The Company
Thermal Energy Corporation (TECO) is a not-for-profit organization that has been a cornerstone of the Texas Medical Center (TMC) in Houston, Texas, for over 50 years. Founded in 1969, TECO owns and operates one of the largest district energy systems in North America, providing reliable, cost-effective, and energy-efficient cooling and heating solutions to over 26 million square feet of space across 51 buildings within the TMC campus.
TECO’s state-of-the-art combined heat and power (CHP) system, along with its extensive chilled water and steam distribution network, serves a diverse range of needs including space cooling, heating, sterilization, dehumidification, and more. This system is recognized for its remarkable efficiency, environmental stewardship, and operational resilience, having maintained 100% system reliability with no unplanned outages since 1992.
Significant expansions, such as the $377 million project completed in 2011, have solidified TECO’s position as a leader in district energy and enabled TECO to meet the growing demands of the medical center while reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 32,000 tons annually.
The Challenge
TECO is tasked with the vital role of providing steam and chilled water services to the Texas Medical Center (TMC), the largest medical center in the world. Despite their critical contributions to the center’s infrastructure, TECO faced significant operational challenges related to their document management system.
The company managed over 20,000 engineering drawings and documents, which were stored in various physical and digital formats across multiple locations. This disjointed storage system made it exceedingly difficult for personnel to locate and utilize necessary information efficiently. Many of these documents were not digitalized, further complicating the ability to streamline operations and maintain accurate, up-to-date records.
Another pressing issue for TECO was the impending retirement of several experienced employees. These individuals possessed invaluable legacy knowledge about the company’s infrastructure and operations. Without a reliable system to capture and transfer this knowledge, there was a risk of losing critical information that was essential for training and operational continuity.
Moreover, the need for quick and reliable access to the latest versions of documents and drawings was paramount. Given the complex nature of the TMC infrastructure, delays in accessing accurate information could lead to operational inefficiencies and potential disruptions in service delivery.
To address these challenges, TECO recognized the necessity of a comprehensive digital engineering document solution that could centralize their document management, drastically reduce search times, and ensure that critical knowledge was retained and easily accessible to all relevant personnel. The goal was to create a single, unified repository for all engineering and facilities information, thereby enhancing efficiency, accuracy, and knowledge transfer within the organization.
The Solution
To overcome the challenges associated with managing their vast collection of engineering drawings and documents, Thermal Energy Corporation (TECO) partnered with Accruent to implement the RedEye solution. This collaboration aimed to create a centralized, efficient, and accessible system for managing critical infrastructure information.
The initial phase involved digitizing over 20,000 engineering drawings and documents. The Accruent team worked to consolidate these documents into a single digital repository, eliminating duplicates and ensuring accurate revision histories.
The Benefits
With the RedEye solution, TECO established a single source of truth for engineering and facilities information. This centralized repository allowed employees and contractors to access the most up-to-date documents from anywhere, at any time, provided they had the necessary permissions.
The solution’s advanced metadata tagging and OCR/keyword in-document search functionalities significantly reduced the time required to locate specific documents, transforming search times from days or weeks to mere seconds.
In addition to improving document accessibility and search efficiency, the RedEye solution facilitated the retention and transfer of critical legacy knowledge. Training manuals and instructional videos were integrated into the system, ensuring that the valuable expertise of retiring employees could be preserved and passed on to the next generation of engineers and operators. This feature was particularly important in addressing TECO’s concern about the impending retirement of experienced staff and the potential loss of institutional knowledge.
The implementation of Accruent’s RedEye solution not only enhanced TECO’s operational efficiency but also provided a robust foundation for future growth and adaptation. By moving away from reliance on physical documents and disparate digital files, TECO ensured that their infrastructure management could keep pace with the demands of the Texas Medical Center, ultimately supporting the uninterrupted delivery of critical steam and chilled water services.
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