High school students have no idea you exist. OK, let’s put that more accurately: Many of the most promising candidates for vacant technician jobs in maintenance and engineering departments know little or nothing about the maintenance profession...

The change in administrations in Washington, D.C., is likely to mean many changes in the way federal agencies and departments operate, and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) probably is no exception. OSHA’s aggressiveness in...

Something is going on here. I can't quite figure out if it's a growing appreciation of building maintenance and the trades or if it's just a series of nice coincidences. Whatever it is, it's worth a closer look. A comment from myFacilitiesnet...

As institutional and commercial facilites struggle under the weight of a sagging economy, managers understandably look to new products and technology to help their organizations lower their costs. But how about a no-cost source of savings? It seems to...

Admit it. Maintenance and engineering management generally hasn’t been considered a trendy profession. And the shortage of front-line technicians that has plagued maintenance and engineering departments for years is pretty strong evidence people...

Presidential candidates make a lot of promises. It’s part of the game, so nobody believes they’ll keep most of them. Presidents-elect do the same thing, but maybe there’s a difference. Maybe — given they’ve already won election...

Why does deferred maintenance matter, anyway? After all, buildings have operated for decades and even centuries in less-then-ideal conditions. Despite a few complaints from occupants and the occasional visitor about leaky plumbing, drafty doors and windows...

Every so often, good news about deferred maintenance surfaces. Because these instances are so rare, I think it’s important to recognize this one. Here’s the news: The Boston Red Sox are adding more seats to 96-year-old Fenway Park. The team...

Many a step in the march of sustainability within facilities has occurred in California. The state has been a cauldron of developments, both regulatory and technological, that have helped organizations operate more efficiently and minimize their impacts...

What good is technology if people don’t know how to use it? More specifically, what good are high-performance buildings if maintenance and engineering departments can’t maintain them properly? Managers have struggled for years to find and...

Who, exactly, is managing all these data centers? This question hit me as I read article after article about the expansion of data centers in response to organizations' growing reliance on Internet computing. Data centers use vast amounts of energy...

One day, facility designers will learn it pays to listen to maintenance early in process of designing a facility. Unfortunately, that day still seems far away for many organizations. Chris Matt, the associate editor of Maintenance Solutions , recounted...

The arrival of BACnet in the mid-1990s took building automation from concept to reality by allowing managers and operators to integrate the control of separate HVAC systems and components. Now, building automation for new construction and existing facilities...

Technology never rests, and wireless, or wi-fi, technology is hardly an exception. In health care facilities, for example, it’s now more common for wireless systems to transport signals to and from a host of devices — computers, refrigeration...

In some form or fashion, all information seems to be on the Internet. For more than a decade now, managers have been able to tap into its power and find information on solving nearly any problem that arose in their facilities. One problem with this information...

Everything seems green. No, not just some things. Everything. Anyone who attended the National Facilities Management and Technology Conference in Baltimore earlier this month — or any other national conference, for that matter — witnessed...

Roofs are about to step into the high-tech era, and the step could create new challenges for facility design and construction. My most recent Technology blog discussed possible practicality challenges posed by installing solar technology on existing facilities...

After years of promise and potential, solar technology finally might have arrived as a viable alternative for institutional and commercial facilities. Or has it? The industry recently has added several thousand jobs in the production of solar cells and...

It’s easy to see why many organizations are drawn to the designs of famous architects. Their buildings can generate good publicity for a company and go a long way in defining its image. But a big name on the front end of a project can lead to huge...

The conditions in a facility can have a major impact on its occupants, reports USA Today. Gosh, imagine that. It seems hotel owners, developers and architects are taking a greater interest in noise problems and acoustics affecting their facilities. From...

Doing research for an article years ago, I decided to put myself in someone else’s place. I moved around a city’s downtown area in a wheelchair to check out its accessibility. I wasn’t the first person to use this tactic to test a building...

Two years ago this week, Hurricane Katrina tore through the Gulf Coast, inflicting damage and devastation from which residents and businesses are still recovering. Among the many lessons coming from this and other disasters is the role that thoughtful...

A colleague of mine likes to remind anyone within earshot of the benefits of considering issues “from 35,000 feet.” The phrase usually gets lost in a tide of similar business jargon and loses its impact. Still, it’s a powerful idea in...

A bridge collapses in Minneapolis. An underground steam pipe explodes in New York City. Levees break in Louisiana. An army hospital in Washington, D.C., deteriorates to the point of threatening patient health. As tragic as they are, such events throw...

I've been thinking a lot about training lately, and now I have a headache. It seems as though most of my discussions with managers these days somehow come around to their desire to ensure their front-line technicians receive access to the training...