Blogs

When we developed the FMXcellence program, we decided that we would recognize facility departments rather than individual facility managers. It’s easy to understand why. Achievements in facility management take hard work by a lot of people. Strong leadership is essential, but it’s only part...

The Charlotte Mecklenburg School District’s strategic plan is to reduce all utility consumption by 20%, solid waste by 5%, and pollutants by 20% by the year 2014 and to hit those goals on a cost neutral basis. Click here to find out how facility strategies are playing a key role in achieving those...

The Office of Facilities Management (OFM) within the Oklahoma Department of Central Services ramped up its energy efficiency and sustainability efforts in 2008 with the creation of an Energy unit within FM. Since then, FM has gone after everything from low-hanging fruit to LEED Gold certification and...

In 2009, an acquisition doubled the footprint of the PNC Financial Services Group. It was an enormous task to convert signage - 26,000 new signs for roughly 1,640 branches, ATMs, and office/administrative facilities, in 9 states at a cost of more than $50,000,000. Click here to read about how the project...

The facility department at the Western Michigan University has a longstanding commitment to sustainability. That commitment moved to an even higher level beginning in 2008, when the College of Health and Human Services building earned LEED for Existing Buildings Gold certification. Today, Western Michigan...

We issued our recent newsletter - "10 Ways to Save Project Costs - Part 2." Link to: http://conta.cc/bh5JpG . This newsletter reviews our final five tactics. If you missed Part 1, link to: http://conta.cc/9znblO . Any other suggestions for cost savings?

The Northeast Collaborative for High Performance Schools Operations and Maintenance Guide has been developed by Northeast Energy Efficiency Partnerships (NEEP) and regional stakeholders for use in any existing school facilities, regardless of age. School districts can use this guide to adopt green, healthy...

There are many keys to a successful sustainability program, but one element that is often neglected is metering of energy use. With metered energy data, Bayer technology services - site management could charge back individual buildings for energy consumption, forcing them to take ownership of their energy...

After moderating a panel discussion this morning at the National Facilities Management & Technology conference in Baltimore, an attendee approached me and felt compelled to offer feedback immediately after the session concluded. His tone was one of both excitement and relief, because the points the...

Wesner’s presentation details an effective approach for developing and implementing systems on a Reliability Excellence (Rx) foundation. Participants will learn how reliability can help their facility reduce failures, lower total cost of ownership and realize sustainable improvements.

The Northeast Collaborative for High Performance Schools (Northeast CHPS) is a set of building and design standards for all schools from pre-K through community colleges. It is a guide for the building of energy efficient, environmentally friendly, healthy school facilities. It has been tailored specifically...

Wouldn't it be nice if managers had one guide they could use to navigate the challenging journey of operating and maintaining sustainable facilities? While one guide never could be all-encompassing, managers do have plenty of resources at their disposal. In the last month or two, a handful of e-mails...

We have analyzed the responses to our Quarterly Facilities Trends Survey issued in November 2009. The strongest responses (likely and very likely) came in the areas of planning and sustainability. For the full white paper report link to http://snurl.com/tk3q9 , or for the newsletter summary version link...

Zeftron nylon, a premium nylon 6 commercial carpet yarn system, announces Paul Westbrook as the winner of first annual Zeftron nylon Sustainable Practices Award. Announced during Greenbuild 2009, the award recognizes facility, and architect and design professionals who employ and utilize unique sustainable...

That is a question managers feeling pressure to make their facilities and operations more sustainable ask themselves every day. Tried-and-true tools to measure the impact of sustainable technologies on an organization's bottom line are hard to find. Apparently, progress is being made. I came across...

Did anyone else watch the All-Star game last night? Besides cheering for my hometown slugger (and homerun derby champ!), it got me thinking about sustainable stadiums. Are there any LEED certified sports venues? Is green building gaining momentum in sports venues just as it is in other sectors? Apparently...

High performance building management and sustainability requires an integrated view of current physical and functional conditionals in concert with organizational mission. While the criticality of associated decision support variables may differ between organizations, the aspects of functionality, cost...

Want to go green, but can't seem to get upper management's support? Here's a tip: Enlist the help of your occupants. Oftentimes, bottom-up pressure can be just as effective as top-down mandates in terms of instituting effective, efficient organizationwide green operational strategies. For...

At the first annual Corporate Sustainability Summit in Austin, Texas last week, much of the conversation and many of the seminars centered around overcoming hurdles to sustainability. At one point during the conference put on by The Center for Corporate Sustainability , the moderator asked all attendees...