Day In The Life of a Building Operator: The Work That Makes Everything Else Possible

Most people who work in a commercial building never think twice about what it takes to keep it running. That is, in many ways, the goal.

At Edmonton Tower, right in the heart of the Ice District, Jarrett Young and Noel Hernandez show up every day to make sure the building simply works. Jarrett, as Director of Operations, oversees everything from budget planning to system maintenance to the people who make it all happen. Noel, Senior Building Operator, has been with the tower since construction. Between them, they have two decades of experience managing and operating the building, and have the support of a larger team, offering an impressive depth of capabilities and knowledge.

The job is rarely what you expect on any given morning. One day, it is planning capital maintenance five years out. The next, it is responding to an emergency before most tenants have had their first coffee.

"No two days are the same," Jarrett says.

What holds it together is communication. Not just through Visitt – our online ticketing system – but also in person. Noel makes a point of meeting face-to-face with tenants whenever possible to add context to the digital messages.  Visitt allows tenants to enter a service request via mobile app or web browser and ensures it quickly gets to the right Epic team member for action.  In-app messaging allows photos, videos, and text, but the Epic team also values in-person or phone conversations to ensure tenant satisfaction.

"I like to make sure they're getting the right message from us," he says.

At Epic, building operators are responsible for far more than maintaining building systems. They are the daily expression of the firm's service commitment in practice. At Edmonton Tower, that commitment has a name and a face. Two of them, in fact.