Kim Briele receives President's Award for Excellence

Kim Briele, an electrical engineer in the Physical Plant Department at Virginia Tech, recently received the university's 2008 President's Award for Excellence.

The President’s Award for Excellence is presented annually to up to five Virginia Tech staff employees who have made extraordinary contributions by consistent excellence in the performance of their job or a single incident, contribution, or heroic act. Each recipient is awarded a $2,000 cash prize.

A member of the Virginia Tech community for almost 20 years, Briele has brought positive attention to the university’s efforts in the areas of energy management and conservation, and has worked to make the campus accessible for all members of the community.

In recent years, Briele has led the effort to install energy efficient lighting fixtures in several campus buildings, resulting in a $67,000 annual energy cost savings. These projects required frequent interaction with vendors and coordination with building patrons in order to ensure replacement work could occur without disrupting normal activities.

In 2008, Briele successfully completed the requirements to become a Certified Energy Manager.

Briele is also responsible for contract maintenance on all 113 elevators on campus and coordinates Physical Plant’s standby efforts for all home football games. She has also coordinated the installation of handrails and accessible walkways on many parts of campus.