities and updates.

The Magazine of MiliTary housing, lodging & lifesTyles

DefensecommunitiesDefensecommunitiesNovember/December 2011 u Volume 22, Number 6 u www.phma.com

Please send your articles for Defense Communities to

Birgitt Seymour at [email protected].

NEXT EDITORIAL DEADLINES:March/April: February 13

May/June: March 20

DEPARTMENTS

4 President’s Message PHMA President Del Eulberg reflects on doing good.

6 Association News PHMA announces its Board of Directors candidates; PHMA’s annual golf tournament raises funds for lodging; and PHMA names its 2011 Writing Excellence Award finalists.

53 Military Marketplace Check out this go-to resource to find companies that pro-vide products and services to the military housing and lodging industry.

55 Advertising Index

56 PHMA Corporate Sustaining Members

42 Better Barracks Through Teamwork Solid teamwork was pivotal in implementing a well-managed First Sergeants Barracks Program at U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt in Germany. By Cheryl Richardson

44 Defense Communities’ 2011-2012 Buyer’s Guide Here is your annual go-to resource for product and service providers serving military housing and lodg-ing. Check out the digital edition at PHMA.com!

ABOUT THE COVER Pictured on the cover, Robin Hamm, Facility Manager for Balfour Beatty Communities at Fort Worth, assists a family housing resident. For more on maintenance strategies, see page 22 of Defense Communities.

22 Defense Communities

In the blink of an eye, a drip can become a leak and a leak a flood. Suddenly, that bothersome fau-cet that won’t shut off has ruined

your entire kitchen and forced you out of your home while costly repairs are underway.

These everyday maintenance issues—both routine repairs and emergencies—are what keep mainte-nance staff at military housing busy 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So what advice do these fix-it masters have for the rest of us? A little bit of knowledge and simple preventative steps go a long way.

Educating residents at our military communities is perhaps the most effec-tive way to make maintenance and facilities upkeep run smoothly and prevent small issues from becoming big problems. In turn, residents’ expe-rience with the maintenance staff often plays a major role in their perception of a community and its overall man-agement. The facilities team interacts with the residents every day, leaving a lasting impression, so establishing

a good relationship from day one is important to the entire community.

A successful community mainte-nance program starts at the very begin-ning, when the residents first walk in the door, sign a lease, and become official members of the community. At Balfour Beatty Communities across the country, residents are given a warm welcome, which includes pro-viding resident guidelines, mainte-nance contacts and procedures, and tips for taking care of their homes.

Many common household problems are easily preventable when you explain to your residents how to maintain and fix the small things in their home before they become big problems. Area Facility Managers responsible for overseeing maintenance across Balfour Beatty’s largest regions point to several important pieces of the puzzle when it comes to effectively managing facilities at military housing communities. Their advice: Familiarize residents with the various systems and amenities in the home, as well as the unique conditions of the region, and focus on preventative

maintenance. These steps will greatly reduce the number of future mainte-nance calls, improve the resident-man-agement relationship, and make the community a better place to live.

Learning the ropesMoving into a new home can be daunting as residents adjust to new amenities and systems that they may never have encountered before.

Taking the time to show residents around the house when they move in gives the manager a chance to point out its mechanics and nuances. Indicating where the electrical box is located could remind a resident to check for a tripped circuit breaker before contacting the property man-ager when the oven doesn’t turn on. Explaining what items can and can-not go in the garbage disposal can go a long way in keeping the appliance in working condition. Ensuring that a resident knows where the water shut-off valve is located can head off a flooded kitchen or bathroom floor if a faucet or toilet begins to leak.

Minimizing community maintenance emergencies through prevention and education

By Joe Donitzen


STRONG From the Start

november | DeCember 2011 23

“Of course, we never want our residents to hesitate when it comes to calling the facilities crew or submit-ting a work order.―No problem is too silly or too small, and we encourage them to come to us whenever they have a question,” said Michael Riley, Area Facility Manager, Navy Northeast Region. “On the other hand, we also want to arm residents with the knowl-edge and tools to be able to solve small problems and help us keep their homes in the best possible condition.”

Reinforcing messages through arti-cles in flyers and newsletters can also give residents some needed guidance and helpful reminders.

Educating residents about the small fixes they can make to take care of a situation themselves versus when to call in the reinforcements makes a big differ-ence in keeping a large military family housing community running smoothly. Working together and making sure resi-dents are informed from day one helps keep everyone comfortable and ensures that true emergencies get the top priority.

Using your resourcesMaintenance crews at privatized mili-tary housing communities have an invaluable tool at their disposal in the form of resident specialists and the community management staff.

The community staff members are an “awesome first line of information for residents when they call in a work order,” said Brian Morris, Area Facility Manager, Navy Gulf Coast Region. “If you provide training and education regarding basic maintenance issues, they can ask the right questions of the residents and see if they can walk the resident through an easy solution.”

Community managers also have a library of information at their finger-tips. They provide residents and future residents with an array of newsletters, tip sheets, and resident guides (which are also available online) that cover all community policies. Quarterly news-letters developed by the community management staff at every base include maintenance tips or a “facilities cor-ner,” which is often tailored to give helpful hints about the season or about recent problems. Working closely with

all arms of the community manage-ment team is essential to a successful maintenance and facilities operation.

Information isn’t the only resource to share with residents, however. Having physical tools available is also a big help when it comes to maintain-ing homes and property. The facilities crew at many installations maintains and loans out a variety of differ-ent items for residents to use, such as lawnmowers, weed whackers, gar-den tools, grass seed, sprinklers, and hoses. Residents go through a short safety training program when borrow-ing power tools. With frequent moves around the country, it’s difficult for service members to cart around every-thing they may need to maintain their home. Making extra tools available lets them do things around the house that make it feel more like home.

Most installations also have a light bulb exchange program that allows residents to receive free fluores-cent bulbs when they return burnt-out ones, as well as an HVAC filter exchange program, both one-for-one exchanges.

Braving the elements Military communities are unique in

A warm welcome lets residents know that a professional, caring, and supportive staff is there to help them with maintenance concerns.

that they bring together neighbors from all parts of the country who are accustomed to experiencing all sorts of climates and natural disasters. Tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms, sandstorms, flooding, earthquakes—the list goes on. What is normal for a resident who grew up in Vermont may be completely foreign to some-one who was born and raised in Texas, Montana, or California.

Climate and natural disasters have a great impact on the ongoing maintenance and upkeep of a home. For that reason, community man-agement teams need to make sure their residents are given a thorough introduction on what to expect from the climate and terrain of their new community.

In hot, damp, tropical climates, for example, pests are driving the welcome wagon. People who have lived in colder climates where sea-sons change may never have had a pest-control issue before. Letting residents know up front that they’re likely going to see a whole variety of creepy-crawly critters helps prepare them for how to handle pests, not live in fear of them.

Morris speaks from experience.


their new community. Educating residents prepares them to expect the unexpected and empowers them to make small fixes and maintain their homes for their comfort.

A warm welcome and access to information will let residents know a professional, caring, and support-ive staff is there to help them with maintenance concerns. Day in, day out, it is the facilities staff that works in the homes and interacts with residents. These staff members are key to creating the goodwill of the community.

Developing good working and professional relationships with your residents will play an influential role in their overall living experi-ence and make your community a great place that they will be proud to call home. n

Joe Donitzen is the Area Facility Manager, Army Mid-Atlantic Region. Reach him at [email protected].

“From Charleston to Key West, we have a lot of reports about bugs—not just any bugs, things like palmetto bugs,” he said. “If you’ve never seen one it can be scary, which is why it is so important to educate our residents about what to expect. There’s no snow here, but you will see pests, even if you have the cleanest house in the world.”

Tips provided to residents include simple steps such as how to ant-proof your pet food bowls or reminders to clean up after every spill, because that splash of apple juice from your tod-dler will lure those pests out of the woodwork.

Of course, Mother Nature can also deliver maintenance headaches in the form of natural disasters. While the safety of residents is always the number one priority, preparation and educa-tion are essential to limiting structural damage to homes and property.

When Hurricane Irene was set to travel up the East Coast in August

2011, Balfour Beatty Communities found itself with 15 installations in Irene’s path. With a standard Emergency Response Plan in place, the community management and facilities teams immediately mobilized to pre-pare for the storm. Communication with residents was essential. Balfour Beatty educated residents on what to do and how to stay safe both dur-ing and after the hurricane, spreading the word through email messages, voice broadcasts, Facebook and web-site postings, and door-to-door flyers. The preparation and education greatly minimized damage.

Welcoming residents homeA great deal of stress comes with a move and a military transfer. The maintenance and facilities team at privatized military housing installa-tions can help ease that transition by providing resources, information, and tips that will helps residents feel more at home when they arrive in


Natalie Hansen knowingly broke rank from conven-tionality. But it was a move that has brought signifi-

cant savings to hundreds of military families and reduced the overall opera-tional costs of her employer, Lend Lease, a property solutions provider responsible for about 40,000 U.S. mili-tary homes.

This enviable bottom-line effective-ness is the result of what’s now afoot in flooring for Lend Lease properties, plus Hansen’s decision to eschew conven-tional wall-to-wall carpet for modular carpet tile.

As Director of Strategic Procurement and Supply Chain Management at Lend Lease, Hansen partnered with InterfaceFLOR, LLC. She projected there would be payoffs for working together,

and those payoffs have, indeed, been realized.

Positive impacts“One of our top goals in switching to modular carpet tile was to help alle-viate the financial burden incurred by young military families when they moved from home to home, bear-ing responsibility for the replacement of damaged carpeting. With flooring a part of the home particularly vul-nerable to damage, these costs could average from $1,200 upward,” said Hansen.

“But, with carpet tiles, if there’s a stain that cannot be removed, it’s far less costly—about $9—to replace a single tile, and it doesn’t require a professional installer,” she said. “In fact, in many instances, the resident

can clean and replace the tile with no help needed. So we’ve already seen the positive impact carpet tiles have had in this situation.”

The second key benefit Hansen was seeking was to help Lend Lease lower its own costs. She admits there’s a higher initial capital cost of about $250 to $400 more per home with car-pet tiles, but the long-run savings are impressive—especially when it comes to speeding up the turnaround of a home as one resident leaves and anoth-er moves in.

There’s now less maintenance down-time between occupants,” she said, “because there’s less need to take time out to remove carpet or reinstall. We’ve saved about a day and a half by switch-ing to carpet tile, again because there’s no need to pull out the whole thing or

The Lend Lease-InterfaceFLOR partnership takes after-sale service on floor maintenance beyond the norm


STEPS in the Right

DirectionBy Esther Perman

november | DeCember 2011 27

bring in installers. Our own mainte-nance team can handle any tile replace-ment needed in a matter of hours. The reduced downtime is a gain in rent, and even that one extra day adds up when you have about 17,000 move-ins per year.”

So, for all the right reasons, and many more, Hansen’s decision to switch to her supplier’s carpet tile is proving to be a smart one. As partner-ships go, though, there’s always a learn-ing curve in working with one another. For Lend Lease and InterfaceFLOR, that curve is now arching across mainte-nance strategies.

Owner’s manual and moreNot long after Lend Lease began stock-ing and installing carpet tile, both companies realized they needed to communicate better to maintenance crews and tenants alike how to care for the new flooring solution.

“We were fielding calls and que-ries about spills, cleaning issues, and pet accidents—the typical and expected kinds of situations,” said Mike Hutton, Director of InterfaceSERVICES, Inc., an affiliate of InterfaceFLOR.

“We certainly prepared and fully trained the maintenance crews at Fort Drum, Camp Lejeune, and Fort Campbell, where most of our prod-uct is installed, on how to trouble-shoot and resolve cleaning problems,” Hutton said. “But then it dawned on us that we needed to take a few easy steps beyond the training.”

InterfaceSERVICES created a nine-page Comprehensive Maintenance Plan document for the Lend Lease maintenance staff. It’s a veritable bible of dos and don’ts when it comes to the upkeep of the carpet tile. And its message is that effective maintenance includes five key elements:• Preventing soiling. The soil enter-

ing the building can be contained by using walk-off mats at entrances. This includes outside matting, inside mat-ting, and mats at certain other high-traffic interior areas.

• Vacuuming. Regular vacuuming is the single most important part of a maintenance program. Vacuuming is designed to remove dry soil matter.

• Spot and spill removal. Quick response to spills is crucial. The faster spills are dealt with, the less chance they will leave a stain.

• Interim cleaning. Primarily for com-mercial applications, interim cleaning can also be effective in a residential setting. Several different methods are available. If done regularly, interim cleaning can prolong the need for restorative cleaning.

• Restorative cleaning. This is deep cleaning designed to remove trapped soils. Hot water extraction is the most effective method and the only restor-


ative method recommended by the supplier. The plan elaborates thoroughly on

each of these integral steps, offering tips and recommendations. It con-cludes with advice on removing a lengthy list of specific stains, from but-ter to chocolate, ink, lipstick, and tar.

While the plan was the perfect help-mate for maintenance personnel, an

abridged edition was created for indi-vidual Lend Lease tenants. This main-tenance guide is now included in all new-tenant Welcome Home Packets. It’s as if cleaning guru Heloise herself had penned the piece, with easy-to-fol-low cleaning steps, including the same stain-solution chart that staff members have and use.

“The beauty of the carpet tile is, after

all, that the homeowner can remove the stained tile and clean it. But most people don’t know how to do that, so we simply had to take that extra step to educate them,” said Hutton.

The carpet tile is now sold to 1,500 Lend Lease units. According to Hansen, her company has installed 183,000 square yards of the product so far.

“It’s adding up to be a great relation-ship,” she said, “the kind you don’t ordinarily see between vendor and cus-tomer.”

After-sale serviceTalk about breaking rank from con-ventionality and companies work-ing in tandem: According to John Wells, President and CEO of par-ent company Interface Americas, the InterfaceSERVICES division was a nat-ural outgrowth of managing constant installation challenges presented by a major national account for 14 years, CVS drugstores.

“We want to be not just a vendor but a valued partner to our customers,” said Wells, “and I think we’ve created that with Lend Lease on so many lev-els, beginning with the extraordinary degree of after-sale service we’re pro-viding and including what’s critically important to the U.S. military in offer-ing a highly sustainable product.”

In fact, according to Wells, Lend Lease and InterfaceFLOR are currently partnering on a pilot program with the Department of Energy, an initiative that’s intended to reduce energy con-sumption in more than 750 military base homes.

“Because Lend Lease is committed to the supplier’s reclamation and recy-cling package through our own ReEntry recycling process, over time we’ll elimi-nate the amount of carpet removed from military housing going to the landfill,” Wells said. “To date, we’ve helped them divert over 1.5 million pounds, and this effort will continue to grow.” n

For more information on InterfaceFLOR or InterfaceSERVICES, contact Steve Arbaugh at [email protected].

Our integrated approach to energy management adds value beyond the submetering bill.

At ista, we help military housing property managers oversee many aspects of residents' energy usage and billing, including installation and even conservation. Our advanced submetering technology, for example, can increase utility conservation by 30%.

And when you need service, our US-based call center can mobilize the largest force of field technicians in the industry from any region of the country. To learn more about how ista can help you, email us at [email protected] or call an ista representative today. At ease. You can't have a better ally than ista.

ista North America 1.800.569.3014 www.ista-direct.com

©2010 ista North America. All rights reserved.

We outrank our competition, not only in the field of managing your residents' utility bills, but in teaching them how to conserve energy, too.

Company, Contact Phone Web Site Page

A-1 Hospitality, LLC, Linen Expert 800/351-1819 www.a1textiles.com 63

Balfour Beatty Communities, Kathy Grim 610/355-8206 www.bbcgrp.com 1

BedBug Central, Robert DiJoseph 877/411-1142 www.BedBugCentral.com 33

Belfor Property Restoration, Gina Dolezal 214/683-4242 www.belforusa.com 11

Coit Worldwide, Shawn Aghababian 800/367-2648 www.coit.com 63

Davey Commercial Grounds, George Gaumer 800/447-1667 x 225 www.davey.com 24

Dwyer, Toni Pahl 630/741-7900 www.dwyerproducts.com 13

HD Supply Facilities Maintenance 877/610-6912 www.hdsupplysolutions.com C2

Ista-North American, Bill Kirk 352/895-8839 www.eso-global.com 28

Kaba Multihousing & Institutional, LaShawnda Robinson 248/837-3700 www.kabamultihousing.com 29

Microfridge Inc., Benjamin Otte 508/660-9200 www.microfridge.com 7

MilitaryByOwner Advertising, Dave Gran 540/446-4676 www.MilitaryByOwner.com 62

Mincey Marble Manufacturing, Inc., Donna Mincey 770/532-0451 www.minceymarble.com 36

Norix Group, Inc., Randy Duffer 800/234-4900 www.norix.com 12

Picerne Military Housing, Bill Mulvey 401/228-2800 www.picernemilitaryhousing.com 39

Protect-a-Bed, Brian Hirsch 414/731-1663 www.protectabed.com 52

R.J. Thomas Manufacturing Co., Inc., Bob Simonsen 800/762-5002 www.pilotrock.com 18

Salsbury Industries, Ricardo Alva 323/846-6700 www.mailboxes.com 43

The Refinishing Touch, Mario Insenga 770/642-4169 www.therefinishingtouch.com 41

University Loft Company, James Jannetides 317/631-5433 www.universityloft.com C4

Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, Customer Service 800/644-8083 www.wellsfargo.com C3

Yardi, Spencer Stewart 800/866-1144 www.yardi.com 5

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